Oasis, Blur, Pulp en Suede - wat is Britpop (2023)

FAQs

What is 90 Britpop? ›

Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the UK's own shoegaze music scene.

Some cynics pointed to the fact that the Blur release had TWO CD singles, one with some live tracks from their Mile End show from June 1995. Alex James later told The Guardian: "Blur won the battle, Oasis won the war, then Blur went on to win the whole campaign."

Britpop, movement of British rock bands in the 1990s that drew consciously on the tradition of melodic, guitar-based British pop music established by the Beatles. Like nearly all musical youth trends, Britpop was about songs, guitars, jackets, and attitudes—though not necessarily in that order.

ˈbrit-ˌpäp. variants or Britpop. : British pop music. specifically : a style of British rock music of the 1990s suggesting a reaction against American grunge and typically featuring catchy melodies and lyrics with distinctively British references.

Suede - The Drowners (May 1992)

Released on 11th May 1992, Suede's debut can lay claim to being the first Britpop single - certainly in terms of sound, presentation and its general intention of clearing out the old guard.

Hard drugs. Hard drugs: As the Britpop years lurched on, the drugs got harder and the music got weaker. Heroin gave us Blur's woe-filled, introspective '13'. Cocaine use gave us Oasis' overblown, self-important 'Be Here Now'.

Andy Starkey (King Of Britpop) has appeared on tv shows and radio shows over the years keeping the 90's flame alive. Recently he discussed tribute bands on BBC Radio 2.

Affectionately referred to as the “Godfather of Brit Pop”, Sir Ray Davies is cited as a major influence on artists such as Pete Townshend, Paul Weller, Morrissey, Damon Albarn and many more.

Who was the most popular Beatle? ›

An analysis of the median number of song counts shows some interesting facts: Paul was the most popular Beatle!

Britpop music drew inspiration from alternative rock icons like the Smiths, Morrissey, and the Stone Roses. It also drew from early 1980s new wave music, plus classic rock acts like the Beatles and the Kinks.

Britpop came out of the British independent music scene of the 1990s and affected, or changed, by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s. This kind of music began as a reaction against some trends, or styles, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, such as grunge from the United States.

Pulp headlined the Pyramid Stage of the Glastonbury Festival twice and were regarded among the Britpop "big four", along with Oasis, Blur and Suede.

Suede appeared on Melody Maker's cover before they had a record out... The exposure got them a record deal, brought a bunch of like-minded acts to the public's attention, and helped create Britpop.

A series of things in 1997 ended Britpop, musically speaking. Even as Urban Hymns was winning Best Album polls and prizes that year, it felt like a bit of a throwback.

Blur were formed in December 1988 when bassist Alex James joined Damon Albarn's band, Circus, and they changed the name to Seymour after J. D. Salinger's Seymour: An Introduction.

The notion of a "second wave" of Britpop has also been applied to bands originating in the new millennium, including Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs, Arctic Monkeys and Bloc Party, These bands have been seen as looking less to music of the 1960s and more to 1970s punk and post-punk, while still being influenced by Britpop.

Britpop wasn't defined by a specific musical style, but it was generally composed of lighter sounds than grunge, and included more melodic hooks and choruses. It was built on the guitar-based British pop music created by iconic bands of the 60s, like The Beatles and The Kinks.

Who were the bad Britpop bands? ›

Oasis and Blur had a new single each - Oasis' Roll With It and Blurs' Country House. Who would snatch the Official Singles Chart from the other became the topic of intense national debate and the chart battle even earned its own moniker - the Battle of Britpop!

Three decades later Britpop is back on the agenda and “in the discourse” – prompted by news of major stadium shows by Blur and Pulp in summer 2023 and memoirs by key players, most recently Blur's Graham Coxon.

Michael Jackson and Madonna have been closely associated with the terms "King and Queen of Pop" since the 1980s. Some nicknames have been strongly promulgated and contested by various artists, and occasionally disowned or played down by their subjects.

Their first single as the Who, "I Can't Explain" (1965), reached the UK top ten, and was followed by a string of hit singles including "My Generation" (1965), "Substitute" (1966) and "Happy Jack" (1966).

Styles's music has been described as pop, pop rock, rock, soft rock, synth-pop and new wave, with elements of folk and Britpop.

