The Teardrop Explodes - Peel Sessions Plus

With a lifespan of just three-and-a-half years, punctuated by drug-fuelled fisticuffs and numerous sackings, The Teardrop Explodes were perhaps not around long enough to establish themselves as the massive stars many of us felt they ought to have been. This intriguing collection of radio recordings, coming nearly 25 years since they split up for good, serves to remind just how special they were. The 21st Century Julian Cope may be seen as a loveable eccentric, obsessed with England’s trippy hippy heritage and up to his neck in the bizarro world of Krautrock and other idiosyncratic noiseniks, but as the Teardrops’ frontman he was one of the most charismatic pop stars of the day, combining the grandeur of Scott Walker with the angular art-rock of, say, Talking Heads or Television. Several of these 16 tracks are the embryonic versions of later album material, which ultimately seemed safe and diluted in their “official” form. John Peel and his producer John Waters encouraged the group’s experimental bent, reaping rewards on the jerky acid-rock of Chance or the sinister spy thriller pop of When I Dream. A must-have artifact for Copeheads old and new.