So far, all the years I've written about (63, 67 & 70) for this thread are all years from before I was born. I've LOVED the music of these years and they've played a fundamental part of my musical education. They have given me so much in terms of how I understand music and have laid the groundwork for my musical tastes. However, as I didn't live through them it's always been difficult to understand what that music would've sounded like to have heard it for the first time. I cannot imagine how it felt hearing new styles, new artists and how it must have felt during the Summer Of Love in '67. Whilst I was around for the second Summer of Love in the late 80s, I was too young to have experienced it. Was I always destined to have missed out on the next Big Thing.
Nope.
This year is different and I was lucky enough to have experienced, especially, the Britpop years. I hope I can give a bit of my 'insiders' view of it all, how it felt to us who were in it and why I think it was a special time. It wasn't just Britpop either - there was just so much great music made this year it's incredible. I knew 1995 would be a good year, but I'd almost forgotten how good it was.
...before Britpop
I'm going to start with Britpop because 1995 is the high point for it. Britpop wasn’t really a sound — it felt to me like it was just Indie going mainstream. Britpop paid homage to the magnificent British bands of the 60s and their influence since. Not for the first time, the 'counter culture' came to the fore! Clothing wise, the classic 'Britpop' uniform would be Adidas Gazelles, Jeans and a vintage Adidas-style t shirt - or kagool of course! Strange to think that this style wouldn't look out of place in Ancoats or the Northern Quarter today!
I think Britpop starts in the 'Indie' clubs a few years before. If you went to these clubs like I did a few times a week as a student - in different cities and towns - you'd hear a very eclectic range of styles from metal (Metallica, Nine Inch Nails), Madchester (Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets), rap (Rage Against The Machine, House Of Pain, Cypress Hill, Judgement Night Soundtrack, Credit To The Nation), grunge (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden), dance (Future Sound Of London, 808 State, Josh Wink, The Prodigy, Portishead, Pop Will Eat Itself, Chemical Brothers), US indie rock (Weezer, Green Day, The Pixies, Alanis Morissette). You'd also get the likes of Beck, Bjork etc too - ones who were hard to pin down!
The indie clubs also revived bands from yesteryear - The Beatles, The Who, Blondie, Rolling Stones and The Kinks in particular. Music in these clubs would be very ecletic and the earlier you got in, the more eclectic it was! But it wasn't uncommon to hear something like Nirvana > Rage Against The Machine > Cypress Hill > Josh Wink > Happy Mondays > Blondie. You would have this mass exodus to/from the dance floor between tracks if the styles were wildly different!
With Oasis acknowledging the genius of The Beatles and Blur nodding at The Kinks amongst others, people of my age were being introduced to the music of the 60s. As I've said before, it wasn't cool to like 'old' music but that was what I grew up with, that's what I learnt to play on the guitar and keyboard and I loved it. For the first time, it really felt like you could say you liked old music - I could now 'openly' admit that I loved The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Simon & Garfunkel, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Sly & The Family Stone and all other incredible bands from the 60s and 70s that had been 'uncool' to listen to as the emphasis had always been on liking new music. Not only that, I was pretty tooled up with my knowledge of the 60s/70s too! :)
Armed with my 'Britannia Music Club' membership which gave you 5 free CDs if you bought 1 a month (did anyone ever do that! ha ha!) I bought Sgt Pepper, Dark Side Of The Moon, The Eagles Greatest Hits and Revolver and could now - proudly - have them in my CD collection. Afterall, if Noel and Liam said the Beatles were the greatest, it was true!
The mid-90s were a hopeful time and there was an energy building, especially for us younger ones. The music scene was exploding and cross-pollinating - dance was moving into Indie, Indie into dance. Rap was going into metal, metal into rap. The emergence of drum'n'bass and the rivalry of the east/west coast of the US was producing some great rap. Dance music was producing anthems seemingly every week and it felt like we'd gone back to the 60s and 70s where every week there would be something new and brilliant coming out, only this time it was across so many genres. I think for many people my age, we knew the grey-haired, Conservative PM John Major was going and Tony Blair felt like the new PM-in-waiting. He had a youthful vibrance around him at the time and it felt like the future was going to be better and it was coming soon. For many of us who'd grown up in the industrial areas, the prospect of a Labour government felt like a whole new world was coming and the music was getting better and better and better. Change was coming, everywhere it felt. And football was no different.
