Head-On/Repossessed: A candid autobiography

I'm reading these two volumes for the second time and have to agree with all the previous reviewers. A fantastic read - funny, scary, gobsmacking, mad, very touching and, also, very honest. Cope might be regarded as a bit of an egomaniac, but the book has its fair share of self-doubt and self-depracation. Head-On is the better volume, at least for me. Mainly because, as a previous reviewer has said, I can remember and relate to many of the events, whereas Repossessed is off the scale of most people's experiences, although no less interesting as a result. For anyone whose formative years include the late 70s/early 80s, this should strike many chords. If you were a Bunnymen/Teardrop fan it will do so much more. His account of the rise of the Teardrops and his relationship with Ian ("Duke McCool"!) McCulloch, is particularly fascinating, and the way in which this book is written suggests it is nothing less than a completely honest recollection of events as Cope saw, experienced and recollected them (albeit after 1981 through a drug-induced haze most of the time).In short, I can't recommend this book highly enough. Buy it, put on Kilimanjaro/Wilder and hold on tight: it's going to be a bumpy ride!

Ok first off, I'll deal with Head-On. It's well above average. It's an interesting rock n'roll memoir about lots of posing 80s bands in Liverpool and copious amounts of drugs. As the other reviewers say it's witty, bitchy and all that good stuff.Now onto the really interesting half of this two-parter. Repossessed is, I think, something really special. Something rare and beautiful. In it Cope shows he isn't so much an eccentric, as a visionary, with his own internally consistent cosmology. There are very few people who achieve Cope's kind of method in their madness. The closest thing I can think of is "Diary of a Genius" by Salvador Dali.I think what most impresses me is how Cope is so painfully open. I was very sceptical at first when he started using words like "shamanistic" but later on I began to see what he was getting at. It's that kind of book.And there's the fact that he never writes a dull sentence. If he wrote about washing up I would read it. Let's hope some day he brings his autobiographies up to date with a few more volumes.

I went to see Julian Cope, just knowing him as the bloke out of the Teardrop Explodes vaguely remembering something about him being a bid mad. He appeared and had gloriously metamorphised into a rampant rock god, interspersing his songs with gleeful appeals to have great bad pagan fun. I came away wanting to know alot more about him and discovered that he is also a megalith (dont know what this is yet)expert and very passionate about alot of important things. This led me to buying this book and it was just as awe inspiring as the visual experience of him.The 2 books take you from mid 70s to 1989, and submerge you in his very up and down creative journey through the variously innocent, drug fuelled, egocentric, paranoid, love and friend filled world of the Liverpool and British alternative music scene.The endlessly fascinating rock and roll stories and characters are set amidst a landscape of what is going on in Cope's head throughout it all, which is what makes this book so riveting. I ended up with a notebook writing down books and people he mentioned that inspired him.First stop his megalith book, then some George Gurdjieff, Jung......Inspired me so much to do things I have just written my first review.

Two rattling good reads in one. He's a character is our Julian but has a way with the written word as well as music. Well written but in his own style, and brings these wild stories to life with heathy doses of humour and acidity. Book 1 flows seamlessly into book two. Now I want to read what happened next!

Probably the most gripping book I've read in 10 years. From what I've heard of Teardrop Explodes I'm not a big fan, I find their stuff derivative. But Julian Cope can write. He outlines the group's trials well. Page 172/173 is worthy of Kerouac. It has sex, and drugs, and rock'n'roll in spades. His obsession with/descriptions of (lack of) personal cleanliness I find distasteful. It strikes me as honest. A good long read which held me. This is the Head On part of the double book. Good value for money. I'm reading it while self isolating durin' the Covid pandemic.

Great book, very informative, learnt things i didnt know

Love love love this book. I was crazy about Julian Cope in the 80’s; however this adds new insight to those days. Amazing detail and a fascinating read!

I always suspected Julian cope was much more talented than he was every given credit for. His insights into the music industry and life in general are unflinching and unsparing particularly of himself. He comes across as a good apple who refused to play the fame game and consequently fell out of favour-not that that should worry him, he seems to be having the last laugh. Hope he continues with his writing.

I'm something of a casual Julian Cope fan. I like his music, read his site from time to time, agree with some of his notions and find the rest a little absurd. This probably means that, going in, I was pretty well-armed for what this book had to offer.This includes Head-On, which covers Cope's childhood up to the implosion of The Teardrop Explodes and Repossessed, which covers his life from the imposion of TTE through the writing and recording of Peggy Suicide, ending just before the release of PS. Being as I was unfamiliar with most of the music made during these years (my exposure was mostly PS and onward), it's a testament to Cope's writing and just how damn bizarre his life has been that I never felt bored reading this.Cope by and large doesn't pull punches. He doesn't spare anyone else in his remembrance. Good or bad, he's not shy about his opinions of the folks he knew, heard of, met, etc. Fortunately, he's also apparently pretty quick to admit when he was being bloody minded or just difficult. As with any human being, he has his blind spots, but aside from a bit of self-importance and arrogance - all within acceptable parameters anyway - he doesn't come off as badly as someone who refers to himself as the "Arch Drude" these days otherwise might.There are probably some readers unfamiliar with his personality and politics outside of his music who might be stunned to read this, but I'm guessing those folks are few and far between. If you're going in blind, allow for the possibility you may walk away never wanting to hear this pretentious dude's music - or walk as quickly as possible to a computer to order as much of his music as your bank account will bear. I suspect the reaction will be one or the other.Bottom line: if you're into the man and his music, you'll find this at least entertaining. Expect some navel gazing, a lot of drug use, and some biting judgments and criticism of music and its practitioners in these pages, but also expect to be at least captivated throughout.

Nicely written. Never boring. Good insights into the Teardrops story and songs and friendships and of course, LSD.If I wasn't a fan, the book would have convinced me that The Teardrop Explodes was a shaky band who weren't great live. The archive of live videos that are out there prove that they were a formidable and exciting live band.

Head-On by Copey is quite a blast to read. I am nearly finished with it, and it is a great account of Cope's early life leading into, and through the Teardrop's era. It's a fascinating bio from the guy who could be my long lost brother in England. A friend of mine in the mid-80's turned me on to "Fried" I believe, and I have been a fan ever since. I really believe that the Teardrop's were more interesting than the Bunnymen, they had a more unique sound... Head On has some of the best acid stories I have ever read short of Huxley. That aside, the book is a great account of a long lost era, sort of between the lines as far as music movements are concerned, but interesting none the less. Cope has always walked the line between artist and faker, but he is an artist, and this book and some knockout records proves it. The Charlotte Anne just proves it. I don't know if this helps, but I can't put the damn thing down.

Tells the true story of what he's about.

Best Rock Autobio. Ever. The man has a talent for prose, who cares if you know or love his musical work.