Noteworthy Notions - Pulp : 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)'

NOTEWORTHY NOTIONS

'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes) - and other pieces...'
PULP - 1985

Though I do not make a habit of reviewing releases which, strictly speaking, are just singles, I feel I should make an exception for this item, and the next, because they reflected the first time that Pulp revealed their new look to the public.

With a whole new lineup to the band, it was time to right the wrongs that had been created by their past 3 releases, and so this controversial outing was the first release by Pulp Mk II. The EP, as a whole, is a bit of a rickety affair. The recording quality is quite low (tape hiss can be heard quite clearly on all the tracks) and the B-Sides are a little too experimental to be easily enjoyed as 'songs'.

The A-Side, however, is an absolute masterpiece and a surprisingly pleasant listen, considering some of the lyrics and the overall subject matter of the thing. It begins with a nice, childlike verse with some pretty vocal backing by Candida Doyle before it launches into the dominating and dramatic chorus which begins with the lines "Little girl with blue eyes there's a hole in your heart / and one between your legs / You've never had to wonder which one he's going to fill / in spite of what he says". It was this chorus that was responsible for getting it banned from any potential airplay. One Sheffield station, unaware of the song's content, did in fact play it, but faded the song out after the first chorus when the DJ, bewildered by the change in the band that had released 'My Lighthouse' and 'Everybody's Problem', said "Well, I never expected to hear that kind of thing from Pulp".

A truly classic track and a milestone for Pulp. The band had originally wanted 'Maureen' to be released as a single instead of this, but Fire Records insisted that this was their first. For once, I think Fire made the right decision because 'Maureen', as catchy and rocking as it is, sounds very amateurish in comparison to this.

The B-Sides to this EP are ok, but can probably only be of any interest to the die-hard fans. The B-Sides are ultimately what prevented me from giving this 12" a four star rating.

Review by Leo Van Krinks

Release Details

Tracklisting

Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)
Simultaneous
Blue Glow
The Will To Power

KNOWN UK RELEASES
FIRE5 - 1985 Fire Records (12" Single)
Tracks now available on CD on "Pulp - Masters Of The Universe" : FIRECD36 - 1994 Fire Records (CD)

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