91-650: The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk / neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single " Reward ", the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s. The group also launched the career of group frontman Julian Cope as well as that of keyboard player and co-manager David Balfe (later a record producer, A&R man and founder of Food Records ). Other members included early Smiths producer Troy Tate . Along with other contemporary Liverpudlian groups, The Teardrop Explodes played
182-428: A new wave revival. Their music ranged from the atonal tracks of bands like Liars to the melodic pop songs of groups like The Sounds . They shared an emphasis on energetic live performance and used aesthetics (in hair and clothes) closely aligned with their fans, often drawing on fashion of the 1950s and 1960s, with "skinny ties, white belts [and] shag haircuts". There was an emphasis on "rock authenticity" that
273-513: A dense (and often playful) style of criticism that drew on philosophy, radical politics and an eclectic variety of other sources. In 1978, UK magazine Sounds celebrated albums such as Siouxsie and the Banshees' The Scream , Wire's Chairs Missing , and American band Pere Ubu 's Dub Housing . In 1979, NME championed records such as PiL's Metal Box , Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures , Gang of Four's Entertainment! , Wire's 154 ,
364-497: A fourth group, A Shallow Madness, retaining Pickett as drummer but recruiting organ player Paul Simpson and part-time guitarist Michael "Mick" Finkler. Cope and McCulloch's ongoing ego clashes led to the latter leaving the band during rehearsals, ultimately to form Echo and the Bunnymen . Cope, meanwhile, had befriended Liverpool scenester Gary "Rocky" Dwyer and had suggested a new band name to him – The Teardrop Explodes, taken from
455-438: A genre of music than a space of possibility", suggesting that "what unites all this activity is a set of open-ended imperatives: innovation; willful oddness; the willful jettisoning of all things precedented or 'rock'n'roll ' ". AllMusic employs "post-punk" to denote "a more adventurous and arty form of punk". Reynolds asserted that the post-punk period produced significant innovations and music on its own. Reynolds described
546-584: A hub for this scene and provide it with its namesake. A pioneering punk scene in Australia during the mid-1970s also fostered influential post-punk acts like The Birthday Party , who eventually relocated to the UK to join its burgeoning music scene. As these scenes began to develop, British music publications such as NME and Sounds developed an influential part in the nascent post-punk culture, with writers like Savage, Paul Morley and Ian Penman developing
637-682: A large output of music. By 1980–1981, many British acts, including Maximum Joy , Magazine, Essential Logic, Killing Joke , the Sound , 23 Skidoo , Alternative TV , the Teardrop Explodes , the Psychedelic Furs , Echo & the Bunnymen and the Membranes also became part of these fledgling post-punk scenes, which centered on cities such as London and Manchester. However, during this period, major figures and artists in
728-466: A mentor to bands such as Blur : he quit the music business in 1999. Former guitarist Troy Tate released two solo albums and worked as a producer (including work with The Smiths ). In 1989, various Teardrop Explodes promos were included on Copeulation , a compilation of Julian Cope’s pop videos. In April 1990, Mercury Records released a Teardrop Explodes album called Everybody Wants to Shag... The Teardrop Explodes , which had been compiled by Balfe from
819-531: A more commercial new wave sound (such as Gang of Four), while others were fixtures on American college radio and became early examples of alternative rock , such as R.E.M. One band to emerge from post-punk was U2 , which infused elements of religious imagery and political commentary into its often anthemic music. Online database AllMusic noted that late '80s bands such as Big Flame , World Domination Enterprises , and Minimal Compact appeared to be extensions of post-punk. Some notable bands that recalled
910-502: A notorious (though disputed) event in which an irate Dwyer chased Balfe over the Monmouthshire hillsides with a loaded shotgun. Hating Balfe's instrumentals, Cope walked out of the sessions with only part of the singing done and the album incomplete. To Cope's disgust, the band were already committed to a UK tour playing as a guitarless three-piece, with the instrumentation covered mainly by synthesizer and backing tapes. Cope found
1001-451: A panel caption in the Marvel comic strip Daredevil (No. 77). Dwyer's initial response was a laconic "that’s a weird one you’ve got there, Jules." Dwyer did, however, take the idea seriously enough to learn how to play drums in order to take it further. With Cope taking on the roles of singer and bass guitarist, The Teardrop Explodes was completed by recruiting Simpson and Finkler from
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#17327876141301092-427: A role in returning psychedelic elements to mainstream British rock and pop, initially favouring a modernised version of lightly psychedelic late 1960s-influenced beat -group sound (sometimes described as "bubblegum trance") and later exploring more experimental areas. In addition to their musical reputation, the band (and Cope in particular) had a reputation for eccentric pronouncements and behaviour, sometimes verging on
