Early Life
Cocker was born in Sheffield, growing up in the Intake area of the city. His father, Mac, a DJ and actor, left the family and moved to Sydney when Jarvis was seven and had no contact with him or his sister Saskia thereafter, leaving them to be brought up by their mother, now a Conservative councillor.
Jarvis Cocker credits his upbringing, almost exclusively in female company, for his interest in how women think and what they have to say. He wrote a song ("A Little Soul" on This Is Hardcore) about being abandoned by his father, and in 1998 travelled with his sister to Australia to meet him for the first time in nearly 30 years. Mac Cocker had a successful radio DJ career in Sydney beginning with Double J in the 1970s and then Triple J in the 1980s, and did not counter a common impression there that he was Joe Cocker's brother or cousin (despite both being from Sheffield, they are not related in any way). By the time of his son's visit, Mac Cocker had moved to a hippie commune in Darwin, Northern Territory. Cocker says he has forgiven his father for abandoning them. "I don't feel any bitterness towards him at all. I feel sorry for him."
Read more about this topic: Jarvis Cocker
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