STACK#127 May 2016

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COOL BRITANNIA REVISITED

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W hen Britpop was going off in taught us the British press would build ‘em up and knock ‘em down. Maybe this time round with different clothes (shell suits?), some anti-American jingoism (who needs Nirvana when you’ve got Menswear?) as well referencing the great heroes of the ’60s, Britpop looked as manufactured as Tony Blair’s New Labour (which embraced it.)But up close, it was exciting. In the mid ’90s I interviewed Shed Seven singer Rick Witter before a London show and he was witty and sharp, and later they played a great gig to a capacity crowd the ’90s, we had some cynical distance from the hype. Life had

Above: Oasis Right: Blur

which knew every lyric of their two albums. One of the most memorable gigs I’ve ever seen was Ocean Colour Scene at the 800-capacity Irish Centre on Digbeth Street in Manchester. Singer Simon Fowler told me they were filming it because they might never play a venue that small again. Then there was Oasis in a basketball stadium in Leicester a week after their triumphant Earl Court shows in London,

and while the joke was true about their ‘act’ – you might as well hold a postcard of them at arms length and jiggle it about a bit – they delivered a thrilling set. It was so good I went for a curry and lager afterwards, just to complete the experience. And Pulp and Blur (Damon Albarn telling me about the symbolism of Fred Perry shirts) and . . .So many bands, but so few making the leap beyond Britain.

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