When BritPop Ruled

Mighty Lemmon Drops!!!!!

 

I was thinking that almost as soon as I posted. Aside from Oasis, who had "the rock" and the attitude, most of the Brit bands were a bit too arch/fey/"pop!" to crack the US market. Which is too bad. Suede in particular I think should have made more of an impact; they had a grand, classic rock underpinning to a lot of their material that could have connected if they'd got the breaks, and if Brett Anderson hadn't portrayed himself as a bisexual fop.

Waay pre-Britpop, strictly speaking. They were of the "c86" bunch who sprang up in the wake of The Jesus and Mary Chain. Cool group though, esp the first two LPs and the "Like An Angel" single (amazing!).

 

Thanks for all of the "lesser-known" suggestions so far. I probably have about 3/4 of what's been mentioned, but that still leaves lots of new ground to explore. Nick Heyward? I had no idea. Listened to the samples on Amazon, and I'll definitely pick up the albums Bruce mentioned.

Suede is probably my favorite of the genre. That's where I started, and always thought the big BritPop wave started with their first album in 1993. I've followed them through Bernard Butler's departure, solo albums and production/session work, his return and the transformation to the Tears, and now Brett's solo material. Butler is probably my favorite guitarist, the next-in-line to Mick Ronson and Johnny Marr. His playing always adds something to the song. Likewise, Brett Anderson is the consummate front man, with the looks, lyrics, voice and attitude. Not as eccentric as Jarvis or eclectic as Damon, but perfect at what he does.

 

I've always been on Blur side in their battle with Oasis.
First heard them in 1991 and "There's No Other Way" had become a single of the year for me.
I was nuts on "Park Life". Still love this album after all these years. It's a gem of the 90's.
Recently i've bought "Black Sea" by XTC and i realized where Damon and Co. took their inspiration from.
I loved Suede and Pulp. Suede's debut album is one of the finest moments of the 90's too IMHO. "Different Class" has become a third CD in my collection. Took it in 1996 soon after i'd bought my first CD player.
I also loved Supergrass. I believe they are multi-talented guys and a sort of underrated.
Who else? Elastica, Kula Shaker, Ocean Colour Scene, The Boo Radleys, Bluetones. I was listening to them a lot in certain time.

 

Here's the dilemma as I see it. I'd wager to say that Brett's effeminate and fey image (which was shared by others as you state) was one of the reasons why they became popular in the UK in the first place. While the Brits could dig that kind of stuff, over here it would be laughed at.

Boy, what a perfect song "New Generation" was!

 

Also Now I'm A Cowboy & After Murder Park

 

My top albums from this era:

(What's the Story) Morning Glory?
Common People
Definitely Maybe
Suede S/T
Parklife
Coming Up
Elastica S/T
Urban Hymns

 

It still Rules!

 

There was a story that at one time Steven Spielberg was so crazy about the song 'Alright' that he wanted to produce a Monkees style show around them.

 

Urban Hymns!
I forgot about that one.
What a great record, by an almost great band, The Verve. I liked the ones before it, almost as much.

 

Last year VH1 ran a BBC series called "Seven Ages of Rock". The last episode, on "British indie rock", started with the Smiths, covered Britpop, and ended on bands like the Libertines and Arctic Monkeys.

Clips are on youtube (including much stuff not aired on VH1). Fantastic interviews in there with Johnny Marr and members of the Stone Roses, Blur, Oasis, Suede.

The show also talks about the inevitable "commercialization" of BritPop ... the show and interviewees were not shy bagging on Coldplay, Embrace, Travis, Stereophonics, etc.

 

I've never been an Oasis fan but I was always very partial to Suede, Blur, Elastica, Pulp and The Manic's. A great era and I was in my early 20's at the time so saw all of these acts live in London. Many happy memories.

 

These Animal Men FTW!

 

"Sun Hits The Sky" maybe one of the most perfect pop/rock songs ever written post 60's British Invasion.

