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Good Pop, Bad Pop
**AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK**
What if the things we keep hidden say more about us than those we put on display?
We all have a random collection of the things that made us - photos, tickets, clothes, souvenirs, stuffed in a box, packed in a suitcase, crammed into a drawer. When Jarvis Cocker starts clearing out his loft, he finds a jumble of objects that catalogue his story and ask him some awkward questions:
Who do you think you are?
Are clothes important?
Why are there so many pairs of broken glasses up here?
From a Gold Star polycotton shirt to a pack of Wrigley's Extra, from his teenage attempts to write songs to the Sexy Laughs Fantastic Dirty Joke Book, this is the hard evidence of Jarvis's unique life, Pulp, 20th century pop culture, the good times and the mistakes he'd rather forget. And this accumulated debris of a lifetime reveals his creative process - writing and musicianship, performance and ambition, style and stagecraft.
This is not a life story. It's a loft story.
What if the things we keep hidden say more about us than those we put on display?
We all have a random collection of the things that made us - photos, tickets, clothes, souvenirs, stuffed in a box, packed in a suitcase, crammed into a drawer. When Jarvis Cocker starts clearing out his loft, he finds a jumble of objects that catalogue his story and ask him some awkward questions:
Who do you think you are?
Are clothes important?
Why are there so many pairs of broken glasses up here?
From a Gold Star polycotton shirt to a pack of Wrigley's Extra, from his teenage attempts to write songs to the Sexy Laughs Fantastic Dirty Joke Book, this is the hard evidence of Jarvis's unique life, Pulp, 20th century pop culture, the good times and the mistakes he'd rather forget. And this accumulated debris of a lifetime reveals his creative process - writing and musicianship, performance and ambition, style and stagecraft.
This is not a life story. It's a loft story.
361 pages, Hardcover
First published May 26, 2022
380 people are currently reading
5487 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 623 reviews
May 31, 2022
Please actually write part two, Jarvis, and not at tortoise speed if at all possible.
June 17, 2022
If further proof was needed that Jarvis Cocker is a national treasure then please turn to Exhibit A…
Good Pop, Bad Pop (2022)
The premise is that Jarvis Cocker is cleaning out his loft. He explains the significance of an incredible array of ephemera. For example, toys or sticks of chewing gum or old packaging etc take him back to his childhood, old photos, flyers, tickets etc prompt memories of starting Pulp. The recurring item is a notebook detailing Pulp’s manifesto which Jarvis started planning as a pre-teen.
I listened to Jarvis narrate the audiobook complete with PDF containing photos of all the items. I loved every second. This is the way Jarvis tells chunks of his life story. It's ridiculously entertaining and enjoyable.
It all ends with Pulp still yet to achieve any kind of breakthrough so all the signs are that there will be another instalment before too long. It can’t happen soon enough.
5/5
EDIT:
Here's a great video of Jarvis explaining the book...
https://youtu.be/BbQnrfeVrIQ
What if the things we keep hidden say more about us than those we put on display?
We all have a random collection of the things that made us - photos, tickets, clothes, souvenirs, stuffed in a box, packed in a suitcase, crammed into a drawer. When Jarvis Cocker starts clearing out his loft, he finds a jumble of objects that catalogue his story and ask him some awkward questions:
Who do you think you are?
Are clothes important?
Why are there so many pairs of broken glasses up here?
From a Gold Star polycotton shirt to a pack of Wrigley's Extra, from his teenage attempts to write songs to the Sexy Laughs Fantastic Dirty Joke Book, this is the hard evidence of Jarvis's unique life, Pulp, 20th century pop culture, the good times and the mistakes he'd rather forget. And this accumulated debris of a lifetime reveals his creative process - writing and musicianship, performance and ambition, style and stagecraft.
This is not a life story. It's a loft story.
Good Pop, Bad Pop (2022)
The premise is that Jarvis Cocker is cleaning out his loft. He explains the significance of an incredible array of ephemera. For example, toys or sticks of chewing gum or old packaging etc take him back to his childhood, old photos, flyers, tickets etc prompt memories of starting Pulp. The recurring item is a notebook detailing Pulp’s manifesto which Jarvis started planning as a pre-teen.
I listened to Jarvis narrate the audiobook complete with PDF containing photos of all the items. I loved every second. This is the way Jarvis tells chunks of his life story. It's ridiculously entertaining and enjoyable.
It all ends with Pulp still yet to achieve any kind of breakthrough so all the signs are that there will be another instalment before too long. It can’t happen soon enough.
5/5
EDIT:
Here's a great video of Jarvis explaining the book...
https://youtu.be/BbQnrfeVrIQ
What if the things we keep hidden say more about us than those we put on display?
We all have a random collection of the things that made us - photos, tickets, clothes, souvenirs, stuffed in a box, packed in a suitcase, crammed into a drawer. When Jarvis Cocker starts clearing out his loft, he finds a jumble of objects that catalogue his story and ask him some awkward questions:
Who do you think you are?
