If you're not a Copehead, just look him up on Wikipedia if you want a potted history of his career! But I think that the following are a more interesting way to get to know his music, his writing and about what he stands for:
Essential reading and listening:
Head Heritage, Julian's official website. This has what you'd expect, with the usual details of tour dates and releases but unusually, Julian and his wife Dorian (a music fan and historian in her own right) are closely involved in maintaining the site and post regular updates. Julian has obviously never lost his enthusiasm for discovering new music (particularly heartening that he's still open-minded about this, as he's now in his early 50s) and his monthly update, "Address Druidon", includes reviews of albums that he's just discovered. It also is highly political, although not in a party political sense. Whilst Julian and I part company when it comes to some of the methods he advocates to draw attention to issues he cares about (he's certainly more of an anarchist than I am), we are united in our hatred of cruelty, greed, ignorance and people just generally fucking up the planet.
"Head On" and "Repossessed" (these are now published together in the same volume, following the acclaim with which "Head On" was received on its initial publication), Julian's two volumes of autobiography. "Head On" deals with Julian's early musical career with The Teardrop Explodes in the early '80s and the subsequent rows and disillusionment that led to their split. It's a bitchy and entertaining account of the Liverpool music scene at that time, with cameos from people who went on to be famous in their own right, including Ian McCulloch, Bill Drummond, Pete Wylie, Pete Burns, Holly Johnson and the scene's youngest hanger-on, Courtney Love (referred to only as "The Adolescent"). There is also a (thankfully brief) account of his having sex in a broom cupboard with Lydia Lunch (yikes) and more romantically, the story of how he met his second wife (and soul mate), Dorian. The issue of his cavalier treatment of his first wife, Cathy (who he dumped in order to pursue a transatlantic relationship with Dorian) is sidestepped but he's forced to face up to this in a confrontational interview with a local radio DJ that is described in the second volume, "Repossessed". "Repossessed" covers the period immediately following The Teardrop Explodes' split through to the early years of Julian's solo career. Julian achieves a commerical peak with the successful 1987 album "Saint Julian" but the book ends in 1988 with his disappointment at the critical reception of the follow-up album "My Nation Underground" (which he freely admits contains some of his weakest work). "Repossessed" is my favourite of the two volumes because as well as containing accounts of how Julian's early solo songs came to be, there is a lot in it that is touchingly personal. Julian describes how his fear of the solo songs he wrote being derided by the music industry that he was no longer part of led to an inertia bordering on agoraphobia. He is brutally honest about this paranoia, which was certainly made worse by his out of control drug abuse during this period. It certainly isn't all gloom and being a hermit though: I particularly enjoyed the account of his increasing obsession with collecting vintage toy cars (well, we've all got to have a hobby).
"The Modern Antiquarian" (first published 1998). As well as being a musician and social commentator, Julian has developed a parallel career as a historian specialising in megalithic Britain, particularly pre-Christian belief systems. "The Modern Antiquarian" was eight years in the making and was based on an ambitious task: to visit every megalithic site (typically stone circles and burial mounds but pretty much everywhere of Pagan significance) in England, Scotland and Wales. The fact that it was very much a Cope family undertaking (Dorian and his daughters, Albany and Avalon, who were toddlers at the time came along too) is particularly impressive. Lovingly packaged, this hefty book is split into two sections. The first part is a series of essays about the development and decline of goddess worship in Britain and how this shaped the landscape. The second is a colour-coded gazeteer of the sites (complete with OS Map grid references), with photographs and personal reflections. "The Modern Antiquarian" was published to enthusiastic reviews (from professional historians as well as readers new to the genre) and led to Julian being sought after as a guest speaker, delivering lectures on his studies at the British Museum! There was a BBC documentary based on "The Modern Antiquarian" (which you can still check out on YouTube), of which Julian has said since that he didn't enjoy making (a shame, as I think he's a natural as a TV presenter). "The Modern Antiquarian" has remained in print ever since it was first published and naturally enough was followed by "The Megalithic European", which covered megalithic sites in other European countries.
"Fried" (1984) was Julian's second solo album, recorded at the height of his self-imposed reclusiveness in the countryside near Tamworth - crueller critics thought that title referred to the state of his brain after considerable LSD experimentation. Nontheless, it contains some great songs, like "Reynard the Fox", "Sunspots" and "Land Of Fear" (the latter being re-recorded for his 1995 album "20 Mothers") which hint at the greatness yet to come.
"Droolian" (1990), along with "Skellington" (recorded the same year) are both now rarities and very lo-fi, being recorded over short periods, some songs included being first takes. "Skellington" was recorded illicitly in secret sessions when Julian was supposed to be recording "My Nation Underground", as something closer to what he wanted to achieve rather than toeing the line with what Island Records wanted (Island eventually dropped Julian after "Jehovahkill" in 1992). "Droolian" was released only in Texas (on a small label, Mofoco) and the profits were used to aid of one of Cope’s heroes, the former 13th Floor Elevators frontman Roky Erickson, who at that time was in jail without legal representation. The dog on the sleeve cover of "Droolian" is Smelvin Cope, described by Julian in "Repossessed" as a "weiner" (charming).
The following were later described as a trilogy of albums with the theme of the various ways that the human race is destroying itself and the planet. I know it sounds dangerously hippy but bear with me - Julian's one pissed off guy here, producing some of his best songs. A lone voice of common sense in the wilderness:
"Peggy Suicide" (1991) - dealing with mankind's damage of the environment (Peggy Suicide is the female embodiment of Planet Earth - sort of like Mother Nature - this album marks the start of Julian's awareness of goddess worship, a theme he returns to a lot).
"Jehovahkill" (1992) - dealing with the damaging effects of patriarchical Judeo-Christian organised religion (so not one to play when the vicar comes round).
