Sarfraz Manzoor

I went to the Latitude festival last weekend and one of the highlights was Jarvis Cocker. I remember having seen Pulp at a festival in the summer of 1996 and the euphoria of thousands of us all singing along to Common People and Disco 2000 back when that seemed a long time ago. Jarvis Cocker is something of a national treasure and listening to his most recent album in the days leading up to the Latitude festival I was really impressed by how so many of the songs seemed to me to be as good as some of his finest moments with Pulp. During my twenties Different Class was rarely far from my CD player and seeing Jarvis at Latitude was both thrilling and moving and a little sad.  Thrilling because here was someone producing intelligent pop music with heart and integrity. Moving because I remember listening to Disco 2000 in Manchester nightclubs ten years ago and I remember the way I sang my heart out to the Deborah of the song, wishing there was someone in my real life to whom I could have directed such passion. He didn’t sing any of his Pulp classics at Latitude, perhaps he wants to direct attention to his latest solo album and that is understandable but for those who were there the first time round and who recall hearing Common People, Misfits and the rest it would have been magical to have those sad beautiful songs again.