Are clothes important?
Why are there so many pairs of broken glasses up here?
From a Gold Star polycotton shirt to a pack of Wrigley's Extra, from his teenage attempts to write songs to the Sexy Laughs Fantastic Dirty Joke Book, this is the hard evidence of Jarvis's unique life, Pulp, 20th century pop culture, the good times and the mistakes he'd rather forget. And this accumulated debris of a lifetime reveals his creative process - writing and musicianship, performance and ambition, style and stagecraft.
This is not a life story. It's a loft story.
September 25, 2025
Here on the continent, we like to laugh about the British "not like the other girls" bursts of entitlement that politically culminated in Brexit, but you have to give it to the Brits: They have Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, and from here, he looks like Cool Britannia personified, an enviable national treasure full of talent and extra-British personality. Only in the UK, people! *tips hat* His memoir is of course not him just talking about his life, because that wouldn't be creative and quirky enough, no: He clears out his loft and reminisces about his origin story while presenting us objects with history attached to them. In the physical book, there are images, but I listened to the audiobook with Jarvis' beautiful voice conveying all these memories that helped make him.
From soap to chewing gum to a polyester shirt to broken glasses to an acceptance letter to Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design (which of course led to "She came from Greece she had a thirst for knowledge / she studied sculpture at Saint Martin's College") and many other items, we get all kinds of anecdotes about his childhood, his family, his early interest in art, his first guitar and the early Pulp. It's just so charming and fun to listen to, but it also helps understand what makes Jarvis tick and how he creates his art, what's important to him and how he sees the world - especially (as the title suggests) his definition of pop and the merit he ascribes to it.
Inspiring, intelligent and wonderfully weird, this gives you a warm fuzzy feeling while explaining the disruptive power of Jarvis' artistic concepts. This is the kind of stuff this continental European loves about Britain.
From soap to chewing gum to a polyester shirt to broken glasses to an acceptance letter to Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design (which of course led to "She came from Greece she had a thirst for knowledge / she studied sculpture at Saint Martin's College") and many other items, we get all kinds of anecdotes about his childhood, his family, his early interest in art, his first guitar and the early Pulp. It's just so charming and fun to listen to, but it also helps understand what makes Jarvis tick and how he creates his art, what's important to him and how he sees the world - especially (as the title suggests) his definition of pop and the merit he ascribes to it.
Inspiring, intelligent and wonderfully weird, this gives you a warm fuzzy feeling while explaining the disruptive power of Jarvis' artistic concepts. This is the kind of stuff this continental European loves about Britain.
March 20, 2024
This is not your typical music autobiography. Instead of telling his story from childhood to fame in the conventional way, Jarvis Cocker (lead singer of Pulp) describes it through the objects he has stored over the years in his attic. It helps that he is a major hoarder, and averse to change - among the treasure he finds the packaging of a favourite soap, a dirty jokebook he once discovered on a schoolbus, even carrier bags that have caught his eye over the years.
These items help Cocker jog his memory of growing up in Sheffield before his music career took off. He still has the loud polyester shirts purloined from jumble sales which informed his sense of fashion as a teenager. Old notebooks are included, where he imagined the manifesto for the band he was about to create. He posts the reviews of their first gigs and photos of fresh-faced, yet moody-looking group members.
If you're looking for the real story of how Pulp became one of Britain's most popular bands, this is not the book for you. The version of Pulp that most people know are referred to in passing, and Common People, the single that catapulted them into the mainstream, is only mentioned once as The Song That Made My Name. Instead it's more like an inventory of Jarvis Cocker's personality, and by the end you get a pretty good feel for what the man is really like: a warm and witty fellow of simple pleasures, who is most deserving of the success that eventually came his way.
These items help Cocker jog his memory of growing up in Sheffield before his music career took off. He still has the loud polyester shirts purloined from jumble sales which informed his sense of fashion as a teenager. Old notebooks are included, where he imagined the manifesto for the band he was about to create. He posts the reviews of their first gigs and photos of fresh-faced, yet moody-looking group members.
If you're looking for the real story of how Pulp became one of Britain's most popular bands, this is not the book for you. The version of Pulp that most people know are referred to in passing, and Common People, the single that catapulted them into the mainstream, is only mentioned once as The Song That Made My Name. Instead it's more like an inventory of Jarvis Cocker's personality, and by the end you get a pretty good feel for what the man is really like: a warm and witty fellow of simple pleasures, who is most deserving of the success that eventually came his way.
November 16, 2022
Good Book, Bad Book? Neither really. It wasn't bad but it wasn't particularly good, but it was all right. Jarvis Cocker reminiscing about his past life.
June 11, 2022
For me, Pulp’s breakthrough album, A Different Class was a special record: great melodies and witty memorable lyrics. Lead singer Jarvis Cocker also gave interesting interviews to the press. Later on when Pulp split, I began following Jarvis’ equally interesting solo career.
