You could argue endlessly about what Britpop is and isn't / was and wasn't. For me personally, it was a period of time from March 1994 through to the summer of 1996. Girls & Boys to Knebworth while Sorted for E's and Whizz. But, as you'll read below, the seeds were truly sown in 1993.
Some would argue that Britpop (British bands with guitars) started in the 1960's and never stopped. Now and then a band or scene would explode; Merseybeat, Mod, Garage, Psychedelia, Glam, Punk, New Wave, Indie, Indie/Dance crossover, Madchester ... there are always peaks and troughs, but its ongoing.
Usually a handful of bands would breakthrough and a trail of copycats or chancers would attempt to follow closely behind them. Occasionally, truly special bands would just come along and be absolutely untouchable. Think of The Smiths. They stood alone. They didn't really have any peers.
Meanwhile, for Britpop purists, Britpop lasted from 1993 - 1997/98. Many cite Pulp's This Is Hardcore as the official end of Britpop. For me, Britpop ended at Knebworth, but the death was confirmed in 1997 when bands began to veer much more leftfield, experimenting with instruments and sound. OK Computer by Radiohead, Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating In Space by Spiritualized, Vanishing Point by Primal Scream ... music was moving on while Oasis were releasing Be Here Now.
Britpop, the label, was applied to a 'scene' in the UK back in the spring of 1993 when Select Magazine put Brett Anderson from Suede on their cover with the title Yanks Go Home! The magazine highlighted that Suede, St Etienne, Denim, Pulp and The Auteurs were ready to Battle for Britain. Five very different bands indeed! Not really a scene!
In an article by Stuart Maconie, Select opted for Dad's Army style sloganeering with Who do you think you are kidding Mr Cobain? Stating that they'd had enough of miserable grungewear and self-obsessed slacker bands, going on to say that they would reclaim the Union Jack from the Nazis.
Mr Kurt Cobain's Nirvana had exploded from nowhere and a string of bands wearing plaid shirts, ripped jeans and battered converse followed them. Record companies decamped to Seattle and bands like Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains were heavily pushed. Only, Nirvana apart .... they weren't very interesting ... In fact, they were very boring. Perhaps, heroin, the scenes drug of choice, was partly to blame. In contrast to the Britpop bands being sorted for E's, whizz and a blizzard of cocaine ... before heroin was introduced to many on the London scene. That's a whole other blog and debate though!
Select's timing was perfect;
- a year after Suede appeared on the cover of Melody Maker before releasing a note of music,
- a month on from their first top 10 single with Animal Nitrate
- and to co-incide with the release of their eponymous debut.
The magazine hit the spot. And they clearly saw the potential in Pulp - 10-years after their debut single. As for The Auteurs ... I have no idea why they were featured, if you check their interview online, they just don't seem interested and they have disassociated themselves with Britpop ever since - no wonder, they were anything but Britpop!
Suede received extensive coverage and lavish praise in the issue and frontman Brett Anderson played on it, producing memorable quotes like; 'Yes, I do feel invincible ... '
Suede were being hyped beyond belief and for the first time in ages, it seemed like a band was going to live up to it. Their first 4-singles (blogged on here) were electric, exciting and exhilarating. This was a band shooting for the stars.
In the same month as the famous Select cover, Blur released For Tomorrow as a single - blogged on here.
For me, 90's Britpop properly started in the spring of 1994 when Blur released Girls & Boys, Kurt Cobain committed suicide and Oasis released Supersonic. The seeds sown by Suede a year earlier were now in bloom (excuse the Nirvana reference!). Blur would embrace Britpop wholeheartedly, while Noel and Liam repeatedly called themselves a rock n roll band.
The doors to the mainstream were well and truly kicked in and many others flowed in, looking for their fifteen minutes of fame.
A band called The Jennifers changed their name to Supergrass, Shaun Ryder was reborn with Black Grape, Sleeper went pop, John Power from The La's had some massive hits with Cast, Menswear formed as a direct result of Britpop, while even lofi artists like Babybird had a go with 1996 hit single You're Gorgeous and in the aftermath of Oasis it seemed like any northern band with a feather cut and a cagoule could get a record deal - Northern Uproar being a prime example.
Britpop became a movement, for a wonderful period there were amazing singles and albums being released every week. This peaked in 1995 with albums like Different Class, (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, The Great Escape, Elastica, All Change, It's Great When You're Straight ... Yeah!, I Should Coco, Stanley Road, Wake Up Boo! .... quintessential Britpop albums.
