Exploding The Teardrops

When I published my post on Strange House In The Snow last week, Dave Balfe got in touch to say it was one of his favourite Teardrop Explodes songs and a few days later wrote a message to me detailing the genesis and creation of the song, alongside other thoughts on the Teardrop Explodes. With his permission I am publishing that message here - it's a fascinating insight into the creative tensions in the band which produced such remarkable and imaginative music.  STRANGE HOUSE IN THE SNOW Dave Balfe memories October 2022  Somewhere in the latter half of 1980, having already recorded Reward we (The Teardrop Explodes) went down to Rockfield Studios, near Monmouth in S.Wales to record its B-side in a single day. A slight indulgence as it could have been recorded more cheaply and simply in Liverpool. Though I'm sure the band would have been in full agreement, we always loved recording in Rockfield. I was 23, or maybe 24 With our previous b-side, Kilimanjaro, we'd set a precedent...

Version One recorded November 1980, released as b-side of "Reward", January 1981 Julian Cope - vocals, viola David Balfe - keyboards Alan Gill - guitars Gary Dwyer - drums Version Two recorded November 1980, remix of version one, released on "Everybody wants to shag the Teardrop Explodes" album. Spring 1990. Julian Cope - vocals, viola David Balfe - keyboards Alan Gill - guitars Gary Dwyer - drums Written by David Balfe and Julian Cope Has there ever been such a wild disparity between an A side and a B side than "Reward" and "Strange house in the snow"? On the one side of the single a three minute blast of pure pop, on the other side a discordant blast of seemingly incoherent noise. The fans who bought the A side must have been shocked to hear the B side. Or maybe that was the point. It's difficult to describe how "Strange House In The Snow" proceeds without sounding like a nutcase. I mean, there is a song there, it's just perfo...

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...