1183-516: A rural landscape. Despite the familiar aspects in Ged Quinn’s use of painting techniques—ranging from the classical and Romantic traditions of European landscape, such as Caspar David Friedrich , to the American Sublime—his introduction of incongruent and often disturbing imagery, disruptions of scale, and an undercurrent of religious sensibility and political and cultural iconography creates
1274-451: A sense of haunting and dislocation. In Quinn’s work, the landscapes themselves have a visionary character, providing an unfolding freedom that is a boundless showground for significance. There are circulations, juxtapositions, and layering that allow for a large amount of readings and narratives to develop and disappear. There is a constant sense of play both between and within the imagery, which gives space for meanings, yet ultimately denies
1365-591: A tribute song of its own: "I Can't Get Bouncing Babies by the Teardrop Explodes" by The Freshies , an ode to the difficulty of obtaining a copy of the song. In February 1980 the band released their third and final single on Zoo Records, " Treason ", which was recorded in London with producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley . The B-side was a version of the Cope/McCulloch song "Read It in Books", which Echo &
1456-465: A tyrant. "I must say I don't like Dave. He gets a pretty dubious character sometimes. He just plays a good role in the band that's all, but we often fight, and I mean physically. I usually win because he's a bit of a wimp... not that I'm a fighting person though. Dave is just one of the most extreme characters I've ever met. Sometimes he gets me so knotted up inside .. but then again that's good because it keeps me pushing; you know, right there…I usually do
1547-1152: Is an English artist and musician. He studied at the Ruskin School of Art and St Anne's College in Oxford , the Slade School of Art in London , the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam . He now lives and works in the UK. Quinn has exhibited internationally in many shows including 'FOCUS: Ged Quinn' at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth , Texas, US, 'Endless Renaissance' at Bass Museum , Miami Beach, 'Beyond Reality: British Painting Today' at Galerie Rudolfinum in Prague , and 'Newspeak: British Art Now' at State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg , Russia. He
1638-504: Is not with what Reynolds left out of Rip It Up ..., but, paradoxically, that too much was left in". Ogg suggested that post-punk pertains to a set of artistic sensibilities and approaches rather than any unifying style, and disputed the accuracy of the term's chronological prefix "post", as various groups commonly labelled "post-punk" predate the punk rock movement. Reynolds defined the post-punk era as occurring roughly between 1978 and 1984. He advocated that post-punk be conceived as "less
1729-580: The pastoral works of Claude Lorrain and Caspar David Friedrich . For example, his "Cross in the Wilderness" introduces a miniature Spandau Prison , the iconic jail for Nazi war criminals, into a forest scene based on "Der Chasseur im Walde" by Friedrich, a leading painter in German Romanticism . Another painting, "Darkening of the Green", places the controversial HM Prison Maze into
1820-510: The production techniques of dub and disco ; and ideas from art and politics, including critical theory , modernist art , cinema and literature . These communities produced independent record labels , visual art, multimedia performances and fanzines . The early post-punk vanguard was represented by groups including Siouxsie and the Banshees , Wire , Public Image Ltd , the Pop Group , Magazine , Joy Division , Talking Heads ,
1911-462: The Art of Noise , would attempt to bring sampled and electronic sounds to the pop mainstream. Post-punk artists such as Scritti Politti's Green Gartside and Josef K 's Paul Haig , previously engaged in avant-garde practices, turned away from these approaches and pursued mainstream styles and commercial success. These new developments, in which post-punk artists attempted to bring subversive ideas into
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#17327876141302002-461: The Banshees and Wire were experimenting with sounds, lyrics, and aesthetics that differed significantly from their punk contemporaries. Savage described some of these early developments as exploring "harsh urban scrapings", "controlled white noise " and "massively accented drumming". In November 1977 Siouxsie and the Banshees' first John Peel Session for BBC radio 1 marked the transition to post-punk when they premiered "Metal Postcard" with space in
2093-528: The Blacks , and Lizzy Mercier Descloux pursued a formula described by Lucy Sante as "anything at all + disco bottom". Other no wave-indebted artists such as Swans , Rhys Chatham , Glenn Branca , Lydia Lunch , the Lounge Lizards , Bush Tetras , and Sonic Youth instead continued exploring the early scene's forays into noise music 's abrasive territory. The original post-punk movement ended as
2184-581: The British post-punk scene in the late 1970s. The genre later flourished into a more widespread and international movement of artists who applied the spirit of psychedelic rock to new sounds and techniques. Other styles such as avant-funk and industrial dub also emerged around 1979. Midwestern groups such as Pere Ubu and Devo drew inspiration from the region's derelict industrial environments , employing conceptual art techniques, musique concrète and unconventional verbal styles that would presage
