Editing Pulp (band) (section)

===Fire Records era: 1983–1992===
Around this time, Cocker had become involved in an [[experimental theatre]]/[[performance art]] company organised by Russell Senior; the two soon began writing and rehearsing music together, eventually enlisting fellow performance artist Magnus Doyle to play drums.<ref name="Senior-2015a">{{Cite book |last=Senior |first=Russell |title=Freak Out the Squares: Life in a Band Called Pulp |publisher=Aurum Press |year=2015 |isbn=9781781314715 |location=London |chapter=Chapter 3: Island of Bohemia}}</ref> As Senior recounted, this was for all intents and purposes a new project, related to Cocker's previous band in name only:<blockquote>We had a discussion on what to call the new band, Jarvis didn't like the name of my previous [[psychobilly]] band the Nightmares, and I quite liked the name Pulp but didn't particularly want to be associated with it. We tried sticking a pin in a dictionary but all the names were rubbish and he persuaded me that keeping the name Pulp would bring a few people in, so it stuck.<ref name="Senior-2015a" /></blockquote>With the eventual addition of bassist Peter "Manners" Mansell and occasional keyboardist/engineer Tim Allcard, this new incarnation of Pulp survived a number of ill-fated gigs (including one at a rugby club at [[Brunel University]] which ended in a riot<ref name="Record Collector" />) before Allcard left to be replaced on keyboards by Doyle's sister [[Candida Doyle|Candida]] in 1984. At her first gig with the band, in a London pub, Pulp were scouted by their soon-to-be label, the fledgling indie [[Fire Records (UK)|Fire Records]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Senior |first=Russell |title=Freak Out the Squares: Life in a Band Called Pulp |publisher=Aurum Press |year=2015 |isbn=9781781314715 |location=London |chapter=Chapter 7: Candy-Coloured Keyboard}}</ref> Soon after signing, in November 1985, Cocker fell out of a window while trying to impress a girl with a [[Spider-Man]] impression and ended up in hospital, temporarily requiring the use of a wheelchair in which he appeared during concerts.<ref>Sturdy, p. 124.</ref>  

Fire released the singles "[[Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)|Little Girl]]" (1985), "[[Dogs Are Everywhere]]" (1986), and [[They Suffocate at Night|"They Suffocate at Night"]] (1987) before finally releasing the band's next LP ''[[Freaks (Pulp album)|Freaks]]'' (1987), recorded in one week on a budget of £600 due to record label pressure.<ref name="Senior-2015b">{{Cite book |last=Senior |first=Russell |title=Freak Out the Squares: Life in a Band Called Pulp |publisher=Aurum Press |year=2015 |isbn=9781781314715 |location=London |chapter=Chapter 15: 𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙨}}</ref><ref name="Sturdy" /> Cocker was irritated, and remarked that "the songs could've been done a lot better if we'd have had a bit more time...".<ref name="Sturdy">Sturdy, p. 138.</ref> The release of ''Freaks'' had been delayed for a year, in which time the band's lineup had largely destabilised, the most notable fluctuations being the departures of Mansell and both Doyles and the addition of drummer [[Nick Banks]] (though Candida Doyle would soon rejoin the band on a long-term basis after a couple of brief absences).<ref name="Senior-2015b" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Banks |first=Nick |title=So It Started There: From Punk to Pulp |date=2023 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-1-78759-259-9 |edition= |location=London |chapter=Chapter 13: The Advert (Woodchip on the Wall...)}}</ref> With the album emerging to minimal label promotion and only moving a few hundred copies, and the initial Fire contract having wound down, Pulp recorded demos of newer, more pop-oriented material with [[Chakk]]'s label FON in Sheffield.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Senior |first=Russell |title=Freak Out the Squares: Life in a Band Called Pulp |publisher=Auram Press |year=2015 |isbn=9781781314715 |location=London |chapter=Chapter 16: The Curious Case of Captain Sleep}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Banks |first=Nick |title=So It Started There: From Punk to Pulp |date=2023 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-1-78759-259-9 |location=London |chapter=Chapter 15: Freaks Fallout (Don't You Want Me Anymore?)}}</ref> A single called "Death Comes To Town" was due to be released by FON in early 1988, but this relationship disintegrated and the release was cancelled.<ref>Sturdy, p. 165.</ref> Pulp would play two notable gigs in Sheffield that year, including the high-concept "Day That Never Happened" show at [[The Leadmill]] in August; the same night of this event, however, Cocker informed Senior that he was leaving for London to study film, having been accepted to [[Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design]] and had his fill of struggling to move the band's career forward.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Banks |first=Nick |title=So It Started There: From Punk to Pulp |date=2023 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-1-78759-259-9 |edition= |location=London |chapter=Chapter 16: The Dark Ages (Separations)}}</ref><ref name="Senior-2015c">{{Cite book |last=Senior |first=Russell |title=Freak Out the Squares: Life in a Band Called Pulp |date=2015 |publisher=Auram Press |isbn=978-1-78131-471-5 |location=London |chapter=Chapter 17: The Day That Never Happened}}</ref>

