''World Shut Your Mouth'' is the debut solo

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

Background

''World Shut Your Mouth'' was written during Cope's 1983 retreat to the village of

Drayton Bassett Drayton Bassett is a village and civil parish since 1974 in Lichfield District in Staffordshire, England. The village is on the Heart of England Way, a footpath. Much of the housing is clustered together but more than half is 20th century in t ...

(close to his childhood home of Tamworth), following the breakup of Cope's former band

The Teardrop Explodes The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single "Reward", the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s. T ...

. Two of the tracks, "Metranil Vavin" and "Pussyface", had in fact been originally intended for The Teardrop Explodes (and different versions of each appear on the belated 1990 release of the band's scrapped third album, ''Everybody Wants to Shag... The Teardrop Explodes''). Although ''World Shut Your Mouth'' generally retained the uptempo pop drive of The Teardrop Explodes, it was also an introspective and surreal work. Cope had spent a period in seclusion in which he recovered from the strain of the final year of the Teardrops and from his

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

excesses of the times. During this period, he had also amassed a huge collection of vintage toys. His eccentric behaviour both during and post-Teardrops had led to him being labelled by the music media as an "acid casualty" in the vein of

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...

and

Roky Erikson Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson (July 15, 1947 – May 31, 2019) was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was a founding member and the leader of the 13th Floor Elevators and a pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre. Biography Ericks ...

, an image which would take him several years to shake off. Cope's contemporary vulnerability and childhood preoccupations informed the songs on the album, most notably on songs like "Head Hang Low" and "Sunshine Playroom". Most of the album's tracks featured former Teardrops drummer

Gary Dwyer The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single " Reward", the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s. ...

, and other contributors included lead guitarist/producer Steve Lovell (ex- Blitz Brothers), late-period Teardrops bass guitarist Ronnie François and the

Dream Academy The Dream Academy were a British band consisting of singer/guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes, multi-instrumentalist (chiefly oboe, cor anglais player) Kate St John, and keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel. The band is most noted for their 1985 hit singles "L ...

oboist

Kate St. John Kate St John (born October 2, 1957) is an English composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist. Classically trained on oboe, she gained a music degree at City University London. Her first band was The Ravishing Beauties with Virginia As ...

. It was recorded at The Point Studio in

Victoria, London Victoria is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster. It is named after Victoria station (London), Victoria Station, which is a major transport hub. The station was named after the nearby Victoria Street. The name is used to describ ...

, and engineered by Alex Burak. ''World Shut Your Mouth'' was released on Mercury Records in March 1984, but was seen by critics as somewhat pastoral and out-of-step with the times. It gained poor reviews and sold indifferently. The album's first single "Sunshine Playroom" featured a macabre and disturbing video directed by

David Bailey David Royston Bailey (born 2 January 1938) is an English photographer and director, most widely known for his fashion photography and portraiture, and role in shaping the image of the Swinging Sixties. Early life David Bailey was born at Wh ...

. Both this and the up-tempo follow-up single, "Greatness and Perfection of Love" also flopped. The album's title was later reused by Cope for another song, which became a hit single in 1986 (and was also taken for the title of a

Dom Joly Dominic John Romulus Joly (; born 15 November 1967) is an English comedian and writer. He is best known as the star of ''Trigger Happy TV'' (2000–2003), a hidden camera prank show that was broadcast in over 70 countries worldwide. Early life ...

TV show).

Track listing

2015 expanded edition

The first disc of the expanded edition contains the eleven tracks from the original album.

Chart positions

Personnel

- vocals, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, organ, piano, drum machine *Steve Lovell - lead guitar, sitar, producer *

- oboe *

- drums * Ronnie François - bass on "Sunshine Playroom" and "Pussyface" * Stephen Creese - drums on "Sunshine Playroom", "Pussyface" and "Greatness and Perfection" *

Andrew Edge Andrew Edge (born David Andrew Edge) is a musician from Leeds, England. He moved to London in the late 1970s, and joined the Thompson Twins. After one year Edge left the group and joined Uropa Lula, who released three singles (on Arista Records) ...

- drums on "Lunatic and Fire-Pistol" ;Technical *Alex Burak - engineer *

Phil Thornalley Philip Thornalley (born 5 January 1960) is an English songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing (with Scott Cutler and Anne Preven) the song " Torn" (made famous by Natalie Imbr ...

- engineer * Stephen Power - engineer *

Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner"' ...

- photography *Julian Cope and Julian Balme - design *Richard Smith - liner notes (1996 re-issue)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Shut Your Mouth (Album) 1984 debut albums Julian Cope albums Mercury Records albums