 

Blur by far was more English than Supergrass, until as you say "13". Gaz Coombes didn't/doesn't have Damon Albarn's cockney accent either. Supergrass' "I Should Coco" can be seen as English, but not any album done after. There is no excuse why "In It For the Money" didn't become a huge hit in the U.S.. "Richard III", "Goin' Out", "Sun Hits The Sky", "Tonight" (complete with whoo-hoos) are great songs.

 

I totally disagree with this choice. I much prefer Different Class.

 

Great thread. I have very fond memories of Swervedriver, especially the album Raise and also the Senseless Things, although they were more on the punkish side of things. I saw them supporting Nirvana at the Astoria, in London and liked them better than Nirvana.
I think Midway Still are also worth mentioning, again they are a bit on the punkish side.

 

Love the Britpop movement! Im excited for the Blur reunion and applaud the Stone Roses for not getting back together(Im a huge fan, but at least they wont do it if they dont want to). alwyas thought oasis first album sounded like the stone roses. Shout out to pulp and suede and other awesome bands that seem to be forgotten today!

 

Stones Roses are, for sure, the Ur-Britpop band. Or, if you will, John The Baptist to Oasis' Jesus.

 

Forgotten? Where?

 

In 1995 I saw The Stone Roses supported by The Manic Street Preachers at Wembley Arena. Not a bad line-up I dont buy all the Stone Roses reunion talk and besides, they werent a great live band, plus only 2 albums and Ian Brown's dodgy live vocals. I'd suggest people just leave them be and enjoy the records for what they were.

 

All good points, DM. I think the problem with Supergrass was basically just timing. In It For The Money - which, IMO, is a classic, came out in '97 - the year of OK Computer & Urban Hymns (not to mention all the Be Here Now hype). And all of the albums after that seemed sort of smaller, if that makes any sense. Very good-to-great records that seemed to just do OK. In the U.S., they mostly tour clubs with the exception of the occasional opening arena slot for Radiohead or the Foo Fighters, and even in the UK, they mostly either headline big clubs/theaters or do the festival circuit.

Maybe underrated isn't what I'm going for here... more like taken for granted. They put out a new album every three years like clockwork; the first single will chart respectably and the follow-ups will sink like a stone; aside from Danny Goffey's brief coke & wifeswapping phase, they never get any press outside of music circles (not a bad thing, of course)... they're just kind of always there - and always good. When was the last time they were on the cover of Q, Mojo, NME, etc.? When was the last time a U.S. music mag has ever given them more than 200 words? Has to be pushing a decade.

Basically, I'm just kind of pissed that they're not the biggest band in the world. Even though I still get to see them in smallish clubs over on this side of the pond.

I'll shut up now.

 

Mega Oasis fan here; I've finally collected most of their singles for the b-sides and got to see the band play last December. Also enjoy the Charlatans, Elastica, Cast, and the Verve's Urban Hymns, and of course the Roses. I tried to get into Blur when Song 2 hit here, but that album just didn't connect.

Great thread; I need to check out some of these other bands.

 

I couldn't agree more. I've asked the "biggest band" question many times. Fortunately I have a good friend who gets this band as I do, so I'm not alone. Even in Britain, Supergrass is losing their critical appeal. Some of the more lazy writers still think their music is BritPop, which it really hasn't been since "In it for the Money". If anything they're more Mick Ronson era Glam Rock.


I'm a bit fuzzy on the Danny Goffey capers. Around "Road to Rouen" he looked like hell, and his playing had slipped. Was the "wife-swapping" thing with Jude Law's wife at the time? I know Gaz's tune "When I Needed You" from "Diamond Hoo Ha" was written about Danny.


You may not be aware of this, but "Diamond Hoo Ha Man" was featured in a "Life" (NBC TV) episode last fall. As with Supergrass, an under-appreciated well written TV show that's going to be canceled after this season for more reality crap.

 

I'm sure Noel would smile at that comparison...