The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single "Reward" in 1981, the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s, who launched the career of group frontman Julian Cope as well as that of keyboard player and co-manager David Balfe (later a record producer, A&R man and the founder of Food Records). Other members included early Smiths producer Troy Tate. The group disbanded in 1982.
Links To Peel[]
As outlined in the Peel-narrated TV documentary Rock Family Trees: The New Merseybeat, Julian Cope had been in earlier Liverpool bands with Ian McCulloch (later Echo & The Bunnymen), Pete Wylie (Wah!) and Pete Burns (Dead Or Alive), while Teardrop Explodes co-managers Dave Balfe (who eventually joined the band), and Bill Drummond (later KLF) had both been in Big In Japan. The latter pair also ran the Zoo label that released the first three Teardrop singles, which were all played by Peel, before the band signed to Mercury. Balfe and guitarist Alan Gill both had spells with Dalek I.
In 1979, Peel invited the band to do a session for his show, prompting front man Julian Cope to write the song Reward, with the lyrics "Bless my cotton socks, I'm in the news".[1] The single went to number 6 in the UK chart in 1981.[1] After the band split, Peel kept an interest in Julian Cope's music solo career through the 80's and 90's. Former keyboard player Paul Simpson formed Peel session band the Wild Swans (who reached #10 in the 1982 Festive Fifty with 'Revolutionary Spirit').
In 2016, Cope attended at a Classic Album Sundays event at John Peel Centre in Stowmarket to discuss the Teardrop Explodes debut LP 'Kilimanjaro'.[2] [3]
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- 1980 Festive Fifty: Treason #43
Sessions[]
The Teardrop Explodes - Peel Session 1979
The first two sessions are available on Peel Sessions Plus (2007, CD, Mercury)
1. Recorded: 1979-10-02. Broadcast: 15 October 1979. Repeated: 16 March 1981, 12 August 1982, 25 May 1983.
- Brave Boys Keep Their Promises / Ha Ha I'm Drowning / Went Crazy / Chance
2. Recorded: 1980-04-24. Broadcast: 24 April 1980. Repeated: 13 May 1980, 30 December 1980, 16 September 1986
- Thief Of Baghdad / When I Dream / The Poppies In The Field
3. Recorded: 1981-11-16. Broadcast: 22 December 1981. Repeated: 13 January 1982, 25 February 1982, 08 April 1982
- Soft Enough For You, Sex / The Challenger
Other Shows Played[]
The Teardrop Explodes - Treason (It's Just A Story) (1981)
- 1979
- 22 February 1979: Sleeping Gas (7") Zoo CAGE 003
- 13 March 1979: unknown
- 26 March 1979: Camera Camera (7" - Sleeping Gas) Zoo CAGE 003
- 13 June 1979: Sleeping Gas (7") Zoo CAGE 003
- 16 July 1979: Bouncing Babies (7") Zoo
- 21 July 1979 (BFBS): Bouncing Babies (7") Zoo
- 26 July 1979: Unknown
- 07 August 1979: Bouncing Babies (single) Zoo
- 11 August 1979 (BFBS): Bouncing Babies (7") Zoo
- 1980
- 05 March 1980: Treason (It's Just A Story) (7") Zoo CAGE 008
- 13 March 1980: Treason (single) Zoo
- 15 March 1980 (BFBS): Treason (Is Just A Story) (7”) Zoo CAGE 008
- 19 March 1980: Treason (single) Zoo
- 27 March 1980: Treason (It’s Just A Story) (7”) Zoo
- 30 April 1980: Treason (It’s Just A Story) (7”) Zoo
- 21 June 1980 (BFBS): Treason (It's Just A Story) (7") Zoo CAGE 008
- 02 September 1980: When I Dream (7”) Mercury
- 04 September 1980: When I Dream (7”) Mercury
- 22 September 1980: When I Dream (7") Mercury
- 02 October 1980: Kilimanjaro (7" - When I Dream) Mercury TEAR 1
- 14 October 1980: Brave Boys Keep Their Promises (album - Kilimanjaro) Mercury 6359 035
- 18 October 1980 (BFBS): Sleeping Gas (album - Kilimanjaro) Mercury 6359 035
- 18 October 1980 (BFBS): Brave Boys Keep Their Promises (album - Kilimanjaro) Mercury 6359 035
- 23 October 1980: Sleeping Gas (album - Kilimanjaro) Mercury 6359 035
- 30 October 1980 (BFBS): Thief Of Baghdad (album - Kilimanjaro) Mercury 6359 035