2275-666: The Bunnnymen had already released as the b-side to their debut single, "The Pictures on My Wall". Both bands recorded different versions of "Read It in Books" in the future, and Cope also re-recorded the track as a solo artist. In the summer of 1980, The Teardrop Explodes began recording their debut album, Kilimanjaro , at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire. The sessions were interrupted by touring requirements, and also by internal dissension. This peaked when Cope and Balfe opted to fire Mick Finkler as guitarist. Cope subsequently claimed that "Mick, to me, had got really complacent. There
2366-604: The Bunnymen, who maintained a love/hate relationship and continuing rivalry with the Teardrops throughout their existence. "I think we're very poppy. To me pop is something you hum. What I'm trying to do is strike a balance between triteness and greatness. People nowadays seem too embarrassed to show emotion, which is what I want." Julian Cope on The Teardrop Explodes The Teardrop Explodes released their first single, "Sleeping Gas", in February 1979. Simpson's stage presence
2457-751: The Jerks , Mars , DNA , Theoretical Girls , and Rhys Chatham instead experimented with noise, dissonance and atonality in addition to non-rock styles. The former four groups were included on the Eno-produced No New York compilation (1978), often considered the quintessential testament to the scene. The decadent parties and art installations of venues such as Club 57 and the Mudd Club would become cultural hubs for musicians and visual artists alike, with figures such as Jean-Michel Basquiat , Keith Haring and Michael Holman frequenting
2548-957: The Pop Group and the Slits had begun experimenting with dance music, dub production techniques and the avant-garde, while punk-indebted Manchester acts such as Joy Division, the Fall , the Durutti Column and A Certain Ratio developed unique styles that drew on a similarly disparate range of influences across music and modernist art. Bands such as Scritti Politti , Gang of Four , Essential Logic and This Heat incorporated leftist political philosophy and their own art school studies in their work. The unorthodox studio production techniques devised by producers such as Steve Lillywhite , Martin Hannett , and Dennis Bovell became important element of
2639-620: The Pyramid Club in Liverpool, where they set up "Club Zoo", playing twice a day as a five-piece. The band then undertook an extensive tour of Europe, the US and Australia, hiring trumpeter Ted Emmett (ex- 64 Spoons ) for the live band. By March 1982, the Teardrops' internal situation was as fraught as ever following assorted disagreements and individual meltdowns. The increasingly alienated Cope retreated to his hometown of Tamworth . At this point
2730-563: The Raincoats ' self-titled debut , and American group Talking Heads ' album Fear of Music . Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, Bauhaus and the Cure were examples of post-punk bands who shifted to dark overtones in their music, which would later spawn the gothic rock scene in the early 1980s. Members of Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Cure worked on records and toured together regularly until 1984. Neo-psychedelia grew out of
2821-413: The Raincoats , Gang of Four , the Cure , and the Fall . The movement was closely related to the development of ancillary genres such as gothic rock , neo-psychedelia , no wave , and industrial music . By the mid-1980s, post-punk had dissipated, but it provided a foundation for the new pop movement and the later alternative and independent genres. Post-punk is a diverse genre that emerged from
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2912-421: The Teardrops as a popular singles band. "The band was never built to last... It was like building a house on scaffolding, on top of a tank moving at three miles an hour. The higher you build it, the further removed you are from the reality that it’s actually moving and going to fall." Julian Cope At the end of 1981 (and with Ronnie François now added on bass guitar) the band took up a lengthy residence at
3003-620: The UK Albums Chart and the band toured to support it. One further single from the album, released almost a year later, in September 1981, was "Ha-Ha I'm Drowning" backed by "Poppies in the Field"; early pressings were packaged with a bonus reissue of the "Bouncing Babies" single. In November 1980, Alan Gill left The Teardrop Explodes, claiming not to enjoy the touring lifestyle. Cope later praised him for his strong creative impact on both
3094-420: The abortive third album sessions and the "You Disappear From View" EP tracks. In November of the same year Teardrop Explodes manager Bill Drummond released yet another Teardrops album, Piano , which compiled all of the early Zoo Records singles. Cope’s response to these albums was mixed, though press reception was highly positive. In August 1992, Cope was able to work on a retrospective under his own terms with
3185-574: The art school tradition found in the work of artists such as Roxy Music and David Bowie . Reynolds noted a preoccupation among some post-punk artists with issues such as alienation , repression , and technocracy of Western modernity . Among major influences on a variety of post-punk artists were writers William S. Burroughs and J. G. Ballard , avant-garde political scenes such as Situationism and Dada , and intellectual movements such as postmodernism . Many artists viewed their work in explicitly political terms. Additionally, in some locations,