1995 also saw the release A Northern Soul, The Bends, Grand Prix, The Charlatans, Exit Planet Dust, Leftism and Maxinquaye. I'll save a blog on 1995 for another time, but it really was an exceptional year for British music.
Back to 1993.
It's interesting to reflect back on some of the singles and albums released by British bands in that year. Many of the artists are still releasing brilliant music 30-years down the line.
Non-UK singles released in 1993 included the super cool Cannonball by The Breeders, the classic Killing In The Name Of by Rage Against The Machine, Bjork's incredible Human Behaviour and sublime Venus As A Boy, Feed The Tree by Belly, Into Your Arms by The Lemonheads, Today by Smashing Pumpkins and the life affirming Everybody Hurts by R.E.M.
As per the opening paragraph, you could argue endlessly about what was Britpop and what wasn't, but here are 10 singles from British alternative/indie artists that were released in 1993. OK make that 11 as I've added 2 from Pulp! I've added links to videos for all the songs I have written about below.
Here is a playlist of the NME singles of the year for 1993.
10 'Britpop' singles from 1993
Open Up by Leftfield and John Lydon
The throbbing energy of electro and punk combined to stunning effect. Lydon snarls and sneers his way through the song while Leftfield fuse techno and dub rhythms to create something that sounds dangerous and captivating. Young upstarts The Dust Brothers - later to change their name to The Chemical Brothers - provided a remix. Perhaps this paved the way for many other electronic acts to think outside of the box for guest vocalists.
Open Up - official video
Dust Brothers/Chemical Brothers remix
Animal Nitrate by Suede
Suede gatecrashed the top 10 with their 3rd single. Brett Anderson was beamed into living rooms across the country singing what does it take to turn you on? showing off his midriff, shaking, shimmying and causing teenagers to get excited and curious, while their parents tut tutted. Bernard Butler's guitar sounded like nothing else going on at that time.
Animal Nitrate - official video
Stutter by Elastica
Suede might have started the Britpop party, but they soon distanced themselves from it with the release of their second album, Dog Man Star, in 1994. Meanwhile, ex-Suede member Justine Frischmann (and now girlfriend of Damon Albarn) was making an entrance with her band Elastica's debut single in June of 1993. Two verses, two choruses and lasting a little over 2-minutes long, Stutter was (and remains) a beautifully brash slice of punky new wave pop that has dated well. It still sounds fresh, fun and vital 30-years down the line.
Stutter - official video
From Despair To Where by Manic St Preachers
The Manics could never be classed as Britpop, although they were never far away from the scene. Nicky Wire declared his love for Oasis and the Manics played Knebworth, but the Manics intelligence set them apart. On their biggest hits they were singing libraries gave us power and if you tolerate this then your children will be next. Quite whether these songs would have reached number 2 and 1 in the charts without the Britpop effect is up for debate.
On From Despair To Where the Manics display their ear for melody with a catchy chorus and insanely catchy guitar riff and a touch of class with the string section leading the instrumental.
From Despair To Where - official video
For Tomorrow by Blur
It's safe to say, on reflection, that For Tomorrow was a game changing single for Blur. Broken after a long American tour, Albarn found solace in the music of The Kinks. On the brink of being dropped by their label, Blur regrouped, bought old suit jackets, Doc Marten Boots and Fred Perry tops. All of a sudden it felt like Blur had found their sound and look. In that sense, I'd argue that it's one of the most important singles of the Britpop era.
For Tomorrow has a beautiful feel to it; strings, la la la's, a very southern English vocal by Albarn and solid beats. The video rubber stamped Blur's new identity; Albarn hanging off the back of a London double decker bus, floating in The Thames, the band playing football in Trafalgur Square and hanging around on Primrose Hill. All wearing the aforementioned new Blur uniform of suit jacket and jeans. The melody changes for the final two verses, flowing superbly as Albarn sings modern life is rubbish.
Photo by Kevin Cummins
Regret by New Order
I always feel warmer when I hear Regret by New Order. That opening burst of guitar and synth combining so naturally, then it comes in again, like a stutter, but then the groove and flow kicks in. And oh how Regret groove and flows.
The chorus might be the most uplifting out and out chorus in the New Order cannon, Hooky's bass solo is magnificent and the outro with Barney singing just wait til tomorrow, I guess that's what they all say, just before they fall apart tugs on my heartstrings every time I hear it.
