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Ian


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And while I'm at it: Parallel Universe 1985 Album
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I'm on a roll now biggrin. I have just listened to the "Sudan Gerri" demo for the first time in a while and it really does contain some great songs. So let's imagine that Pulp had got a record deal in 1984 and were able to release an album in 1985. Granted, some of these tracks needed extra work before they could be released (Jarvis' guide vocal spills over into the main tracks and this is particularly evident on "Simultaneous"), but still...

This is what I would go for:

  1. Maureen
  2. Don't You Know
  3. Anorexic Beauty
  4. The Will to Power
  5. Simultaneous
  6. Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)
  7. Srpski Jeb
  8. Cousins
  9. Blue Glow
  10. Take You Back

The obvious single would be "Maureen" and I think it needs to be frontloaded. It could have been backed with "Coy Mistress" and/or "Back in LA". "Little Girl (With Blue Eyes) could have also been a single backed with the other B-side. Whilst I don't mind "Silence", it wouldn't be well received by wider audiences and for me, the structure of "Take You Back" makes it a decent closing track.

This then has ramifications for "Freaks" but the following tracklist seems to work:

  1. Fairground
  2. I Want You
  3. Being Followed Home
  4. Master of the Universe
  5. Life Must Be So Wonderful
  6. There's No Emotion
  7. The Never-Ending Story
  8. Manon
  9. Dogs Are Everywhere
  10. They Suffocate at Night

"Dogs Are Everywhere" seems to work surprisingly well in place of "Don't You Know" and the later version of "Manon" is a good enough album track.

Singles would have been "Dogs Are Everywhere" and "They Suffocate at Night" with their usual B-sides. I don't think there was any need for the "Master of the Universe" single as they were already playing songs from "Separations" when that was released.



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Sturdy


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I've thought about this a bit too over the years. I do think it's a shame that version of the band didn't make an album till '86 rather than earlier when the songs were still fresh and they hadn't got quite so despondent about it all.

I'd like to imagine a 1985 album (or its attendant singles/EPs) would've found room for songs like Snow and Nights of Suburbia, which were live mainstays even though they never got recorded. Same with Freaks - maybe if some of the older songs there had been used up earlier, there would've been room for Didn't Feel a Thing and Down By the River.

Are you going to do a 1987 one too?

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Ian


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Yes, I agree, I have always said that some of the demos from 1984-5 come across a bit better than the final recorded versions. I would be all up for "Snow" being on the 1985 album I posted.

It would be difficult to imagine a 1987 album without taking from the already-fine "Separations". Everything I have posted so far is made up of songs that were recorded but if we extend that to include songs that were not recorded then it would be possible. Also, they could have resurrected a couple of older songs (after all, two songs from "More" were conceived over 25 years before release). Let's see:

  1. Heart Trouble
  2. Heavy Metal
  3. Breaking Down at My Door
  4. Nights of Suburbia
  5. Didn't Feel A Thing
  6. My First Wife (v2)
  7. Death Comes To Town
  8. Rattlesnake
  9. Going Back to Find Her
  10. The Day that Never Happened
  11. My First Wife (v1)

That would actually make for an interesting album! The more abrasive stuff on side 1 then a relative step towards "Separations" on side 2 before ending on a couple of ballads. Sure, there are a couple of songs on there that would have required serious work in the studio (namely tracks 2, 3 and 4) but I don't think that they were lost causes.

There's probably only one single on there: "Death Comes to Town" with "Death Goes to the Disco" as its B-side.



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saw119


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Ian wrote:

Yes, I agree, I have always said that some of the demos from 1984-5 come across a bit better than the final recorded versions. I would be all up for "Snow" being on the 1985 album I posted.

It would be difficult to imagine a 1987 album without taking from the already-fine "Separations". Everything I have posted so far is made up of songs that were recorded but if we extend that to include songs that were not recorded then it would be possible. Also, they could have resurrected a couple of older songs (after all, two songs from "More" were conceived over 25 years before release). Let's see:

  1. Heart Trouble
  2. Heavy Metal
  3. Breaking Down at My Door
  4. Nights of Suburbia
  5. Didn't Feel A Thing
  6. My First Wife (v2)
  7. Death Comes To Town
  8. Rattlesnake
  9. Going Back to Find Her
  10. The Day that Never Happened
  11. My First Wife (v1)

That would actually make for an interesting album! The more abrasive stuff on side 1 then a relative step towards "Separations" on side 2 before ending on a couple of ballads. Sure, there are a couple of songs on there that would have required serious work in the studio (namely tracks 2, 3 and 4) but I don't think that they were lost causes.

