Out On Blue Six: Oasis

It was twenty five years ago today - the release of Definitely Maybe

That makes me feel old! But the music is of course timeless. Indeed, you could say that it will Live Forever

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Out On Blue Six: The Boo Radleys

In 1995 and 1996, I was at school, reading Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird for GCSE English. Now, over twenty years later, I've just finished reading it again.

After finishing reading it at school, I always said I'd read it again sometime at my own leisure, I'm surprised it has taken me so long though. Equally, I'm surprised how so much of it has lodged in my brain. It all felt so fresh, like I'd read it relatively recently, rather than twenty four or twenty three years ago. And Lee's novel still has so much to say to me too; when Atticus Finch, upon hearing from Scout that there are some in the town calling him a 'n*gger-lover', remarks that "It's never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn't hurt you" I thought of the times that I've been called a communist by people who are more politically aligned to the likes of Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, or my brothers and sisters who are fraudulently accused of being anti-semitic for daring to criticise Israel's actions towards Palestine. And when, Atticus tells his children "As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day or your life, but let me tell you something and don't forget it - whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash. There's nothing more sickening to me than a low-grade white man who'll take advantage of a Negro's ignorance" I once again feel that these are words for our times. Times of the Windrush scandal, Trump and even, as I witnessed today on local news, a black man saying he'd vote for Boris Johnson because 'he looks like fun' 

Reading To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time as a teenager back in the mid 90s was the best time to do so though I feel, because as the story developed right there in the classroom, outside there was a soundtrack seemingly made to accompany our reading, in the shape of the big summer song of '95, Wake Up Boo! by The Boo Radleys. And it's that which I am sharing today...

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Out On Blue Six: Sleeper

It was fifty years ago today that Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon and made history. So what better song to play to commemorate the anniversary than this track from Sleeper's second studio album The It Girl from 1996; Good Luck Mr Gorsky...

Why?

Well, the Britpoppers' song is based on a risque urban myth concerning some words of well wishes Armstrong allegedly said for an old neighbour during the moon landing, which began doing the rounds in the early days of the internet in 1995. The story (or more truthfully, joke) has it that as a child Armstrong was playing baseball in his yard when he overheard his neighbours, the Gorskys arguing. 'A blow job?' Mrs Gorsky exclaimed to her randy husband, Mr Gorsky. 'I'll give you a blow job when the kid next door walks on the moon!' 

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Theme Time: The Word - 808 State

Ah yes it's time to look at that enfant terrible of Channel 4 in the 1990s, The Word

Love it or hate it, you cannot deny how influential and important The Word was. It's almost twenty-five-years since the last episode aired and yet almost everything The Word pioneered has now become absorbed by other shows and accepted into the mainstream.

Remember 'The Hopefuls' those shameless glory hunters who gave up their dignity by eating worms and sheep testicles (among other more disgusting stunts) because, as they would each gamely say to camera "I'll do anything to be on TV" Remember how offended and disgusted people were? They're all fairly quiet now when watching celebs eat the very same thing as part of an I'm a Celebrity bushtucker trial aren't they?

It wasn't just gross stunts though; The Word provided a platform for some of the best music of the day (often breaking new bands) and some brilliantly candid, off-the-cuff interviews with famous figures from the world of music, acting, sport and the arts, and the kind of through-the-looking-glass exposes of the weird and wonderful life in America that Louis Theroux would later mine with his Weird Weekends. It was The Tube via a kind of X-rated Tiswas - perfect for the laddish, baggy, grungey, britpoppy 1990s.

Described by Wikipedia as 'a mayhemic mixture of pop music and teen attitude' The Word was must-see post pub viewing on a Friday night for some 49% of the viewing public at that time. It ran from 1990 to 1995 and featured presenters such as Amanda de Cadenet, Mark Lamarr, Dani Behr, Hufty and Katie Puckrik, the one constant being it's main presenter, Mancunian motormouth Terry Christian whose book, My Word, is an eye-opening, candid and funny read of his time with the show.

The theme tune was entitled Olympic, provided by Madchester's own 808 State.

Some full episodes of The Word are available on YouTube, whilst a series of compilations can be viewed on All 4. They're well worth watching, whether you simply fancy a bit of nostalgia or whether you just want to see some cutting edge tele before it become so diluted. Chris Evans was only just around the corner, and he had obviously been paying attention.

Out On Blue Six: Echobelly

Sartorially, Sonya Madan of Britpop faves Echobelly knew how to make a statement as this picture shows.

Which is perhaps why I personally cannot see anything but innocence and joy behind her decision to go the full 'St Trinians' for the band's debut on Top of the Pops on August 31st 1995 with their number 13 chart hit Great Things. Nowadays we'd wince at the dubious connotations I guess, but I think the chosen attire is thoroughly in keeping with the song's optimistic-future message, and it's really very sweet. Look out for the late Dale Winton at the start too...

