News Archive
25 March 2023
Steve laid to rest at Highgate Cemetery
Beloved Pulp bassist Steve Mackey was laid to rest at Highgate Cemetery in North London on Saturday 25th March.
The Sun reported "A brass band and 25 speakers boomed out funk hits as a host of stars followed his flower-bedecked coffin carried on a vintage Land Rover. The Joubert Singers’ 1982 hit Stand On The Word rang out as celebs gathered at Highgate Cemetery, North London, to pay their respects."
In attendance alongside family, friends and bandmates were Peter Crouch, Abbey Clancy, Noel Gallagher, Patsy Kensit, Daisy Lowe, Courtney Love and Marc Jacobs.
A short memorial video featuring audio with Steve and highlights of his work was posted on his Instagram page.
20 March 2023
Pulp finally arrive on BBC4's Top of the Pops repeats
Twelve years since BBC Four rewound Top Of The Pops back to 1976, repeats of the classic music chart programme have reached June 1994 and, at last, the arrival of Pulp!
The first of fifteen appearances on the programme, Pulp performed Babies, the lead track on The Sisters EP (released 23rd May 1994) on the 2nd June 1995 edition, due for broadcast this Friday 24th March at 7.30pm GMT. It was particularly notable for Jarvis unexpectedly opening his jacket to reveal a sign saying "I HATE WET WET WET". He took advantage of the fact that unusually the show was going out live. Wet Wet Wet were just beginning fifteen long, long, long weeks at the top with a cover of The Troggs's 'Love Is All Around'.
It'll be a little while before Pulp return to BBC Four, with Common People heralding major chart success in May 1995, but the majority of their appearances should be broadcast over the next few years; one confirmed casualty though is the 7th December 1995 edition featuring Disco 2000 (via satellite), being skipped due to the prescence of guest presenter Gary Glitter.
13 March 2023
Candida & Nick interviewed for Channel 5 Britpop retrospective
A new four-part Channel 5 series documenting the story of the Britpop scene in the mid-90s will feature new interviews with Pulp keyboardist Candida Doyle and drummer Nick Banks, plus insights from long-time Pulp fan/expert and Bar Italia regular Mark Sturdy.
The opening episode focused on the origins of Britpop and the key rivalries of Blur, Oasis, Suede and Elastica, with Pulp and other emerging bands due to feature in part two, scheduled at 10pm on Sunday 19th March.
All episodes will be available to view free for a month from broadcast on the My5 catch-up service.
2 March 2023
R.I.P. Steve
Pulp have announced the death of bass player Steve Mackey aged 56.
Our beloved friend & bass player Steve Mackey passed away this morning. Our thoughts are with his family & loved ones.
This photo of Steve dates from when Pulp were on tour in South America in 2012. We had a day off & Steve suggested we go climbing in the Andes. So we did. & it was a completely magical experience. Far more magical than staring at the hotel room wall all day (which is probably what I’d have done otherwise). Steve made things happen. In his life & in the band.
& we’d very much like to think that he’s back in those mountains now, on the next stage of his adventure.
Safe travels, Steve.
We hope to catch up with you one day.All our love xx
(The band's original message is here)
Selected media coverage:
Sky News (video), ITVX (video), BBC News (article), Sky News (article), The Guardian (article), The Mirror (article), The Times (article), New York Times (article)
1 December 2022
'Hardcore' book project successfully funded!
With 964 backers, the recent crowd-funder for Hardcore, a unique photobook of Pulp’s This Is Hardcore era, has successfully reached its target of £45,000 and is confirmed for publication in autumn 2023.
Designed by Paul Burgess and Louise Colbourne, the lavish photobook will feature a myriad of previously unseen photographs of the band from late 1997 to late 1998, as well as newly commissioned artworks and essays. All backers will have their name published as a thank you.
28 October 2022
2023 UK tour dates announced
Jarvis, Candida, Nick and Mark will hit the road in May 2023, playing standalone shows as well as headline sets at the TRNSMT and Latitude festivals, but this time without bassist Steve Mackey.
"I’ve decided to continue the work I’m engaged in – music, film-making and photography projects,” Steve posted on Instagram. “Pulp is a very important part of my creative life and I’m exceptionally proud of the body of work we’ve created together."
