Editing The Teardrop Explodes (section)

===Origins===
Having arrived in Merseyside in 1976 (as a student attending [[C.F. Mott College of Education]]), Julian Cope became involved in Liverpool's emerging post-punk scene. His first band was [[Crucial Three]], with two native Liverpudlians – [[Ian McCulloch (singer)|Ian McCulloch]] (later of [[Echo & the Bunnymen]]) and [[Pete Wylie]] (who went on to form [[Wah!]]) – in which Cope served as bass player.<ref name=mm10-80>[http://www.mmmm.eclipse.co.uk/press/TeardropMM10-80.htm Ian Pye talks to Teardrop Explodes’ Julian Cope], Melody Maker, 18 October 1980 (reproduced interview)</ref>

{{Quote box
| quote = "I was goaded into becoming a rock star by [[Bill Drummond]] and the pseudo-intellectual side of me thought it would be quite charming." | source = Julian Cope<ref name=stoneme>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/aug/10/popandrock.juliancope | title=Stone me! (interview) | first=Jon | last=Savage | newspaper=The Observer | date=10 August 2008}}</ref> | width =20% | align =left}}
Cope and Wylie briefly teamed up in The Nova Mob (along with future [[Siouxsie and the Banshees|Banshees]] drummer Budgie) which lasted for one gig before Cope reunited with McCulloch in the similarly short-lived Uh! (which also featured drummer Dave Pickett). Cope and McCulloch went on to form a fourth group, A Shallow Madness, retaining Pickett as drummer but recruiting organ player [[Paul Simpson (musician)|Paul Simpson]] and part-time guitarist Michael "Mick" Finkler. Cope and McCulloch's ongoing ego clashes led to the latter leaving the band during rehearsals, ultimately to form [[Echo and the Bunnymen]].<ref name=storyofthedrude>[http://www.headheritage.co.uk/julian_cope/storyofthedrude/ Julian Cope – Story of the Drude] (biography on Head Heritage homepage)</ref><ref name=headon>Julian Cope, ''Head On'', 1994, Magog Books Ltd (249 pages), ISBN MA-GOG 3</ref> Cope, meanwhile, had befriended Liverpool scenester Gary "Rocky" Dwyer and had suggested a new band name to him – The Teardrop Explodes, taken from a panel caption in the [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] comic strip [[Daredevil (Marvel Comics series)|Daredevil]] (No.&nbsp;77).<ref>[http://comicopolis.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2209482%3ABlogPost%3A2211] {{dead link|date=April 2019}}</ref> Dwyer's initial response was a laconic "that’s a weird one you’ve got there, Jules." Dwyer did, however, take the idea seriously enough to learn how to play drums in order to take it further.<ref name="headon" />

With Cope taking on the roles of singer and bass guitarist, The Teardrop Explodes was completed by recruiting Simpson and Finkler from the wreck of A Shallow Madness and proved a more hardy gigging proposition than its predecessors, soon establishing itself as a live act. The band were soon signed as label acts and management clients to the up-and-coming Liverpool indie label [[Zoo Records]], run by former [[Dalek I Love You]] & Big in Japan bass player David Balfe and future [[The KLF|KLF]] man [[Bill Drummond]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://thequietus.com/articles/21674-the-klf-justified-ancients-of-mu-mu-bill-drummond-jimmy-cauty|title=Embrace The Contradictions: The Strange World Of... The KLF|first=Ben|last=Graham|date=1 February 2017|magazine=[[The Quietus]]|access-date=10 March 2020}}</ref> Another act on the label was Echo and the Bunnymen, who maintained a love/hate relationship and continuing rivalry with the Teardrops throughout their existence.<ref name="storyofthedrude" /><ref name="headon" />