Julian Cope was born in Deri, South Glamorgan, and grew up in Tamworth. After forming a succession of half-groups and writing songs with Ian McCulloch (later of Echo & the Bunnymen), he eventually formed Teardrop Explodes with Gary Dwyer in 1978. He is the author of Krautrocksampler, Megalithic European, The Modern Antiquarian, Head-On and Repossessed. His website, www.headheritage.co.uk, contains some of the most entertaining and insightful album reviews on the web.

'This book's astonishing blend of seriousness and hilariousness is testament to perhaps the most remarkable mind in rock today' Word 'The most obscenely enjoyable book of the year ... enlightening, thrilling and occasionally hilarious ... Cope is a supremely engaging writer whose aim is to entertain, educate and freak out, like A. J. P. Taylor being spiked by Lester Bangs' Telegraph 'Fascinating ... keeps the reader gripped ... his evocations of all this authentically inauthentic music are enticing and convincing' ***** Observer Music Monthly 'Cope's first-hand knowledge of the petty rivalries and idiocies of life in the rock 'n' roll business lends his tales the sheen of authenticity. In its own way, Japrocksampler is a brave book' The Wire