Football
In the mid 90s, City could've signed peak Pele, Maradona, Rodri, Bell, Lee, Maldini, Summberbee, KdB etc and we would be relegated due to the manager. Alan Ball was the worst manager we've had and that fucker has had some stiff competition. Whilst we didn't get relegated in 1995, we did in 1995/6. When you look at our squads from 1994/5 to 1995/6 it's scary that Ball - presumably - thought it was better.
Probably the most iconic moment of the football year was Cantona's 'Kung Fu' kick at Selhurst Park. Personally I thought it was great! The guy who got kicked was a scumbag and got what he deserved and Cantona was also banned which I also enjoyed!
The launch of the Premier League, fueled by piles of Sky cash had now started to attract top foreign talent - Denis Bergkamp, Ruud Gullit, David Ginola, Juninho and most famous of all: Jurgen Klinnsman who signed for the 94/95 season. English football was now seeing genuine world class players and their knowledge and skill started to improve our game. The national team were benefitting from hosting the Euros a year later, but for the first time were led by a modern, progressive coach. Whilst 'El Tel' had joined the year before, we were now starting to see the rigid, dreaful football of yesteryear replaced with flexible tactics and possession. Tel brough continental football to the national team. Whilst El Tel might not have been perfect, he had a swagger and confidence which matched the times. In England and the UK, if you were young, felt like it was going to change for the better. For a young man like myself, everything seemed to be going in the right direction... apart from City!
Another sporting decision was made this year which would transform the fortunes of Manchester and City in particular. It was announced that the next Commonwealth Games in 2002 would be held in Manchester and a new stadium would be built - The City Of Manchester Stadium - for the games. It sounds incredible to think that a couple of years before, thousands of Mancunians (including me) gathered in Castlefield hoping we'd be hosting the Olympic Games. A couple of years later, we got the 'lousy' Commonweath Games and of course no one expected any legacy from it. Most people were concerned about what would happen to this massive new stadium that would be built and who, or what, could fill it.
I don't think any of us would've had any idea what a momentous decision that would end up being!
'Lad Culture' was also in it's peak around this time and the central content of these new 'lads mags' was music, football, drinking and women. 'Lads' and the 'Ladettes' were celebrated and it felt like it was a badge of honour to get absolutely hammered! Football was also experiencing Sky pumping money into the new Premier League and music was always part of the draw, but no one else brought football and music together like anyone else: Oasis.
Ok, onto the music!
I've tried quite hard to stick to "10 songs" but to be honest, in this year it's impossible. If I just pick 10 songs then I simply can't tell the story of the year. Apart from Britpop, there's a HUGE amount of music across other genres that's released and it's impossible to pick a couple of tracks and make it tell the story of the year. I'm sorry, I've stuck to it in 63, 67 & 70 but maybe as I was at my 'peak' in this year I'm going to cheat! :( to be honest I don't think some of the extra tracks would be nominated as they fall in the rap, drum n bass and dance genres.
1995 was a great year for music and albums, but we have to start with Britpop and one of the greatest albums from this year. Oasis v Blur was HUGE this summer.
# Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger from What's The Story (Morning Glory)
The album needs no introduction. It's a masterpiece and continues the legacy of great Manchester bands. For those who are sceptical of Madchester and the whole Indie scene, the reaction to the band reforming and playing at Heaton Park tells you everything you need to know. They are loved across generations.
Oasis brought rock'n'roll, swagger and a touch of menace back to the forefront of music and in some ways embodied that 'Lad Culture'. They just sounded different to the other Britpop bands and had a edgier vibe. In some ways, at the time, I didn't like Oasis as they definitely brought an aggressive 'Lad culture' into the Indie clubs - think 50 new Liam Gallaghers stropping around in 42nd Street! However, they were the biggest band in the UK this year and for us Mancs, the best music STILL had a Manchester accent! Shaun Ryder and Ian Brown started it, Liam carried it on.
