Good Pop, Bad Pop

Jarvis Cocker is a hoarder. His attic is full of a lifetime of tat - some of it of great historical significance in tracing the origins of his pop career, much of it merely the detritus of memory. Broken spectacles, Imperial Leather soap bars worn down to their labels, carrier bags, ring pulls, charity shop ties. For each one, Jarvis wants to decide whether to "keep or cob" (chuck out). But each one is part of his life, his story. 

Good Pop, Bad Pop is described as "an inventory" but it's really a unique autobiography... albeit one that only goes as far as the moment he falls out of a window while trying to impress a girl and ends up in hospital for weeks. Although his band, Pulp, had been in existence for years by this point, it's only while convalescing that he really finds his muse. Everything up till that point has merely been about finding the right ingredients for his masterplan, which he encapsulates with the equation "Scott (Walker) + Barry (White) + Eurodisco + Gritty Northern Realism = The Future". This isn't a book that deals with that future... I guess we'll have to wait for volume 2. It's not a book that deals in great detail with his songs either - Leonard Cohen advises him against that. Although it's easy to make links. No, it's a book that's full of the wit and wisdom of one of our greatest everyman entertainers... the fact that he repeatedly wonders how much he can get for some of this tat on eBay says it all. Fame hasn't changed Jarvis Cocker. He's still one of us. And if you love his songs, you'll love this book. 

Here's one of my favourite early Pulp songs which springs to life in Good Pop, Bad Pop...