3276-530: The band and its perspective, but also suggested that with the band's growing success Gill had found himself "afraid to compete." Gill was replaced by former Shake guitarist Troy Tate but by now Cope and Balfe's abrasive relationship had worsened to the point that Balfe was ousted as group keyboard player, although he continued to be involved with management. As well as broadening the band's sound and outlook, Alan Gill had brought in an all-but-complete new song before his departure, which he and Cope had reworked. This
3367-598: The band decided to strip down to a three-piece, losing Tate, Francois and Emmett. A third single from Wilder – the uncharacteristically sombre "Tiny Children" – was released in June 1982 and narrowly missed the top 40 (No. 41 UK) despite being championed by high-profile BBC Radio One DJ, Mike Read . By now, Balfe had also developed an interest in writing songs and lobbied to join Cope as band songwriter, with Cope retained predominantly as singer and frontman. In September 1982,
3458-485: The band had another Top 20 hit with the re-released "Treason" (featuring the earlier Kilimanjaro line-up of the band) which reached No. 18 in the UK Singles Chart. Another single, "When I Dream", received airplay on progressive radio in the U.S., introducing the band to new fans. In June 1981, the band embarked on another American tour. The tour proved to be a chaotic affair: neither Agius nor Hammer fitted into
3549-469: The band on the road as a touring concern, two London musicians were hired – keyboard player Jeff Hammer and bass player Alfie Agius (the latter freeing Cope to concentrate on vocals and rhythm guitar). Despite the internal turmoil, by 1981 The Teardrop Explodes were at the height of their popularity. In March, the band played their first American dates (a time also notable for Cope's meeting with Dorian Beslity, who would later become his second wife). In April,
3640-549: The band reconvened at Rockfield Studios to record their third album around the nucleus of Cope, Dwyer and Balfe. Creative tensions were high, as Cope wanted to write ballads and quirky pop songs, while Balfe was more interested in recording synth-based music. Balfe took over the sessions and locked Cope and Dwyer out of the studios for much of the time. Rarely able (or inclined) to add their own contributions, Cope and Dwyer worked off their frustration playing risky, stoned cross-country games with speeding jeeps. The situation culminated in
3731-459: The band's dissolution, Julian Cope began a career as a solo artist, writer and cultural commentator which continues to this day. Gary Dwyer played drums on Cope's 1984 debut solo album World Shut Your Mouth , and drummed for The Colourfield in 1986 and Balcony Dogs in the late 1980s, but subsequently left music for a variety of jobs including fork-lift driver. David Balfe moved into artist management and subsequently set up Food Records , acting as
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3822-581: The band. When asked in 2000 if the Teardrop Explodes would ever get back together, he said: "Would you ever return to having your mother wipe your asshole?" In the course of a 2008 interview he commented: "Supposedly intelligent people say to me: ' Don't you think you'd be more successful if you re-formed The Teardrop Explodes? ' I'm doing all this stuff to keep myself invigorated every day, hanging out with people I believe are culture heroes, and you think I'm doing all this because it hasn't yet occurred to me to reform The Teardrop Explodes?" In June 2010,
3913-587: The bands associated with the movement turned away from its aesthetics, often in favour of more commercial sounds. Many of these groups would continue recording as part of the new pop movement, with entryism becoming a popular concept. In the United States, driven by MTV and modern rock radio stations, a number of post-punk acts had an influence on or became part of the Second British Invasion of " New Music " there. Some shifted to
4004-719: The break-up of his pioneering punk band the Sex Pistols , citing his disillusionment with punk's musical predictability and cooption by commercial interests, as well as his desire to explore more diverse territory. In May, Lydon formed the group Public Image Ltd with guitarist Keith Levene and bassist Jah Wobble , the latter who declared "rock is obsolete" after citing reggae as a "natural influence". However, Lydon described his new sound as "total pop with deep meanings. But I don't want to be categorised in any other term but punk! That's where I come from and that's where I'm staying." Around this time, acts such as Public Image Ltd,
4095-451: The breakup of Cope's first marriage and the mental chaos surrounding Cope and the band. The album was also a break from the solid beat-group sound of Kilimanjaro , showcasing a variety of different approaches. It reached No. 29 on the UK chart and was certified Silver by the BPI , as Kilimanjaro had been. The next single, "Colours Fly Away" stalled at No. 57 in the UK chart, signaling the end of
4186-432: The broad umbrella of " new wave ", with the terms being deployed interchangeably. "Post-punk" became differentiated from "new wave" after their styles perceptibly narrowed. The writer Nicholas Lezard described the term "post-punk" as "so multifarious that only the broadest use ... is possible". Subsequent discourse has failed to clarify whether contemporary music journals and fanzines conventionally understood "post-punk"
