1995, 30-years ago. Almost 31! Time flies.
This was the year when - at least for me - Britpop peaked in glorious technicolour and sunshine.
Independent music (or, indie bands now signed to major labels!) exploded into the mainstream with characters like Liam and Noel, Damon, Jarvis, Shaun and Bez and the Supergrass boys leading the way. The songs, the albums, the characters—it was all perfectly chaotic, brilliantly creative and endlessly fun.
We were young, we were free, we kept our teeth nice and clean and the sun seemed to be shining all the time. A weekly trip to HMV on Sauchiehall Street on Monday lunchtime meant rich pickings with 7-inch singles at 99p on the week of release and CD singles at £1.99.
30-years on, many of the bands from the heady days of the mid-90's reformed to play lucrative tours and/or revisit classic/favourite albums.
30-years on, 1995 holds a special place in my heart. I was 19! This was Britpop at its absolute peak, a time when guitar bands ruled the charts, the press, and the pubs, and when it felt like Britain was the centre of the musical universe. Bands, singers, singles, songs and albums ... everything aligned to make this the defining year of the movement.
The parties were legendary. Camden was the place to be! Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Elastica, Supergrass, Sleeper ... Menswear! everyone seemed to be drinking, fighting and sleeping with each other.
Adidas and Fred Perry tops were in, Jarvis brought charity shop chic to the masses and sales of cagoules or duffel coats rocketed thanks to Oasis.
It felt like a movement with real cultural power. Even if it was all about to get messy.
By 1996, Britpop was splintering; Oasis went stratospheric with era defining shows at Maine Road and Knebworth, while Blur retreated into lo-fi indie, and the party started to slow down. The scene had gone from exciting and unpredictable to overexposed and corporate. The drugs changed. Ecstasy and Cocaine had fueled the first half of the nineties, now bands were reportedly turning to heroin. By 1997, everything was slowing down.
As time went on, bands were becoming much more ambitious in terms of the soundscapes they could produce. Sonic boundaries were being pushed, broken and obliterated. 1997 was all about Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space by Spiritualized, OK Computer by Radiohead, Vanishing Point by Primal Scream, Dig Your Own Hole by The Chemical Brothers and Urban Hymns by The Verve. Blur's stripped back eponymous album was in stark contrast to the monstrous Be Here Now by Oasis. Noel Gallagher has practically disowned this album.
Pulp sat things out until 1998, when, if Britpop didn't need it, they put one last nail in the coffin with their This Is Hardcore album. Elastica were so burnt out and frazzled that they didn't release their second album until 2000. When, by their own admission, they shouldn't have bothered.
But in 1995, British music, widely classified as Britpop, burned intensely.
What is/what was Britpop?
For me it was a time when British independent/alternative music exploded into the charts.
I don't think many, if any, of the bands listed below would describe themselves as Britpop. Blur certainly played up to it, with Damon Albarn presenting a show entitled Britpop Now BBC2 (see below). While his introduction about rallying against grunge music made sense, he then followed this up with a performance of Country House in a cringeworthy outfit complete with deerstalker hat. What was Graham Coxon thinking?!
Pulp, were possibly, without realising it, the definitive Britpop band. Colourful, camp, council house humour, art, dreams and storytelling. They were in the right place at the right time, to the extent they ended up headlining Glastonbury when the Stone Roses pulled out. See my blog on Common People.
In the years to come, pale imitations of bands like Blur and Pulp would try to jump on the Britpop bandwagon, but they were either too late, or simply not good enough.
The 1995 Peak Britpop playlist
CLICK HERE for my 1995 playlist
Read on for the bands and singles that defined 1995 and make up this playlist. In terms of order, I've started with bands that released one or two singles that year and progressed to those that released four.
NOTE - Artistic license has allowed me to include some singles from late 94/early 96.
- Released - Debut album Bite It and the above single
- Of note - Whiteout toured with Oasis in the spring of 1994. The Burnage boys went Supersonic, while Whiteout never really caught fire and kind of burned out. Neither their album or singles troubled the top 40. A shame as 1994's debut single No Time was a belter.
- Released - The above singles hot on the heels of Love Spreads and The Second Coming in December 1994.
- Of note - Reni left the band in March 1995 shortly before a Scandonavian tour. He was replaced by Robbie Maddix / Pulp headlined Glastonbury in place of the Roses due to John Squire breaking his collar bone / Finally played their first UK shows since Glasgow Green in 1990 in November and December
- Released - The above singles and debut album Exit Planet Dust.
- Of note - The Chemical Brothers started off under the name The Dust Brothers, but they had to change their name to avoid confusion with the American producers who worked with The Beastie Boys among others.
- Released - The above singles plus the album The Sound Of ... McAlmont & Butler
- Of note - Yes has got better with age. This is timeless pop music, grand in scale and ambition, born from hurt and frustration, exploding with Butler's guitar, soaring strings and McAlmont's incredible voice.