There's probably only one single on there: "Death Comes to Town" with "Death Goes to the Disco" as its B-side.

 Down by the River and Don't You Want Me Anymore we both being performed in 86 and both Separations and Love is Blind were debuted in March 87. Surely all candidates for a late 87 album release? I'd lose the first four on your track list for those songs.



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Ian


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That does make sense but also involves removing those songs from "Separations". I guess I am just a sucker for some of those angry mid-1980s tracks.

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saw119


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Ian wrote:

That does make sense but also involves removing those songs from "Separations". I guess I am just a sucker for some of those angry mid-1980s tracks.

 I assembled an imaginary 87 album a few years back and kicked off the album with Heart Trouble. They sure had a lot of interesting songs post accident and the departure of Manners and Magnus.

https://pulpwiki.net/Pulp/Live3March87TheLimitSheffield

This is absolutely one of my fav shows from the 80s.



-- Edited by saw119 on Monday 13th of October 2025 06:26:25 PM

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Ian


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I totally agree with you on that, there really are some hidden gems on there. I think that my favourite song from this era is "My First Wife" from the Barracuda club, the one that was released on Mark Webber's compilation tape.

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Sturdy


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RE: And while I'm at it: Parallel Universe 1985 Album
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Ian wrote:

Yes, I agree, I have always said that some of the demos from 1984-5 come across a bit better than the final recorded versions. I would be all up for "Snow" being on the 1985 album I posted.

It would be difficult to imagine a 1987 album without taking from the already-fine "Separations". Everything I have posted so far is made up of songs that were recorded but if we extend that to include songs that were not recorded then it would be possible. Also, they could have resurrected a couple of older songs (after all, two songs from "More" were conceived over 25 years before release). Let's see:

  1. Heart Trouble
  2. Heavy Metal
  3. Breaking Down at My Door
  4. Nights of Suburbia
  5. Didn't Feel A Thing
  6. My First Wife (v2)
  7. Death Comes To Town
  8. Rattlesnake
  9. Going Back to Find Her
  10. The Day that Never Happened
  11. My First Wife (v1)

That would actually make for an interesting album! The more abrasive stuff on side 1 then a relative step towards "Separations" on side 2 before ending on a couple of ballads. Sure, there are a couple of songs on there that would have required serious work in the studio (namely tracks 2, 3 and 4) but I don't think that they were lost causes.

There's probably only one single on there: "Death Comes to Town" with "Death Goes to the Disco" as its B-side.

Ha! That's an mad album, love it.

True, there isn't really enough from 1987 that was discarded to make up a whole extra album. Maybe a different Separations that they might have made at the end of '87 / start of '88:

Heart Trouble
My First Wife (v2)
Death Comes to Town
Down By the River
Rattlesnake

Separations
Don't You Want Me Anymore?
Love is Blind
My First Wife (v1)
My Legendary Girlfriend

Going Back to Find Her as a B side somewhere.

Then an EP in 1989 with the newer dancier songs:

Countdown
Death II
This House Is Condemned

And on to the new decade!



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weej


Legendary

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ctrl-f "mark of the devil" nothing found?

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Eamonn


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Exactly! C'mon, it's the nearest they got to writing a hit in those bleak, dank, unlovable times in Pulp.

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Sturdy


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RE: And while I'm at it: Parallel Universe 1985 Album
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Ian wrote:

I totally agree with you on that, there really are some hidden gems on there. I think that my favourite song from this era is "My First Wife" from the Barracuda club, the one that was released on Mark Webber's compilation tape.

I listened to this the other day for the first time in a while, just to see if I could pick anything else out of that muddy recording. In all these years I'd never noticed that at the end, Nick turns away from the kit and starts smashing away on the timpani instead. Sounds like he's really going for it too!

Agree it's one of the best songs from this period - maybe the one that had the most potential out of all their unrecorded songs. Just wish there was a better recording.



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Ian


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RE: And while I'm at it: Parallel Universe 1985 Album
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weej wrote:

ctrl-f "mark of the devil" nothing found?

I have just listened to the "Ping Pong Jerry" version of that song and I think it's pretty decent to be honest. It doesn't sound much different to the final version but I think that there's something about it that seems to work better. More natural perhaps. 

It is also quite interesting how both "Maureen" and "Mark of the Devil" have fast verses and slow choruses. I think that "Maureen" is the better of the two though. 



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