Exploding The Teardrops

Version one recorded October 15th 1980 for a Mike Read BBC Radio 1 session, broadcast 27th October 1980, available on "Kilimanjaro" 3CD Julian Cope - vocals Dave Balfe  - keyboards Version two recorded Autumn 1981, released on "Wilder" album, November 1981 Julian Cope - vocals, bass  Dave Balfe - keyboards Troy Tate - guitar Gary Dwyer - drums Written by Julian Cope There are two aspects of the Teardrop Explodes which made them an absolute godsend to sub editors and headline writers.  Aspect 1 - Explodes. "Teardrops Explode", "Teardrops Implode".etc Aspect 2 - Cope's surname. "Can Julian Cope?", "Coping with the Teardrops" etc If you're lucky you could even combine both into the same headline, such as this slight detour from Record Mirror All of which disguises the fact that The Teardrop Explodes were pretty combustible, especially the "Daktari" version of the band which toured in the autumn of 1980. (I apolo...

Version one recorded October 15th 1980 for a Mike Read BBC Radio 1 session, broadcast 27th October 1980, available on "Kilimanjaro" 3CD and "Peel Sessions Plus" CD Julian Cope - bass, vocals Dave Balfe (aka The Evil Wasp) - keyboards Alan Gill (aka The Emotional Jungle) - guitar Gary Dwyer (aka Rocky) - drums Luke Tunney, Ted Emmett - trumpets Version two, recorded November 1980, available on US edition of "Kilimanjaro". Julian Cope - bass, vocals Dave Balfe - keyboards Alan Gill - guitar Gary Dwyer - drums Luke Tunney, Ted Emmett - trumpets Version three recorded November 1980, remix of version two, available on "Reward" single, January 1981 and "Kilimanjaro" reissue, June 1981. Julian Cope - bass, vocals Dave Balfe - keyboards Alan Gill - guitar Gary Dwyer - drums Luke Tunney, Ted Emmett - trumpets Written by Alan Gill and Julian Cope When "Kilimanjaro" was released in October 1980, Julian Cope admitted to ...

Version one recorded October 15th 1980 for a Mike Read BBC Radio 1 session, broadcast 27th October 1980, available on "Kilimanjaro" 3CD Julian Cope - bass, vocals Dave Balfe (aka The Evil Wasp) - keyboards Alan Gill (aka The Emotional Jungle) - guitar Gary Dwyer (aka Rocky) - drums Version two recorded Autumn 1980, available on "You disappear from view" 7" single, February 1983 and US edition of "Kilimanjaro". Julian Cope - bass, vocals Dave Balfe - keyboards Alan Gill - guitar Gary Dwyer - drums Luke Tunney, Ted Emmett - trumpets Version three recorded in late 1981 or 1982, available on "You disappear from view" 12 inch single, Feb 1983 and "The Greatest Hit" CD, 2000 Julian Cope - vocals Nicky Holland - harpsichord, string arrangement  Luke Tunney, Ted Emmett - trumpets Dave Balfe - keyboards? Written by Julian Cope "Suffocate" marks a unique place in the tale of The Teardrop Explodes for it is the first song in their c...

Recorded October 15th 1980 for a Mike Read BBC Radio 1 session, broadcast 27th October 1980, available on "Kilimanjaro" 3CD deluxe edition and "Zoology" CD. Julian Cope - bass, vocals Dave Balfe (aka The Evil Wasp) - keyboards Alan Gill (aka The Emotional Jungle) - guitar Gary Dwyer (aka Rocky) - drums Written by Cope / Gill "For years" is a cool little curiosity, only recorded once for a radio session and only played during the Autumn 1980 "Daktari" tour. According to Cope's historically dubious notes on "Zoology" (where the song is titled "Nobody knows this is everywhere") the song was recorded "over the water" (ie in the Wirral) at Alan Gill's studio, "this song was attempted about five times before we got a solid version", also claiming it was on the 1982 bootleg "Live baby yeah!" Hmm. For a start it's the same recording on "Zoology" as on the BBC recording. Secondly Gill...

Recorded Summer 1980, released as b-side to "When I dream", September 1980 Julian Cope - bass(?), vocals David Balfe - keyboards Alan Gill - guitar Gary Dwyer - drums Written by Cope / Dwyer / Balfe / Gill There is a long and notable history of album title songs not actually appearing on the album. Think of "Houses of the holy", "Bring it on", "Hex", "Waiting for the sun"... Julian Cope would add to the list himself when he issued "World shut you mouth" as a single two years after it had titled his debut solo album in 1984. He had the song in reserve apparently but didn't want to give such an obvious hit to his label. Or something. Maybe that's rewriting history a little.  But before that, the title track to "Kilimanjaro" the album had appeared on the b side of the single issued a month before the album. The song doesn't really have a place on the album, it's on its own and quite unique within the Tea...

Version One  Ha ha I'm drowning / Sleeping gas / Treason / Second Head / Poppies in the field // Went crazy / Brave boys keep their promises / Bouncing babies / Books / Thief of Baghdad / When I dream Released October 1980 - "Tripping Fools" cover Version Two Ha ha I'm drowning / Sleeping gas / Treason / Second Head / Reward / Poppies in the field // Went crazy / Brave boys keep their promises / Bouncing babies / Books / Thief of Baghdad / When I dream Released April 1981 - "Zebra" cover Version Three Ha ha I'm drowning / Treason / Suffocate / Reward (US version) / When I dream // Went crazy / Brave boys keep their promises / Sleeping gas / Read it in books / Thief of Baghdad / Poppies in the field Released 1980, American edition, same cover as version one. In a way, this blog has already said a lot about how "Kilimanjaro" came about, by analysing all the songs involved and following their journeys from singles, Peel sessions and live favourite...

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 t...