Julian Cope isn't one to dwell on the past, but he isn't opposed to re-evaluating it, either. When going through some old tapes, he evidently found enough material to convince him to add one more compilation to the Teardrop Explodes post-breakup catalog. This set is evenly split between demos, early versions, and live tracks. As with any anthology of this kind, the sound quality tends to vary. The earliest songs, a few instrumentals from 1978, sound the roughest, but the majority of the tracks sound excellent. Audio clarity is hardly an issue, though, when legendary lost Teardrop gems like "Log Cabin" and the original "You Disappear From View" are finally unearthed. The latter's stripped-down sound is indescribably better than the cheesy, faux soul version that appeared on Everybody Wants to Shag the Teardrop Explodes. Just more evidence that their unfinished third album would have been another classic had Cope been able to keep David Balfe's synth at bay. While a few of the alternate takes aren't terribly different from the common ones, "Tiny Children" is utterly charming and upbeat, a far cry from the haunting take included on Wilder. Musically speaking, the best version of the group was the one that featured Jeff Hammer on keyboards and Alfie Agius on bass. The sometimes comedic differences these hired hands had with core members Cope and Gary Dwyer are highlighted in Cope's hilarious book, Head-On. But the diversity seems to have worked: this incarnation of the band is featured on exciting live renditions of "The Culture Bunker" and "Sleeping Gas," which both display the band's unique fusion of the sounds of 1967 and 1977. One would assume that the vaults have pretty much been emptied with this disc, even though several complete live broadcasts and many BBC sessions are still in the archives. However, based upon a disclaimer on the cover which states that Zoology is to rhyme with "eulogy," this may be the final word on the group. If that's the case, it's a fine swansong, tidily wrapping up the loose ends for longtime admirers of the highly underrated post-punk band. (There is an unlisted final track which is an interview with several luminaries, including Cope, concerning the fabled Columbia Hotel in London, a favorite hideaway for new wave artists in the early '80s.)
The Teardrop Explodes second, and final, album, Wilder. The original was released in November 1981. At the start of the year, ‘Reward’ had given the Teardrops their only Top Ten hit but amidst all the publicity that always surrounded the group, Wilder reached only a disappointing 29 in the charts. The first extracted single ‘Passionate Friend’, despite two appearances on Top of the Pops, barely scraped into the Top 30. Within a year of Wilder’s release, the group had split up. This new edition features the original album in all its glory, plus a second disc compiled and sequenced by Julian Cope containing all the related singles, b-sides and BBC radio sessions.
Cope also provides a track by track breakdown, while Dave Balfe, the Teardrops’s original keyboard player, foil and sometime nemesis to Cope, along with guitarist Troy Tate provide further notes; Balfe’s essay is a particularly honest and revealing account of the recording process.
Disc two is effectively an alternative version of the album, the BBC sessions presenting many key songs in a noticeably different form, closer to how the group used to play them live. One the eve of recording Wilder, bassist Alfie Agius and keyboard player Jeff Hammer (both of whom play on the radio sessions) were jettisoned, leaving only Cope, ever-faithful drummer Gary Dwyer and guitarist Tate. Dave Balfe then returned, whereupon he and Cope proceeded to rearrange virtually every song with a much greater emphasis on synths and experimentation, and with a far more downbeat complexion than the well-crafted psychedelic pop that was their trademark.
The radio sessions also include songs which didn’t make it on to the album; Cope’s take on John Cale’s ‘I’m Not The Loving Kind’ and the powerful ‘Screaming Secrets’, a live tour de force which the group never nailed in the studio. Cope would eventually record it for St Julian.
Disc two also rounds up the b-sides to the three singles taken from Wilder: the infectious ‘Passionate Friend’, the punchy, brass-led ‘Colours Fly Away’, and the exquisitely plaintive ‘Tiny Children’, plus the non-album single ‘You Disappear From View’, a last-ditch reversion to the ‘Reward’ formula, released in 1983 after the group had split up.