After the buzz of the magnificent debut album, I don't think many people thought they could better it. But I think they did. I could pick any number of songs from What's The Story, but Don't Look Back In Anger has a greater emotional connection to the city as it became an unofficial anthem after the Arena Bombing.
You would struggle to find anyone in this City that does not know the words to that song. I've been at kids parties where all the kids know the words to this song.
It goes without saying that this album is one of the best of the 90s, not just 1995. Spoiler: I might say this a lot for the music of this year!
Whilst the Roll With It v Country House battle was the main story in the summer, in truth both bands had done far better tracks than these. That's why I've picked neither song but I'm sure someone will nominate them :) Either way, the Battle pumped that Britpop bubble - everyone had to take a side!
# Blur - The Universal from Great Escape
You cannot mention Oasis in 1995 without mentioning their 'rivals' Blur. Whilst this album isn't as good as Parklife, it was always going to be hard to match it. It still has some great tracks on (Stereotypes, Country House, Charmless Man) but The Universal is the stand out. I feel you can hear more of a 60s Kinks sound on this album though and it does feel like they've 'ticked off' the mass appeal of Parklife. They're moving on.
The album is also pointing out that maybe not everything is perfect though in these suburban lives, and possibly across society as a whole. Maybe they were looking into the future more than I was - or maybe it's more of the Modern Life Is Rubbish from an earlier album?
Either way, it's a solid album and holds it's own but it's not quite their best work.
# Pulp - Common People from Different Class
Different Class is one of the greatest albums of the 1990s.
When you write an album with I Spy, Common People, Sorted for E's and Whizz, Disco 2000 and Something's Changed you know it's going to be a classic. Jarvis Cocker shouldn't be a great front man, but he is. I saw them at Castlefield Bowl a few years ago and it was one of the best gigs I've been to. He was absolutely incredible - and they just pumped out classic after classic from this album. He is a superb songwriter.
What makes the songs on this album really stand out is the storytelling. Every song is a story and it's that which makes this album stand out.
In my opinion, Common People is the greatest song recorded in the 90s, regardless of genre. It is brilliantly written, clever, simple, anthemic and that chorus is as good as anything from any other decade. I was at University at the time surrounded by people from London and the Home Counties and I could relate to that 'class tourism' - they wanted to be 'Lads' and pretended they had no money but they stood out like sore thumbs in the 'Common People' pubs they wanted to fit into. They didn't understand the unwritten rules or understand why some people were 'respected'. Money was no object, but they loved being poor when it suited. But no matter what, they hadn't lived the life and didn't understand this lyric:
Like many Britpop classics, it's overplayed but it is absolutely magnificent.
# Radiohead - Planet Telex from The Bends
I remember being in a rock bar in Oldham as a kid and hearing Creep by Radiohead for the first time and it blew me away. However, the album it was on Pablo Honey wasn't much cop really and to be honest I had them down as another indie bands who had a good song or two then vanished. No one who'd heard Pablo Honey expected this.
The Bends is absolutely superb and shows how far they'd moved on showcasing an album based on an Indie sound but with a lot pop-sensibility. You can start to hear the 'Radiohead' sound being forged here - the whole album is strong with great songwriting, production and emotion. The guitar playing doesn't sound like other bands and Thom Yorke's voice is a million miles away from Liam Gallagher. Radiohead aren't a 'Lad' band.
The album is aiming in the same area now as Blur - this disillusion with modern life. Consumerism, artificial feelings, pressure - almost foretelling what was to come.
This is another album from this year which is one of the best of the 90s. Picking one track is really difficult but I'll go with Planet Telex.
# Supergrass - Alright from I Should Coco
The debut album from Supergrass is a pop masterpiece and one of the best albums of the 90s. Every single track on this album is brilliantly written, catchy and clever. You could absolutely guarantee that in ANY indie club you'd hear quite a few from this album it's so good. The songs are very short as well - most are only 2-3 minutes and they fly through them. No filler, no nonsense, no having to wait around for the good bit - it's straight to the point! It's just a joyful, melodic rock solid album which captures youth perfectly.
