Click here to see more of the artwork
Details
- Release date: 15 April 2002
- Label: Universal Island Records
- Format: CD (2 versions), DVD
-
Recorded
- Bad Cover Version: September 2000 - March 2001 (Metropolis Studios, London)
- Yesterday & Forever in My Dreams: April-May 2000 (Cosford Mill Studios, Surrey), mixed and overdubbed January or February 2002 (The Town House, London)
- Cover versions: around Janaury/February 2002
- Chart position: 27 (UK)
Credits
- Sleeve design: Peter Saville Studio
- Photography: Tony Webber
- Behind the scenes footage for the DVD: Richard Burke
Releases
|
Date |
Formats and catalogue numbers |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
15 April 2002 |
CD1 - CID794 CD2 - CIDX794 DVD - CIDV794 |
Original UK release. CD1:
CD2:
DVD:
|
|
15 September 2023 |
Streaming and digital download |
Newly uploaded to streaming services as "Bad Cover Version EP", with a scan of the CD1 artwork; the last of a series of 13 Island Records-era EPs reissued to coincide with the 2023 tour. Tracklisting:
|
Notes
The cover, featuring a young Mark Webber, recreates the sleeve of David Bowie's 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars. It was taken outside furriers, K. West, at 23 Heddon Street, London, W1.
The single version of Bad Cover Version is compressed to run at a faster tempo than the album, approximately 2.395% faster than the album version, meaning that it runs 5.7 seconds shorter (no mention is made of this on the sleeve). The radio edit (available on promo CDs) and video mix match this faster tempo.
Two versions of Nick Cave's bad cover version of Disco 2000 were recorded: a slow waltz version, which was selected for the B-side, and a 'pub rock' version, which was later included on Different Class Deluxe in 2006.
Members of the Pulp People Fan Club and the mailing list were given a free card case to keep all formats of the single in (CD1, CD2 and the DVD).
Commentary
The release of the digital EP in 2023 was heralded by the following commentary from Pulp's social media accounts, believed to have been written by Mark Webber:
Saving the best til last? All good things come to an end & at least we were able to go out with a great song as the last Pulp single release.
The song started life as “Candy’s Spector”, developing from ideas that Candida brought to one of the “We Love Life” writing sessions. We had a few goes at it before the final version took shape under the guidance of producer Scott Walker. (Thankfully, he turned a blind eye to the namecheck in the lyrics.)
A video featuring a galaxy of celebrity lookalikes singing along was directed by Jarvis and Martin Wallace at Sarm West, the same studio where the Band Aid single was recorded. This video version of the song was released as the lead track on CD2. How many people can you recognise just by listening?
The record cover reproduces a photo of Mark (probably aged 12 but looking much younger) taken by his dad on Heddon Street in London, the same location as the cover of the @davidbowie Ziggy Stardust album.
B-sides “Forever in My Dreams” and “Yesterday” date from the abandoned LP sessions with Chris Thomas in 2000. We wrote so many songs in this period & there are plenty of demos that survive. (One of them, “After You” was re-recorded as a gift to fans in 2012.) @nickcaveofficial and @roisinmurphyofficial were very game in agreeing to do their own cover versions of two of our older songs.
But unfortunately the single came out far too long after the LP release & that might account for the lack of attention it received at the time. Not sure now why there was such a big delay but maybe it was a consequence of the slow fade out of the band leading up to our last show at Rotherham Magna Centre in December 2002. We all felt like it was time to do something else for a while. No-one wants to become a bad cover version of themselves.
Promotional video
Details here.
Charts and sales
UK Singles Chart
|
Week |
Date |
Position |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
27 April 2002 |
27 |
|
2 |
4 May 2002 |
52 |