4277-570: The ceremony. Post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick ) is a broad genre of music that emerged in 1977 in the wake of punk rock . Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experimental approach that encompassed a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-rock influences. Inspired by punk's energy and do it yourself ethic but determined to break from rock cliches , artists experimented with styles like funk , electronic music , jazz , and dance music ;
4368-404: The charts. Far Out magazine claimed a 2010s revival of the genre as having "claws firmly in the past, with many of the original post-punk bands such as The Fall and Bauhaus hailed as gods". Referring to bands such as Denmark's Iceage , England's Eagulls , Savages and Sleaford Mods , Canada's Ought , America's Preoccupations , Protomartyr and Parquet Courts . Further stating "This
4459-407: The concerns of a largely white, male, working-class population and abandoned its continued reliance on established rock and roll tropes, such as three-chord progressions and Chuck Berry -based guitar riffs . These artists instead defined punk as "an imperative to constant change", believing that "radical content demands radical form". Though the music varied widely between regions and artists,
4550-438: The creation of post-punk music was closely linked to the development of efficacious subcultures , which played important roles in the production of art, multimedia performances, fanzines and independent labels related to the music. Many post-punk artists maintained an anti-corporatist approach to recording and instead seized on alternate means of producing and releasing music. Journalists also became an important element of
4641-540: The critical community—American critic Greil Marcus characterised "Britain's postpunk pop avant-garde" in a 1980 Rolling Stone article as "sparked by a tension, humour and sense of paradox plainly unique in present-day pop music" —as well as media figures such as BBC DJ John Peel , while several groups, such as PiL and Joy Division, achieved some success in the popular charts. The network of supportive record labels that included Y Records , Industrial, Fast, E.G. , Mute , Axis/4AD , and Glass continued to facilitate
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#17327876141304732-410: The cultural milieu of punk rock in the late 1970s. Originally called "new musick", the terms were first used by various writers in the late 1970s to describe groups moving beyond punk's garage rock template and into disparate areas. Sounds writer Jon Savage already used "post-punk" in early 1978. NME writer Paul Morley also stated that he had "possibly" invented the term himself. At
4823-839: The culture, and popular music magazines and critics became immersed in the movement. In the mid-1970s, various American groups (some with ties to Downtown Manhattan 's punk scene, including Television and Suicide ) had begun expanding on the vocabulary of punk music. During the punk era, a variety of entrepreneurs interested in local punk-influenced music scenes began founding independent record labels, including Rough Trade (founded by record shop owner Geoff Travis ), Factory (founded by Manchester -based television personality Tony Wilson ), and Fast Product (co-founded by Bob Last and Hilary Morrison). By 1977, groups began pointedly pursuing methods of releasing music independently, an idea disseminated in particular by Buzzcocks ' release of their Spiral Scratch EP on their own label as well as
4914-428: The debut albums of those bands layered the foundations of post-punk. Simon Reynolds ' 2005 book Rip It Up and Start Again is widely referenced as post-punk doctrine, although he has stated that the book only covers aspects of post-punk that he had a personal inclination toward. Wilkinson characterised Reynolds' readings as "apparent revisionism and 'rebranding ' ". Author/musician Alex Ogg criticised: "The problem
5005-447: The early 1980s, Downtown Manhattan's no wave scene transitioned from its abrasive origins into a more dance-oriented sound, with compilations such as ZE Records ' Mutant Disco (1981) highlighting a newly playful sensibility borne out of the city's clash of hip hop , disco and punk styles, as well as dub reggae and world music influences. Artists such as ESG , Liquid Liquid , The B-52s , Cristina , Arthur Russell , James White and
5096-906: The emerging music. Labels such as Rough Trade and Factory would become important hubs for these groups and help facilitate releases, artwork, performances, and promotion. Credit for the first post-punk record is disputed, but strong contenders include the debuts of Magazine (" Shot by Both Sides ", January 1978), Siouxsie and the Banshees (" Hong Kong Garden ", August 1978), Public Image Ltd (" Public Image ", October 1978), Cabaret Voltaire ( Extended Play , November 1978) and Gang of Four (" Damaged Goods ", December 1978). A variety of groups that predated punk, such as Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle , experimented with tape machines and electronic instruments in tandem with performance art methods and influence from transgressive literature , ultimately helping to pioneer industrial music . Throbbing Gristle's independent label Industrial Records would become
