Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the UK's own shoegaze music scene. The movement brought British alternative rock into the mainstream and formed the backbone of a larger British popular cultural movement, Cool Britannia, which evoked the Swinging Sixties and the British guitar pop of that decade.
Blur are an English rock band formed in London in 1988. The band consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Their debut album, Leisure (1991), incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing. Following a stylistic change influenced by English guitar pop groups such as the Kinks, the Beatles and XTC, Blur released Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994) and The Great Escape (1995). As a result, the band helped to popularise the Britpop genre and achieved mass popularity in the UK, aided by a chart battle with rival band Oasis in 1995 dubbed "The Battle of Britpop".
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as the Rain, the group initially consisted of Liam Gallagher, Paul Arthurs (guitar), Paul McGuigan and Tony McCarroll (drums). Liam's older brother Noel later joined as a fifth member, finalising the group's core lineup. During the course of their existence, they had various lineup changes, with the Gallagher brothers remaining the only staple members.
The Boo Radleys is an English alternative rock band who were associated with the shoegazing and Britpop movements in the 1990s. They originally formed in Wallasey, England in 1988, with Rob Harrison on drums, singer/guitarist Simon "Sice" Rowbottom, guitarist/songwriter Martin Carr, and bassist Timothy Brown. Their name is taken from the character Boo Radley in Harper Lee's 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Shortly after the release of their first album Ichabod and I, Steve Hewitt replaced Robert Harrison on drums and was in turn replaced by Rob Cieka. The band split up in 1999. In their 11-year-long career, the band had one top ten single, the 1995 single "Wake Up Boo!", which charted at no. 9; and a number one album, Wake Up!. The band reunited in 2021, without original guitarist Martin Carr, and released a single, "A Full Syringe and Memories of You," their first new music since 1998. Paul Banks of Interpol has cited the band as an influence.
Parklife is the third studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 25 April 1994 on Food Records. After moderate sales for their previous album Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife returned Blur to prominence in the UK, helped by its four hit singles: "Girls & Boys", "End of a Century", "Parklife" and "To the End".
The La's were an English rock band from Liverpool, originally active from 1983 until 1992. Fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mavers, the group are best known for their hit single "There She Goes". The band was formed by Mike Badger in 1983 and Mavers joined the next year, although for most of the group's history, the frequently changing line-up revolved around the core duo of Lee Mavers and John Power along with numerous other guitarists and drummers including Paul Hemmings, John "Timmo" Timson, Peter "Cammy" Cammell, Iain Templeton, John "Boo" Byrne, Chris Sharrock, Barry Sutton and Neil Mavers.
(What's the Story) Morning Glory? is the second studio album by English rock band Oasis. Released on 2 October 1995 by Creation Records, it was produced by Owen Morris and the group's lead guitarist and main songwriter Noel Gallagher. The structure and arrangement style of the album were a significant departure from the group's previous album Definitely Maybe (1994). Gallagher's compositions were more focused in balladry and placed more emphasis on "huge" choruses, with the string arrangements and more varied instrumentation contrasting with the rawness of the group's debut album. Morning Glory was the group's first album with drummer Alan White, who replaced Tony McCarroll.
The Great Escape is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Blur. It was released on 11 September 1995 on Food and Virgin Records. The album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and charted in the top 10 in more than ten countries around the world. Less than a year after the album was released, it was certified triple platinum in the UK. The album received near-universal acclaim on release.
Sleeper are an English rock band formed in London in 1992. The group had eight UK Top 40 hit singles and three UK Top 10 albums during the 1990s. Their music was also featured in the soundtrack of the pop cultural hit movie Trainspotting. The band split up in 1998, but reunited in 2017.
I Should Coco is the debut studio album by English alternative rock band Supergrass, released on 15 May 1995 by Parlophone. The title of the album is cockney rhyming slang for "I should think so".
The Bluetones are an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993. The band's members are Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Mark's brother Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fifth member, Richard Payne, came on board between 1998 and 2002. The band was originally named "The Bottlegarden".
"Country House" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur. It was released as the lead single from the band's fourth studio album, The Great Escape (1995), on 14 August 1995. Released on the same day as the Oasis single "Roll with It" – in a chart battle dubbed the "Battle of Britpop" – "Country House" reached number one in the UK Singles Chart. The song is the band's best-selling single, with over 540,000 copies sold as of May 2014.
"Common People" is a song by English alternative rock band Pulp, released in May 1995 as the lead single from their fifth studio album Different Class. It reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming a defining track of the Britpop movement as well as Pulp's signature song. In 2014, BBC Radio 6 Music listeners voted it their favourite Britpop song in an online poll. In a 2015 Rolling Stone readers' poll it was voted the greatest Britpop song.
Menswear were a Britpop band formed in October 1994 from Camden in London. They released a number of singles and an album, Nuisance, on the short-lived London Records subsidiary Laurel. A second album followed, which was released only in Japan; the group broke up in 1998. Menswear, made up of a new line-up in addition to frontman Johnny Dean, played their first show in 15 years in August 2013.
"Roll with It" is a song by English rock band Oasis, written by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. It was released on 14 August 1995 as the second single from their second studio album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995). In a highly publicised chart battle with Blur's single "Country House" dubbed "The Battle of Britpop," "Roll with It" reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. The song was described by American music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine as, "an assured stadium rocker that unabashedly steals the crown from Status Quo".
This is a summary of 1995 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
"Afrodisiac" is a song by American recording artist Brandy. It was written by Isaac Phillips, Kenisha Pratt, Kenneth Pratt and Timbaland for her same-titled fourth studio album (2004), with production was handled by the latter. One of the first songs Norwood and Timbaland collaborated on, the record is an uptempo–offbeat contemporary R&B song with pop and dance-pop elements, built along on a flute, Afro-Caribbean music influences and 1980s electro sounds. Considered by Norwood as one of her favorites on the album, the track expresses a female's addictive passion for a special person, whom she declares her very own aphrodisiac.
Northern Uproar are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1995. They disbanded in 1999, but reunited in 2006, and recorded two more studio albums and a live album. They have released four studio albums and a number of singles, several of which charted in the UK Singles Chart. Their biggest-selling single was the double A-side "From A Window/This Morning", which peaked in the UK's Top 20 in February 1996.
"What Do I Do Now?" is a 1995 song by English Britpop band Sleeper, written by the band's vocalist and guitarist Louise Wener. It was the first single to be released from their second album The It Girl which followed in May 1996.
"Sandstorm" is a song by the Liverpool Britpop band Cast. The song is the third single released from the band's debut studio album, All Change (1995). "Sandstorm" peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart in January 1996.
