Pulp – Peel Session (1981) – LITTLE LOST CLASSICS

I recently started reading “Good pop bad pop”a kind of biography of Jarvis Cocker narrated in the first person through the infinite memorabilia that the lead singer of Pulp collected for years in the attic of his mother's house.

I'm not going to delve into your private universe as a hoarder (laughs), I just HIGHLY recommend that you pick up the book (even if you borrow it, like me. By the way, thank you Mac!).

The thing is that at a certain point there is the real birth of the band (already imagined by Jarvis since his childhood) and, well, that's the reason for this post.

Well before Itthe guys' first album, and long before they achieved the success dreamed of by the Cocker-boy, the still brats Pulp learned that John Peel and his 'roadshow' would pass through their city, and Jarvis was determined to find his musical guru, deliver it a demo tape of the young quartet and, if possible, say a few words to him.

He then went to Sheffield Polytechnic School and, even though he was 'stuck' and unable to exchange the desired idea with Professor Peel, he handed over the cassette. 5 days later, producer John Walters called Jarvis's grandmother's house: Pulp were going to London to record a session at the BBC.

So the kids – aged between 15 and 18 – under the tutelage of Dale Griffin recorded 04 songs on November 7, 1981, and the program aired 11 days later, being repeated three more times (in December of the same year, February 82 and September 1985).

Of the tracks played, only “Wishful Thinking” made it onto the band’s debut, which would be released in ’83; musically, none of them resemble what Pulp would present on their debut and are nowhere near close to “Babies” or “Disco 2000”. But here there is no room for explanations about their post-punk roots or comparisons with what they would become, the important thing is to understand their baptism.

Find out!

Tracks:

Turkey Mambo Momma

Refuse To Be Blind

Wishful Thinking

Please Don’t Worry