AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #53 : JULIAN COPE

Another guest posting from Strictly Rockers…..

You’ll recall that a few weeks back, Strictly Rockers threw in his ICA for Julian Cope and in doing so said:-

I gave myself constraints naively thinking that restrictions might make the task easier! I first tried ‘Cope Remixed’, ‘Cope Live’, ‘Cope Covers’ and ‘Covered’ before settling on the collection you see below. Ok, I know it’s not perfect, but it’ll do for now.  If anyone is interested in hearing any of these alternate comps, let me or JC know!

A number of you said you fancied that, so I’m again handing the blog over to the capable fingers of SR.

Cope Covers : An Imaginary Album

Cope’s evangelical enthusiasm for spreading musical knowledge is well known. His ‘Fire Escape In The Sky’ compilation championed the then largely-forgotten Scott Walker back in 1981 and his writing in the Krautrock and Japrock samplers, Unsung online column and Copendium have brought hundreds of bands to the attention of a new audience. These covers give a good indication just where his musical head was throughout his career.

1) 5 O’Clock World / I Know A Place (Single, 1988)

Kicking off with a two-fer. Not content to merely do a tight cover of The Vogue’s ‘5 O’Clock World’, Cope and his ‘two-car garage band’ add a burst of Petula Clark‘s ‘I Know A Place’ for the middle eight. One of the few bright spots from the much-maligned ‘My Nation Underground’ LP.

2) I Have Always Been Here Before (Fear Loves This Place 12” B-Side, 1992)

3) I’ve Got Levitation (WSYM 12” B-Side, 1986)

Two products of Cope’s 13th Floor Elevators fixation. Making them his own by a judicious adaptation of the original lyrics.

4) Mother, Where Is My Father? (Preaching Revolution 7” EP, 2008)

Cover of a 1968 David Peel & The Lower East Side single by Cope with Black Sheep, a loose collective formed for the ‘Joe Strummer Memorial Busking Tour’. A 3-day busking tour of UK cultural centres.

5) Don’t Jump Me, Mother (Try Try Try B-Side, 1995)

Cover of an obscure 1978 single by DMZ.

6) Non-Alignment Pact (WSYM 12” B-Side, 1986)

Triumphant cover of the Pere Ubu classic. A live favourite from the ‘Saint Julian’ years

7) A Question Of Temperature (Charlotte Anne 12” B-Side, 1988)

Brilliant cover of a 1968 Balloon Farm 7”.

8) Soul Medley: 1991 BBC Session (Floored Genius 2, 1993)

– Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow (Funkadelic)
– Everything Playing At Once (Cope)
– Are You Hung Up? (Mothers Of Invention)
– Hung Up And Hanging Out To Dry (Cope)

Recorded for a John Peel session in 1991 around the time of ‘Peggy Suicide’.

Both Cope’s mind & ass very much free and erm… hanging out.

9) Satisfaction 1978 demo (Floored Genius 3, 2000)

Early demo from a pre-Teardrop Cope along with future Bunnyman Will Sergeant & Wild Swan Paul Simpson channelling Devo rather than the Stones original.

10) Rock Section (12″ Single, 2014)

This cover of a Skin Patrol song was an elaborate Cope construct (as Dayglo Maradona) to promote the alternative reality of his ‘131’ novel.

mp3 : Julian Cope – 5 O’Clock World/I Know A Place
mp3 : Julian Cope – I Have Always Been Here Before
mp3 : Julian Cope – I’ve Got Levitation
mp3 : Julian Cope – Mother, Where Is My Father?
mp3 : Julian Cope – Don’t Jump Me Mother
mp3 : Julian Cope – Non-Alignment Pact
mp3 : Julian Cope – A Question of Temperature
mp3 : Julian Cope – Soul Medley
mp3 : Julian Cope – Satisfaction
mp3 : Dayglo Maradona – Rock Section

Cope Remixed : An Imaginary Album

‘Remix engineers? I shit ’em’. Cope has a uneasy relationship with the remix. Distancing himself from extended or alternate versions as an necessary evil of the major-label life throughout the 80’s, he found the results variously disappointing or unnecessary, however, with planets aligned and minds met, the results are genius.

1) Pussyface (Remix), 1984

A song originally included on the third Teardrop Explodes album as ‘Sex’, Cope was unhappy with the result and re-recorded it for his debut solo album.

