Blog 5 - Britpop Part 2

The Battle of Britain –

The battle for chart domination between Blur and Oasis would push “Britpop” into the mainstream press by 1995. After years of aggravation between both bands, a PR marketing spin would put Blur and their Southern, middle class “Country House" against the Northern, working class “Roll with it”. Tabloids and media outlets went crazy for the rivalry, marking the first major conflict within the British rock industry since the Beatles and the Stones in the 1960’s. Blur’s "Country House" would eventually win the battle selling 274,000 copies compared to the 216,000 of Oasis' "Roll with it" (Both singles charted number one and two respectively). However, in retrospect oasis would “lose the battle but win the war” as they would ultimately find greater success with further singles and albums in both Britain and America while the bands sophomore album “What’s the Story Morning Glory?” would become the third biggest selling album in Britain (4 million copies).

The End of an Era?

By 1996 the Britpop market was over saturated with Oasis/ Blur copycat bands.  By the turn of the century nu metal and DJ driven music began to push out rock bands and eventually kill off the Britpop movement. Bands like Suede, Manic Street Preachers and Oasis would out grow their Britpop images and go on to more success in the 21st century. The music may have continued but Britpop really acted as the last golden age of rock n' roll and it would be hard to see a similar phenomenon ever happening again. There is a chance we just may have seen the last of the rock and roll revolutions, with new mainstream electronica pulsing across the UK. A once golden market has become over saturated, overflowing with 'bedroom artists' and ‘laptop DJ’s’ that may just risk drowning what Britain so passionately prides itself on, the music.