Favourites : Julian Cope : Jehovahkill and Peggy Suicide

Julian Cope fans are divided on what his greatest album is.  The Teardrop Explodes official last album Wilder, the environmentally focussed Peggy Suicide and some, like me, even go for this one Jehovahkill.

I first came across Julian Cope with Teardrop Explodes' first album, Kilimanjaro in 1981.

The story/myth was that the Teardrops imploded after Cope became more and more erratic as he experimented more and more with LSD. Courtney Love may even had something to with it as she had latched herself onto Julian and supposedly, and unsurprisingly, was not popular with the rest of the band.

In some respects he could be considered in a similar vein to Neil Young in the singular and eccentric path he has followed since leaving the band (now more than 30 years ago).  Seemingly recording music to please himself he has at times been very prolific.  His live shows by reputation can be stunning, frustrating or both.



His first two solo albums seemed to support the LSD theory being disjointed and erratic then with Saint Julian and My Nation Underground he produces two albums clearly targeted at commercial success (maybe just to get some $ to fund his growing literary and scholarly pursuits.  At the time he was researching a book on Stone Circles in the UK which along with a follow up similar tome on prehistoric structures in Europe mean that he is now recognised as a leading figure on the antiquities.

After the commercial success of the St Julian and My Nation Underground he produced a couple very noncommercial albums before the one two hit of Peggy Suicide and Jehovahkill.  The former with strong environmental theme and the latter clearly influenced by his fascination with the antiquities and his intense dislike of christianity.

Both were double albums and both had a mixture of soft acoustic tracks and rockers equally influenced by his love of Krautrock and The Stooges.  Both also hang together remarkably well considering their ambitious themes, testimony to both Cope's intellectual and music abilities.

There are so many good songs on these albums it is really hard to recommend where to start.  Some won't like the electric workouts, others the seemingly banal repetition of some songs but they are always interesting and well worth checking out. Julian Cope is a very singular artist and it is great that he has managed to work out how to continue following his own muse and still seemingly make some sort of living.   Check out these selections,  Soul Desert,  Gimme Back my Flag, Hard Shoulder, Julian H Cope, Pristeen / Hanging out and Hung Up On The Line, Safesurfer and Know (Cut My Friend Down)

And quite what Upwards at 45 degrees Means is anyone's guess!!!