Veterans from the post punk scene with Joy Division, New Order had over a decade of experience of showing how independent bands could have hit singles.
Regret official video
Creep by Radiohead
Originally released in September 1992, Radiohead's debut single Creep became a slow burning word-of-mouth sensation. Despite being on the bands Pablo Honey album, the demand was clear, Creep had to be reissued.
After reaching number 78 in September 1992, Creep broke through to the top 10, reaching number 7 when rereleased a year later.
I hadn't listened to Creep in years, probably decades before writing this blog. It's still incredibly emotive from the off; the chord progression, Thom Yorke's voice, the bridge to the chorus, introduced by Jonny Greenwood's crunching guitar;
I wish I was special
You're so fucking special
But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here
Yorke's voice rises for the she's running out the door section, he really goes for it, matched by Greenwood on guitar. It's an incredible performance.
Of course, Radiohead most definitely aren't Britpop. They weren't in 1993 and they weren't with their phenomenal album The Bends, released in 1995, but singles from that album stretched out across Britpop from 1994-96.
The band highlighted their considerable development in 1997 with the release of the OK Computer album, staggering Paranoid Android single and the contribution of the remarkable Lucky to the Help album for Warchild. They were out on their own. They still are.
Official video
Wild Wood by Paul Weller
Paul Weller has always burned with a fierce energy. He seemed to burn particularly brightly through the 90's. Going under his own name for the first time after The Jam and The Style Council, Weller was perhaps fired up by the opportunity to recruit different people into his band, or to have guest with him.
He quickly followed his eponymous debut solo album from 1992 with Wild Wood in 1993. The title track is beautifully lazy and hazy, Weller's voice is rich and raw, the rhythm is mellow and the guitar solo is wonderfully playful.
Weller recognised the working class fire and songwriting talent of Noel Gallagher and the two became great friends. In the heady days of 1995 the pair played together on Channel 4's The White Room, singing Noel's Talk Tonight.
Official video
Lipgloss by Pulp
Back in early 1993, Pulp achieved their first chart placing when they reached the heady heights of number 80 with Razzmatazz, their final single for Gift Records. Remarkably, given their atrocious track record from 1983-1993, the band then signed a major label deal with Island Records!
Clearly, someone in the A&R team at Island was on it! Perhaps the feature in Select helped? I imagine loads of A&R would have bypassed even listening to Pulp demos or going to see them live.
But with the His n Hers album ready for release in 1994, Pulp were ready to explode. Actually, when you look back at their discography, from the release of the Babies single in 1992, Pulp were on fire for a few years; Babies, Razzmatazz, Lipgloss, Do You Remember The First Time?, The Sisters EP, Common People, Sorted For E's & Whizz b/w Mis-shapes, Disco 2000 and Something's Changed.
That's quite a run of singles! Add in the His n Hers and Different Class albums along with a show stealing headline slot at Glastonbury 1995 as last minute replacements for Stone Roses after John Squire broke his collarbone ... Pulp ruled Britpop.
But back to 1993. Pulp got to number 80 with Razzmatazz and then number 50 with Lipgloss. Jarvis is almost spoken word at times, whispering at others, rising for the chorus that is underpinned by some brilliant guitar riffing.
Oh you've got your lipgloss honey, oh yeah
Now nothing you can do can turn him on
There's something wrong
You had it once but now it's gone
Cocker is observant, reflective, honest and playful across both of these singles. Strong hints of what was coming.
Official video - Lipgloss
Official video - Razzmatazz
You're In A Bad Way by Saint Etienne
As a regular and avid reader of the NME and Melody Maker I couldn't help but fall for Saint Etienne, falling extra hard for their gorgeous singer Sarah Cracknell. I bought this single on 7-inch and it was one of many songs that I included on a mixtape for our 6th Year common room at Carluke High School.
You're In A Bad Way bursts into life from the off, all kinds of sugary, sweet goodness. Cracknell seductively sings just dial my number, I've got some plans for you while Wiggs and Stanley create a flowing pop symphony, complete with a little caribbean steel drum solo.
This is such a pure rush of a pop song that reached number 12 in the charts. Saint Etienne are still creating wonderful pop music all these years down the line. It's well worth checking some of their sublime compilation albums like Songs From Mario's Cafe and The Trip created by Saint Etienne to dig into some of their influences.
Official video
