THE STORY ABOUT BRITPOP
July 4th, 2006 by droness-xTHE Story About Brit PoP……. Britpop was a
British alternative rock and cultural movement
which gained popularity in Great Britain in the mid
1990s, characterised by the prominence of bands
influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s
and 1970s. Though these bands did not on the
whole have a single unifying sound they were
grouped together by the media first as a ’scene’
and later as a national cultural movement. Blur and
Oasis are generally considered the scenes most
prominent acts, though other bands associated
with Britpop at various stages included Suede,
Pulp, Ocean Colour Scene, Supergrass, The Verve
and Radiohead. The movement developed as a
reaction against various musical and cultural trends
in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Acid house and
the rise of Hip hop had led to an renewed interest
in groove and rhythm-led songs in British indie
music, leading to the Madchester sound. In the
wake of this, the more "traditional" guitar music
was sidelined. The shoegazing movement of the
late 1980s/early 1990s also went against the trend
by producing long, psychedelic, repetitive songs,
strongly influenced by bands like the Jesus and
Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. The
key "anti-influence" on Britpop was grunge. In the
wake of the American invasion led by bands like
Nirvana, Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and
Alice in Chains, some British acts sought to
emulate the grunge sound. Others continued to
emulate the Madchester sound of the late 80s as
part of the baggy movement…