This version was the B-Side of the ‘Greatness & Perfection’ single ‘Re-mixed for Muffing The Mule’ by producer Steven Lovell.

2 Julian Cope vs Trouble Funk World Shut Your Mouth (Trouble Funk Mix), 1986

Cope’s “loser’s anthem”. After a pedestrian start it takes an unexpected turn in the second half.

3) Trampolene Warne Out! (Long Version), 1987

Long-form single remixed from the Saint Julian album by Warne Livesey who also worked with The The on Infected

4) Eve’s Volcano – !Vulcano Lungo! (Covered In Sin), 1987

Remixed by Tom ‘Lord’ Alge fresh from his work with OMD(!), Peter Gabriel(!!) &… Billy Idol(!!!)

5) Love (L.U.V.) (Beautiful Love Remix)

6) Easty Risin’ (East Easy Rider Remix)

7) Heed: Of Penetration & The City Dweller (Head Remix) (all 1991)

A trio of Peggy Suicide singles remixed by former Bocca Junior Hugo ‘Hugoth’ Nicholson originally on pastel-coloured vinyl (pink, yellow & blue) in sealed boxes that fell apart on removing the vinyl – later compiled on the Dancing Heads CD and the deluxe version of Peggy Suicide.

8) Soldier Blue Hiphoprisy Mix#1 (Unreleased)

An inspired, unreleased Michael Franti mix of proposed fourth Peggy Suicide single. Born of a shared record label (Island) and a love of Lenny Bruce.

9) Paranormal In The Westcountry (Krankenhausmusik Mix), 1994

One of four remixes on a special fan club only 4-track EP.

10) Planetary Sit‐In (Being a Radio Sit‐In Remix), 1996

Fully embracing the multi-format culture Cope released two singles, ‘I Come From Another Planet, Baby’ & ‘Planetary Sit-In’ from the LP Interpreter.  Both on 2xCD – the first being (fairly) conventional 4 track Eps, but the second featuring hyper-extended version of the singles. ‘…Another Planet’ is stretched to an incredible 38 minute ‘Ambulance’ version with the song washing in and out of consciousness. ‘Planetary Sit-In’ here, is a mere 20 minutes and takes the form of a bizarre radio show featuring Cope’s wife Dorian, Mark Radcliffe, Bill Bailey and Cope cohorts Thighpaulsandra and Mike Joyce offering ‘banter’, invocations, ‘ethical consumer news’ and a phone in. You will only want to listen to this once. Enjoy!

Cope Remixed: Bonus EP (on hand-numbered coloured vinyl!)

A-Side) Rock Section (Andrew Weatherall Mix) Dayglo Maradona, 2014

A cover of a Skin Patrol song. Mixed by Cope (as Dayglo Maradona). Remixed by Weatherall. Limited remix on white vinyl 12″ released by Faber & Faber as the soundtrack to Cope’s 131 novel. Blinding.

B-Side) (I Am The) Trampolene (To The Other Side) GHP, 2011

The Verve, The Drude & The Doors Meet The Walrus Uptown. Courtesy of the always excellent Go Home Productions (Visit: gohomeproductions.co.uk for more goodies).

mp3 : Julian Cope – Pussyface (remix)
mp3 : Julian Cope vs Trouble Funk – World Shut Your Mouth (Trouble Funk Mix)
mp3 : Julian Cope – Trampolene (Warne Out Mix)
mp3 : Julian Cope – Eve’s Volcano – !Vulcano Lungo! (Covered In Sin)
mp3 : Julian Cope – Love (L.U.V.) (Beautiful Love Remix)
mp3 : Julian Cope – Easty Risin’ (East Easy Rider Remix)
mp3 : Julian Cope – Heed: Of Penetration & The City Dweller (Head Remix)
mp3 : Julian Cope – Soldier Blue Hiphoprisy Mix#1
mp3 : Julian Cope – Paranormal In The Westcountry (Krankenhausmusik Mix)
mp3 : Julian Cope – Planetary Sit‐In (Being a Radio Sit‐In Remix)

mp3 : Dayglo Maradona – Rock Section (Weatherall Mix)
mp3 : Go Home Productions – (I Am The) Trampolene (To The Other Side)

…strictly rockers….