When Lloyd Cole burst onto the world music scene in 1984 with his band the Commotions and the album Rattlesnakes he was hailed as one of the most brilliant songwriters of his generation. Cole’s lyrics were loaded with literary and pop culture references, the kind that had you knowingly smile at his wit and irony while he casually dropped names like Greta Garbo and Simone de Beauvoir into his songs. Perfect Skin, Are Your Ready To Be Heartbroken?, Forest Fire and the title track became firm fan favourites and are frequently played on FM radio to this day.
Even greater success followed with 1985’s Easy Pieces and the hits Lost Weekend and Brand New Friend, though critics weren’t as lavish in their praise. The band released one more album (1987’s Mainstream), with Lloyd then relocating to New York to establish a solo career.
Lloyd Cole’s self titled debut album (1990) was a stunner, with Lloyd enlisting the talents of the Commotions’ Blair Cowan, Fred Maher (Scritti Politti, Lou Reed), Robert Quine (Lou Reed) and a then unknown Matthew Sweet. The album included tracks like No Blue Skies, Undressed and Downtown. The critics fell in love with Cole all over again and the album did well, particularly in Europe.
Cole has continued to make music since as a solo artist and with various collaborators, but it wasn’t until 2013’s superb album Standards that he found universal acclaim again. In the past year a number of retrospective releases have reignited interest in his work with a world tour that will see him focusing on the first half of his career.
I spoke to Lloyd Cole ahead of his Australian visit where we discussed his love of golf, his years with the Commotions and beyond. We chatted about his table manners and there was a revelation that he asked me not to print, although he never said I couldn’t podcast it…
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