TheBritpopStory

The Divine Comedy

thebritpopstory@gmail.com (thebritpopstory) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 22:40:00 -0700

The Divine Comedy are a alcove pop bandage from Northern Ireland formed in 1989 and fronted by Neil Hannon. Hannon has been the alone connected affiliate of the group, playing, in some instances, all of the non-orchestral chart besides drums. To date, ten flat albums accept been appear beneath the Divine Comedy name. The accumulation accomplished their greatest bartering success in the years 1996вЂ“99, during which they had nine singles that fabricated the UK Top 40, including the top ten hit "National Express". The tenth Divine Comedy album, Bang Goes the Knighthood, was appear on 31 May 2010.

The beginning and early success (Fanfare to Promenade)

Neil Hannon has been the only ever-present member of the band, being its founder in 1989 when he was joined by John McCullagh and Kevin Traynor. Their first album, the heavily R.E.M.-influenced and now-deleted Fanfare for the Comic Muse, enjoyed little success. A couple of equally unsuccessful EPs – Timewatch (1991); Europop (1992) – were to follow, with newly-recruited member John Allen handling lead vocals on some tracks. After the commercial failure of the Europop EP, this line-up soon fell apart.

Hannon, however, was not deterred in his efforts and re-appeared in 1993 with Liberation. Featuring a fairly diverse musical outlook that goes from the tongue-in-cheek synth pop of 'Europop' (nearly unrecognisable from the previously-released version) to the classical stylings of 'Timewatching', it is also characterised by a plethora of literary references: 'Bernice Bobs Her Hair' recalls a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald; 'Three Sisters' draws upon the play by Anton Chekhov; and 'Lucy' is essentially three William Wordsworth poems abridged to music. This led to a degree of critical acclaim, but commercial success still proved elusive.

Indeed, it was only some minor success in France that really enabled Hannon to proceed to his second effort Promenade. Released in 1994, this was heavily driven by classical influences, with Michael Nyman's stylings clearly an influence. Hannon himself acknowledged this when he apparently sent a copy of his new album to the composer, jokingly asking him not to sue. Essentially, a concept albumabout a day spent by two lovers, it also received similar critical acclaim to that which Liberation was afforded. Commercial success, though, was not forthcoming despite some of Hannon's best songwriting to date, including "Don't Look Down", "The Summerhouse" and subsequent live favourite "Tonight We Fly". Soon after the release of the album the Divine Comedy went on tour with Tori Amos, supporting her during her European dates.

At around the same time, Hannon also wrote and performed the theme music for the sitcom Father Ted (which would subsequently be incorporated into the song "Songs of Love" on the album Casanova), and later wrote the music for the deliberately bad mock-Eurovisionsong "My Lovely Horse" for one episode. Hannon resisted widespread requests from fans to release the track as a single for the Christmas market, but it was eventually released in 1999 as the third track on the CD-single "Gin Soaked Boy". This would not be the only time they would be responsible for a TV theme, as "In Pursuit of Happiness" was also used by the BBC science and technology show, Tomorrow's World. Hannon also recently composed the music for the comedy series "The IT Crowd", written by Father Ted co-writer Graham Linehan.

Post-Setanta & recent activity (Regeneration to present)

The 2001 album Regeneration attempted to remove the band still further from its association with comedy. Hannon hired famous producer Nigel Godrich to "remake" the band. Neil ditched the suit and donned a Britrock band image. The album was a greater critical than commercial success, and soon after its release it was announced that The Divine Comedy were splitting up. However, within a year Hannon was touring again with a revised band line-up, playing a series of joint-headline gigs in the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland featuring both The Divine Comedy and Ben Folds, who would cover The Divine Comedy's "Songs of Love" on his Sunny 16EP.

Eventually a new album surfaced in the form of 2004's Absent Friends. Striking a balance between the occasionally earnest sound of the band's later material and the lighter tone of the more popular releases, it encapsulated the essence of The Divine Comedy. 2004 saw two dates of particularly acclaimed performances, one at the London Palladium (which was later released as a live DVD) and one at the Royal Albert Hall.

In January 2005, Hannon announced that he had acquired the worldwide copyrights to all of his recorded output with his former record label, Setanta Records. He declared on the band's official website that he would be launching his own record label Divine Comedy Records in order to re-release his 1990s output.

Hannon's ninth album under the Divine Comedy moniker, Victory for the Comic Muse, was released in June 2006. The bulk of the record was recorded in just two weeks, much of it live rather than multi-tracked, hence the more spontaneous sound, and features appearances from Travis bass player Dougie Payne.

Neil Hannon also provided vocals for songs on the soundtrack for the film of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy released in 2005, working with Joby Talbot, the composer for the film and former Divine Comedy band member. This sci-fi connection continued in late 2006, when he contributed vocals to two tracks – "Song For Ten" and "Love Don't Roam" – on the Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack album. In an interview with Bullz-Eye.com, Hannon explained that, "literally, I was asked to add my vocal by the composer of the songs, who writes for the show. And I didn’t feel that I could say no, simply because I spent my childhood watching this programme. It would be just plain wrong to not do it."

Hannon also lent his vocals to "Aliens", the last track on the Irish charity album The Cake Sale in 2006, organised by Brian Crosby ofBell X1 and featuring a variety of mainly Irish musicians.

In 2006, whilst on tour, the band did a Take-Away Show video session shot by Vincent Moon. Most recently, the first ten or so seconds of "Tonight We Fly" was used as the ending tune to BBC7's Digi Radio. The song was also used for an advertisement for theAirbus A340 airliner.

Meanwhile, Neil took part in various projects: he recorded "Perfection as a hipster", included in "God help the girl" soundtrack, a soon-to-be-released musical film by Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch as well as the LP The Duckworth Lewis Method, together with Thomas Walsh of Pugwash.

In March 2007 Neil Hannon's relationship with Parlophone came to an end.

On 31 May 2010 The Divine Comedy released their tenth album entitled Bang Goes the Knighthood on DC Records. As with Victory for the Comic Muse it was recorded in RAK studios in St John's Wood by Guy Massey and the orchestra was conducted by Andrew Skeet who was the arranger on this album. It was the first Divine Comedy album where Neil Hannon did not write the orchestral arrangements himself. The album charted at 20 in the first week of release, making it their highest charting album since Regeneration in 2001. The album itself was preceded by the download-only single "At The Indie Disco" which gained airplay, but failed to chart.

Band members

The line-up of the band has at times consisted only of Neil Hannon, but has also included:

Bryan Mills
Chris Worsey
Charlotte Glasson
Grant Gordon
Ivor Talbot
Joby Talbot
John Allen
John McCullagh
Kevin Traynor
Miggy Barradas
Stewart Bartlett
Natalie Box
Rob Farrer
Simon Little
Stuart 'Pinkie' Bates
Andrew Skeet
Lucy Wilkins
John Evans

The Divine Comedy discography
Releases
↙Studio albums	10
↙Compilation albums	1
↙EPs	5
↙Singles	20

Studio albums

Year	Title	Chart Positions
Year	Title	IRL ^[5]	U.K. ^[6]	FRA ^[6]	GER ^[7]
1990	Fanfare for the Comic Muse § Release date: July 1990 § Label: Setanta	–	–	–	–
1993	Liberation § Release date: 16 August 1993 § Label: Setanta	–	–	–	–
1994	Promenade § Release date: 28 March 1994 § Label: Setanta	–	–	–	–
1996	Casanova § Release date: 29 April 1996 § Label: Setanta	–	48	–	–
1997	A Short Album About Love § Release date: 10 February 1997 § Label: Setanta	–	13	–	–
1998	Fin de Siècle § Release date: 31 August 1998 § Label: Setanta	–	9	23	–
2001	Regeneration § Release date: 12 March 2001 § Label: Parlophone/EMI	15	14	21	–
2004	Absent Friends § Release date: 29 March 2004 § Label: Parlophone/EMI	6	23	20	–
2006	Victory for the Comic Muse § Release date: 19 June 2006 § Label: Parlophone	22	43	33	83
2010	Bang Goes the Knighthood § Release date: 31 May 2010 § Label: DC Records	8	20	27	–

Compilation albums

Year	Title	Chart Positions
		IRL ^[5]	U.K. ^[6]
1999	A Secret History... The Best of the Divine Comedy § Release date: 30 August 1999 § Label: Setanta	2	3

Extended Plays

Year	Title
1991	Timewatch § Release date: October 1991
1992	Europop § Release date: January 1992
1993	Indulgence No.1 § Release date: 18 October 1993
1994	Indulgence No.2 § Release date: July 1994
2004	Bavarian EP § Release date: 25 October 2004, Digital Download via the official website

Singles

Year	Title	Album	Chart positions
Year	Title	Album	IRL ^[5]	UK ^[6]
1993	"Lucy"	Liberation	–	–
1996	"Something For The Weekend"	Casanova	–	14
	"Becoming More Like Alfie"	Casanova	–	27
	"Comme Beaucoup De Messieurs" § French version of "Becoming More Like Alfie", With Valérie Lemercier § Released: September 1996	—	–	–
	"The Frog Princess"	Casanova	–	15
1997	"Everybody Knows (Except You)"	A Short Album About Love	23	14
1998	"I've Been to a Marvellous Party"	Twentieth-Century Blues: The Songs of Noel Coward	–	28^[8]
	"Generation Sex"	Fin de Siecle	24	19
	"The Certainty of Chance"		–	49
1999	"National Express"		18	8
	"The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count" § Re-recording of a song from Liberation	A Secret History:	24	17
	"Gin Soaked Boy"	A Secret History:	–	38
2001	"Love What You Do"	Regeneration	48	26
	"Bad Ambassador"		–	34
	"Perfect Lovesong"		–	42
2004	"Come Home Billy Bird" § Featuring Lauren Laverne on vocals	Absent Friends	34	25
2004	"Absent Friends"	Absent Friends	–	38
2006	"Diva Lady"	Victory for the Comic Muse	36	52
	"To Die a Virgin"		–	67
	"A Lady of a Certain Age" § Limited 7" vinyl available only from official website		–	–
2010	"At the Indie Disco"	Bang Goes The Knighthood	–	173
2010	"I Like"	Bang Goes The Knighthood	–	–

DVDs

§ Live at the Palladium (2004)

Cast

thebritpopstory@gmail.com (thebritpopstory) — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 22:40:00 -0700

Cast are an English bedrock bandage from Liverpool, formed in 1992 by John Power (vocals, guitar) and Peter Wilkinson (backing vocals, bass) afterwards Power larboard The La's and Wilkinson's above bandage Shack had split. Following aboriginal line-ups with altered guitarists and drummers, Liam "Skin" Tyson (guitar) and Keith O'Neill (drums) abutting Cast in 1993.

Emerging from the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s, Cast active to Polydor Records and their admission anthology All Change (1995) became the accomplished affairs anthology for the label. Further bartering success connected with the albums Mother Nature Calls (1997) and Magic Hour (1999), about the band's fourth anthology Beetroot (2001) was far beneath acknowledged which led to the band's breach anon after. Cast reunited for a UK bout in November 2010.

Emerging from the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s, Cast signed to Polydor Recordsand their debut album All Change (1995) became the highest selling album for the label. Further commercial success continued with the albums Mother Nature Calls (1997) andMagic Hour (1999), however the band's fourth album Beetroot (2001) was far less successful which led to the band's split soon after. Cast reunited for a UK tour in November 2010.

Noel Gallagher of Oasis described watching the band live as being like a "religious experience" and they were labelled "The Who of the 90's". It has been suggested that the name "Cast" was taken from the final word on The La's eponymous album (the song "Looking Glass" ends with the repeated line "The change is cast"), though John Power stated when interviewed that this was a coincidence. The name Cast came from an area in Liverpool where the band are from, near to the docks, where in the 1990s were lots of shipping containers stored with the name 'Cast' on them.

1992–1994: formation and early years

John Power was previously the bass player, backing vocalist and only constant member along with Lee Mavers in The La's. He left the band on the 13th December 1991 after becoming frustrated with the ever increasing number of aborted studio sessions, having played essentially the same set of songs since 1986 and emerging as a songwriter in his own right. Power later commented that by that point he was more interested in his own songs "than anyone else’s".

Having switched from bass to rhythm guitar whilst residing at Brucklay House - a near derelict squat in Mossley Hill, where the seeds of legendary dance label 3 Beat Records were sown, Power began jamming with friends and with an ever changing line up began to form Cast. The first addition to the band was ex-Shack bassist Peter Wilkinson who had seen Power performing acoustically at a free festival in Liverpool, and who Power had seen around town.". Embryonic lineups of the band, featuring several guitarists including Ged Malley, ex-La's members Barry Sutton and Cammy and drummer Russell Brady started gigging in mid 1992 and supported the likes of Peleand The Stairs. Power would later state that he was never happy with these lineups. Unhappy with the band and the demos recorded with Who sound engineer Bob Pridden, he split the band up and extricated himself from his Go! Discs contract in Summer 1993, with whom he was still signed to following his departure from The La's and set about forming a new lineup with Wilkinson.

The first new member to be recruited was Keith O'Neill who had previously played in The Empty Hours, The Windmills and Tommy Scott's pre-Space band The Australians[10] and who Power had seen playing in local band The Windmills, fronted by Howie Payne later of The Stands and then guitarist Liam 'Skin' Tyson, who Wilkinson knew from college and had previously played in Pyramid Dream. When approached to join the band, Tyson initially declined as he had sold all of his musical equipment to teach canoeing at an outdoor centre in Alston in Cumbria. Tyson, who witnessed one of the band's early London shows and commented that "John had these songs, but not the band", joined the band in November 1993 and the new lineup played their first gig in Hull in January 1994. Within months the band secured high profile support slots with Elvis Costello on two UK tours, including 2 nights at the Royal Albert Hall and Oasis. It was during the tour with Oasis that Polydor head of A&R Paul Adam, surprised that the band had not already been snapped up, approached the band to sign them. The band signed to Polydor on the 13 December 1994, three years to the day that Power left The La's.

1995–1998: record deal and success

The band released their debut single "Finetime" in July 1995, which went straight in at No. 17. The follow-up single "Alright", a song originally written and performed a handful of times whilst still in The La's under the original title "Fly On" became the band's first Top 15 hit in the UK, peaking at No. 13 in the singles chart.

The band's debut album All Change, released October 1995 was produced by John Leckie who had previously worked with The Stone Roses and The Verve and had also previously worked with Power in The La's. The album shot to No. 7 in the UK charts, reaching double platinum and went on to become the fastest selling debut album in the history of the Polydor label, outselling the likes of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who and The Jam. A further two singles were taken from the album in "Sandstorm" (#8) and "Walkaway" (#9), both top tens hits.

A stand-alone single was released in October 1996 titled "Flying", which reached No. 4 on the UK singles chart, giving the band their highest chart position in the UK yet.

With their second album Mother Nature Calls, released April 1997 the "rockier material was now sounding looser and cockier in aStonesy or Faces-ish way and the moodier tracks awash with melancholic atmosphere". The band worked again with John Leckie. The album peaked at No. 3, reaching platinum and stayed in the Top 40 for over 6 months. The album spawned three top ten hits in "Free Me" (#7), "Guiding Star" (#9), "Live the Dream" (#7) and one top twenty hit with the 4th single from the album "I'm So Lonely" (#14), a ballad written during a period of bleak loneliness in a Japanese hotel room. Power revealed that the album title was supposed to be tongue in cheek, because Mother Nature is always calling because of man's mortality, but also because he was on the toilet at the time he came up with the name. Although The Daily Telegraph proclaimed "Employing the spiritual terms of Power's lyrics, Cast may be the perfect Taoist band. They don't seem to try. Cast just are.", the album received largely mixed reviews in the press, Power later blamed this on the fact that it was more of a slow burner than the more instant All Change and claimed that a number of critics later told him that repeated listens had changed their perceptions of the album.

1999–2001: Post-Britpop and split

By the time the band set to work on their third album, Magic Hour, released May 1999 the Britpop movement was faltering - a number of Cast's contemporaries, such as Kula Shaker and The Seahorses had disbanded, Suede and Mansun were experiencing a drop in record sales from their previous efforts and label mates Shed Seven and Medal had been dropped by Polydor. Amid the changing musical climate, the band enlisted Gil Norton who had previously produced The Pixies and the band moved towards a heavier riff based sound. Power described the album as "21st century rock'n'roll" and "Walt Disney doing Quadrophenia".

The first single from "Magic Hour" was "Beat Mama", with the band using loops and samples on the record for the first to give the material a more modern feel, Power described the song as "a call to everyone, a beat for everyone to move to, like the old Kia-Oraadvert with the dog and the crows". The song became the band's last top ten hit, peaking at No. 9. In a chart now awash with teen pop the album shot to No. 6. A second and final single was taken from the album "Magic Hour", which stalled at No. 28. Momentum was lost due to a lack of touring and Power also later criticised the choice of single, suggesting the band should have gone with something more uptempo. A planned third single was scrapped after disagreements between the band and label. Following the release and short lived promotion of the album, Power stated that he believed with three albums under Cast's belt that a chapter had finished.

Power began writing in early 2000 for the follow-up, Beetroot, released July 2001. Although initially set to work again with Leckie, Power met producer and programmer Tristin Norwell and was interested in working with him as he was "up on now, the sounds of now and someone who I can talk to with an acoustic". The pair began working on the album together for 3 months before moving to another studio, where other members of the band contributed. Bassist Peter Wilkinson was not present for much of the recording due to the birth of his son, guitarist Skin Tyson mostly featured only as rhythm guitarist and most of the drums were cut up and looped. The album was based largely on loops and featured heavy use of horns and flutes and deliberately moved away from the bands guitar sound as Power claimed the band "wanted to come back with something that feels fresh and enticing" and described the material as groovier and talked of having a desire of "combining this sort of Marley and funkadelic stuff or Sly and the Family that I’ll get into as much as I get into Townshend and Lennon".

Only one single was released from the album, "Desert Drought" which stalled at No. 45 in the charts. The album fared worse, failing to make the Top 75, crawling to No. 78 on the charts. Following the cancellation of a planned UK Autumn tour due to "internal band circumstanes", Cast split in August 2001 just one month after the release of the album. It had been rumoured in the UK tabloid press that the band had been dropped by Polydor and that Power had walked out of the band. However, a spokesman for the band at the time denied the band were splitting, that they were merely taking time out to work on solo projects. John Power released a statement to deny any rifts in the band and that this was "just the beginning of a new musical chapter", but would later admit that there were lots of internal differences in the band by the end and admitted "When Cast split, it was the same as when The La's fell apart. You pretend everything is okay, but it's not. I was really down, really depressed".

2001–2009: hiatus

Following the split, John Power released a solo album entitled Happening For Love in 2003 through Eagle Rock Entertainment and 2 further solo albums more in the acoustic folk vein through his own record label Tanuki Tanuki. He has toured regularly as The John Power Band (which has featured Steve Pilgrim of The Stands and Jay Lewis and Nick Miniski of the 2005 lineup of The La's) as well as performing solo acoustic shows. In 2005, Power played a series of gigs with newly-reformed The La's. The band didn't showcase any new material and have not been heard from again.

Peter Wilkinson, along with the band's live keyboardist Paul Ellison joined Echo & The Bunnymen and appeared on the 2005 albumSiberia before leaving shortly after to rejoin the re-formed Shack. In 2002 he released a solo album via The Viper Label under the guise of Aviator with help from O'Neill, Paul Ellison and former La's guitarist Paul Hemmings. In 2003 Wilkinson and O'Neill briefly joined Kealer with Manchester singer-songwriter Jason Kelly[35] and then set to work with ex-Stairs guitarist Carl Cook on a follow-up to the first Aviator album in early 2004 which was seemingly shelved. He then formed the short lived DC-10. Wilkinson has also recorded and toured with a number of other artists including Ian McCulloch and The Hours and more recently has started composing music for TV commercials.

Keith O'Neill, following stints with Aviator and Kealer went on to work as part of the management team at Deltasonic Records before going on to work as a tour and production manager with bands such as the now-defunct Liverpool band Dead 60s, Babyshambles,Art Garfunkel, Lostprophets. and Foals.

Liam Tyson joined Robert Plant's band, Strange Sensation in early 2002, touring Plant's album Dreamland before appearing on and co-writing the follow-up Mighty ReArranger. He then set about working on his Men From Mars project in 2004, originally set to feature Wilkinson and O'Neill, with others members of Strange Sensation.

2010–present: reunion

Power undertook a "Cast Acoustic Show" tour in June 2010, where he played a set of Cast songs along with new tracks written over the past year for a potential new Cast album. On 22 June, it was officially announced by NME that the band were to reform, with plans to work on new material. The band toured the UK in November and December to mark the 15th anniversary of All Change. A deluxe edition of All Change was released on 25 October that year, to tie in with the re-union and 15th anniversary of the album, containing the original album re-mastered plus b-sides, outtakes, demos and live recordings.

On 6 November, John Power appeared on British TV show Soccer AM, and stated that Cast would be starting work on a new album in early 2011, and that it would be released via Pledgemusic.