5187-477: The experimental seriousness of earlier post-punk groups, the club-oriented scene drew some suspicion from denizens of the movement but also achieved commercial success. Artists such as Gary Numan , Depeche Mode , the Human League , Soft Cell , John Foxx and Visage helped pioneer a new synthpop style that drew more heavily from electronic and synthesizer music and benefited from the rise of MTV . In
5278-508: The friction between Cope and his former bandmate). Released as a single, it reached No. 25 in the UK chart and gained the group another Top of the Pops appearance (in which Cope performed wearing a ripped pillowcase he had made into a T-shirt, later claiming to have been tripping on LSD throughout the performance). Subsequently, both Agius and Hammer were sacked. Having sufficiently mended his relationship with Cope and Dwyer, David Balfe returned to
5369-416: The group as keyboard player. Expectations were high for the band's second album, Wilder , which was recorded in London during November 1981 with a nucleus of Cope, Dwyer, Tate and Balfe. Unlike the first album, which was more of a band effort, Wilder was more the work of Cope (who took sole songwriting credit on every track on the album) and was a bleaker, more sombre work than its predecessor cataloguing
5460-495: The group socially and Cope was retreating further into an LSD-fuelled isolation, retaining only Dwyer as trusted companion. The tour finally came adrift on the East Coast in a mess of bad business arrangements and infighting. On their return to the UK, the five-piece Teardrop Explodes recorded the song "Passionate Friend" (which was allegedly about Cope's brief recent relationship with Ian McCulloch 's sister, further increasing
5551-499: The interviews because I’m the only one with anything to say really. Like Alan just spends most of his time thinking, and Gary never says anything. I can usually speak for them better. Dave would just start pissing you off ... it sounds like a really horrible band, doesn't it?" Julian Cope on the strains within The Teardrop Explodes, 1980 Finkler was replaced by Balfe's Dalek I Love You colleague Alan Gill , who
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#17327876141305642-433: The magazine Mojo presented The Teardrop Explodes with their Inspiration Award. The magazine called the band "the great ambassadors of psychedelia in the '80s when the genre was all but dead", and noted their influence on artists such as Blur and Morrissey . The award was presented by Blur bassist Alex James . David Balfe, Gary Dwyer and Alan Gill all showed up to accept the award; Julian Cope ultimately refused to attend
5733-695: The movement, including particular brands of krautrock , glam , art rock , art pop and other music from the 1960s. Artists once again approached the studio as an instrument , using new recording methods and pursuing novel sonic territories. Author Matthew Bannister wrote that post-punk artists rejected the high cultural references of 1960s rock artists like the Beatles and Bob Dylan as well as paradigms that defined " rock as progressive , as art, as 'sterile' studio perfectionism ... by adopting an avant-garde aesthetic". According to musicologist Pete Dale, while groups wanted to "rip up history and start again",
5824-408: The music was still "inevitably tied to traces they could never fully escape". Nicholas Lezard described post-punk as "a fusion of art and music". The era saw the robust appropriation of ideas from literature, art, cinema, philosophy , politics and critical theory into musical and pop cultural contexts. Artists sought to refuse the common distinction between high and low culture and returned to
5915-424: The original era during the 1990s included Six Finger Satellite , Brainiac , and Elastica . In the early 2000s, a new group of bands that played a stripped down and back-to-basics version of guitar rock emerged into the mainstream, led by Interpol , Franz Ferdinand , The Strokes , and The Rapture . These bands were variously characterised as part of a post-punk revival , as well as a garage rock revival and
6006-405: The period as "a fair match for the sixties in terms of the sheer amount of great music created, the spirit of adventure and idealism that infused it, and the way that the music seemed inextricably connected to the political and social turbulence of its era". Nicholas Lezard wrote that the music of the period "was avant-garde, open to any musical possibilities that suggested themselves, united only in
6097-573: The pop mainstream, began to be categorised under the marketing term new pop . Several more pop-oriented groups, including ABC , the Associates , Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow (the latter two managed by former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren ) emerged in tandem with the development of the New Romantic subcultural scene. Emphasizing glamour, fashion and escapism in distinction to
6188-621: The post-punk movement by several years. A variety of subsequent groups, including the Boston -based Mission of Burma and the New York-based Talking Heads, combined elements of punk with art school sensibilities. In 1978, the latter band began a series of collaborations with British ambient pioneer and ex- Roxy Music member Brian Eno , experimenting with Dadaist lyrical techniques, electronic sounds, and African polyrhythms . San Francisco 's vibrant post-punk scene
6279-439: The post-punk movement has been characterised by its "conceptual assault" on rock conventions and rejection of aesthetics perceived of as traditionalist , hegemonic or rockist in favour of experimentation with production techniques and non-rock musical styles such as dub , funk , electronic music , disco , noise , world music , and the avant-garde . Some previous musical styles also served as touchstones for
