The release of “T2 Trainspotting” in early 2017 marked 21 years since the release of Danny Boyle’s hard-hitting cult film about a group of Scottish heroin addicts. The soundtrack of the original Trainspotting film (1996) captured some of the most celebrated alternative acts of the mid-nighties, including Blur and Pulp. Just as Boyle does through his 2017 sequel, let’s take a look back nostalgically at an iconic era of modern British music – Britpop.
Formed in opposition to the rising cultural dominance of America, in particular the grunge scene, Britpop has a focus on British topics and concerns of the 90s. Oasis, Blur, Suede and Pulp were the most successful bands associated with the movement, becoming known as the “big four”.
In 1995, rivals Oasis and Blur both released new singles on the same day. The chart battle which ensued brought regional and class differences to the forefront of the British press – Oasis embodied the working classes of the North of England, while Blur represented the middle-classes of the South.
Class divisions aside, Britpop arose during an arguably optimistic period for British politics – namely the decline of Thatcherism and the rise of the youthful Labour leader Tony Blair. Blair’s then press secretary Alastair Campbell expressed the zeitgeist in his 1996 statement: “There’s a desire for change. Britain is exporting pop music again. Now all we need is a new government”.
Interestingly, Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher aligned his group directly with the leader of the so-called “New Labour” movement. On accepting a Brit award at the 1996 ceremony, the singer thus paid tribute to his fellow bandmates and the leader of the opposition:
“There are seven people in this room who are giving a little bit of hope to young people in this country,” he said. “…me, our kid, Bonehead, Guigs, Alan White, Alan McGee and Tony Blair. And if you’ve all got anything about you, you’ll go up there and you’ll shake Tony Blair’s hand, man. He’s the man! Power to the people!”.
Understandably, the Labour party exploited this link with the Britpop movement. “Labour’s coming home” (see “Three Lions”) proclaimed Blair during a campaign speech at the ’96 Labour Party conference, where he also accepted an Oasis platinum disc from Alan McGee.
Unlike Blair, however, whose political legacy is not usually considered as commendable, Oasis and other Britpop acts left a profound and positive mark on the UK music industry. Thanks to Britpop influences we have countless talented bands in the new millenium such as Stereophonics, Coldplay and the Arctic Monkeys.
The 2003 documentary film “Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop” is worth a watch. Interviews with stars and musical hommages are closed off sardonically with Noel Gallagher’s moody musings about S Club Juniors and credits accompanied by the ever-famous “Reach for the stars…”.
All in all, the Britpop movement was, and is, a part of British culture that we should be proud of. No popstar gimmicks – just passionate, occasionally off-their-rocker musicians doing what they know best. And pioneering what was most likely the best decade of their lives.
“You know all those sentences…’wouldn’t it be great if’? That’s what happened in the 90s. If happened…” (“Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop”, 2003).