It's the absolute opposite of The Bends and The Great Escape, but sums up the mid-90s really well - hopeful, playful and just a bit daft. Again, this is another album which is one of the best of the 90s without question.
I could easily choose Mansize Rooster, Lenny, Caught By The Fuzz, I'd Like To Know or Time To Go. However, although it's been massively overplayed, Alright is just a brilliant pop song capturing the joy of youth in a way that very few songs have ever managed to do.
# Black Grape - Reverend Black Grape from It's Great When You're Straight
When I first heard this song, I thought it was a joke.
To be honest, the Happy Mondays had faded away a bit and - laughably - I didn't recognise his voice. For someone who can't sing, Shaun Ryder has an incredible, unique voice. On Reverend Black Grape, he's at his best and who else could sing 'O Come All Ye Faithful' in a way that sounds cool, funky and also carefree?
This song is absolutely magnificent and the album just a great, joyful riot. Funky, catchy, silly and just one of those you can't help but move to!
I can never make my mind up if they are Britpop, but others have put them in there, so this is a Britpop song (for now)!
Rock
# Alanis Morissette - You Outta Know from Jagged Little Pill
Excluded from Britpop for being Canadian, this albums is absolutely superb from start to finish. You know what's coming - this is one of the best albums of the 90s.
This album is one of those which crosses and mixes genres. It has the pop sound on songs like Hand In My Pocket and You Learn, rock in Right Through You, a touch of psychedia on All I Really Want. There's more than a a touch of Grunge throughout the album but the drums help to move it to a more 'dancier' rock or Indie sound.
Whilst it wasn't a Britpop album, the tracks from it were played in the Indie clubs and this song was always the most popular. There's not many songs which carry a really funky beat, be massively catchy and yet pack such a vengeful, vicious lyrical smack in the face.
You Outta Know is off the scale and once of the best break-up songs ever written.
Electronic music
Whilst Britpop took the headlines for most of the year, there's another story to tell in 1995. One, I think, which goes under the radar somewhat.
If you watch BBC4s repeats of 'Top Of The Tops' on Friday nights from 1995 you'd see what a funny year for music 1995 is. There is plenty of Britpop on there obviously, plenty of Robson & Jerome who pumped out shite and the likes of Shaggy, The Outhere Brothers, Scatman John and the like. What you didn't tend to see was the great electronic music that was made this year - it's maybe that it's just still counter-culture?
Bands like The Chemical Brothers, Goldie, The Prodigy, Autechre, Leftfield, Eat Static, Nightmares On Wax and Underworld were now making albums that were taken seriously. When the first techno/house/electronic dance music was made the majority of it was 'singles'. The vast majority of it wasn't on albums and it's only when we get to the mid-90s that we start to have the first years where dance music albums were made which were coherent and good.
One of the defining moments of the year was The Prodigy playing at Glastonbury and the launch of the Dance Tent. Before the set, the feeling at the time to The Prodigy was that they wouldn't be able to play live. They were a DJ/dance set who would set up with keyboards and computers and no one could tell whether it was live or not. This wasn't a rock band and they - frankly - weren't seen as a band that 'belonged' at Glastonbury. How wrong they were. The set is iconic and it bristles with the raw energy of a punk, metal and rave gig.
Nowadays, we take bands like The Prodigy 'seriously' but at the time they weren't regarded as 'proper' musicians really. That ability to take dance onto the stage worked incredibly well with a wall of energy and proving that they are one of the best live acts around. DJ Paul Oakenfold take to the main stage at Glastonbury as well as the BBC broadcast from a nightclub in Ibiza. Electronic music is moving from fields and warehouses into Glastonbury and the BBC.
However, the link between the music and the drugs was never far from the news. The death of Leah Betts was used to hammer home the message that 'drugs kill'. She took Ecstacy on a night out and following the advice to drink plenty of water, she drank far too much and died as a result. This tragic death was painted as 'drugs kill' but in reality, at least hundreds of thousands of others had only great experiences.
On the Playstation 1, Wipeout was released which brought drum'n'bass, rave and ambient music to a wider audience.
Ultimately, I think 1995 will be remembered as a great year for electronic music.
# The Chemical Brothers - Leave Home from Exit Planet Dust
As I've said many times now, the Indie and rave music scenes were where it was at in the early 90s. Where there was a crossover in styles, it produced some incredible albums and The Chemical Brothers bring together that balance of dance, samples and psychedelia. The cross over to Indie on Life Is Sweet with the Charlatan's Tim Burgess as well as Portishead's Beth Gibbons on Alive Alone are superb.
There is a lot of styles on this album, but it's cohesive and is a stand out album where people started to take the music from the rave/electronic music seriously.
The result is almost more rock'n'roll than rock'n'roll!
I've picked Leave Home from the album as this was played everywhere in every Indie club I went to. One thing that's quite difficult to explain is just how 'big' the bass was on these albums. If you were stood too close to a speaker, that bass would physically move you!
# Leftfield - Song Of Life from Leftism
Leftism is another great album from this year and another band who helped to get people to listen to dance albums and take them seriously. The beats are brilliant, and again it's cohesive - this isn't a collection of singles. Plus, the pace of the album varies and feels a bit more 'reflective' than The Chemical Brothers.
I remember hearing this album at the time as an Indie kid and just being blown away with it. The size of the beats was HUGE, but it was also very catchy and clever. I would often put this on whilst doing my University work as you could listen, and not listen to it.
Picking one track is difficult, but I'm going with Song of Life. It starts out quite slow with an Acid House bass and some beautiful samples. About half way through, the chords come in and it's lift off. The result is incredible and very uplifting.
# Bjork - Army Of Me from Post
After the magnificent Debut, I was kind of expecting Bjork to do something similar to it. However, she didn't. A true innovator she moved on and in Post it's a much more electronic sound, much different to Debut.
Bands and artists like Bjork, Radiohead and Blur seem to enjoy doing an album and then moving on. Sometimes the next album is better than the previous one, but sometimes not. I'd much rather hear a band break new ground rather than retread the same thing (unless it's AC/DC!). This album breaks new ground, it's really hard to pin down like a lot of her work. I really don't like the awful "It's So Quiet" though.
In parts it reminds me of Tricky's Maxinquaye which is also a well regarded album from this year, but not one that I 'got'.
# Faithless - Insomnia
There's some songs that transcend genres and this is one. Even if you don't like rave, Insomnia is guaranteed to fill any dancefloor.
What a fucking track this is. I've never come across anyone who doesn't like it. The start is dark and moody and stripped back but when that riff drops, it's absolutely something else. That riff is one of the greatest riffs in electronic music and is the keyboard equivalent of Whole Lotta Love. It's absolutely huge and if you are in a club - rave, Indie, whatever - when this comes on you know it's going to explode when the riff drops.
One thing about dance songs is that the 'physical' feeling of the beat touches something almost primal in people. That thump-thump-thump-thump and the feeling of the bass pushing you is something you can't appreciate until you feel it.
# Josh Wink - A Higher State Of Consciousness
If Insomnia is guaranteed to fill a dancefloor and you wanted to keep people on it in 1995, then this was your next track. I have no idea why this song is so good - it's just drums, bass and that Acid House sound. But it just seemed to whip everyone up in the Indie clubs!
# Underworld - Born Slippy
Whilst the track will always be associated with Trainspotting which was released in 1996, this was released in 1995.
Many of us had heard their 'dubnobasswithmyheadman' album from 1994 and you could tell these were going places. That album was superb and a real game changer in electronic music. It was nice to see nominations for tracks from this from 1994 as this really was a superb album.
My friends at University who lived in London would fail at being Common People, but they had access to some incredible music coming up in clubs and they'd be sent lots of tapes with all this new music on. I remember hearing this song before it was 'famous' and didn't think it fitted with their style if I'm honest. It seemed a bit 'meh' and one to fast-forward.
Born Slippy is a 90s classic though and another absolutely superb dance track from this year.