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The 1990s: Football and Music in Perfect Harmony

Dave broadcast a thoroughly enjoyable trip down memory lane last night. Entitled Football's 47 Best Worst Songs it was your standard list show fare; a host of largely non entity talking heads (one was called a 'social media celebrity', um, what?) mix with recognisable faces to offer up opinions in an enjoyable clips package of all those ill advised world cup and FA cup anthems from the last forty or so years. But just occasionally, we were reminded of the times when football and music came together in perfect harmony (more often than not these times involved Keith Allen) and I think the best time that happened was the 1990s. Just check out these crackers to see what I mean...

Out On Blue Six: Oasis

I love this song and I love this video - mixing Oasis with Lowry was genius...and the animator nailed Liam's Simian stroll!

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Out On Blue Six: Sleeper

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Supersonic (2016)

"Noel has a lot of buttons, Liam has a lot of fingers; it’s that simple"

Supersonic might just be the funniest, most feelgood music documentary in recent years. And I mean, laugh out loud on several occasions funny - with one bit in which Liam discusses Scott McLeod's brief tenure with the band being met by gales of laughter  in the screening I was at, and rightly so. Directed by Mat Whitecross, a filmmaker with a rather diverse and under the radar career perhaps best defined with his Ian Dury biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll and his rather sweet Spike Island both of which hint at his musical tastes, this documentary film doesn't set out to be the complete story of Oasis (which makes Peter Bradshaw's criticisms that the film stops in 1996 in his review for The Guardian rather stranger and completely redundant - what's up squinty Pete, didn't get the memo matey? Lazy, ignorant reviewing) instead it focuses simply on their meteoric two and a half year rise to super(sonic) stardom from 1993 to their landmark two-night Knebworth gigs in 1996 - a moment in time that Noel rightly called 'history' right there on the stage and expands upon it further in the film, arguing that such an event would be impossible in this digital, talent show world. Britpop really was the end of an era and Oasis rode high. As such, the film depicts a mostly positive relationship between Liam and Noel, with only a few tumultuous and often wildly hilarious bumps in the road, rather than the acrimonious split that was to come - though Whitecross doesn't shy away from the intense sibling rivalry and rightly shadows the fallout with a portentous scene early on in the film which sees Liam declare to the band that he'd been reading the Bible recently and found much to compare between him and his older brother and "that Abel and....Cable"

With both Liam and Noel participating with voiceover reminiscences (along with Bonehead, Mark Coyle and many other key figures) this truly is a first hand account not just of the band, but also of their lives. The snaps of a grinning, gauche teenage Liam and Noel strumming a guitar in preparation for his duties as the roadie for Inspiral Carpets warm the hearts and amuse the audience as well as reminding us that these acrimonious rock giants are, first and foremost, brothers; ordinary working class siblings from a council estate in Burnage. The archive footage may make much of the Gallagher brothers legendary arrogance, but Whitecross' film delves deeper to capture a candid and heartfelt account of these ordinary lads with extraordinary talent, with both men cannily astute enough to know the part they had to play for the media, with Noel claiming that his role before the cameras was always to be a 'gobshite' whilst Liam shunned all the aspects of music and songwriting to be 'over there, looking cool as fuck' They knew what was required of them, and they delivered in spades. They were, as some might say, mad fer it.

"None of this matters," Noel says at one point, when discussing his abusive father's attempts to inveigle himself into the limelight, and their difficult relationship with him "What will remain is the songs" He could almost be talking about the current impasse between him and Liam. But yes, we have the songs - and oh what songs they are, soundtrack to the lives of so many of my generation - but we sadly do not have Oasis any more, and that's a real shame. Whatever your thoughts on a reunion - will they, won't they, should they, shouldn't they - you can't deny that the world was a better, brighter and more eventful place with them.

Out On Blue Six: Oasis

In preparation for seeing Supersonic, the new documentary film about the brothers Gallagher, I've been pulling out and playing my old Oasis albums somewhat relentlessly.

She's Electric was track 9 on (What's The Story) Morning Glory? the band's second studio album, and it was always a favourite of mine. The cheeky chappieness of the song's narrator, professing his love for his girl but adding the proviso that he needs 'more time' whilst eyeing up everyone from her sister, her cousins and her mother, is pure Max Miller, whilst the lyric shamelessly mines from children's BBC show You and Me, tapping into that dole queue existence of grown men in their twenties and late teens with nothing else to do but watch kids TV. Other influences point back to the Fab Four themselves of course, with cues from While My Guitar Gently Weeps and the rousing, falling 'ahh' finale reminiscent of With a Little Help From My Friends

It's just the perfect slice of Britpop

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Out On Blue Six : Elastica

In my continuing quest to reconnect with my youth, I picked up Elastica's 1995 eponymous debut album as part of a three for a fiver deal in my local music/DVD store this week, and was instantly transported back to the dizzying Britpop heights of the mid 90s.

It's a shame that Elastica aren't recognised as the greats they actually were. Dogged by controversies that led to out of court settlements to bands such as Wire and The Stranglers, Elastica seem to have been ignored now as if they somehow conned us. So what if this riff is the same as Wire's Three Girl Rumba, it's still a great song in its own right and, in an age when virtually every song is subjected to claim and counter claim (with bands like Coldplay no less, repeatedly accused and yet still retaining their place in the market) I think it matters even less now.

