For me, it started with a YouTube video of Jarvis’ 2018 interview with Paul McCartney at Paul’s Liverpool high school, now Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA). In 2023, I had been watching YouTube videos of the Beatles’ early live performances. YouTube queues up related or similar videos and the Jarvis/Paul interview appeared at the top of my queue.
The interview took place in front of an audience of teenage LIPA students. Before the interview, Jarvis walked onstage and said “Hi, I’m Jarvis” and a murmur of recognition rippled through the audience. I had no idea who he was, but the students seemed to know him, so I assumed he was one of their teachers — Jarvis does look like a high school geography teacher. As I watched the interview, I wondered why this “teacher” was in the many music videos appearing in my YouTube queue.
“Common People” was the first video I watched. Then “Do You Remember The First Time” and “Something Changed” (I cried when I first heard that one). Soon I was discovering the treasure trove of YouTube videos of Pulp performances, and entered the “cult of Pulp”. My iPhone now contains a playlist of Pulp songs which I listen to and sing along to every day.
I live in northern California. On September 16, 2024, I attended Pulp’s San Francisco concert (#557).