6370-420: The release of Floored Genius: The Best of Julian Cope and The Teardrop Explodes , which featured twenty tracks personally selected by Cope, including six by The Teardrop Explodes. In 2010, both Kilimanjaro and Wilder were reissued as multi-disc deluxe editions with bonus tracks. Interest in The Teardrop Explodes continued long after the band's demise. Cope, however, has always resisted pressure to reform
6461-540: The satisfaction of any final explanation. There is an energy that moves throughout his works, which is in part driven by Quinn’s surreal and radical methods of composition and use of imagery. In conflicting and irregular landscapes, there are complex voids and structures. Quinn is celebrated for his densely layered paintings that transform art historical techniques into contemporary experience. His paintings critique cultural icons through intervention, rather than through strict representation, with concepts of historicity and
6552-505: The scene began leaning away from underground aesthetics. In the music press, the increasingly esoteric writing of post-punk publications soon began to alienate their readerships; it is estimated that within several years, NME suffered the loss of half its circulation. Writers like Paul Morley began advocating "overground brightness" instead of the experimental sensibilities promoted in the early years. Morley's own musical collaboration with engineer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik ,
6643-400: The scene. According to Village Voice writer Steve Anderson, the scene pursued an abrasive reductionism that "undermined the power and mystique of a rock vanguard by depriving it of a tradition to react against". Anderson claimed that the no wave scene represented "New York's last stylistically cohesive avant-rock movement". British post-punk entered the 1980s with support from members of
6734-499: The self-destructive, resulting in the band's breakup in 1982. Having arrived in Merseyside in 1976 (as a student attending C.F. Mott College of Education ), Julian Cope became involved in Liverpool's emerging post-punk scene. His first band was Crucial Three , with two native Liverpudlians – Ian McCulloch (later of Echo & the Bunnymen ) and Pete Wylie (who went on to form Wah! ) – in which Cope served as bass player. "I
6825-452: The self-released 1977 singles of Desperate Bicycles . These DIY imperatives would help form the production and distribution infrastructure of post-punk and the indie music scene that later blossomed in the mid-1980s. As the initial punk movement dwindled, vibrant new scenes began to coalesce out of a variety of bands pursuing experimental sounds and wider conceptual territory in their work. By late 1977, British acts such as Siouxsie and
6916-643: The sense that it was very often cerebral, concocted by brainy young men and women interested as much in disturbing the audience, or making them think, as in making a pop song". Many post-punk artists were initially inspired by punk's DIY ethic and energy, but ultimately became disillusioned with the style and movement, feeling that it had fallen into a commercial formula, rock convention, and self-parody. They repudiated its populist claims to accessibility and raw simplicity, instead of seeing an opportunity to break with musical tradition, subvert commonplaces and challenge audiences. Artists moved beyond punk's focus on
7007-547: The sound and serrated guitars, creating a music being "cold, machine-like and passionate at the same time". Mojo editor Pat Gilbert said, "The first truly post-punk band were Siouxsie and the Banshees", noting the influence of the band's use of repetition on Joy Division . John Robb similarly argued that the first Banshees gig was "proto post-punk", comparing the rhythm section Public Image Ltd's Metal Box , which would be released three years later. In January 1978, singer John Lydon (then known as Johnny Rotten) announced
7098-426: The time, there was a feeling of renewed excitement regarding what the word would entail, with Sounds publishing numerous preemptive editorials on new musick. Towards the end of the decade, some journalists used " art punk " as a pejorative for garage rock-derived acts deemed too sophisticated and out of step with punk's dogma . Before the early 1980s, many groups now categorised as "post-punk" were subsumed under
7189-777: The top ten in the UK, while Idles ' Ultra Mono , Fontaines D.C. 's Skinty Fia and Wet Leg 's self-titled debut all reached number one on the UK album charts. This scene is rooted in experimental post-punk and often features vocalists who "tend to talk more than they sing, reciting lyrics in an alternately disaffected or tightly wound voice", and "sometimes it's more like post-rock ". Several of these bands, including Black Country, New Road, Black Midi and Squid, began their careers by playing at The Windmill , an all-ages music venue in London 's Brixton neighbourhood. Many of them have also worked with producer Dan Carey and have released music on his DIY label Speedy Wunderground. Ged Quinn Ged Quinn (born 1963, Liverpool )
7280-422: The tour "disastrous and demeaning": he performed most of it in a self-destructive sulk, raging at his audience, and quit the group immediately afterwards. In February 1983, Mercury Records released a delayed (and now post-breakup) Teardrop Explodes EP, "You Disappear From View", which included songs salvaged from the aborted third album. The EP received average reviews and peaked at No. 41 in the UK chart. Following