Dates announced so far:
MAY 2023
26 – Bridlington Spa, Bridlington
28 – Neighbourhood Weekender, Warrington
JUNE 2023
9 – St Anne’s Park, Dublin
15 - Isle of Wight Festival
JULY 2023
1 – Finsbury Park, London (Wet Leg supporting)
7 – TRNSMT Festival, Glasgow
9 – Open Air Theatre, Scarborough
11 – International Arena, Cardiff
14 – Utilita Arena, Sheffield (Richard Hawley supporting)
15 – Utilita Arena, Sheffield (Richard Hawley supporting)
21 – Latitude Festival, Suffolk
Tickets will go on sale at 9am UK time on Friday 4th November.
6 October 2022
'Hardcore' book project seeking funding for 2023 publication
Hardcore, a lush visual celebration of Pulp’s sixth studio album, This Is Hardcore, featuring unseen photography, behind-the-scenes interviews and revealing visuals, is currently seeking crowdfunding pledges.
British photographer Paul Burgess was invited by Jarvis Cocker to document Pulp's activities throughout the This Is Hardcore era, taking photographs during video shoots, live gigs and other events. Written and designed by Burgess and Louise Colbourne, Hardcore contains a candid selection of previously unseen images of the band, behind the scenes and on set, of the four main video shoots made to promote the album.
With carefully curated images from Burgess’s archive, Hardcore also includes quotations and interviews from then and now by the video directors, band members and other artists involved with the album. Contributors include Doug Nichol, John Currin, Stephen Mallinder, Sergei Sviatchenko, John Stezaker and Florian Habicht, all of whom have a connection to the album, the band or the era. There are also visual responses from a selection of younger artists and designers, such as Alexa Vieira, who have been inspired by Burgess’s photographs and the band’s legacy.
Due for publication in mid-to-late 2023, the 256 page square-back hardback volume will be bound in a textured stock and feature the artwork ‘Rosebush’ (2003) by American artist John Currin (whose paintings feature in the Help the Aged video) as its cover.
Pledges begin at £40 (currently £35 for early birds) with a series of additional rewards offered for higher pledges, including author signed copies, t-shirts, badges, alternate slipcase, a specially created 3D lenticular photograph and one of four exclusive prints. All pledges will be refunded in full if the funding goal is not met by the deadline of Wednesday 9th November (7pm GMT).
Please consider pledging for your copy today to help make this special project happen.
26 July 2022
"Next year Pulp are going to play some concerts!"
After almost a decade away, and a teasing cryptic Instagram post from Jarvis, it has been revealed that Pulp are planning a return to the stage in 2023.
Jarvis announced the band's latest reformation at a Guardian Live talk and Q&A held in London last night for his new memoir Good Pop, Bad Pop, with drummer Nick Banks later tweeting "Stay calm, hug your Pulp records and dream of going mental sometime in 2023".
Nick later appeared on the Toby Foster at Breakfast show on BBC Radio Sheffield, confirming plans had been underway for "a few weeks, couple of months".
There's no news as to where, when or how extensive these concerts will be, but that's enough good news for now, yeah?
30 May 2022
Cuckoo Song newly recorded for charity project
Only ever played live during the summer of 1999, the hitherto unreleased Pulp song Cuckoo Song has been newly recorded by Jarvis for a new charity project in aid of our feathered friends.
The brainchild of Grammy Award-winning music supervisor Randall Poster, For The Birds features more than 200 artists including Nick Cave, Beck, Mark Ronson, Damon Albarn, Karen O and Tilda Swinton. These award-winning artists all donated their talents to help spread a love for birds, with all proceeds going to the Audubon Society to raise awareness about the threats birds face and protect the places they need to live.
Cuckoo Song was one of the early candidates to appear on the album that would become We Love Life, with a demo recorded at Wessex Studios in October 1999 which sadly remains unreleased to this day. This 2022 version is therefore the first official release of the song.
Volume 1 is available now on all streaming platforms.
26 June 2021
Glastonbury 95 returns to BBC iPlayer
With the legendary festival cancelled for the second year running, the BBC have once again made several classic Glastonbury performances available to view on iPlayer for a short period, including Pulp's triumphant 1995 headline set.
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Also available on iPlayer for the next few weeks is the 2018 Bargain Hunt music special featuring Jarvis and Candida.
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