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Out On Blue Six : Pulp

"The National Anthem for the Netto Generation...."

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Out On Blue Six : Sleeper

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Out On Blue Six : Pulp

The inspiration behind Pulp's 1995 hit Disco 2000, Jarvis Cocker's childhood friend Deborah Bone ("Your name is Deborah, Deborah, It never suited ya") has lost her battle with cancer at the age of 51. She had just been awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List for her services to children's mental health. Her blog describing her fight with cancer can be found here

It's strange to feel something for someone you don't even know, but that song gives you an association of sorts which means hearing the news of her death today was saddening. In many ways I think it's because the song has so much to do with life and growing up together that, to hear the inspiration behind it has passed away, rather hits you hard.

RIP

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Out On Blue Six : Blur

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Out On Blue Six : Alisha's Attic

Does anyone remember the comedy series My Wonderful Life, starring former Watching star and Scouse pocket rocket Emma Wray, that Alisha's Attic's song I Am, I Feel provided the theme tune for? It started out life as a one off entitled True Love (which is on YouTube - thanks to fans of Philip Glenister who also stars in it) and the series ran in the mid 90s and seems to have been completely forgotten??

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Out On Blue Six : Echobelly

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Live Forever (2003)

If you haven't been living under a rock this last month you'll doubtless be aware that it is now 20 years since Britpop. I'm acutely aware of this fact and, when coupled with the realisation that you've now spent more time out of school than you have in it, it doesn't half make you feel old I can tell you. 

When Britpop hit the scene in 1994 its fair to say that as a 14/15 year old it struck a chord with me. I'd previously devoured my parents vinyl collection for Beatles records and rode the criticism from my peers for being into 'old fogies' music. Then came Oasis and suddenly the world turned on its head. Six months down the line I well remember the alleged cool kids at school saying 'well if you like Oasis you really wanna check out The Beatles, because they're much better' Hmm, not exactly what you were saying a year ago eh guys? Being at school, GCSE's on the horizon, standing on the precipice of the big wide world it felt revitalising to believe something was genuinely in the air, that the country was on the up, just as much as it felt odd that music, mere music, could give us that sense of optimism.

Of course we quickly discovered that the up meant Blair and a massive big fart in our collectively hopeful faces. 

Live Forever a 2003 music documentary film directed by John Dower covers all of this, walking the line between the music, the politics and the cultural compass of the UK at the time. There's a great feeling for all of this and the period as a whole right across the board as befits the team that brought us the equally conscientious and well edited/compiled One Day In September, as well as some wonderfully candid talking heads; Jarvis Cocker is always good value, Damon Albarn once again shows how savvy he is and how unfairly maligned he was during his heyday whilst Sleeper's Louise Wener proves to be the most intelligent and aware of her alumni. Then there's the brothers - Liam and Noel. The former is his usually funny and infuriating self with one scene regarding his alleged androgynous appeal proving a particularly hilarious highlight, whilst the latter proves to be just as intelligent and articulate as the others but still clearly somewhat bewitched and misguided about that now infamous Number 10 meet and greet. Face it Noel, you were bought.

For the 20th anniversary this film, made just in time for the 10th anniversary, is still a fitting watch but I would argue a few more talking heads would have made it something truly special; Elastica, Garbage, The Manics, Suede, Menswear, Supergrass, Echobelly, Catatonia...surely some of those were available?

Incidentally, the eternal question 'Blur or Oasis?' continues to reverberate to this day - I've seen Damon Albarn asked about the rivalry twice just yesterday on two separate TV shows - for what it's worth whenever I was asked it in the playground I always answered the same; 'Pulp'.

Out On Blue Six : Sleeper

Back in the 90s, I rather liked Sleeper and that may have had just as much to do with Louise Wener's good looks as it did their good music. I've just read Wener's memoir's Different for Girls which I thoroughly recommend as a well written, self deprecating and funny take on growing up in the late 70s and 80s, taping Top of the Pops and the Radio 1 chart rundown on a little cassette machine, and then hitting the big time in the 90s and appearing on both those shows.

It's also wonderfully candid about the britpop indie scene in general and the likes of Blur (arrogant), The Boo Radleys (boring and habitual), Chris Evans (a tyrant), the Shooting Stars and Never Mind the Buzzcocks cast (Ulrika's unfriendly, Jonathan Ross vain), music journos (even more boring and habitual than The Boo Radleys) and the record companies (ruthless and uncaring) in particular.

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Out On Blue Six : Blur

'Blow, blow me out, I am so sad, I don't know why...'

The music video for Blur's 1995 summer hit couldn't be more 90s, it's directed by Damien Hirst and it stars Keith Allen, Page 3 stunna Jo Guest, Vivienne Westwood muse and actress Sara Stockbridge and Matt Lucas, with inspiration seeming to stem from a strange mix of yesteryear - Benny Hill and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody!

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