Drum'n'bass
# Goldie - Kemistry from Timeless - the Doc Scott Remix
Whilst the big story of the year is undoubtedly the Britpop scene, there were other emerging scenes too including drum'n'bass. When I first heard it, I honestly couldn't tell you if it was a joke in the way that Reverend Black Grape or The Prodigy's Out Of Space was, or serious. Some artists are so good and ahead of their time, it takes me a whilst to catch up.
I'd heard a few drum'n'bass songs from the London tapes so I knew there'd be these hyper-fast drum with noises, odd bits of bass and maybe a slight jazzy/poppy sound - basically the Wipeout soundtrack kind of thing. This album was a LOT more than that. A lot of dnb, rave and dance were just tracks - there weren't many albums, but this changes all that and is the greatest drum'n'bass album. It's one of the most influential electronic albums full stop. I remember hearing this album for the first time as a died-in-the-wool indie kid and being blown away with it. It's really hard to imagine hearing this for the first time - it sounded incredibly fresh and yet underpinning it was these beautiful vocals yet it has this menacing undercurrent as well. It sounded manic, but also chilled out in a weird way and carries a real emotion that you don't tend to get in electronic music of any genre. It's like there's a purity in a nasty world.
I know we had Inner City Life on the 1994 playlist, but it's not a patch on the 21 minute version of Timeless which it's taken from. The sound is absolutely huge. I was tempted to pick Timeless and hope no one would notice it's the same song :) I can easily listen to that on repeat all day it's so good.
However, I also wanted to highlight something else that we've not touched on - for many dance/rave/drum'n'bass and even indie tracks the amount of remixes that came with it was almost the default for many tracks. Most were (in my opinion) not of much interest. Timeless has the track Kemistry on which is good, but the Doc Scott remix is a rare example of a remix being better than the original. Again, it sounds emotional and has this enormous sound and when the bass hits it's incredible.
This album is superb and a genuine groundbrewker. You know what I'm going to say next - it's one of the greatest albums of the 90s.
The 21 minute Timeless opener is absolutely incredible. The 'size' of the sound, the drums, the bass and emotion is superb. It's not something I'd associate with the genre. The album also blends in different styles and genres and - like any great album - makes it sound obvious. It also helped to bring drum'n'bass to a new audience.
Rap
I've said several times that we've definitely shown little interest in rap. In a few years it's going to dominate the charts and almost - with modern r'n'b - become THE sound of the 2000s.
The story of the early 90s though was the rivalry between the East and West coast of America and the styles. Essentially, the East side sound was a bit more 'street' whilst the West side sound was more laid back. That's a massive generalisation but I think, broadly, it holds true. There was definite 'aggression' in the West side sound, but there was plenty of a 'summer' sound to it.
The rivalry of the coasts helped to fuel the creativitiy ... and tension. Many of the tracks focussed on personal attacks, dissing each other and a genuine rivalry of coastal culture, personal attacks, record labels and gangs. They lived that lifestyle. But eventually it led to the killing of two of it's best rapper - 2Pac Shakur (West) and The Notorious B.I.G (East). The East/West fued led to some great tracks though. Without question, this is a stand out track:
# 2Pac & Dr Dre - California Love
This is one of those songs that people who don't like rap music like.
2Pac had just been released from prison and it feels like he's high on life in this. Everything about this song is fucking incredible - the drums, the samples, the bass, the production and the delivery. I've heard a lot of people over the years say that rapping is easy, sampling is easy, programming a drum machine is easy. It's all easy apparently. None of them sound like 2Pac, none of them find and put together samples to make it sound coherent and none of them have that 'groove' that Dr Dre finds regularly. This has it all. It's one of the greatest rap records made and pure West coast.
# 2Pac - Dear Mama from Me Against The World
As I've said before, I like rap but find a full album of it a bit too much. This album though comes pretty close to being one I can listen to all the way through. It's clever, you can hear the words and 2Pac's delivery is very, very good. It just feels 'easy' and I think when he's a bit more reflective, he's at his best.
Dear Mama is a track for his Mum and shows a more emotional side to rap than you'd generally get with others in this scene. It's a lifestyle I've never experienced, but it's a clever song from a very good album.
I've picked two rap songs from this year, but in all fairness there's plenty of others from this year that I could pick.
