Indulging myself in a nostalgia wave at the minute, as indicated by my 1980 series. Also writing about this, as I saw Julian Cope play a week or so ago on Valentine's Day and he was just terrific. So, back to 1981 and 1982 to take a look at Wilder, their second and final album.
Really, 1980 had been the year that The Teardrops, (short-hand always seemed appropriate), had had their moment and genuinely threatened to break big. With Reward and Treason, both big hits and terrific expressions of what the 45 single could do, and Kilimanjaro an exuberant multicoloured wonder of a debut album.The world seemed to be laid out before them.
By the time they got to Wilder their race was almost run. Not that it's not as good as record as Kilimanjaro. I'd say it's just as good, probably better. But things had moved on, they did incredibly quickly back then. The Teardrops had lost their place in the spotlight. Changed too many band members, taken too many drugs, (it's all documented in the fabulous first part of Cope's memoirs, Head On), and band relationships were utterly fraying at the edges.
Wilder is an incredible balancing act between the highest highs and the lowest lows, utter hedonism and the deepest melancholy. An almost perfect documentation of a psychedelic drug trip. If Head On is to be believed, and there's no real reason why it should not be, one long psychedelic drug trip was a pretty good description of exactly what being in Teardrop Explodes between 1981 and 1982 was like.
So from the cover shot of an out of focus picture of a bunch of flowers to the eleven tracks therein, (they are all great, not a weak link), Wilder is a case study of young men draining every drop out of early adulthood, because they can. The tunes are fresh and buoyant, Cope's lyrics and singing are at an absolute peak. Perhaps the slightly dated production values, (a Teardrop's flaw, Bunnymen records sound better in this respect forty years later), are the only thing I can hold against it. It was one of the first albums I ever bought, (in 1982 I think), and my copy still sounds good and plays with nary a crackle, despite goodness knows how many plays, a testament to the remarkable durability of vinyl.
If there is a precursor to Wilder's trip it's probably Love's Forever Changes, a masterpiece I didn't discover until a few years later. Cope was never shy about emphasising their inspiration to his writing processes and his mood here definitely echoes Arthur Lee's on that record although he's probably less murderous. He was more grounded I suppose, he makes no bones about what a happy loving family he was brought up in. In fact he never stops going on about it in interviews and his writing, more so than a musician I can think of. It's probably what saved him ultimately from the fallout he was going through here. Mercifully he's still going strong.
Because Cope's genius, and I do think he's a genius, is rooted in childhood. There are two or three moments on here that encapsulate that blessed state; Culture Bunker, Tiny Children and The Great Dominions. One of his great gifts is to appreciate what a sacred realm it is and to be able to map out its sunlit contours with impeccable accuracy. Just listen to the songs I've just mentioned. It's all there.
Wilder had one real hit single on it. Passionate Friend, the first song on Side Two. It shows how the Teardrops were every bit as much a Sixties band as a late Seventies and early Eighties one. It's a three minute warm bath in glorious melody and ba ba harmonies. Also a melodic quote from As Tears Go By in the fade out that is quite deliberate and utterly respectful. It's a blast! Cope was never ashamed to be happy and express his emotions and he lets rip here, in contrast to the raincoat wearing gloomy types he came up with in Liverpool and Manchester. He was always much more about the sun than the rain.
I find it difficult to choose favourite tracks on Wilder. Every song adds a piece to the puzzle, The record is probably just short of forty minutes long and not a second of it is wasted. The merits of the album were not truly recognised at the time.It was released at the end of 1981, too close to the Christmas rush and though it did sell, making the Top 30 in the British charts and eventually being certified Silver it didn't really chime with its times the way Kilimanjaro certainly had.
Because really it's an account of breakdown which was surely what Cope in particular was going through here. His is clearly the main voice here. The Teardrops were never a band in the way that the Bunnymen were, it was largely a full on fight between the two main egos in the band, Cope and keyboard player David Balfe, with Gary Dwyer, Troy Tate and Alan Gill strong supporting players and a cast of lesser ones.
Perhaps Wilder is more appreciated now than it was at the time. I hope so. It has plenty of light and plenty of shade all kinds of profound insight into the strange nature of existence. Great tunes too. What more could you want from a record. It's the Teardrops Heaven Up Here, their Closer, (surely no coincidence that these were the second albums by all three bands). Cope would re-emerge and produce a staggering set of solo albums over the years. The sessions for their third album were farcical and abortive and though they did produce some decent material, (listen to the Everybody Wants to Shag the Teardrop Explodes album, released after they split), it wasn't really worthy of release and would surely have flopped.This is the Teardrop Explodes epitaph. And what a fine and worthy one it is.
As Cope himself said, what happened to them was surely inevitable. 'The band was never built to last... It was like building a house on scaffolding, on top of a tank moving at three miles an hour. The higher you built it the further removed you are from the reality that it's actually moving and it's going to fall.'
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