"Autogeddon" (1994) - dealing with the increase in car culture in the Western world and the damaging effects on the environment.
Nowadays, Julian releases music on his own Head Heritage label and has several side projects under the names Queen Elizabeth, Brain Donor and most recently, Black Sheep. These sound very different from the typically psychedelic pop that most people associate with Julian Cope - much heavier hard-edged garage rock. However, it's not just a group of middle-aged blokes living out their rock star fantasies, as the lyrics are more topical and political than ever before. However, "You Gotta Problem With Me" (2007) was something of return to the style of his early solo work: a massively ambitious double album using mellotron keyboards and orchestral percussion.
This is just a fragment of Julian's work (and I haven't even mentioned his writings about cult music like "Japrocksampler" and "Krautrocksampler"), which I'm still discovering. I strongly recommend going to seeing him play live - he typically is on stage without any support band for at least 2 hours! This sounds like it would be an interminably long and tedious set but it's not - Julian chats to the audience and plays songs from all stages of his career, usually backed by long-standing collaborators like the massively talented Donald Ross-Skinner and Thighpaulsandra.
Why I chose the menu:
Julian came to be a vegetarian relatively late in life, being brought up by Welsh parents used to having to be thrifty when it came to food, which usually meant eating the cheapest cuts of meat and offal (he refers to this in this 2000 interview and also in "Repossessed"). So I chose Glamorgan Sausages as a veggie-friendly nod to his Welsh heritage but also because it's lovely comfort food and not too unhealthy. The accompanying Caramelised Red Onion Chutney gives it a bit of a kick. I love the fact that in the sleeve notes to Julian's 1995 album "20 Mothers", he mentioned that he made his own jam from the plums growing in his garden. I just thought that the fact he didn't care about whether or not he might be thought uncool or not rock 'n' roll for doing so was brilliant. So in a salute to this admirable insousiance, I've made a steamed Jam Sponge for dessert, using my home-made Plum and Elderberry Jam (I thought he'd approve of Mother Nature giving me a helping hand, as both the plums and the elderberries were foraged from ones growing wild). It's a feast for any veggie that you love, or indeed anyone that you love.
Glamorgan Sausages (I found this particular recipe on the Welsh Tourist Board website but various versions of it abound everywhere - serves 4)
200g fresh white breadcrumbs (you can buy ready-made dried breadcrumbs but they're easy to make - either rub the bread on the coarse side of a grater or whizz it up in a food processor)
100g Caerphilly cheese, grated (I couldn't get Caerphilly - yes, Tesco being crap again - so used some mild Welsh goat's cheese instead and it worked really well)
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon coriander, chopped
1 small leek, finely chopped
Freshly milled salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
3 free-range eggs
1 tablespoon plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
- Mix 125g of the breadcrumbs with the cheese, fresh herbs and leeks and season well. Lightly beat 2 eggs with the mustard and combine with the dry ingredients. Mix until bound together, adding a little milk if necessary.
- Divide the mixture into 12 and roll into sausages. Coat the sausages in seasoned flour and chill for at least 20 minutes.
- Before cooking, beat the remaining egg and using the remaining breadcrumbs, coat each sausage in egg and then breadcrumbs. To cook, fry the sausages in a little vegetable oil for approximately 10 minutes until golden brown all over. Serve with Caramelised Red Onion Chutney and a green salad.
Caramelised Red Onion Chutney (from Fraser Doherty's "Super Jam Cookbook") - makes around 2 average-sized jars)
8 red onions
1 red chilli
2 bay leaves
25mls olive oil
200g soft light brown sugar
150mls balsamic vinegar
150mls red wine vingear
Jam pot covers and 2 clean jars with metal lids
- Preheat your oven to its lowest setting and put your jars in (on a baking tray) to warm and sterilise them.
- Cut your onions and chillis into short, thin slices and put them into a pan with the bay leaves and oil. Cook gently over a low heat for about 20 minutes.
- Once the onions are dark and sticky, add the sugar and the vinegars and simmer for 30 minutes or so, until the chutney is thick and dark.
- Pour the chutney into hot, sterilised jars and cover (for a description of how to cover jars of hot jam or chutney so that you get an airtight seal, see the recipe for Plum and Elderberry Jam). Ideally, this chutney should be kept for at least a month before eating, in order to allow the flavours to mature.
Jam Sponge (from Sarah Paston-Williams' "Good Old-Fashioned Puddings" - serves 6)
115g (4 oz) unsalted butter (+ 1 teaspoon extra for greasing the bowl)
115g (4 oz) caster sugar
2 free-range eggs
115g (4 oz) self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
1-2 tablespoons of cold milk
3 tablespoons of jam of your choice
A 1 1/2 pint pudding basin (I use one of those heatproof plastic ones with a lid, as they make life a lot easier)
- Butter the pudding basin and the inside of its lid thoroughly.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat eggs a little at a time to the creamed mixture, beating well between each addition. Sieve the flour and salt together and carefully fold into the mixture using a metal spoon. Add enough milk to make a soft dropping consistency.
- Spoon the jam into the buttered basin , then pour on the sponge mixture. Clip the lid on securely, then steam for 1 1/2 hours until well risen and spongy. This isn't as difficult as it sounds - put the basin into a suitably-sized saucepan and pour in enough boiling water from the kettle until it comes about 2/3 up the sides of the basin. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer and put the saucepan lid on. IMPORTANT - keep checking regularly that the basin isn't boiling dry and top up with more water from the kettle if it looks as if the water level is getting low.
- Use a wide spatula or similar implement to fish out the pudding basin, remove the lid and turn it out on to a plate. Serve with custard - and extra jam!
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