Pulp (band)

Pulp are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. At their critical and commercial peak, the band consisted of Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Russell Senior (guitar, violin), Candida Doyle (keyboards), Nick Banks (drums, percussion), Steve Mackey (bass) and Mark Webber (guitar, keyboards). The band's "kitchen sink drama" lyrics, coupled with its references to British culture, led to Cocker and Pulp becoming reluctant figureheads of the Britpop movement.

The band struggled to find success during the 1980s, but gained UK prominence in the mid-1990s first with His 'n' Hers (1994), which was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. Its follow-up, Different Class (1995), won the Mercury Prize, reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and spawned four top ten singles, including the number two hits "Common People" and "Mis-Shapes/Sorted for E's & Wizz". The band's sixth album, This Is Hardcore (1998), also debuted at number one in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. At their peak, Pulp headlined the Pyramid Stage of the Glastonbury Festival twice and were regarded among the Britpop "big four", along with Blur, Oasis and Suede.

The band released We Love Life in 2001 and then took a decade-long break, having sold more than 10 million records. Pulp reunited in 2011 to play multiple festivals and released "After You" in 2013, their first song in 12 years. The band reunited a second time in 2022 to tour once again, and later released their eighth album More in June 2025.

Pulp were formed in 1978 at The City School in Sheffield by Jarvis Cocker, then 15 years old, and Peter Dalton, then 14. Cocker's original preference was to name the band after the film Pulp starring Michael Caine, though it was decided that this was too short. Instead, the two took inspiration from a copy of the Financial Times which listed the Arabicas coffee bean in its commodity index. Cocker and Dalton used this, with a slight spelling change, and the band became "Arabicus". Early rehearsals took place in Cocker's house and featured Cocker, Dalton and Dalton's younger brother Ian. After finally deciding on "Arabicus Pulp", a fixed line-up was then established: Cocker, Dalton and two friends of theirs, David "Fungus" Lockwood and Mark Swift. The band played their first public gig at Rotherham Arts Centre in July 1980. Later that year, Cocker met future member Russell Senior, who recognised Cocker from his charismatic sales techniques in his part-time job at the local fish market.

Pulp's musical style at this time was varied, approximately described as "a cross between ABBA and the Fall". A local fanzine also noted this eclecticism, describing them as sounding "as if they listen to the John Peel show every night in an endless quest for influences". Indeed, in October 1981, they gave a demo tape to Peel, who granted them a Peel Session. The session was a giant leap forward for the young band, who became well known on the local music scene as a result. The tracks recorded were in the typical Sheffield sound of the time (cf. the Human League and Comsat Angels): electronic new wave and post-punk. These tracks were released in 2006 on The Peel Sessions compilation.

Despite their exposure on national radio, success was not forthcoming and, apart from Cocker, most of the core line-up left for university. Soon, a new set of musicians were gathered: Simon Hinkler (who later joined the Mission), David Hinkler, Wayne Furniss (who switched to guitar after playing drums in the previous lineup), Peter Boam, Gary Wilson, and Cocker's sister, Saskia. They managed to get enough local backing to record a mini-album in late 1982, entitled It (the title was a pun on pulpit, as if the band were preaching to the audience), which was released in April 1983 by Red Rhino Records. This largely consisted of folkish, romantic pop songs influenced by Leonard Cohen and was a change of direction from the Peel Sessions two years earlier. The album was later released by Cherry Red Records.

Though It failed commercially and fame was still elusive, the band continued to seek commercial success even to the point of recording a single, "Everybody's Problem"/"There Was". The single demonstrated a style shift advised by Red Rhino's Tony Perrin who had convinced Cocker that he "could write commercial songs like Wham!". This approach also failed and the It lineup soon dissolved.

Around this time, Cocker had become involved in an experimental theatre/performance art company organised by Russell Senior; the two soon began writing and rehearsing music together, eventually enlisting fellow performance artist Magnus Doyle to play drums. As Senior recounted, this was for all intents and purposes a new project, related to Cocker's previous band in name only: