A Remembrance of Britpop Bands That Didn’t Make It
This year is the 20th anniversary of the birth of Britpop, which means plenty of retrospectives on the whole Cool Britannia thing that swept the UK between 1994 and 1997. (Full disclosure: I’m guilty of this kind of nostalgia trip, too. The Secret History of Rock season wraps up with a two-part series called “The Rise and Fall of Britpop” this week and next. Find a radio station that carries it and listen.)
Like football, Britpop can be divided into different divisions. The Premiere League included Oasis, Blur, and Pulp with Elastica and Suede close to relegation. First division bands were Dodgy, Supergrass, Ash, Boo Radleys, Ocean Colour Scene, Gene and maybe Cast. I’d place These Animal Men, Sleeper, Echobelly, Northern Uproar, Heavy Stereo and Menswear.
Then there’s the also-rans the Millwalls of the scene, the bands that I’d barely (or never) heard of, the ones that did not make it.
Like who? Anyone remember The Weekenders? No? Well, then, how about Jocasta? Llama Farmers? Out of My Hair?
They all existed–and they all disappeared after an existence briefer than that of Element 115. Londonist takes this look back at seven Britpop bands that failed. Miserably.