Cast released their fifth studio album, Troubled Times, produced by John Leckie, initially as a download to pledgers throughPledgemusic on 2 November 2011, with a planned physical release in March 2012. The album featured drummer Steve Pilgrim, who also completed a short tour with the band in December. The future of original drummer O'Neill is uncertain with the band, as he is regularly unable to take part in recording and touring due to work commitments as a tour manager. In response to a fan's query on Twitter, he stated that a tour in early 2012 should feature the original line-up unless he is "called upon by a major client".

Band members

Current members

John Power – vocals, guitar (1992–2001, 2010–present)
Peter Wilkinson – backing vocals, bass (1992–2001, 2010–present)
Liam "Skin" Tyson – guitar (1993–2001, 2010–present)
Keith O'Neill - drums (1993–2001, 2010–present (live only))

Live members

Paul Ellison – keyboards

Former members

Ged Malley – guitar (1992)
Barry Sutton – guitar (1992)
Peter "Cammy" Camell – guitar (1993)
Russell Brady – drums (1992–1993)

Studio albums

Year	Album	Peak chart position	Certifications (sales thresholds)
Year	Album	UK ^[46]	Certifications (sales thresholds)
1995	*All Change* § Released: October 16, 1995 § Label: Polydor (529312)	7	§ UK: Platinum ^[47]
1997	*Mother Nature Calls* § Released: April 24, 1997 § Label: Polydor (537567)	3	§ UK: Platinum ^[47]
1999	*Magic Hour* § Released: May 17, 1999 § Label: Polydor (547176)	6
2001	*Beetroot* § Released: July 30, 2001 § Label: Polydor (589096)	78
2012	*Troubled Times* § Released: February 20, 2012 § Label: Cast Recordings/Absolute	117

Compilation albums

§ The Collection (2004)

§ The Complete BBC Sessions (2007)

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart position		Album
Year	Title	UK ^[46]	IRL	Album
1995	"Finetime"	17	–	All Change
1995	"Alright"	13	–
1996	"Sandstorm"	8	–
	"Walkaway"	9	23
	"Flying"	4	–	Non-album single
1997	"Free Me"	7	–	Mother Nature Calls
	"Guiding Star"	9	–
	"Live the Dream"	7	–
	"I'm So Lonely"	14	–
1999	"Beat Mama"	9	–	Magic Hour
1999	"Magic Hour"	28	–	Magic Hour
2001	"Desert Drought"	45	–	Beetroot
2012	"Time Bomb"	–	–	Troubled Times

The Boo Radleys

thebritpopstory@gmail.com (thebritpopstory) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 22:40:00 -0700

The Boo Radleys were an English another bedrock bandage of the 1990s who were associated with the shoegazing and Britpop movements. They were formed in Wallasey,Merseyside, England in 1988, with Rob Harrison on drums, singer/guitarist Sice Rowbottom, guitarist/songwriter Martin Carr, bassist Timothy Brown . Their name is taken from the appearance Boo Radley in Harper Lee's 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Shortly afterwards the absolution of their aboriginal album, Hewitt replaced Rob Harrison on drums and he was in about-face replaced by Rob Cieka. The bandage breach up in 1999.

Background information
Origin	Wallasey, Merseyside, England
Genres	Alternative rock, shoegazing, noise pop, dream pop, Britpop
Years active	1988–1999
Labels	Action Records Creation Rough Trade Records Columbia Records (US)
Members
Sice Rowbottom Martin Carr Timothy Brown Steve Hewitt Rob Cieka

In 1990, the band's first album Ichabod and I was released on a small British indie label,Action Records. Although not a commercial success, this release brought the band to the attention of Rough Trade Records, to whom they signed. Around this time, Hewitt was replaced on drums by Rob Cieka.

Almost immediately after the release of the Every Heaven EP in 1991, Rough Trade collapsed and the Boo Radleys were signed by Alan McGee's Creation Records. Their first for Creation was Everything's Alright Forever in 1992, and Giant Steps (1993) followed. Therecord was awarded 9/10 by the UK music

magazine NME, which stated, "It's an intentional masterpiece, a throw-everything-at-the-wall bric-a-brac of sounds, colours and stolen ideas. That The Boo Radleys (of all people!) have decided to accept their own challenge and create a record as diverse and boundary-bending as this is, at first glance, staggering. Isn't this the job of the U2s and the leisured idols of rock, unable to do anything without the tacit approval of history? Fortunately not. The Boo Radleys are sifting through time (the mid-'60s, mostly) and conjuring up something that's as cut-up and ambitious as anything you'd care to mention". Reviewing the album's re-release in 2008, Sic Magazine wrote, "For 64 minutes they were the greatest band on the planet."

Giant Steps placed second to Debut by Björk in the 1993 NME album of the year list, voted by the paper's contributors, although it came in first place in the subsequent NME readers' poll. The now-defunct Select magazine declared Giant Steps their album of the year for 1993".

Wake Up! and beyond

Despite critical acclaim and a cult fanbase, the Boo Radleys were still largely unknown to the general public by the time the Britpopphenomenon broke into the mainstream in 1995. This changed when the band released the upbeat single "Wake Up Boo!" in the spring of that year. It made the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 9. The single remained on the chart for two months, by far the band's longest run for any of its singles; later, on 26 October 2009, BFBS Forces Radio launched its live Afghanistan studio output with the track after it topped a listeners poll seeking a suitable first track. Carr describes writing the song watching The Big Breakfast after a night on acid. The follow-up release, "Find the Answer Within," was the band's only other single to chart for more than two weeks. Their fourth album Wake Up! (1995), was their commercial peak. Interviewed in 2005 by the BBC, Carr said: "I tried to have nothing to do with what was being called Britpop. Our whole career was spent trying not to 'fit in'. We just carried on doing what we had been doing. I didn't like most of the new bands or the flag-waving. I didn't like New Labour or idolise Paul Weller and I hated media-generated movements within music".

In 1996, the Boo Radleys released their fifth album C'mon Kids. As explained by Rowbottom in an interview in 2005: "We didn't want to scare away the hit-kids, we wanted to take them with us to somewhere that we'd not been before. All we wanted to do was make a different type of album than Wake Up... All we wanted to do was try something new - to keep ourselves fresh and interested. We were very surprised to find that it was seen as a deliberate attempt to scare away newly created fans. That would have been an extremely foolish thing to do."

The Boo Radleys' final album was 1998's Kingsize. One single was released from the album, "Free Huey!". The title track was due to have been released as a second single, but the band decided to split up.

A compilation album, Find The Way Out, was released in 2005, and a further compilation The Best of the Boo Radleys appeared in 2007.

Disbandment

The Boo Radleys disbanded in early 1999.[ Brown built a popular recording studio before going on to John Moores University for teacher training. He progressed on to teaching information technology at St Louis Grammar School in Kilkeel, Northern Ireland, and also taught at Park High School in Birkenhead.

Under the name Bravecaptain, Carr has since released six albums, including The Fingertip Saint Sessions Volume 1, Go With Yourself, Advertisements for Myself (2002) and All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (2004). His most recent album was titled Distractions. Carr has since announced that he will be retiring the Bravecaptain name to work on new projects, but these will not include reforming the Boo Radleys. His first solo album Ye Gods (And Little Fishes) was released in mid 2009. Cieka is now a member of the band Domino Bones, alongside Mark "Bez" Berry, formerly of the Happy Mondays.

After an album in 1996 (First Fruits) under the name Eggman, while still a member of the Boo Radleys, Rowbottom walked away from music for several years after the split. Then, following a guest vocal on Bravecaptain's, All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, and also two songs with the Japanese musician Ryo Matsui's solo project, Meister, he formed Paperlung. The band featured Rowbottom on vocals, Simon Gardiner on bass, Ben Datlen on guitar and Guillaume Jambel of Transcargo on drums. They released two singles, "The Days That God Sold You" and "Do What Thou Will", and an album, Balance.


Releases
↙Studio albums	6
↙Compilation albums	3
↙EPs	5
↙Singles	14

Studio albums

Year	Information	Chart positions
Year	Information	UK Albums Chart^[12]
1990	Ichabod and I § Released: July 1990 § Label: Action Records	–
1992	Everything's Alright Forever § Released: August 1992 § Label: Creation Records	55
1993	Giant Steps § Released: August 1993 § Label: Creation Records	17
1995	Wake Up! § Released: March 1995 § Label: Creation Records	1
1996	C'mon Kids § Released: September 1996 § Label: Creation Records	20
1998	Kingsize § Released: October 1998 § Label: Creation Records	62

Compilation albums

Year	Information	Chart positions
Year	Information	UK Albums Chart^[12]
1992	Learning to Walk § Released: November 1992 § Label: Rough Trade Records	–
2005	Find the Way Out § Released: July 2005 § Label: Castle Music	–
2007	The Best of the Boo Radleys § Released: May 2007 § Label: Camden Records	–

Extended plays

Year	Information	Chart positions
Year	Information	UK Singles Chart^[12]
1990	Kaleidoscope § Label: Rough Trade Records	–
1991	Every Heaven § Label: Rough Trade Records	–
1991	Boo Up! § Label: Rough Trade Records	–
1992	Adrenalin § Label: Creation Records	–
1992	Does This Hurt / Boo! Forever § Label: Creation Records	67

Singles

Year	Title	Album	Chart positions
Year	Title	Album	UK Singles Chart^[12]	IRL	N.Z.	US Alt
1992	"Lazarus"	Giant Steps	-	–	–	30
1993	"I Hang Suspended"		-	–	–	–
1993	"Wish I Was Skinny"		75	–	–	–
1994	"Barney (...and Me)"		48	–	–	30
1994	"Lazarus" (re-release)		50	–	–	–
1995	"Wake Up Boo!"	Wake Up!	9	25	35	–
	"Find the Answer Within"		37	–	–	–
	"It's Lulu"		25	–	–	–
	"From the Bench at Belvidere"	—	24	–	–	–
1996	"What's in the Box (See Whatcha Got)"	C'mon Kids	25	–	–	–
1996	"C'mon Kids"		18	–	–	–
1997	"Ride the Tiger"		38	–	–	–
1998	"Free Huey"	Kingsize	54	–	–	–
1998	"Kingsize" (Cancelled)	Kingsize	–	–	–	–

Blur

thebritpopstory@gmail.com (thebritpopstory) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 22:40:00 -0700

Blur are an English addition bedrock band. Formed in London in 1988 as Seymour, the accumulation consists of singer/keyboardist Damon Albarn, guitarist/singer Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and bagman Dave Rowntree. Blur's admission anthology Leisure (1991) congenital the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing. Following a stylistic change afflicted by English guitar pop groups such as The Kinks, The Beatles and XTC, Blur appear Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994) and The Great Escape (1995). As a result, the bandage helped to popularise the Britpop brand and accomplished accumulation acceptance in the UK, aided by a blueprint action with battling bandage Oasis in 1995 dubbed "The Action of Britpop".

In recording their follow-up, Blur (1997), the bandage underwent addition reinvention, assuming access from the lo-fi appearance of American indie bedrock groups. "Song 2", one of the album's singles, brought Blur boilerplate success in the United States. Their next album, 13 (1999) saw the bandage associates experimenting with cyberbanking and actuality music, and featured added claimed lyrics from Albarn. In May 2002, Coxon larboard Blur during the recording of their seventh anthology Think Tank (2003). Containing cyberbanking sounds and added basal guitar work, the anthology was apparent by Albarn's growing absorption in hip hop and African music. After a 2003 bout after Coxon, Blur did no flat plan or touring as a band, as associates affianced in added projects. In 2009 Blur reunited, with Coxon aback in the fold, for a alternation of concerts and accept connected to absolution several singles and attendant releases. In 2012, Blur accustomed a Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.

History

Formation and Leisure: 1988–1991

Childhood friends Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon met Alex James when they began studying at London's Goldsmiths College in 1988. Albarn was in a group named Circus, who were joined by drummer Dave Rowntree that October. Circus requested the services of Coxon after the departure of their guitarist. That December, Circus fired two members and James joined as the group's bassist. This new group named themselves Seymour in December 1988, inspired by J.D. Salinger's Seymour: An Introduction. The group performed live for the first time in summer 1989. In November, Food Records' A&R representative Andy Ross attended a Seymour performance that convinced him to court the group for his label. The only concern held by Ross and Food was that they disliked the band's name. Food drew up a list of alternatives, from which the band decided on "Blur". Food Records finally signed the newly christened band in March 1990.

From March to July 1990, Blur toured Britain, opening for The Cramps, and testing out new songs. In October 1990, after their tour was over, Blur released the "She's So High" single, which reached number 48 in the UK Singles Chart. The band had trouble creating a follow-up single, but they made progress when paired with producer Stephen Street. The resulting single release, "There's No Other Way", became a hit, peaking at number eight. As a result of the single's success, Blur became pop stars and were accepted into a clique of bands who frequented The Syndrome club in London dubbed "The Scene That Celebrates Itself".[8] NME magazine wrote in 1991, "Blur are the acceptable pretty face of a whole clump of bands that have emerged since the whole Manchester thing started to run out of steam."

The band's third single, "Bang", performed relatively disappointingly, reaching only number 24. Andy Ross and Food owner David Balfe were convinced Blur's best course of action was to continue drawing influence from the Madchester genre. Blur attempted to expand their musical sound, but the recording of the group's debut album was hindered by Albarn having to write his lyrics in the studio. Although the resulting album Leisure (1991) peaked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart, it received mixed reviews, and according to journalist John Harris, "could not shake off the odour of anti-climax".

Britpop years: 1992–1995

After discovering they were £60,000 in debt, Blur toured the United States in 1992 in an attempt to recoup their financial losses. The group released the single "Popscene" to coincide with the start of the tour. Featuring "a rush of punk guitars, '60s pop hooks, blaring British horns, controlled fury, and postmodern humor", "Popscene" was a turning point for the band musically. However, upon its release it only charted at number 32. "We felt 'Popscene' was a big departure; a very, very English record", Albarn told the NME in 1993, "But that annoyed a lot of people ... We put ourselves out on a limb to pursue this English ideal and no-one was interested." As a result of the single's lacklustre performance, plans to release a single named "Never Clever" were scrapped and work on Blur's second album was pushed back.

During the two-month American tour, the band became increasingly unhappy, often venting frustrations on each other, leading to several physical confrontations. The band members were homesick; Albarn said, "I just started to miss really simple things ... I missed everything about England so I started writing songs which created an English atmosphere." Upon the group's return to the United Kingdom, Blur (Albarn in particular) were upset by the success rival group Suede had achieved while they were gone. After a poor performance at a 1992 gig that featured a well-received set by Suede on the same bill, Blur were in danger of being dropped by Food. By that time, Blur had undergone an ideological and image shift intended to celebrate their English heritage in contrast to the popularity of American grunge bands like Nirvana. Although sceptical of Albarn's new manifesto for the band, Balfe gave assent for the band's choice of Andy Partridge of the band XTC to produce their follow-up to Leisure. The sessions with Partridge proved unsatisfactory, but a chance reunion with Stephen Street resulted in him returning to produce the group.

The band completed their second album Modern Life Is Rubbish in December 1992, but Food Records said the album required more potential hit singles and asked them to return to the studio for a second time. The band complied and Albarn wrote "For Tomorrow", which became the album's lead single. "For Tomorrow" was a minor success, reaching number 28 on the charts. Modern Life Is Rubbish was released in May 1993. The announcement of the album's release included a press photo featuring the phrase "British Image 1" spraypainted behind the band (who were dressed in a mixture of mod and skinhead attire) and a mastiff-breed dog. At the time, such imagery was viewed as nationalistic and racially insensitive by the British music press; to quiet concerns, Blur subsequently released the "British Image 2" photo, which was "a camp restaging of a pre-war aristocratic tea party”. Modern Life Is Rubbish peaked at number 15 on the British charts, but failed to break into the US Billboard 200, selling only 19,000 copies there.

The success of Parklife (1994) revived Blur's commercial fortunes. The album's first single, the disco-influenced "Girls & Boys", found favour on BBC Radio 1. It peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart and number four on the US Modern Rock chart, where it remains the band's highest-charting single. Parklife entered the British charts at number one and stayed on the album charts for 90 weeks. Enthusiastically greeted by the music press—the NME called it "a Great Pop Record ... bigger, bolder, narkier and funnier [than Modern Life is Rubbish]"—Parklife is regarded as one of Britpop's defining records. Blur won four awards at the 1995 Brit Awards, including Best Band and Best Album for Parklife. Coxon later pointed to Parklife as the moment when "Blur went from being regarded as an alternative, left field arty band to this amazing new pop sensation".

Blur began working on their fourth album The Great Escape at the start of 1995. Building upon the band's previous two albums, Albarn's lyrics for the album consisted of several third-person narratives. James reflected, "It was all more elaborate, more orchestral, more theatrical, and the lyrics were even more twisted ... It was all dysfunctional, misfit characters fucking up." The release of the album's lead single "Country House" played a part in Blur's public rivalry with Manchester band Oasis termed "The Battle of Britpop". Partly due to increasing antagonisms between the groups, Blur and Oasis ultimately decided to release their new singles on the same day, an event the NME called "The British Heavyweight Championship". The debate over which band would top the British singles chart became a media phenomenon, and Albarn appeared on the News at Ten. At the end of the week, "Country House" ultimately outsold Oasis' "Roll With It" by 274,000 copies to 216,000, becoming Blur's first number one single.

The Great Escape, which Albarn told the public was the last installment in the band's Life Trilogy, was released in September 1995 to ecstatic reviews. The NME hailed it as "spectacularly accomplished, sumptuous, heart-stopping and inspirational". Entering the UK charts at number one, the album sold nearly half a million copies in its first month of sale. However, opinion quickly changed and Blur found themselves largely out of favour with the media once again. Following the worldwide success of Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (which went quadruple platinum in America), the media quipped that "Blur wound up winning the battle but losing the war." Blur became perceived as an "inauthentic middle class pop band" in comparison to the "working class heroes" Oasis, which Albarn said made him feel "stupid and confused". Bassist Alex James later summarised, "After being the People's Hero, Damon was the People's Prick for a short period ... basically, he was a loser – very publicly."

Reinvention after Britpop: 1996–2000

An early 1996 Q magazine interview revealed that relations between Blur members had become very strained; journalist Adrian Deevoy wrote that he found them "on the verge of a nervous breakup".Coxon, in particular, began to resent his band mates; James for his playboy lifestyle, and Albarn for his control over Blur's musical direction and public image. The guitarist struggled with drinking problems and, in a rejection of the group's Britpop aesthetic, made a point of listening to noisy American alternative rock bands such as Pavement. In February 1996, when Coxon and James were absent for a lip-synced Blur performance broadcast on Italian television, they were replaced by a cardboard cutout and a roadie, respectively. Blur biographer Stuart Maconie later wrote that, at the time, "Blur were sewn together very awkwardly".

Although he had previously dismissed it, Albarn grew to appreciate Coxon's tastes in lo-fi and underground music, and recognised the need to significantly change Blur's musical direction once again. "I can sit at my piano and write brilliant observational pop songs all day long but you've got to move on", he said. He subsequently approached Street, and argued for a more stripped-down sound on the band's next record. Coxon, recognising his own personal need to—as Rowntree put it—"work this band", wrote a letter to Albarn, describing his desire for their music "to scare people again". After initial sessions in London, the band left to record the rest of the album in Iceland, away from the Britpop scene.

The result was Blur, the band's fifth studio album, released in February 1997. Although the music press predicted that the lo-fi sonic experimentation would alienate Blur's teenage girl fan-base, they generally applauded the effort. Pointing out lyrics such as "Look inside America/She's alright", and noting Albarn's "obligatory nod to Beck, [and promotion of] the new Pavement album as if paid to do so", reviewers felt the band had come to accept American values during this time—an about-face of their attitude during the Britpop years. Despite cries of "commercial suicide", the album and its first single, "Beetlebum", debuted at number one in the UK. Although the album could not match the sales of their previous albums in the UK, Blur became the band's most successful internationally. In the US, the record received strong reviews as the album and the "Song 2" single became a hit. Blur reached number 61 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold, while "Song 2" peaked at number six on the Modern Rock chart. After "Song 2" was licensed for use in various media—such as soundtracks, advertisements and television shows—it became the most recognisable Blur song in the US. After the success of Blur, the band embarked on a nine-month world tour.

In February 1998, a few months after completing the tour, Blur released Bustin' + Dronin' for the Japanese market. The album is a collection of Blur songs remixed by artists such as Thurston Moore, William Orbit and Moby. Among the tracks, the band were most impressed by Orbit's effort and enlisted him to replace Street as producer for their next album, citing a need to approach the recording process from a fresh perspective.

Released in March 1999, Blur's sixth studio album 13 saw them drift still further away from their Britpop-era attitude and sound. Orbit's production style allowed for more jamming, and incorporated a "variety of emotions, atmospheres, words and sounds" into the mix. 13 was creatively dominated by Coxon, who "was simply allowed to do whatever he chose, unedited", by Orbit. Albarn's lyrics—more heart-felt, personal and intimate than on previous occasions—were reflective of his break-up with Elastica frontwoman Justine Frischmann, his partner of eight years. The album received generally favourable reviews from the press. While Q called it "a dense, fascinating, idiosyncratic and accomplished art rock album”, the NME felt it was inconsistent and "(at least) a quarter-of-an-hour too long". 13 debuted at the top of the UK charts, staying at that position for two weeks. The album's lead single, the gospel-based "Tender", opened at the second spot on the charts. After "Coffee & TV", the first Blur single to feature Coxon on lead vocals, managed to only reach number 11 in the UK, manager Chris Morrison demanded a chart re-run because of what he deemed was a sales miscalculation.

In July 1999, in celebration of their tenth anniversary, Blur released a 22-CD limited edition box-set of their singles. The accompanying tour saw Blur play the A-sides of the 22 singles in their chronological order of release. . In October 2000, the group released the best-of album Blur: The Best of, which debuted at number three in the UK and a Platinum certification of 300,000 copies. Dismissed by the band as "the first record we have seen as product", the tracklisting and release dates of Blur: The Best of were determined on the basis of market research and focus groups conducted by Blur's record label, EMI. By this time, the group had largely disowned the upbeat pop singles from the Britpop era, and favoured the more arty, experimental work on Blur and 13. In an otherwise highly enthusiastic review of the best-of for the NME, Steve Sutherland criticised the band's "sheer disregard" for their earlier work; "Just because these songs embarrassed them once they started listening to broadsheet critics and retreated wounded from the big-sales battle with Oasis doesn't mean that we're morons to love them."

Coxon's departure, Think Tank and hiatus: 2001–2008

After 13 and the subsequent tours in 1999-2000, the band entered into a hiatus, during which band members pursued other projects. Graham Coxon recorded a string of solo albums, while Damon Albarn dedicated his time to Gorillaz, the animated band he had created with Jamie Hewlett.

Early in 2002, Blur recorded a song that would be played by European Space Agency's Beagle 2 lander once it touched down; however, attempts to locate the probe after it landed on Mars were fruitless. Recording for Blur's next album began in London in November 2001, but concerted work started in June 2002, with the sessions moving to Marrakech, Morocco soon after, and then to Devon back in the UK. Not long after the sessions began, Coxon left the group. Coxon stated that "there were no rows" and "the band just recognised the feeling that we needed some time apart". Before the album was released, Blur released a new single, "Don't Bomb When You Are the Bomb" as a very limited white label release. The song is largely electronic, and was part of the band's protest against war in the Middle East. Albarn, however, attempted to assuage fans' fears that the album would be electronic by providing reassurances that the band's new album would be "a rockin' record", and also stated that it has "a lot of finely crafted pop songs".

Think Tank, released in May 2003, was filled with atmospheric, brooding electronic sounds, featuring simpler guitar lines played by Albarn, and largely relying on other instruments to replace Coxon. The guitarist's absence also meant that Think Tank was almost entirely written by Albarn. Its sound was seen as a testament to Albarn's increasing interest in African and Middle Eastern music, and to his complete control over the group's creative direction. Think Tank was yet another UK number one and managed Blur's highest US position of number 56. The album was also nominated for best album at the 2004 Brit Awards.

In 2005, XFM news reported that the band would be recording an EP, and denied the idea of hiring a new guitarist to replace Coxon. There were also some aborted recordings done in 2005. Overall the band kept low profile and did no studio recordings or touring as a three-piece. After Coxon significantly thawed in regards to the subject of rejoining the band, in 2007 band members announced that Blur would reunite and that they intended to record together first in August, with the date later being pushed back to September, then October. Though the band members finally met up in October, they posted on their website that they had only "met up for an enjoyable lunch" and that there were no "other music plans for Blur".

Reunion: 2009-present

In December 2008, Blur announced they would reunite for a concert at London's Hyde Park on 3 July 2009. Days later, the band added a second date, for 2 July. A series of June preview shows were also announced, ending at Manchester Evening News arena on the 26th. All the shows were well received; The Guardian's music critic Alexis Petridis gave their performance at Goldsmiths college a full five stars, and wrote that "Blur's music seems to have potentiated by the passing of years ... they sound both more frenetic and punky and more nuanced and exploratory than they did at the height of their fame". Blur headlined the Glastonbury Festival on 28 June, where they played for the first time since their headline slot in 1998. Reviews of the Glastonbury performance were enthusiastic, The Guardian called them "the best Glastonbury headliners in an age". The band released their second greatest hits album Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur in June 2009.

Blur also headlined at other summer festivals, including Oxegen 2009 in Ireland, and the Scottish outdoor show of T in the Park. Their T in the Park headline slot was put in jeopardy after Graham Coxon was admitted to hospital with food poisoning. Ultimately, the band did play, albeit an hour and a half after they were scheduled to appear. After the completion of the reunion dates, James said the band had not discussed further plans. Albarn told Q soon after James' statement that the band had no intention of recording or touring live again. He said, "I just can't do it anymore", and explained that the main motivation for participating in the reunion was to repair his relationship with Coxon, which succeeded. Coxon also stated that no further Blur activity was planned, telling NME.com that September, "We're in touch and we say 'Wotcha' and all that but nothing has been mentioned about any more shows or anything else".

In January 2010, No Distance Left to Run, a documentary about the band, was released in cinemas and a month later on DVD. In April 2010, Blur released their first new recording since 2003, "Fool's Day", for the Record Store Day event as a vinyl record limited to 1000 copies; it was later made available as a free download on their website. No Distance Left to Run was nominated as Best Long Form Music Video for the 53rd Grammy Awards, Blur's first-ever Grammy nomination.

In February 2012, Blur were awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the 2012 Brit Awards. Later that month, Albarn and Coxon premiered a new track together live, "Under the Westway”. In April, the band announced that a box-set entitled Blur 21—containing all seven Blur studio albums, four discs of unreleased rarities and three DVDs—would be released in July.

Blur entered the studio early that year to record material for a new album, but in May producer William Orbit told the NME that Albarn had halted recording. Blur's official Twitter and Facebook pages announced that the band would release two singles "The Puritan" and "Under the Westway" on 2 July. That August, Blur headlined a show at Hyde Park for the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony. In 2013, the band are set to headline Belgium's Rock Werchter as well as perform at the Spanish and Portuguese dates of the Primavera Sound Festival.

Blur discography

Leisure (1991)
Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993)
Parklife (1994)
The Great Escape (1995)
Blur (1997)
13 (1999)
Think Tank (2003)

The Bluetones

thebritpopstory@gmail.com (thebritpopstory) — Tue, 9 Oct 2012 21:55:00 -0700

The Bluetones were an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993. The band's associates were Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fifth member, Richard Payne, came on lath amid 1998 and 2002. The bandage was originally alleged "The Bottlegarden".

The band's better hit, "Slight Return", was appear in 1996. They accept accomplished thirteenTop 40 singles and three Top 10 albums in the UK charts.

The Bluetones' bartering success waned afterwards the abatement of the Britpop movement, yet they connected to bout and absolution new annal and were accordingly generally labelled as "Britpop survivors".

The band's final anthology A New Athens was appear on 31 May 2010.

The bandage breach on 1 October 2011 afterward a adieu bout which concluded with a concert in Osaka, Japan.

History

After the absolution of two singles on Fierce Panda Records, the bandage active to A&M Annal and appear Expecting to Fly on their own sublabel Superior Quality Recordings. The anthology entered the UK Albums Blueprint at amount one, and featured the singles "Bluetonic" and "Slight Return", with the closing getting baffled to amount one by one-hit-wonders Babylon Zoo's "Spaceman". Afterward the touring and promotional duties for Expecting to Fly, the bandage appear stand-alone individual "Marblehead Johnson" to arch the gap amid albums.

The additional album, Return To The Endure Adventitious Saloon, was appear in 1998. While declining to accomplish the bartering success of their debut, it did spawn hits in the anatomy of "Solomon Bites the Worm" and "If...".

Whilst abounding of their mid 1990s aeon had disbanded by 2000, The Bluetones appear their third album, Science & Nature, which afresh accomplished the Top 10 and featured the hit singles "Keep the Home Fires Burning" and "Autophilia".

After absolution a best-of anthology in 2002, the bandage followed up with Luxembourg, an anthology which accustomed alloyed reviews.

A three-album accord was active in backward 2005 with the Cooking Vinyl almanac label, promptly followed by the bound absolution of E.P.Serenity Now and a abounding UK tour.

In aboriginal 2006, Universal issued a absolute box set of all The Bluetones singles and B-sides appear amid 1995 and 2003, A Rough Outline.

A single, advantaged "My Neighbour's House", was appear in the UK on 18 September 2006. The individual was taken from their self-titled album, which was appear on 9 October that year. It bootless to blueprint in the UK Albums Blueprint afterwards its aboriginal anniversary on sale. The anthology was aswell appear in the US, the aboriginal such accident back their debut. Although no acumen was cited, on 1 October 2006, it was appear that a planned nine-date bout of North America and Australia had been scrapped. However, on 1 November 2006, the bandage began a month-long bout of Europe in abutment of their new release, including two sold-out nights at Glasgow's King Tuts.

In February 2007, the bandage appear BBC Radio Sessions absolute advance recorded for the BBC amid 1994 and 2000. This was followed in June with their aboriginal abounding reside album, Once Aloft a Time in West Twelve, recorded at the Shepherds Bush Empire on 18 November 2005, and was followed on 29 October 2007, by a reside DVD of the aforementioned concert beneath the appellation Beat about the Bush. 2007 aswell saw the absolution of a accumulation anthology of aboriginal audience recordings, advantaged The Aboriginal Garage Years. They aswell appear a DVD beneath the appellation Blue Movies.

In January 2008, the bandage began a mini-tour of Scotland, arena 5 cities (Stirling, Dunfermline, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh) in as abounding nights. In May 2008 a ten-date bout covered Cambridge, Whitehaven, Sheffield, Newcastle aloft Tyne, Birmingham, London,Bristol, Manchester and Darwen, including one of the endure few concerts at the Astoria. They aswell played a appearance with Brit-pop rivalsDodgy on 17 May 2009, at a abstruse London venue, to account the homelessness alms Crisis, as allotment of the charity's 'Hidden Gigs' attack adjoin hidden homelessness.

In December 2008, the bandage boarded on a five-date tour, demography in Lincoln, Manchester, Sheffield and Birmingham. The bout saw them arena their admission album, Expecting to Fly, in full. Some added dates were afterwards appear for February and March 2009.

On 31 May 2010, the bandage appear an anthology alleged A New Athens. Despite abundantly absolute reviews by admirers and critics alike, the anthology bootless to blueprint in the UK Albums Chart.

The song "Sleazy Bed Track" from the 1998 anthology Return To The Endure Adventitious Saloon was featured in the accepted 2010 blur Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and aswell included on the soundtrack.

On 28 March, the bandage appear they would breach afterwards a adieu bout in September 2011, with a bulletin from frontman Mark Morriss adage "After 17 years and 6 albums, The Bluetones accept absitively that the time has accustomed to alarm it a day and move on to added challenges. Before dematerialization always though, we will be branch out for one endure tour, as a adventitious to say adieu and acknowledge you to all the admirers that accept abiding us over these years, with a career-spanning Greatest Hits/Best Of... appearance set of songs. It's gonna be emotional."

Studio albums

· Expecting to Fly (1996) No. 1 UK

· Return to the Endure Adventitious Saloon (1998) No. 10 UK

· Science & Nature (2000) No. 7 UK

· Luxembourg (2003) No. 49 UK

· The Bluetones (2006) No. 100 UK

· A New Athens (2010) No. 21 Indie

EPs

· A Bluetones Companion (1995, Japan only)

· Mudslide (2000)

· Serenity Now (2005, mail-order-only release)

· Compilation albums

· Are You Blind? (2000, bound copy promotional CD)

· The Singles (2002) No. 14 UK

· A Rough Outline: The Singles & B-Sides 95вЂ“03 (2006) No. 156

· The Aboriginal Garage Years (2007)

· Collection (2008)

· Live albums

· BBC Radio Sessions (2007) No. 164 UK

· Once Aloft a Time in West Twelve (2007)

Singles

All blueprint positions are for the UK Singles Chart:

· "Slight Return/The Fountainhead" (1995) bound copy 7"

· "Are You Blue or Are You Blind?" (1995) No. 31

· "Bluetonic" (1995) No. 19

· "Slight Return" (re-issue) (1996) No. 2

· "Cut Some Rug/Castle Rock" (1996) No. 7

· "Marblehead Johnson" (1996) No. 7

· "Solomon Bites the Worm" (1998) No. 10

· "If..." (1998) No. 13

· "Sleazy Bed Track" (1998) No. 35

· "4-Day Weekend" (1998, mail-order-only release)

· "Keep the Home Fires Burning" (2000) No. 13

· "Autophilia (Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Car)" (2000) No. 18

· "After Hours" (2002) No. 26

· "Fast Boy/Liquid Lips" (2003) No. 25

· "Never Going Nowhere" (2003) No. 40

· "My Neighbour's House" (2006) No. 68

· "Head on a Spike" (2006) No. 135

· "Surrendered" (2007)

· "Carry Me Home" (2010)

· "Golden Soul" (2010)

Video/DVD releases

· Mondo Concerto (1997)

· Blue Movies (2007)

· Beat about the Bush (2007)

· Expecting to Fly Reside (2009)

Television

They accept fabricated adornment appearances in the British ball shows Spaced, Little Britain and the Adam and Joe Show.

Black Grape

thebritpopstory@gmail.com (thebritpopstory) — Mon, 8 Oct 2012 21:56:00 -0700

Black Grape were a 1990s rock band from England, featuring former members of Happy Mondays. The group's music was funky and eclectic, using varied instrumentation andsamples.

The band was formed in 1993 by former Happy Mondays members Shaun Ryder and Bez. It was Ryder's first musical project after the disintegration of Happy Mondays due both to his multiple drug addictions and to disagreements about revenues with other bandmembers. The formation of the new band was intended to draw a line between his past life and his new one. Ryder and Bez recruited rappers Kermit and Psycho, drummerJed Lynch, and guitarist Wags (formerly of the Manchester-based group the Paris Angels).

Recording of new material started that year, although the group was not under contract.

In 1995 Black Grape was signed by Radioactive Records (an imprint of major label BMG) and released its debut album It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah. It immediatelycharted at number one in the UK Albums Chart, and spawned three Top Twenty singles.

The first single "Reverend Black Grape" managed to outsell the Happy Mondays cover ofJohn Kongos "(He's Gonna) Step On (You Again)".

The third single, "Kelly's Heroes" - a song lampooning society's obsession with celebrities and idols that had much to do with Ryder's own previous hero worship of people he now saw as wastrels - had its opening lyric changed before recording from "Don't talk to me about heroes - Most of these guys snort cocaine," to "Don't talk to me about heroes - most of these men sing like suggs ." (Ryder initially intended it to be 'Smurfs', but feared he could be breaching copyright). Another song on the album, "Temazi Party", mocked the then-current craze for abusing Temazepamsleeping pills (a.k.a. 'jellies'), but was deliberately misspelt on the album sleeve as 'Tramazi' instead of 'Temazi' in order to forestall any legal injunction against the album's release.

It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah received critical acclaim in the UK, but the group made little impact in the US. However,Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich listed it as his favourite album of 1996. The album cover featured a picture of then-recently-imprisoned terrorist Carlos The Jackal.

The subsequent album Stupid Stupid Stupid was less favoured. The group split in 1998 after Ryder fired the rest of the band while touring, starting with Kermit (who was suffering from septicemia) and ending with Bez (who was unsatisfied with his financial situation).

On 2 February 2010, NME reported that Ryder will be reforming Black Grape with Saber and Kermit for a concert as part of the 'Get Loaded In The Dark' gig series on 1 April at The Coronet in London.

Discography

Albums

It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah (1995) #1 UK
Stupid Stupid Stupid (1997) #11 UK
Singles
"Reverend Black Grape" (1995) #9 UK
"In the Name of the Father" (1995) #8 UK
"Kelly's Heroes" (1995) #17 UK
"Fat Neck" (1996) #10 UK
"England's Irie" (1996) #6 UK
"Get Higher" (1997) #24 UK
"Marbles" (1998) - #46 UK

Film

The Grape Tapes (1997)

Ash

thebritpopstory@gmail.com (thebritpopstory) — Sun, 7 Oct 2012 20:59:00 -0700

Ash are an another bedrock bandage that formed in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland in 1992. The bandage has awash 8 actor albums worldwide.

Band beginning, Trailer and 1977 (1992 “1998)

Ash clearly formed in 1992, reportedly accepting taken their name from the aboriginal chat they admired in the dictionary. Prior to this, Wheeler and Hamilton were in a Iron Maiden awning bandage alleged Vietnam who formed in 1989. They created three audience tapes that year “ Solar Happy in June, Shed in September, and the Home Audience in November. These tapes featured their ancient actual and the aboriginal recordings of some songs that were afterwards on their 1994 release, Trailer, including "Intense Thing", "Get Out", "Obscure Thing," and their approaching single, "Jack Names the Planets".

In 1993 the bandage recorded the Barn Girl audience tape, which featured "Jack Names the Planets" and "Intense Thing" taken from Shed, as able-bodied as some new beforehand including "Petrol". Afterward Barn Girl, they appear their accumulation audience tape, Pipe Smokin' Bricklater that year, which featured an array of songs from the added tapes. Downpatrick artist Ray Valentine recorded Ash's demos at his studio, Cosmic Rays. At that time, the bandage were accepted as "Genuine Real Teenagers," because they were so adolescent if recording their aboriginal material. The audience tapes had not acquired abundant absorption yet and the bandage were still arena babyish shows at bounded clubs, but in aboriginal 1994, Stephen Taverner came beyond the Barn Girl audience tape. Taverner put up the money so that they could columnist 1,000 7 і copies of "Jack Names the Planets" on his own LaLaLand almanac label. Taverner afterwards became the band's full-time manager.

Ash appear their mini album, Trailer, in October 1994, which alone included seven songs. They accustomed some airplay from Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 1 and so followed up their admission individual with "Petrol" and "Uncle Pat" on their new characterization Infectious Records. In 1995, Ash larboard academy and appear their beforehand singles "Kung Fu" (featured over the end credits of Jackie Chan's North American beforehand film, Rumble in the Bronx), "Girl From Mars" and "Angel Interceptor". The cine Angus was released, which featured two of Ash's songs, "Jack Names the Planets" and "Kung Fu," and served to acquaint Ash to American audiences. The bandage had offered two added beforehand that were cut, forth with "Pansy Division's Deep Water", which fabricated the soundtrack but was cut from the cine due to time constraints.

1996 saw them absolution the singles "Goldfinger" and "Oh Yeah" either ancillary of their album1977, which saw ample success. The clue "Lose Control" from that anthology was featured in the video bold Gran Turismo. On 17 February 1997, Ash appear Reside at the Wireless, a reside album, recorded at the Triple J Studios in Australia. A bound copy adaptation of the anthology was appear in the UK on the band's own Deathstar label.

Charlotte Hatherley, Nu-Clear Sounds and Free All Angels(1998 “2004)

During their time touring with Weezer, Ash acquainted the limitation of a three-piece band. As a aftereffect they recruited Charlotte Hatherley who had ahead been with the bandage Nightnurseand she fabricated her gig admission at a few babyish gigs a anniversary afore actualization at the V Anniversary in 1997. The aboriginal individual that she appeared on, "A Life Less Ordinary", featured on the soundtrack to the Ewan McGregor / Cameron Diazfilm of the aforementioned name.

In September 1998, Ash appear "Jesus Says" the afterward ages the added anthology proper, Nu-Clear Sounds, and in November "Wildsurf". The accent of abreast ceaseless touring of 1977 and Nu-Clear Sounds began to affect the band's mentality. In 1999, Tim Wheeler abolished for a abbreviate while afterward the bartering and analytical abortion of Nu-Clear Sounds. He eventually emerged in New York authoritative the self-deprecating, blood, biologic and sex fueled video for Numbskull. A agenda for Stephen Taverner absorbed to the video said, "I've dead Bambi".

Ash about became broke as they able to absolution possibly their endure album. Luckily, this was not to be the case. The bandage aloof to Wheeler's parents' house, to play and address songs in the aforementioned barn area the bandage began. The individual "Shining Light" was appear in January 2001, followed by the amount one anthology Free All Angels in April. Subsequent singles appear from Free All Angels were "Burn Babyish Burn", "Sometimes", "Candy", and "There's a Star" . The individual "Shining Light" won the "Best Contemporary Song" accolade at the 2002 Ivor Novello awards. A new individual "Envy" was released, followed anon afterwards by the singles collectionIntergalactic Sonic 7 іs with the benefit deejay advantaged Cosmic Debris. Q annual alleged Ash as No. 2 of its "50 Bands To See Afore You Die".

In 2003, it was leaked to the music and abridged columnist that Ash were alive on a abhorrence blur declared as a 'teen slasher'. The film, alleged Slashed, was attempt while the bandage were on bout in America but some scenes were aswell attempt in the UK. The screenplay, accounting by Jed Shepherd and directed by Alexander Marks included brilliant roles by Chris Martin (Sherbet Bones) and Jonny Buckland (Agent Ford) of Coldplay as a brace of FBI agents assassin to clue down a abnormal consecutive killer. Added brilliant performances awning that of Moby, James Nesbitt, Dave Grohl and Ash themselves. The blur was never about appear to the public.

Meltdown and Hatherley's abandonment (2004 “2006)

On 29 June 2004, Ash appear Meltdown, which accomplished amount 5 in the UK. At the aforementioned time Hatherley aswell wrote and recorded her abandoned ancillary activity anthology Grey Will Fade. The bandage teamed up with Lucasarts for a new Brilliant Wars bold advantaged Republic Commando. "Clones", taken from the anthology Meltdown is the aboriginal accountant music to be acclimated in annihilation Brilliant Wars-related. "Meltdown" and "Orpheus" are featured on the accepted Britishmovie, Shaun of the Dead as able-bodied as actualization on the in-game soundtracks for the video amateur NHL 2005, Burnout 3: Takedown and Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition. Aswell featured is their awning of the Buzzcocks song "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" featuring Chris Martin on abetment vocals. The song "Vampire Love" was featured in American Pie Presents: Bandage Camp. Starcrossed and "Renegade Cavalcade" were afterwards appear as singles from the album. Meltdown was appear in the US on 8 March 2005, through Warner Bros. Recordsimprint Almanac Collection. Aswell in 2005, Tim Wheeler accustomed a accompaniment (an honorary degree) from LIPA (Liverpool Institute for Assuming Arts).

On 20 January 2006, Hatherley larboard the bandage afterwards nine years abrogation alone the aboriginal associates remaining. An official account reads: "After 9 years Ash and Charlotte Hatherley accept mutually agreed to allotment company. The accommodation is absolutely accordant and they ambition anniversary added the actual best for the future". In an account in July 2007, the added bandage associates appropriate they asked Hatherley to leave as they "wanted to be a three-piece."

Twilight of the Innocents, 1977, A to Z Singles & Added Greatest Hits (2006 “present)

On 6 June 2006, NME appear that Ash were in a New York recording flat and had twenty seven "rough" songs. Wheeler hinted that the closing anthology was acceptable to be added awakening aural than any of their antecedent material. No shows were planned for the butt of 2006, but Wheeler declared that they were acquisitive to analysis out their new songs "in tiny New York bars" already the anthology was complete. In aboriginal 2007, Ash appear a feature UK bout for February and March. The bout was a countdown for their anthology absolution in June and their summer anniversary appearances, including the Isle of Wight Anniversary on 9 June 2007.

On 19 February 2007 Ash appear the aboriginal song from their new album, blue-blooded Twilight of the Innocents. This new actual was a download-only bastard examination clue alleged "I Started A Fire". The aboriginal concrete individual "You Can't Accept It All" was appear on 16 April 2007. The absolution of "You Can't Accept It All" coincided with an in-store gig and signing affair at Virgin Megastore in Belfast. The music video for the song debuted on MTV2 on 11 March 2007. Two added songs from the album, "Polaris" and "End of the World", were issued as singles in June and September, respectively.

On 12 June 2007 Ash appear that Twilight of the Innocents would be their endure album. They aswell denied that they were agreeable and instead declared that they would alone absolution singles from now on as "the way humans accept to music has changed, with the actualization of the download the accent has changed to individual tracks".

With the acknowledgment to their aboriginal three-piece line-up, the bandage had been mainly assuming actual from albums 1977 and Twilight of the Innocents, this led to the bandage assuming at London Roundhouse on Friday 5 September and Saturday 6 September 2008, which saw the bandage accomplish 1977 in its entirety. Both shows awash out and the bandage went on to absolution a 3-disc appropriate copy adaptation of the album, featuring remastered and re-edited versions of the tracks, as able-bodied as beforehand from Trailer and reside performances from the time of its release.

In backward 2008, the bandage declared they had been autograph and recording new tracks, bassist Mark Hamilton stated, "we ™re just demography clue at a time and seeing what happens, no banned to area or what it ™ll complete like. A few of the songs are almost recognisable as Ash which is appealing agitative to see how humans acknowledge if they apprehend them."[ A amount of clue titles were aswell appear including "Neon, allotment 2".

On 16 April 2009, Ash appear they were to play a one-off gig at Bloomsbury Ballroom, London, to examination new beforehand and alpha announcement their new material. An added date was aswell added at the aforementioned area a few canicule later, forth with a scattering of countdown shows. The aboriginal individual to be appear was appear on 30 April blue-blooded "Return of White Rabbit". The three bandage associates duke created 178 sleeves anniversary for the concrete singles, anniversary of which will be accessible to win in altered competitions getting run through the band's website. On 18 May it was appear that the bandage would be absolution 26 singles, one every fortnight for the blow of 2009, accepted as the A to Z singles series. In August 2009 they played at the Hevy Music Anniversary in Folkestone, and in June 2010 they accent the John Peel Stage on the endure night of Glastonbury Festival.

In September 2010, Ash fabricated their aboriginal actualization in South Africa to abutment bounded bedrock accumulation The Parlotones on the South African leg of their apple tour. Ash fabricated an actualization on the South African Idols and accept aswell appeared on assorted South African radio and television stations, including locally accepted MK.

In June 2011, Ash appear that a greatest hits almanac was in the works.

In August 2011 Ash collaborated with We Are Scientists to absolution a awning of the song "Washington Parks" by British songwriter Robert Manning,] adopting money and acquaintance for Multiple Sclerosis and The MS Society. The song was recorded amid London and New York by the two bands and accompany a activity already boasting releases from Ed Hardcourt and Emmy the Great. Chris Cain from We Are Scientists said in an account "We in fact recorded a individual [with Ash] which is traveling to appear out soon. It will not be too connected until it's out and it's for a alms in England alleged the Multiple Sclerosis Society. It's a awning of a song alleged њWashington Parks ќ by I anticipate Happy Monster but it's appealing sweet. The abstraction of the song is that if you accept to it on headphones or stereo the musicians of Ash are on the larboard approach and all the We Are Scientists guys are arena it in the appropriate channel. We're arena the aforementioned song about but in altered ways. I'm not arena the aforementioned bass bandage as Mark and Rick isn't arena the aforementioned boom arrangement as Andy. I anticipate Keith and Tim sing the aforementioned affair but in a altered array of harmony. What's absorbing abnormally is that not alone do we accept a accord feel traveling on but you can aswell yield off one headphone and apprehend one bandage and carnality versa."

Line-Up

The bandage set out as a three section originally, afterwards recruiting Hatherley as a added guitarist. Afterwards nine years in the band, Hatherley was asked to leave so that the bandage could already afresh acknowledgment to a three piece. Without a added guitarist some of the actual from Meltdown, Free All Angels and Nu-Clear Sounds has not back been played, while assorted singles and actual from the albums Twilight of the Innocents and 1977 accept fabricated up the majority of actual performed recently. McMurray, afterwards the abandonment of Hatherley has taken over a lot of her abetment articulate duties, whilst Mark provides abetment vocals occasionally in studio, but not live. The bandage accept declared that whilst there are no actual affairs to bout with the actual accounting and recorded with Hatherley still in the band, "never say never", and that there was a achievability they may at some point bout with Hatherley again, in NME in June 2009 Hatherley aswell commented on the breach advertence her and Wheeler were consistently talking, and that arena calm afresh was a achievability in the future.

In April 2010 Bloc Party guitarist Russell Lissack abutting the bandage for their UK bout and has back connected to bout with them common throughout 2010.

In June 2011 LaFaro bagman Alan Lynn stood in for Rick McMurray (who was accepting a baby) for a abbreviate European tour.

In September 2011, it was accepted that Charlotte Hatherley would acknowledgment for a set of appropriate shows, adulatory the absolution of their 'Best of Ash' album. The shows will awning the four section arena the Free All Angels anthology in its absoluteness and a "Best of" set.

Band members

• Tim Wheeler “ beforehand vocals, beforehand guitar, piano/keyboards (1992 “present)

• Mark Hamilton “ bass, synthesizer (1992 “present)

• Rick McMurray “ drums, percussion, abetment vocals (1992 “present)

Former members

• Charlotte Hatherley “ guitar, piano, abetment vocals (1997 “2006, 2011)

Touring members

• Russell Lissack - accent guitar (2010 “present)

• Alan Lynn - drums, bang (2011)

Ash discography

Studio albums

• Trailer “ October 1994

• 1977 “ 6 May 1996 “ Platinum (BPI)

• Nu-Clear Sounds “ 5 October 1998 “ Platinum (BPI)

• Free All Angels “ 23 April 2001 “ Platinum (BPI)

• Meltdown “ 17 May 2004 “ Platinum (BPI)

• Twilight of the Innocents “ 2 July 2007

Single format

The bandage appear in 2007 with the absolution of Twilight of the Innocents that they would be switching to individual architecture for added releases. The aboriginal alternation of singles were appear every fortnight and consisted of 26 singles, added added beforehand for those who paid for the absolute alternation in advance.

• A-Z Series (2009/2010)

The Britpop Movement

thebritpopstory@gmail.com (thebritpopstory) — Sat, 6 Oct 2012 08:56:00 -0700

The Britpop Story is a British television documentary about the Britpop movement which occurred in Britain during the 1990s. Hosted by John Harris, it was aboriginal advertisement on BBC Four in August 2005. It appearance interviews with Blur's Graham Coxon, Elastica frontwomanJustine Frischmann, Louise Wener of Sleeper and Alan McGee, architect of Creation Records

Harris presented the programme, afterwards the BBC were afflicted with his 2003 book The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock.[citation needed] It was aboriginal advertisement in August 2005 as allotment of Britpop Night on BBC Four, ten years afterwards Blur and Oasis went head-to-head in the charts.

The appearance started with a attending at grunge music and how British music was at an best low. It charted with the development of Blur,Suede, Elastica and Sleeper. Harris recalled the time if he was at the "Good Mixer" pub in Camden Town, London with Noel andLiam Gallagher, on a "sightseeing" trip, if approaching battling Graham Coxon was there. There was added advice on added Britpop groups, such as Menswear. There was a focus of Tony Blair and his abutment of Oasis, as able-bodied as assuming the abatement of the movement.

A Blueprint Action Amid Blur And Oasis

thebritpopstory@gmail.com (thebritpopstory) — Fri, 5 Oct 2012 09:50:00 -0700

A blueprint action amid Blur and Oasis dubbed "The Action of Britpop" brought Britpop to the beginning of the British columnist in 1995. The bands had initially accepted anniversary added but over the advance of the year antagonisms amid the two increased. Spurred on by the media, the groups became affianced in what the NME dubbed on the awning of its 12 August affair the "British Heavyweight Championship" with the awaiting absolution of Oasis' individual "Roll With It", and Blur's "Country House" on the aforementioned day. The action alveolate the two bands adjoin anniversary other, with the action as abundant about British chic and bounded capacity as it was about music.

