Bedsit chic - bands such as Suede fit the zeitzeist - eventually shifts into Britpop with the release of Blur's "Boys and Girls" and also the release of the Oasis first album - an unknown band going into number 1 int the album, charts has a huge impact on Britpop wanabees - who fancy a piece of the action themselves, so the all head to Camden, and more specifically the Good Mixer pub where Blur drink, and start up their own bands. (name a few)
Supergrass, Elastica
Brip Pop
The 90s is the the decade that finally saw female artists really break through into the rock and pop areas of British music. There had of course been a niche crop of female punk bands in the 70s, and a mixture of different female singer/ songwriters in the 1980s, but the '90s saw women appear in groups, both as singer songwriters, and also as musicians. Shock horror! In fact, it's probably safe to say that the women in the indie bands that were part of the Britpop movement wouldn't really have liked the idea of being called a "girl group" - probably because they were grown up women, and wanted to be taken seriously for their musical abilities - as is their right. The svengali figure was duly pushed out of the picture and these ladies took control of there reins, having a say over virtually all parts of the music process; from what songs they wrote, to choosing who would produce them, and what the artwork would look like for the album cover.
They also liked to party rather a lot, and many of them out-partied the boys as this was the decade of the "geezer bird" - which basically consisted of ladies what wore Dr Martin boots, baggy tops and smeared make-up (probably from the night before) - and they drank beer - from a pint glass, gasp!
The indie darlings of this scene were undoubtably Elastica - whose debut album was a brillant low-fi and energetic return to three cord New Wave glory. Ironically, it also didn't do them any harm that the lead singer, one Justine Frishman, was the girlfriend of Blurs singer Damon Albarn at the time. They were like the King and Queen of Indie for a while. Sadly, Elastica fell victim to some of the same temptations of the grunge scene, and the drug use became very heavy and the band eventually split. In their wake their was a plethora of good (and not so good bands) in their wake.
Skunk Anansie were a class live act with a dedicated following, especially from the lesbian scene, and Catatonia rode high on the waves of the pop charts. Echobelly had a collection of wonderfully melodic tunes, whilst Republica really got the party started! Less impressive acts, such as Sleeper, had very outspoken female singers, who unfortunately seemed to spend more time and dedication over their quotes to the music press than on their lyrics, and though they were popular at the time, their music hasn't really lasted the test of time it would seem.
At the more delicate end of the scale, there were quite a few pop/indie crossover bands that had female singers, who sang wistful songs about their childhood in the 70s and how they cried when they had their pocket money stolen in the school playground.St Etienne being one of the best. This later spawned the fantastic Belle and Sebatian. The '90s was also the the era that saw the return to the land of easy listening, and retro became a very cool thing (it wasn't called vintage then!) People such as Mike Flowers Pops and other slightly less gimmicky acts were. Pulp were the masters of this Universe, but the lyrics of be-spectacled 1970s polyester-clad singer, fronman and improbable '90s sex symbol, Jarvis Cocker, had a dark and seedy undertone to them.
The dark sound of Bristol - to become really influential in the naughties urban scene. Portishead, Tricky and Massive Attack.
The rather awesome Aphex Twin.
Garage, Happy House and Big Beat. Mr Fat Boy Slim, Rythmn Digital and ..... The DJ reigns supreme and soon every man in Britain under the age of 20 has a pair of decks in his room, and is now officially a DJ
Boy bands, bubblegum and the rise of the tweenie.
The age of the Ipod.
Black music breaks through and becomes mainstream. Urban or R&B singles becomes a dominant force in popular music
Wonderwall and the rise of the Anthem - rock groups spring up that strive to create anthems as singles. Commercialisation of rock for
EMO
Once upon a time, us Brits had to suffer all kind of cultural products that were brought over from the States en masse for our audio and televisual entertainment. These products were cynically designed to sell as many units as possible without much thought given to quality or integrity; for example Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, the Backstreet Boys and Beverly Hills 90210! But now it's the 21st century, and oh how we get the last laugh, as we have now given them The Spice Girls and worst of all....Simon Cowell. Yes, the rise of the talent show in Britain has been a phenomenal success.
We now have talent shows whereby poverty stricken contestants, who would normally get sent to the poor house or up chimneys, can win a top record contract or open a fabby new restaurant. Any potential wannabee can apply, singers, dancers, orchestra conductors or dancing dogs. All that is needed to appear on one of these shows is a willingness to sell friends and family down the river (and yes that does include cuddly dear old grandma), in hot pursuit of riches in the promised land. Or something like that.
The X-factor is the holy grail of escapism for these contestants - kind of like the modern equivalent of running away with the circus. But it does make great telly. And this is why it's such a success with the public. Sadly someone has to win one of these competitions, and then when they do, they get the Cowell treatment, release an awful ballad and go straight in at number one in the charts. Of course, the X-factor has always meant to be about finding a world class superstar, but in that mission it has failed, producing a handful of fairly average UK based acts.
Electronica
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It's all about the wub
From Drum n Bass and reggae emerges Dubstep and grime. Big household names to come out of this scene are Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, Annie Mac and Tiny Tempah. Has been around for quite some time as an underground movement, but now very much overground and having a huge impact on dance and pop. Both the late John Peel and Mary Anne Hobbs with her infuencial radio show Dub Warz were early supporters of this type of music. Wub, the name for the "wobbly bass" sound that features in most tracks. The whole scene centres around the bass. The recent song "Baseline Junkie" by Dizzee Rascal is a very clever play on this.
Will there be a new Nirvana?
Does rock have a future, or will it make take a trip to the graveyard of culturally irrelevant music? A journey that jazz ended up taking well over half a decade earlier.
Does rock have a future, or will it make take a trip to the graveyard of culturally irrelevant music? A journey that jazz ended up taking well over half a decade earlier.
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