7371-524: The way that it was discussed in later years. Music historian Clinton Heylin places the " true starting-point for English post-punk" somewhere between August 1977 and May 1978, with the arrival of guitarist John McKay in Siouxsie and the Banshees in July 1977, Magazine 's first album, Wire 's new musical direction in 1978 and the formation of Public Image Ltd . Music historian Simon Goddard wrote that
7462-462: The wreck of A Shallow Madness and proved a more hardy gigging proposition than its predecessors, soon establishing itself as a live act. The band were soon signed as label acts and management clients to the up-and-coming Liverpool indie label Zoo Records , run by former Dalek I Love You & Big in Japan bass player David Balfe and future KLF man Bill Drummond . Another act on the label was Echo and
7553-670: Was centered on such groups as Chrome , the Residents , Tuxedomoon and MX-80 , whose influences extended to multimedia experimentation, cabaret and the dramatic theory of Antonin Artaud 's Theater of Cruelty . Also emerging during this period was downtown New York's no wave movement, as well as a short-lived art and music scene that began in part as a reaction against punk's recycling of traditionalist rock tropes, often reflecting an abrasive and nihilistic worldview. No wave musicians such as The Contortions , Teenage Jesus and
7644-480: Was goaded into becoming a rock star by Bill Drummond and the pseudo-intellectual side of me thought it would be quite charming." Julian Cope Cope and Wylie briefly teamed up in The Nova Mob (along with future Banshees drummer Budgie) which lasted for one gig before Cope reunited with McCulloch in the similarly short-lived Uh! (which also featured drummer Dave Pickett). Cope and McCulloch went on to form
7735-487: Was in the band for the second set of Kilimanjaro sessions and re-recorded approximately half of Finkler's guitar parts. Gill was also instrumental in introducing the previously drug-free Cope to both cannabis and LSD . This ensured that a band which had previously had a strong interest only in the stylings and theory of psychedelic rock , soon began living the psychedelic lifestyle and perspective in earnest. When released later that year, Kilimanjaro reached number 24 on
7826-426: Was no fire in what he wanted to do. Mick just wasn't bothered about pushing at all. I thought what's more important, the friendship or the band? And when it came down to it I realised the band was the most important." Finkler's sacking earned the band a fair amount of ire from the closely linked and competitive Liverpool scene (and from Ian McCulloch in particular) as well as establishing Cope's reputation as something of
7917-716: Was now such that he rivalled Cope as the band's onstage focus, and by mutual agreement the two decided that the group wasn't big enough for both of them. Simpson left the band in the spring: he went on to form The Wild Swans and then link up with Ian Broudie to form Care . His initial replacement was Ged Quinn , who played on the Teardrops' subsequent British tour. However, co-manager David Balfe had also been lobbying for full Teardrops membership: by July 1979, he had succeeded in ousting Quinn and taking his place as keyboard player. (Quinn then rejoined Simpson in The Wild Swans.) The band's next single, "Bouncing Babies", inspired
8008-502: Was released as the band's next single, " Reward ". In January 1981, the song hit No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart (with the semi-estranged Balfe joining the band to mime trumpet playing during their Top of the Pops appearance). The band relocated to London to take advantage of their growing success, although by now Cope was retreating into a drugged lifestyle and beginning "a period of unrestrained megalomania." In order to keep
8099-715: Was represented by Wilkinson Gallery and is now represented by Stephen Friedman Gallery in London. In addition to his work as an artist, Quinn was a member of the 1980s new wave musical groups the Teardrop Explodes , the Wild Swans and the Lotus Eaters , and co-wrote the latter band's 1983 hit single " The First Picture of You ". He specialises in allegorical paintings that include contemporary images (generally on controversial topics in Western cultural history ) in idyllic scenes based on classical paintings such as
8190-458: Was seen as a reaction to the commercialism of MTV-oriented nu metal , hip hop and "bland" post-Britpop groups. Because the bands came from countries around the world, cited diverse influences and adopted differing styles of dress, their unity as a genre has been disputed. By the end of the decade, many of the bands of the movement had broken up, were on hiatus, or had moved on to other musical areas, and very few were making significant impact on
8281-580: Was the perfect time for post-punk to return, against a backdrop of hideous geopolitical happenings such as the financial crash of 2008, the ascendence of Donald Trump and the Brexit vote." During the late 2010s and early 2020s, a new wave of UK and Irish post-punk bands gained popularity. Terms such as "crank wave" and "post-Brexit new wave" have been used to describe these bands. The bands Black Country, New Road , Squid , Dry Cleaning , Shame , Sleaford Mods , and Yard Act all had albums that charted in
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