Well, The Blues Had A Baby And The Bastard Couldn't Sing

One year ago, and thirty posts into the Dubhed blog, I took further inspiration from those fellow bloggers around me and decided to commit to daily posts for as long as I was able. To be honest, I didn't expect twelve months later to have managed here but, here we are with post #395.

 

I need to keep a sense of perspective: yesterday, Adam at Bagging Area celebrated his 5000th post since 2010 and whilst he modestly describes some posts as "perfunctory", his daily musings and love for music has been an essential read for me; I was a "late" joiner around 2013-2014.

So, what was the post that kicked off my daily marathon, on Wednesday 12th May 2021? Ironically, to nick Adam's turn of phrase, it was a perfunctory post of a YouTube link, perhaps less surprisingly featuring a Julian Cope song, given the number of times he's appeared here.

As a nod and a tribute to that post, and in a coincidental move that nudges the Arch Drude temporarily into pole position as Dubhed's most tagged artist (frequently alternating with Andrew Weatherall), here's more Julian Cope on YouTube.

Back in October 2020, in a guest posting for The Vinyl Villain, I submitted An Imaginary Compilation of Julian Cope live in concert. I've been to more Julian Cope gigs than any other artist. They've all been excellent and special in their own right, but a particular highlight was his standout performance at the first Phoenix Festival on Friday 16th July 1993. Drawing heavily on his magnum opus Peggy Suicide, the more recently released Jehovahkill barely gets a look in, but there are a few crowd-pleasing favourites thrown in for good measure.

Luckily, an audience member filmed the entire set and posted it to YouTube. The audio quality is inevitably a bit hissy and the picture quality a bit blurry yet, it captures what was an incredible set and unforgettable experience. 

Supported by a full band on top form - Donald Ross Skinner & Mike Mooney on guitar, Tim Bran on bass, Rooster Cosby on drums and Cope himself on vocals, guitar, keyboards, costume changes and occasional scaffold climbing - it's an aural and visual assault that left a lasting impression on my friends.

Incredibly, 19th October 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of Jehovahkill; 21st October 2022 is Julian Cope's 65th birthday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that, with live gigs beginning to return, there will be another opportunity to see Julian Cope perform music on a stage again. In the meantime, put off what you were planning to do for an hour or so, click on the link, sit back and enjoy.

 

 

1) The Subtle Energies Commission 00:00 

2) Hanging Out & Hung Up On The Line 08:45 

3) You... 13:32 

4) Pulsar 19:14 

5) Safesurfer 20:15 

6) Beautiful Love 32:10 

7) Sunspots 36:00 

8) Pristeen 39:30 

9) Double Vegetation 44:10 

10) East Easy Rider 48:50 

11) World Shut Your Mouth 54:57 

12) Spacehopper 59:00 

13) Reynard The Fox 1:03:10

 

1984: Fried: 7, 13

1987: Saint Julian: 4, 11, 12

1991: Peggy Suicide: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10

1992: Jehovahkill: 1