I was browing the rather excellent Radio Times website when I saw that BBC Four appear to be having a Britpop night on Tuesday the 16th of August.
One of the programmes in the schedule is a repeat of a one-off 1995 compilation programme, Britpop Now. I remember it very well. We were on holiday, staying at a friend’s house. I was a nine-year-old discovering and enjoying music for the first time just as the Britpop explosion was reaching its zenith.
The programme was presented by Damon Allbran (he says so himself in the introduction). I would like to say that it was a seminal programme for me, but looking back the only bands out of the list of performers that I ever bought albums of were Pulp, Blur (both of whom I already liked anyway) and Sleeper (which I think I listened to about twice in my life).
What is funny is that, ten years on, all of the featured bands would probably be thoroughly ashamed to even be associated with the Britpop label, let alone to have actively participated in a programme trumpeting the genre.
It will be very interesting to watch the evening’s programmes on BBC Four; to see what Britpop looks like with the benefit of ten years’ worth of hindsight.
21 comments