Sinister: The Third Summer of Love

[Rod Begbie]

On Wed, 18 Mar 1998, OMUser=Olafia Svansdottir wrote:

> >Ah, the heady BritPop summer of '95.  Happy days!
> 	oh, how i remember that magical summer of 95,, I had just turned 18 
> and was going to London for the first time- the city of Britpop( the 
> wonder of it all).

That summer was a defining time in my life.  I'd started University a year
earlier, a reader of Q and a listener of Virgin 1215 -- an old fart before
my time!

However, in my first term, I fell in love with a girl who was a total
indie-kid, which probably accelerated the change in my music taste.  By
the end of the year, I was an Oasis-T-Shirt wearing, NME-worshipping
stereotype! 

My summer was spent going to see Oasis at Irvine Beach, T in the Park and
Reading.  I saw more live bands that summer than I have done in the rest
of my life[1]!  I was in record shops every week snapping up the 7"s that
the papers were recommending.  The week of the "Battle of the Britpop", I
was in Belfast, relaxing in the sun with afore-mentioned girl.  She got
annoyed, though, because I bought Oasis and Blur, but not The Charlatans
who were released the same week!

It *was* a generation-defining moment, no matter what your opinions now of
those bands involved.

> I was watching bbc prime the other day and I saw a show 
> called Britpop now- remember?

I've still got that show on tape.  It also features the woe-fully
underrated Powder with their hit-single "Aphrodisiac", which won brownie
points just for mentioning the kids TV show "Crackerjack" (see also
"Jackanory" in Country House)

> it was in the blome of britpop and had: 
> Blur(in school uniforms singing country house), Echobelly, Sleeper(oh 
> they still exist), Elastica,Menswear and Supergrass,,, it took me 
> back,,,  some bands did come out of that area ok, and are still live 
> and kicking and I dont mean to trash any of them.

Sleeper are rumoured to be no more.  According to "those" in the "know" 
on uk.music.alternative, Ms Wener is now a solo artiste.  The band wanted
to split a while back, but decided (read: were forced) to stay together
for the tour. 

Other rumours:  Elastica have decided that everything they've recorded
over the last year is shite (including the stuff recorded with Mark E
Smith), and have wiped the tapes.  Booo!  Elastica at TitP'95 was one of
the best concerts of my life.

> But now I'm (almost) 21 and I look back to those days with a bit 
> nostalgic mind I must say.

Me too!  It's strange, but all I remember from that summer is hot sunny
days, listening to great music, and metamorphising from the geek of old,
to the geek of new!

> 	on B&S content....ummm no I cant think of a thing.. I like them, did I 
> mention that...?

Erm.... me neither... erm... I listened to If You're Feeling Sinister this
morning, in the shower.

> Could somebody pass Begbies homepage address to me, I've been to Sarahs 
> and I want to judge which is better

http://www.begbie.com

Today's useful tip:  Always check that the washing machine has completely
drained of water before opening the door.

Rod.

[1]  At that point, I'd been to five concerts - Danny Wilson, Tanita
Tikaram, Teenage Fanclub, The Boo Radleys and... The Senseless Things. 

                                    Rod Begbie @ http://www.begbie.com |
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| Real programmers don't document



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