Second Head

Recorded Spring 1980, possibly remixed Summer 1980, released on "Kilimanjaro" album, October 1980

Julian Cope - bass, vocals
David Balfe - keyboards
Mick Finkler - guitar
Gary Dwyer - drums

Written by Cope / Dwyer / Finkler.

"Second Head" is a curiousity for a number of reasons. It is a final glance backwards to the start of the band and a glimpse of a future to come.

According to Cope, the origins of the song go back to a time in the late 70s when Ian McCulloch and Mick Finkler shared a room in the Penny Lane district of Liverpool. Mac was woken one night by a sleeping Finkler shouting "How's your second head? Oh very good very good" over and over. Quite where this came from is hard to know. Was it possible that Finkler had been listening to "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" which was first broadcast on BBC Radio in 1978 and was thinking of Zaphod Beeblebrox? Certainly the publication of the novel in October 1979 post-dated the song's authorship, but it must have been an odd experience to those watching the TV series in early 1981 to hear a song on "Kilimanjaro" about having a second head. But that could be me reading way too much into the song.

Whatever the origins, the song was introduced into the Teardrops' live set in the summer of 1979, and an early version can be heard on the semi-legal "Leigh Festival" double CD. It's slightly slower, but everything is there, from the bass groove to the four note organ line to Finkler's choppy guitar. Cope's vocal is tentative in places and lacks some of the melodic leaps on record, but it's almost there. When it came to recording the song in the Spring of 1980 the tempo was bumped up, Dwyer had added a few extra drum licks (his martial snare hits on the "You're scratching my back" line are perfect) and it's nice and cleanly played. One wonders how much sweetening was done during the move from "Everybody wants to shag..." to "Kilimanjaro" - maybe the song was remixed, or even sped up slightly. The production by The Chameleons is bright and clean, very much like the production style they gave "Crocodiles" - there's a lack of bass oomph (trust me, it's definitely a technical term) on "Second head" which doesn't exactly weaken the song but makes it fit in well with everything else on the album (thoufh the sudden ending seems a bit drastic, but makes it more dramatic I suppose). Cope's vocal is passionate, characterful and even funny in places (what did cause him to add "Oh, what happened?") just before the second chorus? The lyrics too strive for meaning and sometimes achieve it - "You must be wary of people with knives in their back" is quite sharp (no pun intended). "Second head" is a perfect album track then.

So why is it a glance backwards and a glimpse of the future? Well let me explain...

It is the last song in the catalogue with songwriting input from Mick Finkler, and it shows all the hallmarks of the early Teardrops era. A simple two chord guitar riff, another four note organ riff, a droning one chord chorus, a middle eight section which is discordant. When you notice all the character traits of the era they all stack up on this song. It's the final song in the chronology to appear on "Kilimanjaro" too. Dedicated Teardrops fans who've bought all the Zoo singles and taped the Peel sessions off the radio would know every song on the album except this one, making it the only "new" song on the album. It's also the last song of the Finkler / Dwyer / Cope songwriting partnership and from now on Cope would become the main source of songs.

So how is it a glimpse of the future then? Because if you squint hard enough it looks like a dry run for "Reward", there's a similar tempo, an insistent organ riff, the verse chorus structure is similar... The parts that would bring the Teardrops their biggest success were almost all here. Add some trumpets, swap the beat around to a Northern Soul drum heavy on the snare and what have you got? A top ten single. It's not that far away if you think about it.

"Second head"'s live history is kind of short lived really. It was often used as a set starter in 1979, including epochal gigs like their first trip to London (playing alongside Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen) and at the Leigh Festival, but once Finkler had left the band it was never played again. Setlist.fm seem to think it was played at the Birmingham Odeon in June 1981 but I've heard numerous bootlegs from that era and I've not heard that line up of the band play "Second head". I can imagine them playing it very well, but I seriously doubt they performed it. It just wasn't part of the set that summer. I'm happy to be corrected (with evidence) by those that were there at the time.

And so "Second head" brings to a close my assessment of all of the songs on "Kilimanjaro". Coming next will be an overview of the album as a whole and how it was received at the time and it's reputation now. Oh and there's the title track too. After that it'll really get interesting 😉