Peggy Suicide
Studio album by
Julian Cope
Released22 April 1991
Recorded1990
GenreArt rock, psychedelic rock
Length75:44
LabelIsland
ProducerJulian Cope, Donald Ross Skinner
Julian Cope chronology
Droolian
(1990)		 Peggy Suicide
(1991)		 Jehovahkill
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert Christgau(dud)[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
The Great Rock Discography8/10[4]
NME8/10[5]
Q[6]
Record Collector[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]
Uncut[10]

Peggy Suicide is the seventh album by Julian Cope. It is generally seen as the beginning of Cope's trademark sound and approach, and as a turning-point for Cope as a maturing artist.

Background

Peggy Suicide was recorded and released following two lo-fi Cope albums - Skellington and Droolian - which had not gained official distribution and caused friction with Cope's label Island Records. Cope's previous Island release, My Nation Underground, had not satisfied him, and he had rejected its heavily produced, pop-friendly sound in favour of a one-take, more politicised approach as expounded by former White Panther John Sinclair in his book Guitar Army. Cope was later to refer to this book as "my holy book", and it set the method for all of his subsequent recording. Several familiar Cope collaborators were on the record - multi-instrumentalist Donald Ross Skinner, drummer/percussionist Rooster Cosby and keyboard player/onetime Cope producer Ron Fair. There were also contributions by new associates in the shape of former Smiths drummer Mike Joyce and future Spiritualized lead guitarist Michael Watts (better known as Mike Mooney or "Moon-eye").

On the album’s songs, Cope laid bare many of his personal convictions including his hatred of organized religion and his increasing public interest in women's rights, the occult, alternative spirituality (including paganism and Goddess worship), animal rights, and ecology.[11] He had referred in passing to these beliefs in previous songs, but never so directly. The album was written in the aftermath of the British anti-poll tax riots in 1990. Cope had taken part in the protest, and several songs on the album refer directly to its events.[6] Cope's forthright new political stance was reflected in the song "Leperskin", which refers to the contemporary British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (who resigned between the recording of Peggy Suicide and its release) as an "apostolic hag". For one particular track, the anti-police tirade "Soldier Blue", Cope sampled Lenny Bruce's live album The Berkeley Concert and mixed in samples of the Poll Tax Riot.

When released in 1991, the album featured extensive sleevenotes in which Cope explained the meaning of each song and stated that the entire album was a meditation on humanity's relationship to Mother Earth.[6] Many songs were given very idiosyncratic interpretations, such as Cope's account of "You" which asserts that the Conscious Mind "acts like a cross between Tony Wilson and Bill Drummond but looks a lot like Lew Grade. The Unconscious mind...looks like Iggy Pop playing Syd Barrett."[12]

Peggy Suicide generated two singles - the calypso-styled "Beautiful Love" (a minor hit) and "East Easy Rider".[6] Another track, "Soldier Blue", was re-mixed by The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy's Michael Franti, who also provided a rap for the new mix. However, Island Records refused to release the song as a single due to it being considered too overtly political.

The album was heralded by critics as Cope’s best work thus far, and has subsequently been considered an artistic rebirth for Cope. Paul Davies in Q Magazine described it as "a hugely diverse and enjoyable collection."[6] In 2009, a deluxe edition was released with a second CD of bonus tracks.

The album's title is a pun on the Buddy Holly song "Peggy Sue".

Runtime

Head was edited to fit on the limited time of LP and CD mediums for the album. The original unabridged version was later made available on the Head EP for the song and credited as a remix version.[13]

The Double LP album features slightly longer versions of the tracks "Safesurfer" (8.35), "Drive, She Said" (5.05) & "Not Raving But Drowning" (4.41), plus an extra track "Uptight" on the D side of the release.[14]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Julian Cope, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Pristeen" 4:43
2."Double Vegetation" 3:52
3."East Easy Rider" 4:00
4."Promised Land" 3:40
5."Hanging Out & Hung Up on the Line" 4:44
6."Safesurfer" 8:07
7."If You Loved Me at All"Cope, Donald Ross Skinner5:00
8."Drive, She Said" 4:37
9."Soldier Blue"Cope, Skinner4:49
10."You..." 1:49
11."Not Raving But Drowning"Cope, Skinner4:17
12."Head" 2:21
13."Leperskin"Cope, Skinner5:12
14."Beautiful Love" 3:13
15."Western Front 1992 CE" 2:01
16."Hung Up & Hanging Out to Dry"Cope, Skinner, Double DeHarrison, J.D. Hassinger4:48
17."The American Lite"Cope, Skinner4:03
18."Las Vegas Basement" 5:04
2009 deluxe edition disc 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Easty Risin' (East Easy Rider remix)" 8:23
2."Ravebury Stones"Cope, Skinner11:34
3."Love L.U.V. (Beautiful Love remix)" 6:53
4."Dragonfly" 9:18
5."Heed: Of Penetration and the City Dwellers (Head remix)" 6:12
6."Bring Cherhill Down (vocal)"Cope, Skinner6:58
7."Safesurfer (tour '91 7" version)" 7:01
8."If You Loved Me at All (tour '91 7" version)"Cope, Skinner6:30
9."Butterfly E" 6:37
10."Straw Dogs"Cope, Skinner5:32
11."Anyway at All" 3:54

Charts

Chart (1991) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart[15] 23

Accolades

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[16]

Personnel

Technical personnel
  • Donald Ross Skinner - producer
  • Julian Cope - producer on "Safesurfer", "Western Front 1992 CE" & "Las Vegas Basement"
  • Hugo Nicolson - recording engineer, mixing engineer, producer on "Uptight"
  • Ingmar Kiang - recording engineer
  • Tim Bran - recording engineer
  • Tony Harris - recording engineer
  • Paul Tipler - recording engineer
  • Darina Roche - cover painting
  • Richard Haughton - photography
  • Darren Woolford - cover design

References

  1. ↑ Raggett, Ned. "Peggy Suicide". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  2. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Julian Cope". Robert Christgau.com. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  3. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Cope, Julian". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (2004). "Julian Cope". The Great Rock Discography (7 ed.). Canongate Books. p. 335. ISBN 1-84195-615-5.
  5. ↑ Swift, David (2 March 1991). "Buy My LP – Or the World Gets It!". NME.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Paul Davies. "Peggy Suicide". Q. March 1991. pg. 66, issue 55
  7. ↑ Peacock, Tim (28 March 2018). "Saint Julian, My Nation Undergound, Peggy Suicide, Jehovahkill". Record Collector. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Columnist. "Peggy Suicide". Rolling Stone. May 1991, cited 7 October 2012
  9. ↑ Considine, J. D. (1992). "Julian Cope". In DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd ed.). Random House. pp. 161. ISBN 0-679-73729-4.
  10. ↑ Pinnock, Tom. "Julian Cope – Peggy Suicide/Jehovakill". Uncut. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  11. ↑ "The S.P.A.C.E.R.O.C.K.E.R.’s Guide to Julian Cope", Aural Innovations magazine #23, April 2003
  12. ↑ Julian Cope, Peggy Suicide, 1992
  13. ↑ Julian Cope – Heed: Of Penetration And The City Dweller (1991, Vinyl), retrieved 12 December 2021
  14. ↑ Julian Cope – Peggy Suicide (1991, Vinyl), retrieved 12 December 2021
  15. ↑ "Julian Cope - Peggy Suicide". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  16. ↑ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (7 February 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
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