Head-on
Julian Cope
203 pages including index
published in 1994
So this Julian Cope is a bit of a character. For about two years in 1980-81 he was one of Britain’s pop idols, having hordes of 13 year old fangirls following his band, The Teardrop Explodes from concert to concert, fullfilling almost the same role as bands like Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet would fill a little bit later. All this while the band started as a serious, proper grim post-punk band. No wonder Cope went of his rocker and the band disbanded. It wasn’t the end for Julian Cope though, as he would start a succesful solo career in the mid-eighties, become a cult figure in later life and even find the time to write two big, influential books on the surviving prehistoric monuments of Britain and Europe. Head-on is his autobiography.
Well, the first part of his autobiography, the story of his life from childhood to fame with The Teardrop Explodes to the point that it all went south. The rest he’s written about in another volume, Repossessed, which I haven’t read yet. I was a bit Coped-out after reading Head-on, which wasn’t an easy read, especially in the second half of the story.