Jarvis Cocker

Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September, 1963, in Sheffield, England) is an English pop musician, best known for fronting the band Pulp.

Jarvis came from a musical family (his father and uncle were musicians). Fellow Sheffield musician Joe Cocker was a friend of the family and babysat for Jarvis on occasions, though they are not related.

Pulp

Jarvis founded "Arabacus Pulp" at the age of 15 while he was still at school. After numerous line-up changes, and a shortening of the name to just "Pulp", they shot to fame in the 1990s with the success of the albums His 'n' Hers (1994) and Different Class (1995). Cocker famously invaded the stage at the 1996 Brit Awards to protest against Michael Jackson's performance. Jackson was dressed in Messiah-white and surrounded by worshipping children and a rabbi, while making Christ-like poses and performing his recent hit, Earth Song. Cocker and his friend Peter Mansell decided to mount a stage invasion in protest. He leapt onstage, pretended to flash his bottom, had a dance and sat back down. In response to the ensuing media scrutiny of the action, Jarvis responded, "My actions were a form of protest at the way Michael Jackson sees himself as some kind of Christ-like figure with the power of healing... I just ran on the stage and showed off. I didn't make any physical contact with anyone as far as I recall."http://www.mlp.cz/space/opatrilp/Pulp/the_Brits_96.html

Cocker was interrogated that night by the police for injuring the children onstage, which was proved to be a false accusation by video evidence. Cocker found himself being defended by the comedian and former solicitor, Bob Mortimer. He was soon released without being prosecuted. Opinions from the press ranged from one extreme to the other. The 2 March 1996 edition of Melody Maker, for example, suggested Cocker should be knighted, while other journalists were convinced that he had actually attacked the children.

The band's record sales soared as a result. A waxwork statue of Jarvis Cocker, which costs £30,000, was placed in Rock Circus, London. The museum temporarily removed it in November, 2000, until the end of Michael Jackson fans' annual gathering in London.

Cocker was also renowned for being a witty observer of the cultural scene far beyond pop music. He was a frequent guest on TV shows in the 90s, as well as hosting an arts series for the BBC.

Two more albums were released (This Is Hardcore and We Love Life) to critical acclaim, though neither achieved the commercial success of Different Class, Pulp then released a greatest hits album and went on hiatus. Jarvis moved to Paris with his wife, Camille Bidault-Waddington, with whom he has a son, Albert.

Post-Pulp

Cocker also directed some music videos, most notably On by Aphex Twin, Sudden Rush by Erlend Øye and Aftermath by Nightmares on Wax.

He reemerged in 2003 to promote a new album, under the pseudonym "Darren Spooner", for his new band called Relaxed Muscle. Also in 2003, he appeared on the Richard X album Richard X Presents His X-Factor Vol. 1. 2004 then brought Cocker briefly back into the limelight with two collaborations with Nancy Sinatra on her new album. In 2005 Jarvis Cocker co-wrote three tracks (La Degustation, Basque Country & Fred de Fred) on French Sheffield-based electronic duo The Lovers' debut album "The Lovers". Rumours surfaced in late 2005 that an as yet untitled solo album would be released under his own name in 2006. Though these rumours are yet to be confirmed, in October of 2005 he made a surprise one-song appearance at the small Los Angeles music venue Tangier, where he and his band were taking a break from the recording studio to work up a spirited live rendition of a new song.

Cocker has contributed to the soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, writing and performing three tracks entitled "This is the Night", "Do The Hippogriff" and "Magic Works". He appeared briefly in the film as lead singer of the wizard pop act the Weird Sisters (unnamed in the film owing to a legal scuffle with real-life group the Wyrd Sisters). The fictitious group also featured Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway from Radiohead, Steve Mackey from Pulp, Jason Buckle from Relaxed Muscle and Steve Claydon from Add N to (X).

Jarvis Cocker is now following a solo career with a new album coming out later this year rumoured to be called 'Warrior on the Edge Time'. This is said to have been produced with Sam Lockwood and John Watson (his school friends from St. Martin's College) who also helped to write the lyrics to a couple of songs which shall appear on the album.

A new, previously unreleased, song 'Running The World' has been made available on his myspace page at http://myspace.com/jarvspace

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Jarvis Cocker

Pulp

Post-Pulp

External links