- Released - The above singles and their eponymous debut album
- Of note - Their album became the fastest selling debut since Oasis with Definitely Maybe. Justine Frischmann was dating Blur's Damon Albarn. Rumours were abound that he was heavily involved in writing a number of songs.
- Released - Debut album All Change and the above singles.
- Of note - John Power had previously been in The La's and got fed up waiting for Lee Mavers to do something.
- Released - Debut album Smart and the above singles.
- Of note - Ummm .... was there anything of note with Sleeper? Other than producing some cracking singles?
- Released - The above singles.
- Of note - Ash were still teenagers and were building towards debut album 1977 which came out in May 1996.
- Released - The above singles
- Of note - Slight Return reached number 2 in the charts upon re-release in 1996.
- Released - The above singles plus debut album I Should Coco.
- Of note - Alright hit number 2 and stayed top 3 for 1-month. The band, although still teenagers, had done the rounds and cut their teeth (that they keep nice and clean) a few years earlier as The Jennifers.
- Released - The above singles (all from 1994's Gorgeous George album)
- Of note - A Girl Like You was actually released in 1994 but was rated by many music magazines (incluing NME and Spin) in their top singles of 1995 lists. The song was being played regularly through the summer of 95. It was (and is) soul pop perfection.
- Released - The above singles and their sensational and crazy debut album It's Great When You're Straight ... Yeah!
- Of note - Shaun Ryder wasn't quite back from the dead ... but not far off. The Mondays had disintegrated, Ryder was on The Word off his head dancing with the Rainbow puppets to a rave version of their theme tune and declared himself bankrupt in the music weeklies. Their T in the Park appearance that summer was utterly sensational. Summertime party music. Black Grape got the party started.
- Released - Their stunning A Northern Soul album (blogged on here) and the above singles.
- Of note - Photographer Michael Spencer Jones captured some amazing photos of the band around this period. He got lucky with the History sleeve, released as the band broke up.
- Released - The above singles and debut album
- Of note - Championed by the music weeklies and compared to The Smiths, Gene never broke through into the top 10, despite releasing some stunning singles.
- Released - The above singles (Stereotypes was early 96) and album The Great Escape.
- Of note - The Great Escape (95) was Blur's 3rd album in 3 years after Modern Life Is Rubbish (93) and Parklife (94). A remarkable run.
- Released - The album Stanley Road plus the above singles.
- Of note - Weller's performance with Noel Gallagher on The White Room (on Talk Tonight) in 1995 was seen by many as the passing of the flame. However Weller's flame still burns fiercely bright. Damon Albarn also appeared with Ray Davies from The Kinks.
- Released - The above singles plus debut album Nuisance.
- Of note - Menswear were on the covers of the music weeklies before they had released anything. A buzz band/ultimate Britpop chancers from the Camden scene, they secured a £500,000 publishing deal with just 7 songs. Menswear were slagged off by the music press almost as quickly as they had given them front covers. They did release some cracking guitar pop singles for the times. My brother and I caught them at King Tuts and still marvel at what an incredibly exciting show it was. Britpop-mania! Menswear disappeared almost as quickly as they arrived, dropped in 1997 after their label were unimpressed by their second album, which, as a result, was only released in Japan.
- Released - The above singles plus the album Wake Up!
- Of note - Alan McGee urged Martin Carr to 'use every trick in the book' to get a hit and he did. The Boo's and Wake Up Boo! were everywhere from kids TV shows to prime time TV and radio. Chris Evans pilfered the song for a radio jingle to advertise his show.
- Released - The above singles and one of their best albums - Grand Prix.
- Of note - The band closed 1995 with the release of their Teenage Fanclub Have Lost It EP, determined to distance themselves from the Britpop noise and crowd. Check my blog on that gorgeous EP.
- Released - The above singles and their eponymous album. Crashin' In was released on Boxing Day in December 94.
- Of note - Tim Burgess also recorded with The Chemical Brothers on their single Life Is Sweet.
- Released - The above singles (Street Spirit (Fade Out) also came out in January 96) plus breakthrough album The Bends.
- Of note - My brother and I caught Radiohead headlining The Garage the week The Bends came out. I don't recall it being mobbed/sold out!
- Released - The above singles plus Britpop and career defining album, Different Class.
- Of note - Pulp headlined Glastonbury at short notice, just a month on from releasing Common People. (see blog) They absolutely smashed it out the park.
- Released - The above singles, that included era defining songs like Acquiesce and The Masterplan as b-sides and their second album (What's The Story) Morning Glory? NOTE - Don't Look Back In Anger wasn't actually released until February 1996 but it was already an anthem.
- Of note - Ummmm, pretty much everything Oasis did was of note. Number 1 singles and albums, classic shows at Earls Court and the classic Blur v Oasis battle for the top of the charts.
