Synopsis

Pulp's promo treats sexual initiation as an awkward, funny, and distinctly unglamorous subject rather than a romantic fantasy. Jarvis Cocker and the band perform the song while the video surrounds them with ordinary people and deliberately rough, documentary-style imagery. The accompanying film expands the idea through candid interviews with celebrities and strangers recalling their first sexual experiences. Together, the pieces turn the song's intimate question into a wry portrait of embarrassment, curiosity, memory, and the universal desire to appear more experienced than one really is.

Factoids & Trivia

• The project was conceived as two connected pieces: a conventional promotional video and a documentary about people's first sexual experiences. Island agreed to fund the unusual concept.

• The documentary runs for approximately 25 minutes and was later included on the VHS compilation *Sorted for Films & Vids* and the DVD *Pulp Hits*.

• Interviewees included John Peel, Jo Brand, Justine Frischmann, Viv Stanshall, Vic Reeves, Alison Steadman, and Bob Mortimer. Two members of Menswear also appeared before that band's breakthrough.

• Jarvis Cocker's own first sexual experience was part of the film's framing idea. He lost his virginity at 19, and the song's lyrics were loosely based on that experience.

• The promo footage was shot during one particularly cold day in February 1994, using locations in Acton, Plumstead, and South Kensington in London.

• The production used extras recruited by Miss Dominique Miller. Among them were Johnny Dean and Chris Gentry, who later became members of Menswear.

• Two edits were prepared, labeled the "normal version" and the "kids version." The standard version was later used on Pulp's home-video compilations.

• Stephen Fry was approached for an interview but declined through his agent, who reportedly said that Fry did not discuss his private life.

• The video's deliberately candid approach undercuts the idea that celebrities experience sex in a more glamorous or orderly way than everyone else. That contrast became one of the clip's defining jokes and helped establish Pulp's documentary-style take on everyday embarrassment.