A bit out of the blue to say the least (and I believe 19 years since they were nominated for the only time I think with A Little Soul), they were awarded with an "Outstanding Song Collection" gong this afternoon. Don't know how much of the band were there, but Jarvis was, picture in the article here, using his speech to talk Brexit:
I found his comments regarding the rest of the band chasing after fame (i.e. Continuing post DC) not just misjudged but quantifiably wrong. I was shocked that he hadn't ever listened to the bands post-DC work but fair-enough if that was the case. His attitude to Mark Webber and his self-regard as the crew's 'fave'. The idea of being stuck in that people carrier with him naming rocks all summer travelling to each gig sounded horrible and he gave the impression of being a pompous, self-righteous and arrogant man.
It was over a year ago that I read the book so can't give any specific page references but I've never read a book and been so compelled to dislike the author as a result of the book. It's a shame, the big shades, the stern face, iconic (and a definitive architect of the Pulp sound - especially the more avant garde side that I love) he was a real hero.
I guess he was there in the period immediately post-DC and we weren't. I know what you're getting at, they didn't exactly go down the 100% sellout careerist route with the remaining two albums. But I can see why it might have felt to him that it was heading that way - from his perspective the creative spark had has gone yet they were still slogging round ever-bigger venues, trying to make a start on the next album when they weren't really ready - producing 'product' (or trying to) whereas before then, it has been about anything but. He felt he'd made a principled decision in walking away, and rightly or wrongly I can see why he might have been disappointed that the rest of the band didn't share that point of view.
I believe he did hear This Is Hardcore, at least, when it came out. He told me in 1999ish that he liked The Fear!
His attitude towards 'rhythm guitarist Mark Webber' seems a little complex - there are a couple of unnecessary bits of bitchiness in the book but he also describes him as "fundamentally a lovely bloke". You wouldn't need to dig too deeply to guess why that might be though!
The Russ bus sounded pretty cool to me but again... each to his own.
__________________
"Yes I saw her in the chip shop / so I said get yer top off"
He also said he was incredibly moved by Wickerman, having shared an expedition through the culverts of Sheffield.
I seem to remember (it being a while since I read the book) that even in the most moany bit about Mark being unreasonable about something, he qualified that with an afterthought that the might have been the same had he also been stuck on the bus for ages. You could see that as a nicety to soften the impact, but at least made the choice to do that.
__________________
We'll use the one thing we've got more of, that's our minds.