- 01 November 1980 (BFBS): Went Crazy (album - Kilimanjaro) Mercury 6359 035
- 22 November 1980 (BFBS): Poppies In The Field (album - Kilimanjaro) Mercury 6359 035
- 09 December 1980: Brave Boys Keep Their Promises (album - Kilimanjaro) Mercury 6359 035
- 22 December 1980: Treason (LP - Kilimanjaro, 1980) Fontana FF #43
The Teardrop Explodes - Reward
- 1981
- 22 January 1981: Reward (7") Mercury TEAR 2
- 25 January 1981 (BFBS): Reward (7") Mercury TEAR 2
- 03 February 1981: Reward (7") Mercury TEAR 2
- 04 February 1981: Reward (7") Mercury TEAR 2
- Karl's Tape Early February 1981: Reward (7") Mercury TEAR 2
- Karl's Tape April May 1981: For Years (live for Richard Skinner or repeat of Mike Read session)
- Karl's Tape May 1981: Pure Joy / Leila Khaled Said / I'm Not The Loving Kind / Culture Banker
- 04 May 1981: Traison (C'Est Juste Une Histoire) (12" - Treason (It's Just A Story)) Mercury TEAR 312
- 10 May 1981 (BFBS): Traison (C'Est Juste Une Histoire) (12" - Treason (It's Just A Story)) Mercury TEAR 312
- 30 July 1981 (BFBS): Poppies In The Field (album - Kilimanjaro) Mercury 6359 035
- 26 October 1981: Colours Fly Away (7") Mercury
- 02 November 1981: Colours Fly Away (7") Mercury
- 1982
- Karl's Tape Early July 1982: Buchanan / Serious Danger / You Disappear From View / Log Cabin
- 14 April 1982 (BFBS):Take A Chance (v/a album - To The Shores Of Lake Placid) Zoo ZOO 4
- 23 June 1982 (BFBS): Rachael Built A Steamboat (12" - Tiny Children) Mercury TEAR 712
- 30 August 1982: Poppies In The Field (album - Kilimanjaro) Mercury 6359 035
- 10 October 1982 (BFBS): Sleeping Gas (7") Zoo CAGE 003
- 13 October 1982: Second Head (LP - Kilimanjaro) Fontana
- 25 October 1982: Sleeping Gas (7") Zoo CAGE 003
- 1983
- 01 March 1983: You Disappear From View (7") Mercury TEAR 8
- 09 March 1983: You Disappear From View (7") Mercury TEAR 8
- 14 March 1983: The In-Psychlopedia (12" EP - You Disappear From View) Mercury TEAR 812
- 17 March 1983: Unknown
- 22 March 1983: You Disappear From View (12") Mercury
- 28 March 1983 (BBC World Service): You Disappear From View (7") Mercury TEAR 8
- 1984
- Peel Early June 1984 (Karl's Tape June 1984) (11 June 1984): Sleeping Gas
- 1985
- 07 May 1985: Reward (7" - Reward / Treason) Mercury
- 30 December 1985: Bouncing Babies (7") Zoo
- 1986
- 03 November 1986: Treason (LP - Kilimanjaro) Mercury
- 1988
- 30 May 1988: Treason (LP - Kilimanjaro) Mercury
- 1989
- 08 February 1989: Ha Ha I'm Drowning (LP - Kilimanjaro) Mercury
- 1990
- 06 August 1990: Ha Ha I'm Drowning (LP - Kilimanjaro) Mercury
- Best Of Peel Vol 17 (01 December 1990): 'Camera Camera (LP-The Zoo Uncaged 1978-1982)' (Document)
- 30 November 1990 (BFBS): 'Camera Camera (LP-The Zoo Uncaged 1978-1982)' (Document)
- 07 December 1990 (BFBS): Sleeping Gas (7") Zoo
- 14 December 1990 (BFBS): Sleeping Gas (7") Zoo
- 15 December 1990: Treason (LP - 'The Zoo' Uncaged 1978-1982) Document
- 15 December 1990 (BFBS) (Peel 165 (BFBS)): 'Bouncing Babies (Compilation LP-'The Zoo' Uncaged 1978-1982)' (Document)
- 21 December 1990 (BFBS) (Peel 165 (BFBS)): 'Bouncing Babies (Compilation LP-'The Zoo' Uncaged 1978-1982)' (Document)
- Best Of Peel Vol 18: 'Treason (It's Just A Story)' (Compilation CD-'The Zoo' Uncaged 1978-1982)' (Griffin Music Inc.)
- 1991
- 11 January 1991 (BFBS): 'Treason (It's Just A Story)' (Compilation CD-'The Zoo' Uncaged 1978-1982)' (Griffin Music Inc.)
- 1993
- 08 April 1993 (John Peel Is Jakki Brambles): Reward (single) Mercury
- 1996
- 08 July 1996: Reward (Non-Peel session from 1982) (John Peel's Classic Sessions)
- Others
- John Peel: In Session Tonight: Reward
Top Of The Pops[]
- 25 December 1981 (TOTP): Reward
See Also[]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ See The Teardrop Explodes: How We Made Reward (Guardian, 2015-03-03). Also, Cavanagh, David (2015): Good Night and Good Riddance: How Thirty-Five Years of John Peel Helped to Shape Modern Life. Faber & Faber, p279.