World Shut Your Mouth (album)

World Shut Your Mouth
Studio album by Julian Cope
Released	1984
Genre	Post-Punk Neo-psychedelia
Length	40:41
Label	Mercury Records
Producer	Steve Lovell
Julian Cope chronology
World Shut Your Mouth (1984) Fried (1984)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

World Shut Your Mouth (1984) is the debut album solo album by Julian Cope.

Background

World Shut Your Mouth was written during Cope's 1983 retreat to the village of Drayton Bassett (close to his childhood home of Tamworth), following the breakup of Cope's former band The Teardrop Explodes. Two of the tracks, "Metranil Vavin" and "Pussyface", had in fact been 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 the LSD excesses of the times: during this period, he had amassed a huge collection of vintage toys. His eccentric behaviour both during and post-Teardrops had led to him being labelled as an "acid casualty" in the vein of Syd Barrett and Roky Erikson, an image which would take him several years to shake off. Cope's current 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, and other contributors included lead guitarist/producer Steve Lovell (ex-Blitz Brothers), late-period Teardrops bass guitarist Ronnie François and the Dream Academy oboist Kate St. John. It was recorded at The Point Studio in Victoria, London, and engineered by Alex Burak.

World Shut Your Mouth was released on Mercury Records in March 1984, but was seen as 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 Derek Bailey:. both this and the follow-up single, "Greatness and Perfection of Love" also flopped.

The album's title was later reused for another Cope song which became a hit single in 1986 (and was also taken for the title of a Dom Joly TV show).

Track listing

All tracks composed by Julian Cope

1. "Bandy's First Jump"
2. "Metranil Vavin"
3. "Strasbourg"
4. "An Elegant Chaos"
5. "Quizmaster"
6. "Kolly Kibber's Birthday"
7. "Sunshine Playroom"
8. "Head Hang Low"
9. "Pussyface"
10. "The Greatness And Perfection Of Love"
11. "Lunatic And Fire-Pistol"

Personnel

• Julian Cope - vocals, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, organ, drum machine
• Steve Lovell - lead guitar, sitar
• Kate St. John - oboe
• Gary Dwyer - drums on all tracks except "Sunshine Playroom" and "Lunatic and Fire Pistol"
• Ronnie François - bass on "Sunshine Playroom" & "Pussyface"
• Stephen Creese - drums on "Sunshine Playroom"
• Andrew Edge - drums on "Lunatic and Fire Pistol"
• Anton Corbijn - photography