Oasis were taken as apery the North of England, while Blur represented the South. The accident bent the public's acuteness and acquired accumulation media absorption in civic newspapers, tabloids, and even the BBC News. The NME wrote about the phenomenon, "Yes, in a anniversary area account leaked that Saddam Hussein was advancing nuclear weapons, accustomed association were still accepting collapsed in Bosnia and Mike Tysonwas authoritative his comeback, tabloids and broadsheets akin went Britpop crazy." Blur won the action of the bands, affairs 274,000 copies to Oasis' 216,000 - the songs charting at amount one and amount two respectively. However, in the continued run Oasis became added commercially acknowledged than Blur. Unlike Blur, Oasis were able to accomplish abiding sales in the United States acknowledgment to the singles "Wonderwall" and "Champagne Supernova". Oasis's additional anthology (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) eventually awash over four actor copies in the UK, acceptable the third acknowledged anthology in British history.

By the summer of 1996 Oasis's bulge was such that NME termed a amount of Britpop bands (including The Boo Radleys, Ocean Colour Scene and Cast) as "Noelrock", citation Gallagher's access on their success. John Harris embodied this beachcomber of Britpop bands, and Gallagher, of administration "a affected adulation of the 1960s, a atheism of abundant above rock's a lot of basal ingredients, and a acceptance in the supremacy of 'real music'". Starting on 10 August 1996, Oasis played a two-night set at Knebworth to a accumulated admirers of 250,000 people. The appeal for these gigs was and still is the better anytime for a concert on British soil; over 2.6 actor humans had activated for tickets.

Oasis' third anthology Be Here Now (1997) was awful anticipated. Despite initially alluring absolute reviews and affairs strongly, the almanac was anon subjected to able criticism from music critics, record-buyers and even Noel Gallagher himself for its overproduced and aggrandized sound. Music analyzer Jon Savage pinpointed Be Here Now as the moment area Britpop ended; Savage said that while the anthology "isn't the abundant adversity that everybody says," he acclaimed that "It was declared to be the big, big celebrating record" of the period. At the aforementioned time, Damon Albarn approved to ambit Blur from Britpop with the band's fifth album, Blur (1997). On the album, Blur confused abroad from their Parklife-era sound, and their music began to digest American lo-fi influences, decidedly that ofPavement. Albarn explained to the NME in January 1997 that "We created a movement: as far as the birth of British bands goes, there'll consistently be a abode for us", but added, "We absolutely started to see that apple in a hardly altered way."

As the movement began to apathetic down, abounding acts began to falter and bankrupt up. The acceptance of the pop accumulation the Spice Girls has been apparent as accepting "snatched the spirit of the age from those amenable for Britpop." While accustomed acts struggled, absorption began to about-face to the brand of Radiohead and The Verve, who had been ahead disregarded by the British media. These two bandsвЂ”in accurate RadioheadвЂ”showed appreciably added abstruse influences from the 1960s and 1970s, influences that were aberrant a part of beforehand Britpop acts. In 1997, Radiohead and The Verve appear their corresponding efforts OK Computer and Urban Hymns, both of which were broadly acclaimed. Post-Britpop bands like Travis, Stereophonics and Coldplay, afflicted by Britpop acts, decidedly Oasis, with added attentive lyrics, were some of the a lot of acknowledged bedrock acts of the backward backward 1990s and aboriginal 2000s.

The Movement Was Soon Dubbed Britpop

thebritpopstory@gmail.com (thebritpopstory) — Thu, 4 Oct 2012 07:39:00 -0700

The movement was soon dubbed Britpop. The appellation "Britpop" had been acclimated in the backward 1980s (in Sounds annual by journalist,Goldblade frontman and TV auger John Robb apropos to bands such as The La's, The Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets and The Bridewell Taxis).

"Britpop" arose about the aforementioned time as the appellation "Britart" (which referred to the plan of British avant-garde artists such as Damien Hirst). However, it would not be until 1994 if the appellation entered the accepted consciousness, getting acclimated abundantly by the music columnist and radio DJs. A adventurous of bands emerged accumbent with the new movement.

At the alpha of 1995 Britpop bands including Sleeper,Supergrass, and Menswear denticulate pop hits. Elastica appear their admission anthology Elastica that March; its aboriginal anniversary sales surpassed the almanac set by Definitely Maybe the antecedent year.[ The music columnist beheld the arena about Camden Town as a agreeable centre; frequented by Britpop groups like Blur, Elastica, and Menswear, Melody Maker declared "Camden is to 1995 what Seattle was to 1992, what Manchester was to 1989, and what Mr Blobby was to 1993."

The Origins of Britpop

thebritpopstory@gmail.com (thebritpopstory) — Wed, 3 Oct 2012 07:26:00 -0700

The origins of Britpop lie primarily in the indie arena of the aboriginal 1990s, and in accurate about a accumulation of bands complex in a active amusing arena focused in the Camden Town breadth of London. This arena was dubbed "The Arena That Celebrates Itself" by Melody Maker. Some associates of this arena (Blur, Lush, Suede) would go on to play a arch allotment in Britpop. Others such as Kingmaker,Slowdive, Spitfire and Ride would not. The ascendant agreeable force of the aeon was the grunge aggression from the United States, which abounding the abandoned larboard in the indie arena by The Stone Roses' inactivity.

Journalist John Harris has appropriate that Britpop began if Blur's individual "Popscene" and Suede's "The Drowners" were appear about the aforementioned time in the bounce of 1992. He stated, " If Britpop started anywhere, it was the deluge of acclamation that greeted Suede's aboriginal records: all of them audacious, acknowledged and very, actual British". Suede were the aboriginal of the new crop of guitar-orientated bands to be accepted by the UK music media as Britain's acknowledgment to Seattle's grunge sound. Their admission anthology Suede became the fastest-selling admission anthology in the history of the UK. In April 1993, Select annual featured Suede's advance accompanist Brett Anderson on the awning with a Union Flag in the accomplishments and the banderole "Yanks go home!". The affair included appearance on Suede, The Auteurs,Denim, Saint Etienne and Pulp and helped abet the abstraction of an arising movement.

Blur, a accumulation that aforetime alloyed elements of shoegazing and baggy, took on an Anglocentric artful with their additional anthology Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993). Blur's new access was aggressive by their bout of the United States in the bounce of 1992. During the tour, frontman Damon Albarn began to resent American ability and begin the charge to animadversion on that culture's access seeping into Britain. Justine Frischmann, aforetime of Suede and baton of Elastica (and at the time in a accord with Damon Albarn) explained, "Damon and I acquainted like we were in the blubbery of it at that point it occurred to us that Nirvana were out there, and humans were actual absorbed in American music, and there should be some array of acclamation for the acknowledgment of Britishness." John Harris wrote in an NME commodity just above-mentioned to the absolution of Modern Life is Rubbish, "[Blur's] timing has been accidentally perfect. Why? Because, as with baggies and shoegazers, loud, accomplished Americans accept just begin themselves accursed to the abhorrent bend labeled 'yesterday's thing'". The music columnist aswell bedeviled on what the NME had dubbed the New Wave of New Wave, a appellation activated to the added punk-derivative acts such as Elastica, S*M*A*S*H and These Animal Men.

While Modern Life Is Rubbish was a abstinent success, it was Blur's third anthology Parklife that fabricated them arguably the a lot of accepted bandage in the UK in 1994. Parklife connected the angrily British attributes of its predecessor, and accompanying with the afterlife of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain in April of that year it seemed that British another bedrock had assuredly angry aback the course of grunge dominance. That aforementioned year Oasis appear their admission anthology Definitely Maybe, which bankrupt Suede's almanac for fastest-selling admission album.

Alternative Rock Acts

thebritpopstory@gmail.com (thebritpopstory) — Tue, 2 Oct 2012 08:14:00 -0700

Alternative rock acts from the 1980s and aboriginal 1990s indie arena were the absolute ancestors of the Britpop movement. The access ofThe Smiths was accepted to the majority of Britpop artists. The Madchester scene, fronted by The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, and Inspiral Carpets (for whom Oasis's Noel Gallagher had formed as a roadie during the Madchester years), was the actual basis of Britpop back its accent on acceptable times and addictive songs provided an another to shoegazing.

Britpop groups were authentic by accepting focused on bands rather than abandoned artists; accepting drums/bass/guitar/vocals (and sometimes keyboards) line-ups; autograph aboriginal actual and arena instruments themselves; singing in bounded British accents; references to British places and ability in lyrics and image; and appearance consciousness. Stylistically, Britpop bands relied on addictive hooks and wrote lyrics that were meant to be accordant to British adolescent humans of their own generation. Britpop bands against denounced grunge as extraneous and accepting annihilation to say about their lives. Damon Albarn of Blur summed up the attitude in 1993 if afterwards accepting asked if Blur were an "anti-grunge band" he said, "Well, that's good. If jailbait was about accepting rid of hippies, again I'm accepting rid of grunge.” In animosity of the declared antipathy for the genres, some elements of both crept into the added constant facets of Britpop. Noel Gallagher has back championed Ride. Noel Gallagher declared in a 1996 account that Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was the alone songwriter he had account for in the endure ten years, and that he acquainted their music was agnate abundant that Cobain could accept accounting "Wonderwall".

The adumbration associated with Britpop was appropriately British and alive class. Music analyzer Jon Savage asserted that Britpop was "an outer-suburban, common fantasy of axial London streetlife, with alone city models.” A acceleration in apparent maleness, exemplified by Loaded annual and lad ability in general, would be actual abundant allotment of the Britpop era. The Union Flag aswell became a arresting attribute of the movement, and its use as a attribute of pride and bellicism assorted acutely with the altercation that erupted just a few years afore if above Smiths accompanist Morrissey performed draped in it. The accent on British advertence credibility fabricated it difficult for the brand to accomplish success in the US.

The Britpop Story

thebritpopstory@gmail.com (thebritpopstory) — Mon, 1 Oct 2012 09:39:00 -0700

Britpop is a subgenre of another alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British absolute music arena of the aboriginal 1990s and was characterised by bands afflicted by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s. The movement developed as a acknowledgment adjoin assorted agreeable and cultural trends in the backward 1980s and aboriginal 1990s, decidedly the grunge abnormality from the United States. In the deathwatch of the agreeable aggression into the United Kingdom of American grunge bands, new British groups such as Suede and Blur launched the movement by accession themselves as opposing agreeable forces, referencing British guitar music of the accomplished and autograph about abnormally British capacity and concerns. These bands were anon abutting by others including Oasis, Pulp, Supergrass, Sleeper and Elastica.

Britpop groups brought British another alternative rock into the boilerplate and formed the courage of a beyond British cultural movement alleged Cool Britannia. Although its added accepted bands were able to advance their bartering success overseas, abnormally to the United States, the movement abundantly fell afar by the end of the decade.

Britpop bands were afflicted by British guitar music of the past, decidedly movements and genres such as the British Invasion, glam rock, and jailbait rock. Specific influences varied: Blur and Oasis drew from The Kinks and The Beatles, respectively, while Elastica had a affection for affected jailbait rock. Regardless, all Britpop artists projected a faculty of admiration for the sounds of the past.