It’s a rich and varied selection including the more challenging ‘Christ Vs Warhol’ and ‘Window Shopping For A New Crown Of Thorns’, the charming, atypical ‘Rachel Built A Steamboat’, ‘Suffocate’ (a re-recorded version of the song which only appeared on the US version of Kilimanjaro) and a full-on, live ‘Sleeping Gas’, recorded at Club Zoo. Amidst the disbelief and surprise at Wilder’s poor showing, Club Zoo was an outrageously excess all areas six week stint at the tiny Pyramid Club in Liverpool featuring the Wilder line up of Cope, Balfe, Dwyer and Tate plus new bassist Ronnie Francois. Designed to break in the new band, it was more a dress rehearsal for the American tour that followed - a fraught, drug-fuelled disaster which saw the group unravel to a point from which they never really recovered.
For fans of the group, and those that fondly remember the original album, this is an essential purchase, as it offers a brief glimpse into how the album may have sounded had the original lineup been present for the studio recording. Equally, for Cope's more modern fans, this album takes you back to a pivotal time in his career
The Teardrop Explodes were one of the most undeservedly overlooked bands of the early eighties. Their remarkable debut, Kilimanjaro (1980), has been reissued in a deluxe triple-disc set and is a wonderful reminder of just how great the group was.
Led by songwriter, vocalist, author and LSD advocate Julian Cope, The Teardrop Explodes came out of the same late-seventies Liverpool scene that spawned Echo And The Bunnymen, among others. In fact, the two groups were so closely related at that point that a song written by Cope and Echo vocalist Ian McCullough was released on both artists’ debuts. On Kilimanjaro the song is simply titled “Books,“ while on The Bunnymen’s debut, Crocodiles, it is called “Read It In Books.”
As interesting as that little factoid is, however, “Books” is actually one of the lesser tracks on Kilimanjaro. The album is so front loaded with superior material, is it really hard to believe they did not garner the type of attention they warranted. “Ha Ha I’m Drowning (In Your Love)” opens the record up with some great horn work and marvelously creative lyrics.
“Sleeping Gas” finds Cope repeating the line, “I just wander around, I just wander around,” and there is little doubt he was telling the truth. The brilliant U.K. hit single, “Treason” is next, and is one I just cannot say enough about. It is one of those songs that you can just listen to over and over, and never tire of.
Cope has never been shy about his enjoyment of drugs, although I think he has probably mellowed a bit by now. In any case, “Poppies In The Field” is sort of ambiguous lyrically about the subject: “The poppies are in the field, don’t ask me what that means.” It really doesn’t matter because the bass carries this tune so well while the pathos in Cope’s voice are intoxicating in their own right.
The only quoted lyrics on the package are from “Went Crazy”: “They told my friends it was a secret but it’s rumored that some of us went crazy.” Make of it what you will, but the eleven songs that make up this album are uniformly excellent. Kilimanjaro is absolutely one of my favorite eighties records.
This expanded edition is as full of extra goodies as one would imagine. Disc Two — Bates Motel consists of rare B-sides and early versions of Kilimanjaro tunes. There is some fascinating material including “Strange House In The Snow,” and a French version of “Treason” (“Traison”). The final of the thirteen tracks contained on this disc is a great live version of “Sleeping Gas.”
Disc Three — BBC Sessions is as described — live cuts recorded in the BBC studios. Highlights of the eleven cuts recorded 1979-1980 include versions of “Went Crazy,” “Poppies In The Field,” and “Ha Ha I’m Drowing.” The disc finishes with a nice obscurity from the era, “The Great Dominions.”
For fans like myself, all of these extras are a lot of fun. There are also some great commentaries from the principles in the accompanying booklet. But none of it tops Kilimanjaro itself. This is simply a brilliant record, and no fan of post-punk, neo-psychedelic British music should be without it.
