Categories: uncategorized
Date: 16 August 2005 22:21:59
I sit here typing whilst I enjoy BBC Fours Britpop night , which I mentioned in a post a week or so ago.
It has caused me to reflect how we remember, even relatively recent cultural history, as I have sat and watched Britpop Now and been reminded of some of the less memorable bands of that time (Marion and Menswear, particularly - both of whom I'd seen at the time but had not remained lodged in my memory). We remember the big names of the time & the "classic" albums which are reinforced as we revisit every so often (as we do this week with the 10 year anniversery of the Blur/ Oasis "battle"), together with those groups like Supergrass who have stayed together, continuing to make good music, but tend to forget the other people - unless they made memories which are individually special, in which case we will remember them, although they may fade from the general consiousness.
So, briefly, here are my, personal highlights (and lowlight) of the Britpop era.
Best album of the time: Pulp - Different Class (it was overall a stronger album than alot of them)
Best lyric of the time: "Your music's shite, it keeps me up all night" - from Married With Children by Oasis (from the Definately Maybe album) - simple lyric, so ironic yet also so true.
Best single of the time: Caught by the Fuzz by Supergrass (their first single, you knew when you heard it on the Radio One Evening Session that they were the happy, fun group of the crop)
Best album track of the time (not released as a single): tie between Married With Children by Oasis and Tracy Jacks by Blur (from Parklife album)
Best live band of the time: Suede - I think, I didn't see Blur, but through festivals and gigs I saw most of the other main ones of the mid 90's.
Favourite lost track of the time: S*M*A*S*H - (I Want To) Kill Somebody
Most disappointing live band of the time: Oasis. I went all the way down to Exeter to see them and came away feeling they'd been very overated.
Those are the musical memories of the time which I associate with one of the most important periods of my life, personally. Would be interesting to know what other peoples memories of the whole Britpop period are.