Cocker

Jarvis Cocker makes a grand entrance. The rest of Pulp have taken their place at the front of the stage, the string players are ready to the band’s right, and then their frontman emerges at the top of a Hollywood staircase, silhouetted by a massive full moon. He has a spindly, instantly recognisable silhouette, of course. There’s no mistaking; Jarv is here.Mid-set he mentions Pulp’s first foray to Manchester; an appearance at the Boardwalk in October 1992. Subsequently, things changed for Pulp; hit albums and fame. And…

This book’s subtitle, Swifts and the Story of Life on Earth, is the first clue to its ambition. In his mission to restore a sense of wonder to life’s small and ordinary things, Mark Cocker – author of the award-winning Crow Country – takes us on a soaring journey from the Cretaceous period to a summer’s day in his English garden, via angiosperms, bacteria, flying ant day, Ted Hughes and the magnetic field caused by our planet’s iron core – “the Earth’s innermost soul” – to demonstrate the essential interconnectedness of…

Autobiography and memoir A life in objects Good Pop, Bad Pop Jarvis Cocker Good Pop, Bad Pop Jarvis Cocker A life in objects The first memoir from the former lead singer of Pulp would have been better titled…

Good Pop, Bad Pop finds the former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker sifting through dozens of old boxes in his loft and reflecting on what he finds. Given his attic is only three feet high and stretches the width of his house, the sorting process “feels like mining. It’s dirty, uncomfortable work”. But it is also rewarding as he unearths ancient keepsakes from his youth, from a stick of chewing gum and an old sweatshirt bought from a jumble sale to a well-thumbed book of dirty jokes, many of which flew over his head at the…

On 17 October, the winner will be announced for this year’s Booker prize, the UK’s most prestigious prize for long-form fiction. Ahead of the announcement, you can watch video readings from each shortlisted title below. The excerpts are read by a variety of performers – from TV star David Harewood and actor and writer Prasanna Puwanarajah to musician Jarvis Cocker and actor and writer Sharon Horgan. The films have been directed by Kevin Thomas, and produced by Mermade, the digital sister company to Horgan and Clelia…

Pulp star Jarvis Cocker joined his former bandmate Richard Hawley in a surprise performance at Sheffield’s Leadmill music venue in support of the ongoing eviction battle against its Landlords.Cocker joined fellow Sheffielder Hawley on the second day of his four-day residency in support of the venue, which was handed an eviction notice in March.Pulp performed their first gig at the Leadmill more than 40 years ago, in August 1980. The venue also played a pivotal role in launching the careers of bands including Kaiser Chiefs…

The first memoir from the former lead singer of Pulp would have been better titled A History of Jarvis in 100 Objects. That’s what it is: an illustrated guide to the things that make Cocker who he is. He doesn’t appear in many of the photos; the great majority show his collection of ephemera: a 20-year-old pack of Wrigley’s Extra gum, a fragment of Imperial Leather soap with its old-style label still attached. That’s him in a nutshell: driven by a lifelong love of the everyday, perceiving romance and poignance in items…