# Mobb Deep - Shook Ones Pt II from The Infamous
Without question, this is regarded as one of the best and most influential rap tracks and from the East side. It's one of those tracks that seems to have been around for ages. I was quite surprised to see it was released in 1995! I've heard this album and track in various places and it still sounds new. I can't quite put my finger on why it sounds so good, but that kids piano sound is absolutely superb. It belongs in a horror movie. It's dark, cold, menacing yet hugely influential. It doesn't sound like a 30 year old track.
It certainly sounds very different to the 'emotional' side that 2Pac raps about on 'Dear Mama' and a world away from California Love. It doesn't sound like the 'warm' G-Funk style of rapping either. It's cold, clinical and carries a real nastiness about it. Sadly, this culture ultimately leads to the shootings of 2Pac and B.I.G in the coming years.
Either way, it's a great track - cold and nasty, but catchy! Similar to what I said about California Love, anyone who can't rap thinks they can rap but when good rappers work with great producers you end up with something that absolutely no one else can make.
Pop
# Take That - Back For Good
What?! Yep. Whether you like Take That or not, this was a huge musical story in 1995 and for many, was bigger than Oasis v Blur.
When Robbie Williams left Take That, one of the biggest - some say best - boy bands on the planet were finished. Personally, I had no time for any of these boy bands - Take That, Westlife, Boyzone, East 17 etc were just a continuation of marketing pretty boys at girls. It's just not something boys get, but Boy Boys were huge in this year though but none have been as big or enduring as Take That.
Over the years, the phenomenom of the Boy Band is something we've not really addressed. The Beatles in their early days appealed massively to women in a way that other bands could only dream of. Of course, their talent was something else but whether it's Monkees, Bay City Rollers, Bros, Take That, New Kids On The Block there's always been a constant stream of Boy Bands that are aimed at women (and nowadays gay men) which just works. Their ability to connect in ways that others can't is something quite incredible.
I never got the thing with Gary Barlow, but fair play to him: this is a good pop song. I don't like it and don't listen to it but it's hard to write songs that people like and he's done it here. As the old saying goes, I wish I could write a song as crap as this.
1995, it's a wrap!
I'm sorry if I've listed too many songs, and probably wrote too much, but it's my youth and I lived through it and fuck me, I feel so lucky and thoroughly privileged to have been there. Just in this year alone there were probably 7 albums you could easily make a serious case for putting in the Top 10 albums of the 90s (What's The Story, The Bends, Jagged Little Pill, Different Class, I Should Coco, Leftism & Timeless). Not only that, they span the Britpop, Rock, Dance and Drum'N'Bass genres. In fact, I can't think of any other year that could boast so many great albums across so many genres!
I'll make a claim: 1995 will not be bettered by any coming year. The music released in this year was some of the best made in the 1990s - the bar across so many genres was incredibly high. Anyone who was young in 1995 got lucky, every other week there was great albums, singles and clubs playing incredible music. We thought these days would last forever!
But it never does.
Britpop was 31 years ago now and nothing like it will happen again. In some ways, I feel Britpop was the end of the line for those great 'teen/youth' movements that starts with Teddy Boys, Rock'n'Rollers, Mods, Rockers, Punks, New Romantics, Breakdancers and Ravers. There's not been anything like Britpop since Britpop. It's not just about the music, fashion, sport or whatever - the times were a-changing and as we've seen in the 60s, when the youth have that then incredible things will happen.
There will be many reasons why Britpop, raves and the rest won't happen again and I'm sure it's one we can debate at some point. But I feel lucky to have been young enough to have witnessed it in full force. Not only that, by going to the pubs and clubs that played the music, buying the music I heard, wearing the Britpop 'uniforms' and shopping in the likes of Afflecks, I contributed to the scene. Every week there was a classic album or classic track. In some respects, 1995 feels like the 60s and 70s where you would miss a top class album just because there was so many other top class albums released that week!
I'm so tempted to go into the loft, dig out that blue Adidas t-shirt, jeans and Airwalks and go out to 42nd Street tonight just to honour this fucking amazing year.
1995, what a year - I salute you. We were fucking amazing!
The Playlist