Though Cocker's relocation and frustrated attitude seemed to spell a natural endpoint for Pulp, Senior encouraged him that the time had not yet come to disband.<ref name="Senior-2015c" /> Banks, too, recalled that the situation was discouraging but not final:<blockquote>Pulp was in bits. Scattered. But, we never sat down and said, "That's it, the end, see you later." There was still a dimly flickering ember under the rubble. There was still a desire to try and keep things going - somehow. We didn't know how this was going to happen, we just thought the songs we had were too vital to let die.<ref name="Banks-2023a">{{Cite book |last=Banks |first=Nick |title=So It Started There: From Punk to Pulp |date=2023 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-1-78759-259-9 |edition= |location=London |chapter=Chapter 17: London Calling (Death Comes To Town)}}</ref></blockquote>[[Steve Mackey]], a fellow Sheffielder and supportive fan, was also studying in London by this time and was asked to join as a bass player.<ref name="Banks-2023a" /><ref>Sturdy, p. 172.</ref> In 1989, Fire Records approached Cocker about re-signing Pulp, promising a £10,000 recording budget; still wary from their prior experience with the label, the band booked FON's studio and producer [[Alan Smyth]] once again in hopes that they could use Fire's studio advance without actually formalising a new deal.<ref name="Banks-2023a" /> Under this arrangement, Pulp commenced work on what would ultimately become their next LP ''[[Separations (album)|Separations]]''. Upon completing the album, with no discernible interest from any other label, the band reluctantly agreed to re-sign with Fire Records.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Banks |first=Nick |title=So It Started There: From Punk to Pulp |date=2023 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-1-78759-259-9 |edition= |location=London |chapter=Chapter 18: Return to Fire (Going Back to Find Her)}}</ref> As with ''Freaks'', the label would delay the release of ''Separations'' considerably, sitting on the album until 1992. 

In the meantime, however, in 1991, the "[[My Legendary Girlfriend]]" 12-inch became ''[[NME]]''{{'}}s single of the week. [[Stuart Maconie]] described it in his review as "a throbbing ferment of nightclub soul and teen opera".<ref>Sturdy, p. 190.</ref> Another 1991 single, "[[Countdown (Pulp song)|Countdown]]," began to be mentioned in the mainstream press,<ref name="Courier Mail">Robinson, N. ''The Courier Mail and The Sunday Mail''. 15 August 1991.</ref><ref name="Rock/gig guide">Gallivan, Joseph. "Rock/gig guide". ''The Independent''. 29 August 1991.</ref> and in October of that year, the band played its first overseas gig, a concert organised by French magazine ''[[Les Inrockuptibles]]''.<ref>Sturdy, p. 198.</ref> Frustrated by what they viewed as a still intractable situation with Fire, Pulp worked with their new manager Suzanne Catty to drum up interest from major-label [[Artists and repertoire|A&Rs]] in London; an arrangement was reached for interested suitor [[Island Records]] to informally fund a few singles on [[Warp Records]] imprint Gift in order to bolster Pulp's indie profile while testing the commercial waters with a larger production budget.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Banks |first=Nick |title=So It Started There: From Punk to Pulp |date=2023 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-1-78759-259-9 |edition= |location=London |chapter=Chapter 21: Salvation? (Being Followed Home)}}</ref> [[O.U. (Gone, Gone)|"O.U.]]" was thus released by Gift in June 1992 (the same month ''Separations'' would finally see release on Fire); when Island learned of the band's heretofore unrevealed contractual obligation to Fire Records, however, further funding was withheld for fear of legal action, causing Cocker to seek a £5,000 loan from his family in order to keep Gift's planned release of "[[Babies (song)|Babies]]" on schedule for October.<ref name="Banks-2023b">{{Cite book |last=Banks |first=Nick |title=So It Started There: From Punk to Pulp |date=2023 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-1-78759-259-9 |edition= |location=London |chapter=Chapter 23: More Problems (Goodnight)}}</ref> Amid the stress and ambiguity of this episode, the band severed ties with Catty and soon took on the services of [[Rough Trade Records|Rough Trade's]] management arm, who would successfully negotiate Pulp's release from Fire to Island Records under condition of the smaller label receiving a portion of the band's future major-label earnings.<ref name="Banks-2023b" />

The band would later look back on its experiences with Fire Records as a disillusioning time, citing problems like poor promotion, lack of adequate distribution, and a failure to coordinate release schedules with Pulp's live activity; both Cocker and Senior confessed after the fact that the band agreed to the initial Fire deal because it "was the only offer on the table."<ref name="Record Collector" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Senior |first=Russell |title=Freak Out the Squares: Life in a Band Called Pulp |publisher=Aurum Press |year=2015 |isbn=9781781314715 |location=London |chapter=Chapter 11: What to Wear?}}</ref>

Upon his own reflection, Banks took a slightly more equivocal stance on the label situation during this period:<blockquote>[Fire] did put out Pulp records when nobody else wanted to. OK, they were often months and years after they were recorded and almost all of them garnered zero sales, airplay, or interest but they were the only people to invest any money in Pulp for a long time. It is very easy to see that Pulp could have foundered in the mid and late eighties due to lack of interest. Is a band even a band without being able to release music? At least with Fire something was coming out. Just.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Banks |first=Nick |title=So It Started There: From Punk to Pulp |date=2023 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-1-78759-259-9 |edition= |location=London |chapter=Acknowledgements}}</ref></blockquote>