Morrissey and Britpop

[Worm]

Good point. Whatever happened to Kingmaker? They seemed to vanish when britpop got big. A decent band if I recall.

I still like "Eat Yourself Whole" when I play it. Which is almost never.

They were kind of a band without a niche. I don't know. Decent tunes but compared to the other stuff out at the time, I'm not entirely surprised they never caught on.

 

[Maurice E]

I think they were both! Albarn is a master of jumping into any bandwagon going. You could call it "genious" or a twat.

can you explain the bandwagon Albarn jumped on when Blur released For Tomorrow? the symphony pop bandwagon that contained absolutely no-one. he was there first.
which bandwagon did he jump on when he released 'Girls and Boys'? the first single to feature a disco beat since the early 80's.
how many others were on the gospel/folk pop bandwagon when they brought out Tender? no-one.
how many others were doing that whole cartoon pop thing that The Gorillas were part of? absolutely no-one.
love or hate Damien Allbran, it can't be denied that he's a massively talented and hugely original songwriter, who's willing to take risks.
I don't particularly like him much as a person, and I certainly don't like all his musical stuff (Girls and Boys sounds awful now), but to accuse him of jumping on bandwagons is ludicrous. even his arch rival N Gallagher acknowledges his vast talent these days...

 

[Emotional Guide Dog]

 

[Raphael Lambach]

If Morrissey isn't (one of) britpop's father what's britpop?

Is there something more britpop than Vauxhall?

 

[Emotional Guide Dog]

If Morrissey isn't (one of) britpop's father what's britpop?

Is there something more britpop than Vauxhall?

I think there's an argument to be made that without Britpop kicking off, Vauxhall & I would have gotten to 41 in the charts instead of 1.

 

[Raphael Lambach]

I think there's an argument to be made that without Britpop kicking off, Vauxhall & I would have gotten to 41 in the charts instead of 1.

Now My Heart is Full... The Lazy Sunbathers (just to say two) are very britpop... don't you think?

 

[Kewpie]

'Now My Heart is Full' 'The Lazy Sunbathers' (just to say two) are very britpop... don't you think?

You totally misunderstand Morrissey's Britishness and Britpop context.

Morrissey would strongly deny that the songs you mentioned sound like Britpop.

FYI, Worm kindly explained Morrissey's position in this thread #38, strongly recommend you to read it.

 

[CrookedLittleVein]

I'm not even certain there was a Britpop 'movement'. I really don't remember feeling it at the time. Yes, there seemed to be a few more union flags flapping about, a few more British topics being touched upon in song, a bit more Englishness seeping into the vocals, but a movement? I don't think there was anything nearly so cohesive as to warrant that particular label.

I do, however, vividly recall the Britpop media bullshit circus.

And as for Morrissey distancing himself from this 'movement'... well, Morrissey has a tendency to distance himself from almost everything, doesn't he?

There's no such thing as a zeitgeist. Although my friend's sister's hairdresser once said she saw one browsing the Social History section of Borders.

 

[Sharron Needles]

I think that some of you are just taking the term "Britpop" way too seriously. Let's not forget that the term was coined by the music press in the first place, which makes it no more groundbreaking than the term "New wave of new wave," a few years earlier.

 

[lainey]

I call bullshit! The debut album sounds 'Madchester' on three songs at the most.
The press in 1992 hated Blur & Morrissey almost equally. Suede were the only British band that mattered & everyone else who wasn't grunge could sod off.

Not being funny, but you're REALLY Northern aren't you?

eh? I happened to know someone who worked for the local rag and he used to do to alot of gigs week in week out and met so many of these Journalist and formed the opinion of them, that it's more about doing a favour are a mate.
He met and interviewed them all and came away with boring but honest write ups about the bands, but had no respect for the well established NME and Melody maker journos as they were just about the beer and coke and not the music.

 

[CrookedLittleVein]

eh? I happened to know someone who worked for the local rag and he used to do to alot of gigs week in week out and met so many of these Journalist and formed the opinion of them, that it's more about doing a favour are a mate.
He met and interviewed them all and came away with boring but honest write ups about the bands, but had no respect for the well established NME and Melody maker journos as they were just about the beer and coke and not the music.

You can never be too Northern.

The South has its limits, however.

 

[lainey]

You can never be too Northern.

The South has its limits, however.

so true

 

[Worm]

I think that some of you are just taking the term "Britpop" way too seriously. Let's not forget that the term was coined by the music press in the first place, which makes it no more groundbreaking than the term "New wave of new wave," a few years earlier.

Absolutely. But even as a creation of the music press "Britpop" had real-world consequences for Morrissey (the Union Jack furor etc), so it's worth discussing.

 

[Worm]

The South has its limits, however.

I'm not even from the U.K. and I know what the South's limits are.

 

[mozmic_dancer]

If Morrissey isn't (one of) britpop's father what's britpop?

Is there something more britpop than Vauxhall?

If people around here are going to start calling Morrissey the Father of Britpop, I demand to see a paternity test.

Cool Britainnia.

 

[Stanley the 2nd]

Britpop was a media invention. It just so happened that there were a lot of indie bands putting out jingly jangly pop at that time and the press latched onto it. I think some people were trying to create a UK scene. By the time of the Blur V Oasis who's going to get to number one thing, it was over. The Britpop now program was the final nail in the coffin.

Q - What's the difference between Blur soup and Oasis soup?
A- With Oasis soup you get a roll with it.

 

[Emotional Guide Dog]

eh? I happened to know someone who worked for the local rag and he used to do to alot of gigs week in week out and met so many of these Journalist and formed the opinion of them, that it's more about doing a favour are a mate.
He met and interviewed them all and came away with boring but honest write ups about the bands, but had no respect for the well established NME and Melody maker journos as they were just about the beer and coke and not the music.

Oh, I thought you just hated Blur cos they were a bunch of shandy drinking Southerners.

I take it back (although I still think Blur were great).

 

[Worm]

I take it back (although I still think Blur were great).

I think Blur will be remembered as a great band in an era lacking great bands.

 

[Vauxhall95]

I was of the understanding that "Britpop" was more than a musical genre. I thought with the initial election of Tony Blair and "New" Labour there was an air of hipness: the phrase "Cool Britannia" was used often. Suddenly, England was culturally and politically relevant again. To me, Britpop was interwoven with late 20th century England. It wasn't separate and apart.

Of course, I haven't set foot in the U.K. or Ireland for nearly two decades so I'm hardly a leading authority on the subject.

 

[Primitive_Painter]

Years ago, I read a biography about Suede and their was a bit on the tension over the Justine deal with Damon Albarn/Blur. Suede used to refer to Blur as "Chas and Dave" which, even though Im a Blur fan, still makes me laugh.

Also, if I remember right, there was an interview in which Morrissey was told he was very similiar to Jarvis Cocker in his lyrical style and he said something along the lines of "Better then Joe Cocker".