Jarvis Cocker

Musician and lyricist Jarvis Cocker talks to John Wilson about the most important influences and experiences that shaped his own creativity. He explains how the DIY spirit of punk during his teenage years in Sheffield inspired him to form his band Pulp, and experiment with a distinctive new look forged in that city's jumble sales.

Pulp, who went on to become one of the biggest bands to define the Britpop era of the 1990s, made their BBC Radio 1 debut in 1981 on the hugely influential John Peel show, another of Jarvis's choices for this programme. And yet the band didn’t find mainstream success until well over a decade later. Pulp was put on hold while Jarvis studied Film at St Martin’s Art College in London, an experience which widened his cultural horizons and where he met the girl who came from Greece and 'had a thirst for knowledge', later featured in Pulp's biggest hit Common People. He also fondly recalls his musical hero Scott Walker who, after massive pop success with The Walker Bothers in the 1960s, pursued an idiosyncratic and experimental music career, until his death in 2019.

Producer: Edwina Pitman