See all 8 pictures

Play The Teardrop… Radio

The Teardrop Explodes

373,573 plays (56,430 listeners)
In your library (0 plays)

52 shouts

Add to my Library Share

The Teardrop Explodes was a British Post-punk/Neo-Psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. The band was formed by Julian Cope who had previously been in the short-lived yet locally-renowned band Crucial Three along with Pete Wylie (who went on to form Wah!) and Ian McCulloch later of Echo and the Bunnymen.

The band’s initial line-up consisted of singer/bassist Julian Cope, Mick Finkler on guitar, Gary Dwyer on drums and Paul Simpson on keyboards. They were managed by Bill Drummond and signed to his Zoo label. An early version of the band, which included Ian McCulloch on vocals, was known as A Shallow Madness.

The band released their first single,

Sleeping Gas in February of 1979. Soon after, Simpson left the band and was replaced by Zoo label co-owner, David Balfe. Their next single

Bouncing Babies inspired a tribute song of its own:

I Can’t Get Bouncing Babies By The Teardrop Explodes - an ode to the difficulty of obtaining a copy of the song.

Finkler was fired by Cope during the recording of their debut album Kilimanjaro and was replaced by Dalek I Love You guitarist Alan Gill. The LP was a moderate success; it reached number 24 on the British pop charts.

In 1981, the group was at the height of its popularity. In January, they hit # 6 on the British charts with the

Reward single and in April they broke the top 20 with

Treason. During this period, there were numerous line up changes: Alfie Agius was brought in on bass, Jeff Hammer replaced Balfe on keyboards and Troy Tate replaced Gill on guitar.

Expectations were high for the band’s second album, Wilder. The first single

Passionate Friend performed reasonably well (#25 UK), but the album itself was unsuccessful, limping to 29 on the charts, disappearing shortly afterwards.

Tagged as:

post-punk, new wave, 80s, alternative, indie
See more…

Similar Artists

Top Albums

Kilimanjaro
The Teardrop Explodes
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $9.49
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon $6.98
- eBay Search
Wilder
The Teardrop Explodes
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $9.49
- 7digital $4.00
- iTunes $9.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $5.62
- eBay Search
Floored Genius: The Best Of Julian Cope And The…
The Teardrop Explodes
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
The Greatest Hit
The Teardrop Explodes
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $9.49
- 7digital Search
- iTunes $9.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $21.99
- eBay Search

Top Tracks

1	Reward full track	615
2	Treason full track	307
3	Sleeping Gas full track	218
4	Bouncing Babies full track	181
5	Brave Boys Keep Their Promises full track	144
6	Books full track	129
7	Ha Ha I'm Drowning full track	125
8	Second Head full track	109
9	Went Crazy full track	91
10	Passionate Friend full track	86
11	When I Dream full track	78
12	Colours Fly Away full track	57
12	Kilimanjaro full track	57
14	Bent Out of Shape full track	49
14	The Great Dominions full track	49

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).

IAJP wrote:
last week

tiny children is on wilder!

View Profile | Leave IAJP a shout
CountDegobineau wrote:
October 2009

Simply a unique and great song. Love that bass and those drums!

View Profile | Leave CountDegobineau a shout
frankforde wrote:
September 2009

i DONT KNOW

View Profile | Leave frankforde a shout
Freelove_ wrote:
August 2009

Join my group: Post-Punk.

View Profile | Leave Freelove_ a shout
eleanormarygirl wrote:
August 2009

shut up

View Profile | Leave eleanormarygirl a shout
isssssa wrote:
July 2009

*use me*

View Profile | Leave isssssa a shout
filpaz wrote:
March 2009

We published on the music blog Orangeskies a post about Julian's book "Japorocksampler" http://orangeskies.wordpress.com Check it out!

View Profile | Leave filpaz a shout
Static2000 wrote:
March 2009

what ever happened to the track "tiny children" cant find it to download.

View Profile | Leave Static2000 a shout
robinfox wrote:
March 2009

the best but I cant find Frankie Suicide (song)

View Profile | Leave robinfox a shout
DSpanther wrote:
February 2009

Treason is a wonderful track, love listening to it!

View Profile | Leave DSpanther a shout
CDPETE01 wrote:
February 2009

christ versus warhol. listen.

View Profile | Leave CDPETE01 a shout
WyldOats wrote:
February 2009

The name comes from a Silver Surfer comic Trivia Fans!!

View Profile | Leave WyldOats a shout
v_for_violence wrote:
February 2009

lots of British post-punk was influenced by Krautock. Public Image Limited, for one.

View Profile | Leave v_for_violence a shout
austinonfire wrote:
January 2009

under-appreciated is the word that comes to mind when I think of teardrop explodes

View Profile | Leave austinonfire a shout
KosmischeSynth wrote:
January 2009

This is odd and ironic. I spend my time listening to Krautrock (German equivalent of Prog, only much, much more insane/punky) and trying to escape the british musik scene, and Liverpool, mein heimat. Here is a band from Liverpool that is influenced by and sometimes similar to Krautock. All welcome of course! :)

View Profile | Leave KosmischeSynth a shout
flashbleu wrote:
January 2009

Tags are just tags. As Juliano40 sez, no-one used the term post-punk at the time, the Teardrops were called new wave. You can call them post-punk tho'. Both are pretty broad terms. The Teardrop Explodes had their own sound, coming from punk, garage psych, krautrock, pure pop, Liverpool, Balfe's ambition and the inside of Cope's head.

View Profile | Leave flashbleu a shout
brickbriscoe wrote:
November 2008

I think Wilder is one of the best albums ever!

View Profile | Leave brickbriscoe a shout
warsawa wrote:
November 2008

does anybody believe this is about Jesus? or about Julian?

View Profile | Leave warsawa a shout
juliano40 wrote:
November 2008

they're new wave. don't be so pussies. anyway "post-punk" people just use this like fifteen years after the fact.

View Profile | Leave juliano40 a shout
jakachli wrote:
October 2008

Tiny Children Quite simply The Best Bong EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST LISTEN TO IT!!!!!!!!!

View Profile | Leave jakachli a shout

See all 52 shouts

Videos

Listeners

terema
Top Listener
Rod_S
Top Listener
violetcandy
Top Listener
Sergushock
Top Listener
jimmyjazz_CaB
Top Listener
mskold
Top Listener

Recent Activity

twomanu, tho186, sigmakid31 and 3 other people added The Teardrop Explodes to their libraries. 3 hours ago
cold_as_ever tagged The Teardrop Explodes with ‘new wave’. Wednesday afternoon
thelizster tagged The Teardrop Explodes with ‘post-punk’. Tuesday morning
patrickberlin added The Teardrop Explodes to patrickberlin’s library. Tuesday morning
Simophon tagged The Teardrop Explodes with ‘investigate further’. Monday evening
Simophon, pinksioux, bradb101 and 17 other people added The Teardrop Explodes to their libraries. Monday evening
muzikistruth tagged The Teardrop Explodes with ‘post-punk’. last week
muzikistruth, mishkaness, domdorgeval20 and 1 other person added The Teardrop Explodes to their libraries. last week
britpopfan_ tagged The Teardrop Explodes with rock, indie, alternative and 3 other tags. last week
britpopfan_ added The Teardrop Explodes to their libraries. last week