Introduction to Pulp and the Britpop Era
With a little help from artificial intelligence, the band Pulp brought back to life a series of photographs taken 30 years ago. Their experiment aimed to promote the first single, “Spike Island,” from their upcoming album, More. These photographs originally served for Pulp’s 1995 album, Different Class, the year they became an icon of the Britpop movement alongside bands like Oasis, Blur, Suede, and Elastica.
More, Pulp’s first new material in 24 years, coincides with the imminent reunion of Oasis, confirming the return of nostalgic Britpop. The Britpop movement encapsulated a cultural renaissance in the UK during the 1990s, emerging after Margaret Thatcher’s regime and reflected in art, cinema, and pop music. It stood as an antithesis to American grunge.
The Rise of Britpop
Tony Blair and the Labour Party’s rise to power fueled the optimism reflected in music that emulated the spirit of the mid-1960s New Wave, infused with glam and punk. 1995 was the peak of Britpop, with releases like Elastica’s Elastica, Pulp’s Different Class, Blur’s The Great Escape, and Oasis’s (What’s The Story) Morning Glory.
The Significance of “Common People”
“Common People,” released on May 22, 1995, helped solidify Pulp’s identity and the Britpop sound. It was the first single from their fifth album, Different Class, recounting a meeting between an aristocratic European and a working-class boy seeking to “live like common people.”
Jarvis Cocker and Pulp’s Journey
Jarvis Cocker founded Pulp in Sheffield in 1979 while still a student. The band spent over a decade on the fringes of the music scene, releasing several albums but without much recognition. In the early 1990s, Pulp signed with Island Records and began gaining popularity with the album His n’ Hers. The band received another boost with their Mercury Prize nomination, and success came with their next work: Different Class.
“Common People” critiqued the stark class divisions in England. Though initially appearing as an unassuming encounter between an average person and a Greek aristocrat studying architecture at St. Martins, the song ultimately became a biting social commentary with an irresistible chorus.
Creating “Common People”
Jarvis Cocker composed the melody on a small Casio keyboard. According to bassist Steve Mackey, the three-chord melody sounded like Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” but producer Chris Thomas and the band heard a hit.
“Common People” was also an attempt by Jarvis Cocker to infiltrate mainstream culture. Unlike their contemporaries, Pulp represented a different take on working-class pride, as projected by Oasis, and was closer to Blur’s more artistic and aspirational bourgeois outlook.
“Common People” and Pulp’s Rise to Fame
The song reached number 2 on British popularity charts in June 1995, establishing Pulp as one of the most popular bands at the time. “Common People” became a anthem when Pulp headlined Glastonbury Festival as the main act, replacing the Stone Roses at the last minute. The epic closing with that anthem symbolically marked the transition from the Madchester movement’s dominance to Britpop’s reign.
The Decline and Resurgence of Britpop
Britpop’s popularity deflated like a punctured balloon when it was replaced by a new wave of pop. Pulp went inactive for a few years and later resurfaced in the last decade, touring worldwide with a new generation of fans.
Britpop always looked backward, using the past as a reference point, drawing inspiration from Ray Davies of The Kinks’ and Paul Weller of The Jam’s visions of urban decay.
Pulp’s Comeback with “More”
Pulp’s eighth album, More, arrives with a touch of nostalgia, attempting to revive a bygone era when we were just ordinary people.