However, I have been wanting a Jarvis Cocker autobiography for a very long time. I do know that’s he good at writing and I was sure he’d have tons of anecdotes. After all, Pulp started in the early 80’s and were a cult band until the mid 90’s then became sort of cultish after. There has to be a wealth of stories.
Good Pop, Bad Pop is that autobiography and in typical Jarvis fashion he takes a different approach.
The premise is that Jarvis Cocker is cleaning out his loft and he explains the ephemera he find’s and it’s relevance to Pulp’s history. Thus little toys take him back to his childhood. Old records and tickets display his teenage influences, the centrepiece of the collection is a notebook detailing Pulp’s manifesto which Jarvis Cocker planned out when he was 15 years old.
Elsewhere we get glimpses of his fashion tastes, why he wears glasses, Pulp’s early gigs and the shifting line up. By the end of the book it is 1988, Jarvis has been accepted to art school. Pulp’s line up is building up to the one we know today. At this point no shift to a Fire or island records, no rise to fame, the Michael Jackson incident or the messy fallout. I assume those will occur in the next volume.
Good Pop, Bad Pop is entertaining, and is very funny. Jarvis Cocker has a knack for being critical of his youthful choices and manages to get a laugh out of the reader. Presentation is great too! with tons of pictures, coloured pages, different font sizes. This is a fun book. In fact you don’t even need to be a fan of the band as Cocker’s approach is accessible. If you read one rock autobiography this year…….
However, I have been wanting a Jarvis Cocker autobiography for a very long time. I do know that’s he good at writing and I was sure he’d have tons of anecdotes. After all, Pulp started in the early 80’s and were a cult band until the mid 90’s then became sort of cultish after. There has to be a wealth of stories.
Good Pop, Bad Pop is that autobiography and in typical Jarvis fashion he takes a different approach.
The premise is that Jarvis Cocker is cleaning out his loft and he explains the ephemera he find’s and it’s relevance to Pulp’s history. Thus little toys take him back to his childhood. Old records and tickets display his teenage influences, the centrepiece of the collection is a notebook detailing Pulp’s manifesto which Jarvis Cocker planned out when he was 15 years old.
Elsewhere we get glimpses of his fashion tastes, why he wears glasses, Pulp’s early gigs and the shifting line up. By the end of the book it is 1988, Jarvis has been accepted to art school. Pulp’s line up is building up to the one we know today. At this point no shift to a Fire or island records, no rise to fame, the Michael Jackson incident or the messy fallout. I assume those will occur in the next volume.
Good Pop, Bad Pop is entertaining, and is very funny. Jarvis Cocker has a knack for being critical of his youthful choices and manages to get a laugh out of the reader. Presentation is great too! with tons of pictures, coloured pages, different font sizes. This is a fun book. In fact you don’t even need to be a fan of the band as Cocker’s approach is accessible. If you read one rock autobiography this year…….
June 30, 2022
Shame he dies in the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2023
This was a Christmas present, probably not a book I would have chosen for myself, but it is an enjoyable, engaging and entertaining read, a memoir told through the memorabilia Cocker found while sorting his loft. I did find some of the coloured backdrops behind the text rather distracting at times.
January 6, 2023
Such a brilliant book! Not the usual memoir, essentially it’s Jarvis clearing out his loft, a storage space full of stuff he has hoarded over the years and he uses pictures of the various items to tell stories from his life from his childhood to his acceptance into art college (there has to be a sequel!). Some parts are just laugh out loud and there’s great photographs too.
Funniest bit : his outfit to a stranglers concert “I was wearing a flecked tweed jacket from a jumble sale, a plain shirt, some sand-coloured drainpipe jeans handed down from an older cousin & a blue crocheted tie my mother had knitted for me when I first went to primary school. This caused some consternation among the leather-jacketed, spiky-haired guys in front of me in the queue to get into the venue. They accused me of being a ‘mod’. I was surprised & disappointed – & scared because they looked pretty hard. As far as I was concerned punk meant anything goes. It was against the herd mentality & for freedom of personal expression. & if that meant wearing a badly crocheted blue tie, so be it. At least I wasn’t wearing a uniform like them. Of course, I didn’t express any of this out loud – I just moved to the back of the queue & kept my head down.”
Funniest bit : his outfit to a stranglers concert “I was wearing a flecked tweed jacket from a jumble sale, a plain shirt, some sand-coloured drainpipe jeans handed down from an older cousin & a blue crocheted tie my mother had knitted for me when I first went to primary school. This caused some consternation among the leather-jacketed, spiky-haired guys in front of me in the queue to get into the venue. They accused me of being a ‘mod’. I was surprised & disappointed – & scared because they looked pretty hard. As far as I was concerned punk meant anything goes. It was against the herd mentality & for freedom of personal expression. & if that meant wearing a badly crocheted blue tie, so be it. At least I wasn’t wearing a uniform like them. Of course, I didn’t express any of this out loud – I just moved to the back of the queue & kept my head down.”
