Peggy Suicide is the seventh album by Julian Cope. It is generally seen as the beginning of Cope's trademark sound and approach, and as a turning-point for Cope as a maturing artist.
Background
Peggy Suicide was recorded and released following two lo-fi Cope albums - Skellington and Droolian - which had not gained official distribution and caused friction with Cope's label Island Records. Cope's previous Island release, My Nation Underground, had not satisfied him, and he had rejected its heavily produced, pop-friendly sound in favour of a one-take, more politicised approach as expounded by former White PantherJohn Sinclair in his book Guitar Army. Cope was later to refer to this book as "my holy book", and it set the method for all of his subsequent recording. Several familiar Cope collaborators were on the record - multi-instrumentalist Donald Ross Skinner, drummer/percussionist Rooster Cosby and keyboard player/onetime Cope producerRon Fair. There were also contributions by new associates in the shape of former Smiths drummer Mike Joyce and future Spiritualizedlead guitaristMichael Watts. On the album’s songs, Cope laid bare many of his personal convictions including his hatred of organized religion and his increasing public interest in women's rights, the occult, alternative spirituality, animal rights, and ecology. He had referred in passing to these beliefs in previous songs, but never so directly. The album was written in the aftermath of the British anti-poll tax riots in 1990. Cope had taken part in the protest, and several songs on the album refer directly to its events. Cope's forthright new political stance was reflected in the song Leperskin, which refers to the contemporary British prime ministerMargaret Thatcher as an "apostolic hag". For one particular track, the anti-police tirade "Soldier Blue", Cope sampled Lenny Bruce's live albumThe Berkeley Concert and mixed in samples of the Poll Tax Riot. When released in 1991, the album featured extensive sleevenotes in which Cope explained the meaning of each song and stated that the entire album was a meditation on humanity's relationship to Mother Earth. Many songs were given very idiosyncratic interpretations, such as Cope's account of "You" which asserts that the Conscious Mind "acts like a cross between Tony Wilson and Bill Drummond but looks a lot like Lew Grade. The Unconscious mind...looks like Iggy Pop playing Syd Barrett." Peggy Suicide generated two singles - the calypso-styled "Beautiful Love" and "East Easy Rider". Another track, "Soldier Blue", was re-mixed by The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy's Michael Franti, who also provided a rap for the new mix. However, Island Records refused to release the song as a single due to it being considered too overtly political. The album was heralded by critics as Cope’s best work thus far, and has subsequently been considered as an artistic rebirth for Cope. In 2009, a deluxe edition was released with a second CD of bonus tracks. The album's title is a pun on the Buddy Holly song "Peggy Sue".
Trivia
Head was edited to fit on the limited time of LP and CD mediums for the album. The original unabridged version was later made available on the CD single release for the song and credited as a remix version. The Double LP album features slightly longer versions of the tracks "Safesurfer", "Drive, She Said" & "Not Raving But Drowning", plus an extra track "Uptight".
Track listing
Chart positions
Accolades
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
