Misfits have often been part of rock & roll, but of the many outsiders, few have been as clear-eyed, passionate, and savagely witty as Jarvis Cocker, a bookish, sex-obsessed English eccentric who became not just a star but a pop archetype as the leader of Pulp in the '90s. It's been impossible to separate Jarvis Cocker's story from Pulp -- he was not only the founder, he was the creative force and the only constant member during the group's long, winding history. Winding down Pulp, as he did not long after the group's 2002 We Love Life, was not so much a breakup of a band as it was a closing of a chapter of Cocker's life, as he moved from the U.K. to settle in Paris with his new wife and child. After a few quiet years he began recording again, first as a member of the barbed electro-pop duo Relaxed Muscle and then as a solo artist, releasing his debut solo album, Jarvis, at the end of 2006.