May 17, 2023
Good Pop, Bad Pop is one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read. The way Jarvis Cocker centers his memories around objects he finds while cleaning out a small storage loft in his apartment, is so incredibly unique, funny and tells so much about his personality. I used to have the false preconception, that he is an arrogant person, but this notion was was first dispersed when I saw him perform in 2019, where he was just the kindest person to both the audience, but also in the way he interacted with the other musicians. Good Pop, Bad Pop confirmed this, Cocker is beautifully self-aware and reflected, with an incredible sense of humor and has a wonderful outlook on life. Also the way this book is designed makes it such a joy to look at.
If you like reading memoirs and are even slighty interested in music I can wholeheartily recommend this book to you.
If you like reading memoirs and are even slighty interested in music I can wholeheartily recommend this book to you.
July 11, 2022
I wanted to buy this book just for its cover. The name is fantastic, as is the tagline “an inventory by Jarvis Cocker.” Not to forget the little blub ending: "This is not a life story. It's a loft story.” The good thing is the book reads well too. I love how Cocker associates small items he’s collected with memories and instances, something I often do. I would have liked the book to include more about his life, particularly when Pulp was at its height of fame. Maybe Cocker is saving the rest for another book. Still, this one is a must-read for not only Pulp fans but for anyone who grew up in the 90s listening to Brit-pop.
April 30, 2023
very cool. very arty. lots of colour photos! very well designed book. there's a lot of books written by musicians at the moment that have excellent graphic design and photos and I love it. the design is actually more like a magazine than a book - lots of colour and overlapping photos and important titles in bigger fancier fonts and brighter colours.
this book was awesome. I'm not a huge Pulp fan and could only name two albums but it doesn't matter cos the book was talking just about his childhood and early attempts at *being in a band*. there is a lots of photos of the first couple incarnations of Pulp and early posters as well so it has lots of value for people who are big fans. it's written conversationally and casually, and each item he pulls out is actually genuinely interesting (as someone who accumulates random old things as well it was great) it was easy to read and light hearted even in the more serious bits and interesting and definitely worth it for anyone who's even mildly interested.
he writes books like he writes songs - conversational, narrating everyday events and emotions - the way you'd narrate what going on in front of you to yourself in your head.
also.
I love musicians who start out playing crappy original songs in random clubs where no ones heard of them, making posters and getting reviewed in zines, playing whatever instruments, wearing strange clothes and living in buildings not designed to be lived in. Jarvis Cocker ticks all of these boxes and reading this there was both a sense of the extraordinary time that was '1980s alternative music' and also every reason why I have ever wanted to be a musician. like seriously reading him talking about what his plan for pop stardom was and what he thought a band should be when he was fifteen made me want to have a band practise and record a crap demo and send it to a radio station etc etc etc it's very inspirational. the fact that Jarvis Cocker is simultaneously very cool and very uncool is fantastic as well.
his concept of Good Pop vs Bad Pop is very interesting and he obviously understands how Pop as a thing works. pop culture gets a bad rap for not being cool... especially for those people who see themselves as being *super alternative*... but Jarvis Cocker shows thoroughly the intrinsic value of POP and that is also one of the best things about Pulp as a band - they use strings and synths and all the hallmarks of 90s pop rock music and it sounds fantastic. the teenage experience, the existence of being a bit of a strange teenager, being a teenager who absorbs things and says, 'how could I do that too?' - he gets it. being in a band... is awesome.
this is a wonderful book. I love it. if he ever writes another one I'll read that too. (going to go listen to Pulp now bye bye)
this book was awesome. I'm not a huge Pulp fan and could only name two albums but it doesn't matter cos the book was talking just about his childhood and early attempts at *being in a band*. there is a lots of photos of the first couple incarnations of Pulp and early posters as well so it has lots of value for people who are big fans. it's written conversationally and casually, and each item he pulls out is actually genuinely interesting (as someone who accumulates random old things as well it was great) it was easy to read and light hearted even in the more serious bits and interesting and definitely worth it for anyone who's even mildly interested.
he writes books like he writes songs - conversational, narrating everyday events and emotions - the way you'd narrate what going on in front of you to yourself in your head.
also.
I love musicians who start out playing crappy original songs in random clubs where no ones heard of them, making posters and getting reviewed in zines, playing whatever instruments, wearing strange clothes and living in buildings not designed to be lived in. Jarvis Cocker ticks all of these boxes and reading this there was both a sense of the extraordinary time that was '1980s alternative music' and also every reason why I have ever wanted to be a musician. like seriously reading him talking about what his plan for pop stardom was and what he thought a band should be when he was fifteen made me want to have a band practise and record a crap demo and send it to a radio station etc etc etc it's very inspirational. the fact that Jarvis Cocker is simultaneously very cool and very uncool is fantastic as well.
his concept of Good Pop vs Bad Pop is very interesting and he obviously understands how Pop as a thing works. pop culture gets a bad rap for not being cool... especially for those people who see themselves as being *super alternative*... but Jarvis Cocker shows thoroughly the intrinsic value of POP and that is also one of the best things about Pulp as a band - they use strings and synths and all the hallmarks of 90s pop rock music and it sounds fantastic. the teenage experience, the existence of being a bit of a strange teenager, being a teenager who absorbs things and says, 'how could I do that too?' - he gets it. being in a band... is awesome.
this is a wonderful book. I love it. if he ever writes another one I'll read that too. (going to go listen to Pulp now bye bye)
August 2, 2024
Good Pop, Bad Pop wasn't what I expected but despite that, I was not disappointed.
