UK - Savage 7SAV 106 (April 1990)
US - Atco 7-98908
It kicks off with a cheeky sample from The Smiths' How Soon Is Now before a Soul II Soul beat kicks in, starting what my memory tells me was a truly infectious summer hit.
The memory plays tricks, though. Whilst Hippy Chick did indeed enter the chart in May 1990, it only managed to reach number 67 first time around and would prove to be a slow burner, eventually re-entering the chart and peaking at number 8 in January 1991, possibly boosted by its appearance on the compilation album Happy Daze. So, not a summer hit at all then, although it should have been. It was certainly getting played a lot in the summer of 1990, even if nobody was buying it yet.
Soho were sisters Jacqui and Pauline Cuff and Timothy London. They continued to record until 1999 but were never able to repeat the success of Hippy Chick.
WHERE TO FIND IT:
Unbelieveable Too (EMI/Virgin CD 2002)
Or, if you can find a copy...
Happy Daze Volume One (Island CD CIDTV1) - an enjoyable round up of 1990 - I've been playing it in the car all week! For more details, I recommend the As Seen On TV blogspot.
UK - Island CID719 (CD single - no vinyl release originally)
1998 found Pulp at a difficult point in their career. After the massive success of the "Different Class" album, the band suddenly found themselves catapulted into the limelight after 12 years of working hard to get there. The intense rush of the last two years must have been mentally exhausting. Some examples...
There was that era-defining Top Of The Pops appearance when "Common People" peaked at number 2, cruelly held off by Robson & Jerome (even then, Simon Bloody Cowell had a lot to answer for).. The media may have been full of the Oasis Vs Blur chart battle, but this was the defining moment for me. As the whole BritPop hype machine rolled into overdrive, idealising the working class, here was Jarvis Cocker to prick the party balloon and tell it like it was, warts and all.
Then, the media got into a tizzy when "Sorted For E's And Wizz" came out. "Ban This Sick Stunt!" stormed the Daily Mirror, calling for the single to be banned, without even hearing it. It wasn't a pro-drugs song by any means, but that wasn't going to stop their correspondent Kate Thornton going on her little crusade... Meanwhile, pre-orders of the record alone ensured another number 2 hit, held off this time by Simply Red's "Fairground" (spare us, please - surely one of the most badly, tinnily mixed rackets to hit the top spot ever? But, I digress...)
And then... there was that moment at the 1996 Brit Awards, as Jarvis took to the stage whilst Michael Jackson, surrounded by small children, performed "Earth Song". I thought that Jarvis appeared to be miming the act of fanning a fart from his backside as a critical comment on either the performance (which may have been interpreted as somewhat self aggrandising) or the record (which, if I'm being charitable, wasn't exactly one of Jackson's best efforts), or both. You decide...
Jarvis was carted off to the local police station, but freed without charge. The Daily Mirror did a total U-turn with a "Justice for Jarvis" campaign. Melody Maker suggested he should be given a knighthood. Pulp's record sales went even higher.
The worrying thing for a Pulp fan at this point was that Jarvis was being seen now as something of a court jester, and his personal life seemed to be falling apart as a long term relationship ended and a drug habit developed. Longtime member Russell Senior quit. Expectations around the next album were massive.
"This Is Hardcore" hit the shops in March 1998, to a market already a little underwhelmed by late '97's taster single "Help The Aged". Cocker's disillusionment with his long wished for fame is the very backbone of the album, and results in a much darker and challenging piece of work. Tellingly, whilst it entered the UK album chart at number one, it didn't stick around anywhere near as long as its predecessor, and the accompanying singles weren't the expected smash hits. The new fans who had joined the ride in full flow decided to get off at the next stop.
All of which brings us to "Party Hard", and if I appear to have been waffling thus far, it's because all of the above context is critical in understanding where Jarvis' head was at when writing the song. After the two year party, this is his hangover. With a sore head, and as buzzing guitars battle with dance synth squiggles, he reflects on the emptiness and futility of the long night before, and it's genuinely sad as he ends with the repeated refrain, "When the party's over will you come home with me?"
In a double-tracked vocal, Jarvis Cocker impersonating David Bowie duets with Jarvis Cocker impersonating Scott Walker. It's quite unlike anything else in Pulp's catalogue. Jarvis' dark night of the soul over with, Walker himself would produce their next and, for me best album, "We Love Life".
Released as the fourth single from "This Is Hardcore" in September '98, presumably in a last ditch attempt by Island to boost album sales, "Party Hard" stalled at number 29.
FIND IT ON:
This Is Hardcore (Island 1998)
Pulp Hits (Island 2002)
As the summer finally decides to hit the UK big time, it's time for some perfect summer pop.
I'm finding it hard to believe I bought this single 16 years ago (at least, it will be in three days time). It feels like those years have gone in a flash, and yet this track still sounds as fresh and exciting as the day I got it home from the shop and put it on the turntable (several times in a row, as it turned out). That's either a tribute to the quality of Supergrass' work, or just me being a sentimental old fool and insisting that "music was much better in my day". However, I'm confident that it's the former rather than the latter.
There haven't been that many bands I've gotten upset about over the years when they split up, but I was genuinely gutted when Supergrass split. They were one of the few bands whose records I would go out and buy as soon as they came out without hearing them first, because I knew they would never, ever disappoint me. I absolutely loved that band. Still do.
I was enjoying this earlier today as I crashed out in my papasan chair, eating a Strawberry Mivvi. Hopefully you'll enjoy it too. It's a perfect soundtrack for a perfect summer's day.
FIND IT ON:
We're In It For The Money (Parlophone CD 1997)
Supergrass Is 10 (Parlophone CD 2004)
There was a period, covering the late 1980's and early 1990's, when I appeared to be the kiss-of-death to records that I liked. I would hear something I really loved, think "that's gonna be a hit!", go out and buy it, then curse myself as it stalled outside the top 40 or failed to chart altogether.
Think I'm being paranoid? Here's some examples of great records I cursed: Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over" stalled at 27 in the UK (yes, 27!!!), the week I bought a copy. And they were the lucky ones. Aztec Camera's "The Crying Scene"? Peaked at number 70. The week I bought it. Kirsty MacColl's "Caroline"? Number 58. And guess who bought it when it sat at that position? As you can see, there's a definite pattern emerging. My love of The Hoodoo Gurus is probably the reason they've never entered the UK chart. Sorry guys.
It's with all of the above in mind that I should also apologise to Jellyfish for buying "The King Is Half Undressed" as it sneaked up to number 39. I must have been responsible for halting it's deserved rise to number 1, as I can think of no other fathomable reason why a record this good should meet with such a fate. As you can hear for yourself, it's an infectious piece of power-pop that pounds its way into the cranium relentlessly before lulling you into a false sense of security with an interlude like a Beach Boys "Smile"-era vocal outtake, before the drums and guitars come crashing back to pick up where they left off. And then it's over. Marvellous. The video's trippy as hell too.
I also bought the accompanying album "Bellybutton". It failed to chart...
Read more about the underrated Jellyfish in their Wikipedia entry here