Nino Rota

The Godfather / Music composed by

Giovanni Rota Rinaldi, better known as Nino Rota, was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti.

Wikipedia

As of 2009, Oasis had sold over 70 million records worldwide. They are among the most successful acts on the UK Singles Chart and Albums Chart, with eight UK number-one singles and eight UK number-one albums. The band also achieved three Platinum albums in the US.

Nirvana was an English pop rock band formed in London in 1966.

Who was the least liked Beatle? ›

Lennon earns 27% of the vote, while Harrison (17%) and Starr (11%) take third and fourth place. Despite being the favorite of one in four, Lennon is also the least favorite Beatle of nearly half (49%) of people who say they are "not a fan" of at least one of the band members.

A chronical of the Beetle's would be a book in its own right, although it is worth saying that John was de-facto leader alongside Paul and was sometimes called “the Smart Beatle”.

By this metric, it might be accurate to call 'Hey Jude' the biggest-selling single from The Beatles in America, but until the official counts are released, the title of certifiable high-selling Beatles single still belongs to 'She Loves You'.

The Libertines

Yet for all of their love of the Kinks, the Jam, the Clash, Chas & Dave and '50s British comic Tony Hancock, Doherty in particular was a huge fan of Britpop, especially Oasis.

THE notorious Nineties Oasis-v-Blur Britpop war was triggered by a coke-fuelled love triangle involving Liam Gallagher and Damon Albarn. Liam's brother and former bandmate Noel claims the 1995 chart battle kicked off after Liam discovered Blur frontman Damon was dating his girlfriend.

Oasis had supported the band (when they were known simply as Verve) as far back as December 1993. Verve had released one album of shoegazing rock that summer called A Storm In Heaven, but by the time they followed it up, Oasis had issued their debut Definitely Maybe and changed the face of British music.

They wanted something brighter and more poppy, reflective of British culture. Hence the term Britpop, devised by Sounds journalist John Robb to describe late '80s acts such as the La's and the Stone Roses, though Madchester later became the accepted nomenclature.

The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (1989, pre-Britpop)

But with guitar driven music, unique take on 60s British pop and lyrics that challenged the status quo, it got the ball rolling for the slew of bands that would define the 90s Britpop era.

It felt nationalistic, it felt like there was, sort of, quite a strong thread of misogyny and I didn't think Suede should be part of that.”

Why did suede change their name? ›

The US caused problems for the Britpoppers as there was an obscure lounge singer who had the same name, forcing them to become The London Suede.

THE HISTORY OF SUEDE

The term “suede” originates from the French term “gants de Suede,” which translates to “gloves of Sweden.” During the Romantic period in France in the late 18th Century, imports of Swedish leather were very highly popular among the French nobility.

Britpop is a type of alternative rock that started in the United Kingdom. Britpop came out of the British independent music scene of the 1990s and affected, or changed, by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s.

Britpop wasn't defined by a specific musical style, but the music tended towards lighter sounds than grunge and included more melodic hooks and choruses. It built on the guitar-based British pop music created by classic 1960s bands such as The Beatles and The Kinks.

What Is Britpop? Britpop is a style of guitar-based British rock music that thrived in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1990s. The leading Britpop bands—Blur, Oasis, Suede, Pulp, Elastica, Supergrass, and the Verve—frequently arose from working-class roots in English cities like London and Manchester.

Damon Albarn

Britpop's pop culture dominance came at a turning point for 90s music, a reaction to the emotional, riff heavy sound of 'grunge', Britpop was equally as guitar driven, but a more lighthearted aesthetic, relatable songwriting and infectious nostalgia.

Post-grunge is an offshoot of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s rock bands such as Bush, Candlebox and Collective Soul that emulated the original sound of grunge.

It's been said that grunge and Seattle made it big, but the majority of the commercial success went mainly to four bands – Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains.

Steve Marriott, who perished tragically in 1991, was a formidable rock titan. In the 1960s, he was frontman and co-writer for Small Faces (bassist Ronnie Lane worked on the material with Marriott), a band often credited with the trappings and hooks that influenced Britpop.

Oasis had supported the band (when they were known simply as Verve) as far back as December 1993. Verve had released one album of shoegazing rock that summer called A Storm In Heaven, but by the time they followed it up, Oasis had issued their debut Definitely Maybe and changed the face of British music.