The blurb describes it being a loft story not a life story, however Jarvis Cocker seamlessly entwines the two concepts together. The narrative of the book is driven by Cocker excavating and revisiting objects from his past that have have been stored away in his loft for decades. He asks readers to "think of the objects as not just the accumulated debris of a lifetime but as thoughts & memories."
Each object mentioned in Good Pop, Bad Pop played a role (some more significant than others) in shaping Cocker's personality, dreams and perspective on life, how he became the frontman of one of the best Britpop bands of all time, Pulp and his life after. That said, this book centres on Pulp's formation and early years in the 80s, ending with Cocker touching on his acceptance to St. Martin's College where he met the person who inspired one of Pulp's most well known and loved songs.
Good Pop, Bad Pop does not delve into the height of Pulp's fame and musings from the Britpop era but it's still endearing and worth reading. Some of the stories of events linked to the objects included in this book provided inspiration to some of Cocker's songs and insight into the mind of a talented songwriter.
As a sentimental person who has hoarded objects from their youth away over the years (albeit to a lesser extent than Cocker) and a Pulp fan, I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
The blurb describes it being a loft story not a life story, however Jarvis Cocker seamlessly entwines the two concepts together. The narrative of the book is driven by Cocker excavating and revisiting objects from his past that have have been stored away in his loft for decades. He asks readers to "think of the objects as not just the accumulated debris of a lifetime but as thoughts & memories."
Each object mentioned in Good Pop, Bad Pop played a role (some more significant than others) in shaping Cocker's personality, dreams and perspective on life, how he became the frontman of one of the best Britpop bands of all time, Pulp and his life after. That said, this book centres on Pulp's formation and early years in the 80s, ending with Cocker touching on his acceptance to St. Martin's College where he met the person who inspired one of Pulp's most well known and loved songs.
Good Pop, Bad Pop does not delve into the height of Pulp's fame and musings from the Britpop era but it's still endearing and worth reading. Some of the stories of events linked to the objects included in this book provided inspiration to some of Cocker's songs and insight into the mind of a talented songwriter.
As a sentimental person who has hoarded objects from their youth away over the years (albeit to a lesser extent than Cocker) and a Pulp fan, I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
August 8, 2023
Consistently entertaining. Jarvis uses the device of sorting through objects he has stored in his loft space to reflect on his childhood and his development as an artist. The book ends before Pulp find fame so I'm looking forward to the next installment.
I really wish I had bought a print copy of the book rather than the kindle edition though. There are lots of photos and reproductions of handwritten letters which I found difficult to see clearly.
I really wish I had bought a print copy of the book rather than the kindle edition though. There are lots of photos and reproductions of handwritten letters which I found difficult to see clearly.
June 17, 2022
Listened to this after reading John Cooper Clarke’s autobiography’I Wanna Be Yours’ and it was a brilliant follow-on. The audible recording is genius. It’s cleverly told and comes with a PDF download so you can look at the photographs as the story is told. Self deprecating and relatable stories alongside defining moments for Pulp.
January 2, 2023
I have always loved Jarvis Cocker and this book made me love him a little bit more.
Read
June 5, 2023Prachtig vormgegeven boek, moet een feest zijn geweest om te maken/schrijven. Net zoals zijn liedjes schrijft Jarvis ook in boekvorm zeer bijdehand en scherp over het dagdagelijkse. Sheffield lijkt mij ondertussen de meest triestige Engelse plek, door het lezen van dit boek. Vrij herkenbaar voor mij om te lezen over een persoon die te veel emotionele waarde steekt in nutteloze objecten.
*Hier mijn favoriete Jarvis Cocker nummer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCvYU...
*Hier mijn favoriete Jarvis Cocker nummer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCvYU...
July 28, 2023
Jarvis Cocker beginnt sein Buch stark. Der sich als "Secondhand-Outlaw" und "Recycling-Revoluzzer" positionierte Musiker nimmt uns mit auf seine geheimnisvolle Lucht. Dort wühlt er zwischen den unterschiedlichsten Erinnerungsstücken, die er seit seiner Kindheit gesammelt und zum Teil dort liegend vergessen hat. Nun begibt er sich mit großem Tatendrang an die Aufgabe darüber zu entscheiden, was er wegwirft und was er weiter aufhebt. Währenddessen teilt er mit uns die damit verknüpften Anekdoten.
