Pulp: Help the Aged (single)

After a long debate as to whether the ‘comeback’ single should be “Northern Souls” (aka “Cocaine Socialism”, later to become “Glory Days”) – more about that another time – “Help the Aged” won out. It had been the first new song written after “Different Class”, played in embryonic form at V96 & recording was begun a full year before its release. This seemed to be a good point of departure: a sign of maturity & a statement of intent for life after having become a successful pop group. (Who could’ve imagined we’d be touring again 25 years later?)

When an invitation arrived for us to submit a possible theme for a new James Bond film, we dropped everything to spend a day in the studio producing a song from scratch. It later came to light that Sheryl Crow was a shoo-in & maybe we were not the only ones asked to compose something in case that didn’t work out. “Tomorrow Never Lies” was written, recorded & set aside so quickly that I’m not sure we could remember how to play it now.

“Laughing Boy” emerged during demo sessions that yielded a couple of other b-sides. Memories are sketchy but it’s possible we’d hired a pedal steel guitar from Gerry Hogan but none of us could work out how to play it. We had to get him to come to Matrix Studios & do it himself, which he did capably in a couple of takes.

A few weeks before “Help the Aged” was released, Pulp’s first live appearance in over a year was at a benefit concert to raise funds for minimalist composer La Monte Young and his wife Marian Zazeela. Other performers included @nickcaveofficial , @officialspzd, @@gavinbryars, Steve Martland / @englishchamberorchestra plus contributions from Terry Riley, Spring Heeled Jack / Paul Catling, @kraftwerkofficial and @yokoono. Tony Wilson compered the event. Maybe this was a clue that Pulp were going through changes.