The UK musicians who came to prominence in the mid-90s were more diverse and thrilling than is often acknowledged. In her new book, Miranda Sawyer, who was writing for the music press at the time, looks back at a misunderstood era
There are people who could spend all day arguing about Britpop: what it was, what it is, who invented it, when it started and ended, which bands are Britpop and which aren’t. These people are journalists. Specifically, music journalists, who possess the pedantic instinct of all journalists to get the facts right, but also, because they write about pop music, have a competing desire to be romantic. To mythologise. To make people and events and songs and whole entire years seem more flamboyant, more life-changing and revolutionary than they actually were.
The people who don’t argue about it are the fans and the musicians. The fans, if they’re of a certain age, remember a time when they felt like they were flying, when music meant everything to them because they were young and full of yearning and hope, and the songs were made by people who were young and hopeful and yearning too. Younger fans, if they’re interested, tap into this without thinking about it. They just love the fantastic songs and, sometimes, how the bands looked at their peak.