Diese sind zu Beginn kurz und pointiert, was einen wunderbaren Lesefluss erzeugt. Er überzeugt dabei mit Witz und Selbstironie. - Allerdings wächst sich die Idee zunehmend zu einer Musiker-Biographie aus, die ich als solche nicht ablehne, aber er immer mehr ins Schwatzen verfällt. Die Schilderungen der 80er Jahre, in denen er an der idealen Besetzung von Pulp bastelt und versucht, erfolgreich seine musikalischen Ideen umzusetzen, bekommen ihre Längen und verlieren an Würze. Die Erinnerungsstücke geraten in den Hintergrund. -
Alles in allem ein unterhaltsames, kurzweiliges wie optisch einladendes Buch.
Diese sind zu Beginn kurz und pointiert, was einen wunderbaren Lesefluss erzeugt. Er überzeugt dabei mit Witz und Selbstironie. - Allerdings wächst sich die Idee zunehmend zu einer Musiker-Biographie aus, die ich als solche nicht ablehne, aber er immer mehr ins Schwatzen verfällt. Die Schilderungen der 80er Jahre, in denen er an der idealen Besetzung von Pulp bastelt und versucht, erfolgreich seine musikalischen Ideen umzusetzen, bekommen ihre Längen und verlieren an Würze. Die Erinnerungsstücke geraten in den Hintergrund. -
Alles in allem ein unterhaltsames, kurzweiliges wie optisch einladendes Buch.
December 10, 2022
Glorious, of course. I loved the visuals. The conceit of the book, that Jarvis is clearing out his loft and recounting the stories attached to each item he finds, really works (and I’ve read gimmicky memoirs where this definitely isn’t the case; Parker Posey’s You’re on an Airplane springs to mind).
He strikes a perfect balance: he’s funny and self-deprecating, but he also takes his creative process seriously. I was so charmed by his life-long enthusiasm for pop culture; if only we could all hold on to that earnestness amid the exhausting grind of adulthood.
Also, I’m such a superfan that the second-person writing thrilled me: “Really, Jarvis? You want ME to help you sort your loft?”
He strikes a perfect balance: he’s funny and self-deprecating, but he also takes his creative process seriously. I was so charmed by his life-long enthusiasm for pop culture; if only we could all hold on to that earnestness amid the exhausting grind of adulthood.
Also, I’m such a superfan that the second-person writing thrilled me: “Really, Jarvis? You want ME to help you sort your loft?”
January 11, 2023
“We tell ourselves stories based on evidence we glean form the world. We arrange that information in what appears to be a logical order & it becomes a narrative we believe in. It becomes The Truth. These truths can endure for years & years. Often for a whole lifetime. But, every now & then, something happens to makes us reconsider them.”
Well if Murakami can get away with a book about his T-Shirts I suppose Jarvis thought he could chance his arm on one about the crap found in his old attic, in a house that he hasn’t lived in for many years too.
The first thing to notice about the copy of this book I read, is how lovely it was packaged. A good, solid, weighty hardback, really nicely bound with some high quality, colourful images shown throughout. So kudos to Julian House, who I believe was largely responsible for how it turned out.
Cocker is one of these types, who seems to give off an almost perennially positive vibe. I’m not sure if it’s down to his unthreatening appearance and demeanour, but you just get the impression that he’s really decent, and this is reinforced all throughout this memoir.
To be fair the rubbish and er treasure he hauls out of his attic are obviously used as jumping off points, and I admit I was a little sceptical at first, but I was soon won over, not least by the chapter on Cussons Imperial Leather, which was near flawless. (I had no idea that they had changed the logo).
So this was a bit of a treat really, Cocker has produced a fun, unassuming yet charming, light-hearted meditation of sorts about many areas of his life and career and you come away with quite a good-hearted feel too.
Well if Murakami can get away with a book about his T-Shirts I suppose Jarvis thought he could chance his arm on one about the crap found in his old attic, in a house that he hasn’t lived in for many years too.
The first thing to notice about the copy of this book I read, is how lovely it was packaged. A good, solid, weighty hardback, really nicely bound with some high quality, colourful images shown throughout. So kudos to Julian House, who I believe was largely responsible for how it turned out.
Cocker is one of these types, who seems to give off an almost perennially positive vibe. I’m not sure if it’s down to his unthreatening appearance and demeanour, but you just get the impression that he’s really decent, and this is reinforced all throughout this memoir.
To be fair the rubbish and er treasure he hauls out of his attic are obviously used as jumping off points, and I admit I was a little sceptical at first, but I was soon won over, not least by the chapter on Cussons Imperial Leather, which was near flawless. (I had no idea that they had changed the logo).
So this was a bit of a treat really, Cocker has produced a fun, unassuming yet charming, light-hearted meditation of sorts about many areas of his life and career and you come away with quite a good-hearted feel too.
