One of the key bands to emerge from the very active, original
Liverpool community during the late 1970s, the Teardrop Explodes was a great platform for
Julian Cope, a hugely, and famously eccentric figure who became obsessed by
Krautrock and
hallucinogenic drugs, setting him apart from the strong
punk energy of the time.
Cope formed the band in June 1978 taking the name
from a panel in The
Silver Surfer comic book from
Marvel, the original lineup of the Teardrop Explodes included guitarist
Mick Finkler and drummer
Gary Dwyer along with the keyboardist
Paul Simpson, (Cope had played with him before, in the short-lived A Shallow Madness).
They signed with
Bill Drummond and
David Balfe's fledgling
Zoo label, and debuted with the 1979 debut
single "Sleeping Gas".
Simpson quit the Teardrop Explodes after the record's release, and Dave Balfe took on the
keyboard and
production duties for the slightly weird single "Bouncing Babies." After touring with
Echo and the Bunnymen, Drummond worked with the band to tone down the edges and excesses of the music, ending up with the very bouncy, lively "Treason (It's Just a Story)," which bumped against the bottom rungs of the
pop charts.
In 1980, once Finkler had been replaced by
Alan Gill, (ex-
Dalek I Love You) the Teardrop Explodes recorded and released "When I Dream," which cracked the U.K. Top 50 and even managed to get a little
airplay in the
U.S. Finally, in October the band's debut LP
Kilimanjaro appeared to fabulous reviews and decent sales; early in 1981, the single "Reward" hit the Top Ten, and a subsequent reissue of "Treason (It's Just a Story)" surged into the Top 20.
Still, the members of the band changed frequently, and Gill left. Guitarist Troy Tate joined in time to record 1981's ambitious
Wilder.
A disastrous tour of the States followed. Tate left, early on, to join Fashion, leaving the remaining trio to begin work on a planned third LP, to be dubbed
Everybody Wants to Shag the Teardrop Explodes. In the midst of recording, however,
Julian Cope finally broke up the band, dissolving the last remnanats. A 1983 EP,
You Disappear from View, came out as planned, and the unfinished sessions were finally released in full in 1990.
After the Teardrop Explodes'
breakup, Balfe went on to found the
Food Records label, while
Cope embarked on a long solo career, that swings between the brilliant and the barking mad, and often manages to combine the two.
Cope's own account of these years is covered in his book
Head On.
Teardrop Explodes release list
Kilimanjaro (LP, 1980)
Sleeping Gas (EP, 1979)
Bouncing Babies (EP, 1979)
Treason (EP, 1980/1981)
When I Dream (EP, 1980)
Reward (EP, 1981)
Ha Ha I'm Drowning (EP, 1981)
Wilder (LP, 1981)
Passionate Friend (EP, 1981)
Colours Fly Away (EP, 1981)
Tiny Children (EP, 1982)
Everybody Wants To Shag The Teardrop Explodes (LP, 1990)
You Disappear From View (EP, 1983)
Serious Danger (EP, 1990)
Count To Ten And Run For Cover (EP, 1990)
Piano (LP, 1990)