the.com/britpop
the nineties' loudest argument over who owned guitars, accents, and the moral high ground
means A 1990s British guitar-pop movement, defined by jangly hooks, proudly British accents and references, and the much-hyped rivalry between bands like Oasis and Blur.
from A straightforward mash of "British" and "pop," coined by the music press of the early-to-mid 1990s to label a wave of UK bands consciously reacting against American grunge and reaching back to homegrown heroes like The Beatles, The Kinks, and The Smiths. The "Brit-" prefix had already been doing duty elsewhere (the Brit Awards, Britart), so welding it to "pop" was an easy and irresistible headline.
- oasis vs blur
- Same chart day, 1995, sold over 700,000 singles
- naming source
- Coined by press, hated by most bands it labeled
- union jack
- Noel Gallagher's flag guitar became the era's emblem
- cool britannia
- Blair courted Britpop stars for political glow
- working-class roots
- Celebrated kitchen-sink Englishness against grunge's American gloom
oasis vs blur — rival bands dominating uk charts 1994-1997, peaked with simultaneous single releases august 1995
knebworth festival 1996 — oasis played to 250,000 people, largest british rock concert at the time
pulp reading festival 1995 — jarvis cocker's band performed to massive crowds during britpop's cultural peak