August 21, 2024
KEEP, PASS IT ON, GOOD POP
when i first picked this one up at a partially pretentious bratislava bookstore with “assorted” literature, i started doubting myself a little bit. i had a massive pulp moment in 2020 (to an extent influenced by my romantic developments, such is life) but also grew up with their songs played by my parents at home. was this going to speak to me, still?
it did! it is refreshing, anecdotal, but not surface level-ish. jarvis remains sound in my eyes and rediscovering some songs i totally forgot about was just a plus.
when i first picked this one up at a partially pretentious bratislava bookstore with “assorted” literature, i started doubting myself a little bit. i had a massive pulp moment in 2020 (to an extent influenced by my romantic developments, such is life) but also grew up with their songs played by my parents at home. was this going to speak to me, still?
it did! it is refreshing, anecdotal, but not surface level-ish. jarvis remains sound in my eyes and rediscovering some songs i totally forgot about was just a plus.
January 8, 2023
An entertaining read told in Jarvis’s distinctive voice. I liked the premise of this book - him unearthing objects from a loft space where they’d languished for decades - then deciding whether to either ‘cob’ or ‘keep’ them. There were some trips down memory lane in the miscellany that he found for me too, eg the bubblegum ‘tatoos’. I’m looking forward to the next instalment (hope there is one).
July 15, 2023
Charming witty sweet self-effacing . What’s not to love! Only 4 stars because I wish it had gone on longer.
July 14, 2024
Your pleasure with this book will be measured by how much you appreciate Cocker and Pulp. I have very fond 1990s memories of Jarvis so found this trip down memory lane pleasantly nostalgic, but I can imagine folk with only a cursory interest in him just shrugging at this book. And that’s ok.
February 4, 2023
That were a right good laugh
February 27, 2023
An all too brief but consistently funny journey through Cocker’s formative years, in the form of an attic clear out. The playful use of images, journal entries and newspaper clippings works brilliantly - I particularly enjoyed the ‘Pulp Manifesto’ written before Cocker had written his first song. You could finish it in a weekend, it was fun to pick up and read a chapter or two a day so as to savour it. Would 100% read a sequel.
May 15, 2024
this should be the dullest book ever - a 60 year old man clearing out his loft ?! but this man is also jarvis cocker, who seems to have lost an important part of his brain somewhere in a field in hampshire.
insightful and incredibly witty, in true cocker style. (it’s also about 50% pictures! always a bonus)
insightful and incredibly witty, in true cocker style. (it’s also about 50% pictures! always a bonus)
July 16, 2024
Excelente fan-service.
Enamorada de este hombre
Hice una playlist con la música de la que habla:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0TK...
Enamorada de este hombre
Hice una playlist con la música de la que habla:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0TK...
July 8, 2024
La creatividad es tan diversa como la cantidad de personas en el mundo. Puede manifestarse en, por ejemplo, la solución de un problema, la planificación de una clase, la confección de un objeto; la cosa es hacer propia la dirección de la imaginación y encauzarla a rutas que refresquen la realidad. Jarvis Cocker escogió ser Escritor de Canciones para transformar su visión y dejar un testimonio de lo que él define como vida.
Sin embargo, este libro no es un método para crear canciones ni mucho menos un manual para ser más creativo. Es algo mucho mejor, es pasear por sus primeros años biográficos a través de objetos materiales contenedores de historias entrañables. A partir de estas vivencias, el artista fue acertando cada vez más con el método más idóneo para desplantar su creatividad (o como diría él, encontrar algo sobre qué escribir). Estas experiencias también otorgan enseñanzas que se adquieren solo en la práctica del rubro (demos un ejemplo: “puedes usar tu cuerpo para transmitir lo que deseas. El público está ahí para verte tanto como para oírte. Así que hay que darles algo que puedan mirar” (202). Jarvis Cocker desarrolló esto a la perfección). Valoro estas narraciones sobre todo por enfatizar en aquella perseverancia que los artistas suelen olvidar cuando se busca superar aquella etiqueta de hobby. Pulp empezó desde los años colegiales, con numerosos integrantes que tocaron en antros de mala muerte frente a punkies que se burlaban de aquel aspecto sofisticado en escena. Y mírenlos ahora, tocando de vuelta con la misma energía de siempre y sonando mejor que nunca. Al final del libro hay una frase clave que resume todo esto. No daré spoilers.
Este libro es un relato personal pero también cultural. Es inmiscuirse en aquella Inglaterra de los años ochenta con thatcherismo y desempleo en altos niveles. El libro nos permite ser testigos desde el mundo subterráneo sobre aquel período histórico, sobre cómo forjar una buena cultura pop y relegar el mal pop. Por ejemplo, “Puede que el mantra del mercado sea libertad de elección, pero si la elección se da entre pura basura, ¿qué elección es esa?” (264). Aquel mal pop es donde la mercantilización vale más que todo y trata de estúpido a su público. En cambio, el pop bueno tiene una actitud aterrizada desde el primer momento; se da el lujo de mejorar la realidad con sus artificios y ser el refugio perfecto para las personas: “Esa era la magia del pop: no podía predecirse. Un éxito tenía que tener ese algo misterioso que se alojaba en la imaginación popular” (48). El buen pop capta las señales de la sociedad y las adopta a su virtud para que aquellos cuerpos danzantes canten letras que bien pueden ser la historia de su vida. Va más allá de una melodía pegadiza: es el relato de nuestro sentir colectivo.
