"Unlike most bands who call it quits after a few years in the underground scene, the British pop group Pulp stayed together for 12 years before finally hitting the big time. By the ‘90s when they finally appeared as part of the British mainstream sound, they had seen tons of lineup and sound changes before focusing on a David Bowie, Roxy Music glam rock sound.Pulp was formed in 1978 by Jarvis Cocker when he was just 15. The group was all friends in school and they performed at local gigs and even recorded a demo in the early ‘80s. After the group appeared on the John Peel show in 1981 which still lead them nowhere, all the members except for Cocker left the group. The next year Cocker found several more musicians to replace those lost to university, inducing keyboardist Simon Hinkler, who would later join The Mission. This new folksy group landed a recording contract and released their debut album, It, in 1984. Yet again, the group saw little success and fell apart. Cocker was left to concoct yet another version of Pulp, this time with Russell Senior, Magnus Doyle, Peter Mansell and Candida Doyle. Cocker finally found a full-time contributor in Senior, and the group released several singles with Fire Records.After their album, Freaks appeared, the group split yet again, leaving Cocker and Senior as the only two remaining members. When Doyle returned with new members, the group finally had a stable lineup, but this time, it was Cocker who started to drift from the group. About to leave Pulp for a career in filmmaking, the single ""My Legendary Girlfriend"" broke their decade-long drift and made them a success. It wasn't until ""Common People"" was released that Pulp found mainstream success, just three years shy of a two decade time frame since Pulp first emerged."
