大象传媒

One of the items uncovered in the loft is an exercise book containing 15-year-old Jarvis's plans for pop domination. Included is a fashion manifesto for the look of the future Pulp. The band would be outfitted with duffel coats, drainpipe trousers, garish t-shirts and ‘rancid’ ties. As Jarvis points out, far from being a fashion revolution, the clothes were only a slight variation on the school uniform he wore every day. But, even at this formative stage, he knew how important image would be for his future career.

"As soon as I entered the schoolyard, the hilarity began"

Speaking of fashion, Jarvis also recounts the time some German family members sent him lederhosen as a gift. "I looked like an Alpine goatherd. But my mum thought it would be fine to go to school looking like this." As you can imagine, much schoolyard ribbing ensued. This was exacerbated when two zips were spotted on the front of the garment. Soon Jarvis was not only known as 'four eyes' but also 'two...' [something too rude to write here].

"I've only had one fist fight in my entire life"

Despite the many pairs of broken spectacles relegated to Jarvis's loft, he insists he is a complete stranger to violence. Almost. Once, at junior school, an argument over a game of football turned into Jarvis agreeing to fight a boy called Peter after school. Unfortunately, neither combatant wanted to punch the other in the face, so it turned into "more of a wrestling contest." Eventually, after many of the spectators had left out of boredom, Jarvis received a black eye and Peter got a cauliflower ear. The fight was declared a draw. So why all the broken spectacles? "They have been trodden on. By me."

There's a small blue plastic spaceman in Jarvis's loft. This seemingly insignificant toy is very important in his life. After catching meningitis at the age of six, Jarvis was rushed to hospital and kept in there for weeks. His schoolmates sent him cards and lavish gifts to cheer him up: "People must have really thought I was going to snuff it." But due to the infectious nature of the disease, all these presents had to be incinerated. All except for the cheap blue spacemen sent by a relative who knew about Jarvis's fascination with outer space. These could be sterilised and kept. Now a lone blue spaceman still remains in the loft, a reminder of this terrifying time.

"We were the kids with nothing else to do"

A ring-pull unearthed amongst Jarvis's detritus is evidence that early members of Pulp had to be bribed with cans of lager in order to attend rehearsals. "Alcoholic enticement was necessary because some members of the band considered trying to play music the least pleasurable aspect of being in the group." Band members weren't picked for ‘musical ability’ but more ‘social availability’. The first band rehearsal involved Jarvis on guitar, his pal Dolly on Jarvis's grandmother’s electric organ and Dolly's brother Ian on coal scuttle, a substitute for drums. The results weren't great, but it was a start.

Pulp's first ever gig, at school in 1980, was nothing if not ambitious. Learning that the gig was going to be recorded as well as performed, Jarvis decided to pull out all the stops to impress the crowd. Stage clothing was assembled by Jarvis’s sister using curtain material. And the chemistry teacher was roped in to provide pyrotechnics, but his ignited magnesium strip, coupled with the fact that no one remembered to close the curtains in the hall, led to disappointing results. Jarvis insisted the recording be erased and, in the exercise book in the loft, he lists the band's first gig as taking place several weeks later. Jarvis describes this revisionist history of that forgettable first live appearance as 'Stalinist'.

John Peel and Jarvis Cocker

"I know it's a cliche, but it really did feel like I'd died and gone to heaven"

John Peel was a huge figure in the creative journey of Jarvis Cocker and the discovery of a ticket to the John Peel Roadshow at Sheffield Polytechnic is described as a 'holy relic'. Jarvis plucked up the courage to give John a copy of Pulp's early recordings at this event, and a few weeks later Peel's producer phoned to invite them to record a session. "If I had to choose one event that gave me the confidence to devote my life to music, this would be it. This ticket commemorates the day the dream came true."

"My fall from grace has shaken something loose"

A homemade get well soon card, found in the loft, reminds Jarvis of a dramatic but definitive incident that took place in the mid-1980s. Attempting to replicate a stunt he'd seen a friend perform the week before, Jarvis found himself dangling from a window ledge, outside a flat, fairly high up. His attempt at a ‘controlled jump’ resulted in a broken wrist, foot and pelvis. But remarkably, the fall had a positive effect on him. "I now realised that I have been surrounded by inspiration all along." This near-death experience, and weeks spent in hospital, encouraged Jarvis to take note of everything around him. He started writing about real people and events, and his songs came alive. He describes his time in hospital as "A convalescence and, also, a coalescence. A chain reaction had been set in motion." Soon the new Jarvis Cocker would emerge.