Increíble e inspirador libro. Debe tener un aliciente escondido para la creatividad y la inspiración porque me devolvió vigor a aquel motor que llevaba meses sin ser encendido.
Sin embargo, este libro no es un método para crear canciones ni mucho menos un manual para ser más creativo. Es algo mucho mejor, es pasear por sus primeros años biográficos a través de objetos materiales contenedores de historias entrañables. A partir de estas vivencias, el artista fue acertando cada vez más con el método más idóneo para desplantar su creatividad (o como diría él, encontrar algo sobre qué escribir). Estas experiencias también otorgan enseñanzas que se adquieren solo en la práctica del rubro (demos un ejemplo: “puedes usar tu cuerpo para transmitir lo que deseas. El público está ahí para verte tanto como para oírte. Así que hay que darles algo que puedan mirar” (202). Jarvis Cocker desarrolló esto a la perfección). Valoro estas narraciones sobre todo por enfatizar en aquella perseverancia que los artistas suelen olvidar cuando se busca superar aquella etiqueta de hobby. Pulp empezó desde los años colegiales, con numerosos integrantes que tocaron en antros de mala muerte frente a punkies que se burlaban de aquel aspecto sofisticado en escena. Y mírenlos ahora, tocando de vuelta con la misma energía de siempre y sonando mejor que nunca. Al final del libro hay una frase clave que resume todo esto. No daré spoilers.
Este libro es un relato personal pero también cultural. Es inmiscuirse en aquella Inglaterra de los años ochenta con thatcherismo y desempleo en altos niveles. El libro nos permite ser testigos desde el mundo subterráneo sobre aquel período histórico, sobre cómo forjar una buena cultura pop y relegar el mal pop. Por ejemplo, “Puede que el mantra del mercado sea libertad de elección, pero si la elección se da entre pura basura, ¿qué elección es esa?” (264). Aquel mal pop es donde la mercantilización vale más que todo y trata de estúpido a su público. En cambio, el pop bueno tiene una actitud aterrizada desde el primer momento; se da el lujo de mejorar la realidad con sus artificios y ser el refugio perfecto para las personas: “Esa era la magia del pop: no podía predecirse. Un éxito tenía que tener ese algo misterioso que se alojaba en la imaginación popular” (48). El buen pop capta las señales de la sociedad y las adopta a su virtud para que aquellos cuerpos danzantes canten letras que bien pueden ser la historia de su vida. Va más allá de una melodía pegadiza: es el relato de nuestro sentir colectivo.
Increíble e inspirador libro. Debe tener un aliciente escondido para la creatividad y la inspiración porque me devolvió vigor a aquel motor que llevaba meses sin ser encendido.
January 18, 2023
What started as a furious nighttime read beginning got swiftly ruined by a consecutive run of painfully early work shifts and a week full of birthday dinners and drinks.
17th of January I am finally allowed back to this absolute treasure of a book. Treasure being an apt word for this review because wow, what a treasure hunt Jarvis Cocker takes us on.
I asked for this book for Christmas; being a sucker for an old piece of music non-fiction, I assumed this was an ‘inventory’ of songs, albums etc.
How wrong I was.
What is in part a trip down the memory lane of another is also the much needed gutting of a loft owned by a procrastinating musician.
Odd. I thought. Really going to have to drag myself through the almost 400 pages of this, I thought.
But no, much to my delight this book made me laugh, it made me visibly smile at the pages, it made me relax in the fact that I too, am I tortoise (it’ll make sense if you read it) and this magnificent band I know and love didn’t just MAKE IT at the drop of a hat. It took years and years, and therefore years and years of gorgeous crap thrown into that loft.
If you’re a Pulp fan, a music fan, a decluttering fan. Please for the love of GOOD POP read this book !!!
17th of January I am finally allowed back to this absolute treasure of a book. Treasure being an apt word for this review because wow, what a treasure hunt Jarvis Cocker takes us on.
I asked for this book for Christmas; being a sucker for an old piece of music non-fiction, I assumed this was an ‘inventory’ of songs, albums etc.
How wrong I was.
What is in part a trip down the memory lane of another is also the much needed gutting of a loft owned by a procrastinating musician.
Odd. I thought. Really going to have to drag myself through the almost 400 pages of this, I thought.
But no, much to my delight this book made me laugh, it made me visibly smile at the pages, it made me relax in the fact that I too, am I tortoise (it’ll make sense if you read it) and this magnificent band I know and love didn’t just MAKE IT at the drop of a hat. It took years and years, and therefore years and years of gorgeous crap thrown into that loft.
If you’re a Pulp fan, a music fan, a decluttering fan. Please for the love of GOOD POP read this book !!!
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