"Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
Oh, but the takings are up by a third, oh so
Cunts are still running the world
Cunts are still running the world"
- Jarvis Cocker, Running the World
okay, so i made this map is to explain some of what was going on in manchester but some of the things this map is missing is:
Alan McGee auditioned to be in Simple Minds back when they were still Johnny & The Self-Abusers
Stephen Street produced the Smiths, Morrissey’s solo work, and Blur
Blur played the Haçienda in 1991 bc they were being style by their record label as a Madchester band
David Keenan, the music critic/author was in 18 Wheeler and played at King Tut’s Wah-Wah Hut the same night that Sister Lovers/Oasis did
from what i can gather, Sister Lovers got their name from the Primal Scream song “sonic sister lovers”
johnny marr and bernard sumner were in Electronic together
morrissey was briefly in a band with one of the guys from durutti column
mark collins was the driver for Inspiral Carpets before becoming the guitarist for the charlatans
wait stop the clocks. this is amazing thank you!!! i didn't know literally every band from manchester were this enmeshed... also blur being marketed as a madchester band IMPOSTORS!!! (and you can really tell by their first album lmao)
Vini Reilly (Durutti Column) played guitar, Banger sang, Toby Toman (Primal Scream) played drums and Peter Crookes played bass -> Banger and Reilly left the band -> Morrissey replaced Banger. Billy Duffy (later of Theatre of Hate and the Cult), replaced Reilly.
Every time I listen to Antidepressants, my chest goes through some disturbing events that either indicate it's time for me to quit vaping and energy drinks, or that this album means too much to me (especially June Rain, this fuckin song)
Today’s the day to decide: dramatic bisexual vibes with "We kiss in his room to a popular tune" or whimsical like "Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls"
And then today I was surprised my Tumblr feed was suddenly half Disco Elysium content. Turns out it's all about Smoker on the Balcony. I was like, Oh, that's why. It's a reference to Brett. i'm not the brightest bulb..
John Harris’s The Last Party. Great tunes, nonstop infighting, class warfare cosplay, and everyone dragging everyone else while secretly hating the label they were all stuck with. And I love every minute of it.
my favorite quotes:
Oasis
north vs south, working class vs posh wankers.
- On Blur: Noel called them "a bunch of middle-class wankers trying to play hardball with a bunch of working-class heroes."
- On Suede: Early Noel was not impressed by the art-school vibe: "I think a lot of kids find Suede too intellectual... But with Oasis... it's the bottom line: here's a guitar, here's the songs, you have them."
Blur (started cocky, ended exhausted)
Damon and co went from revenge mode to "we regret everything."
- On Suede: Damon was still salty about Justine + Brett: "I knew that my moment for vengeance would come... I wanted to prove to myself that I could dethrone Brett and his group of cretins." Alex James went harder: "little pricks from fucking UCL."
- On Britpop itself: Damon by '96: "I had this romantic idea at one point that it was Britpop against the world... But of course it was every man for himself. It’s all over now, though. As far as I’m concerned, we killed Britpop, chopped it up and put it under the patio long ago."
- On Pulp: Alex apparently hated them more than Oasis because of messy social-circle romance: "devious little fuckers." (one of the pettiest and funniest bits: "We felt a common cause with Pulp at first. We really supported them. But in a lot of ways, they were even bigger cunts than Oasis. They were in our birds’ knickers: devious little fuckers. We definitely tried to help them; we thought they were cool.")
Suede (too cool for this peasant nonsense)
Brett & co always acted like they were above the lad lager frenzy.
- On Blur: Brett played aloof: "All I can say about them is, I think they've always been obsessed by their career. Suede have always been obsessed by their music. That's the difference."
- On the whole Britpop scene: "I feel absolutely no connection with Britain whatsoever... to stand Britain up as this paragon of virtue that everyone should try and emulate is nothing but a load of bullshit." Later: "When we started, it was edgy: it wasn’t this big gang of people all slapping each other on the back and drinking lager."
- Bonus Morrissey beef: After Brett called Moz "ridiculously shy" and "boring," Morrissey clapped back that Brett seemed "like a deeply boring young man with Mr Kipling crumbs in his bed." (heh... deliciously passive-aggressive flirting)
Pulp
Jarvis stayed classy but still read Blur for filth.
- On Blur’s Parklife: "I felt that off Parklife, for example... there’s that patronizing social voyeurism... there’s that noble savage notion. But if you walk round a council estate, there’s plenty of savagery and not much nobility going on."
Paul Weller (the disappointed dad of Britpop)
The Modfather was not feeling his children.
- On the new bands name-dropping him: "People come up to me and say, 'Listen to this record, it’s fucking brilliant,' and I get it home and it’s a piece of shit. If you think Elastica or the new whatever-it-is are great, I’d like to play some records to you."
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