Bands Pre Britpop

Bands Pre Britpop

Oasis

Oasis played their first gig on the 18th August 1991 at the Boardwalk club in Manchester. Noel Gallagher approached the group about joining as he lots of written songs that he had for several years. He also changed their style, which crafted them to be simplistic with only barre chords and root bass notes. Oasis created a sound 'so devoid of finesse and complexity that it came out sounding pretty much unstoppable'. It was not until their release of 'Definitely Maybe' that they had their breakthrough.

Blur

From March to July 1990, Blur toured Britain testing out new songs. In October 1990, they released the 'She's So High' single, and soon followed it up with the single 'There's no other way'. Their third single 'Bang' performed poorly in terms of the other two. However, the album 'Leisure' (1991) was released and peaked at number seven.  When realising they were in debt, the group decided to tour America in 1992 to gain back from financial losses, and at the same time they released the single 'Popscene' to coincide with the start of the tour. Before being able to release the album, they had to write more singles. So Damon wrote 'For Tomorrow' to become the album's lead single. 'Modern Life Is Rubbish' was released in May 1992, it peaked number 15 on the British charts, but failed to break into the US Billboard 200.

Pulp

Pulp were formed in 1978 in Sheffield by Jarvis, when he was just 15. They played their first gig at Rotherham Arts Centre in July 1980. Their music style was varied and described as 'a cross between Abba and The Fall'. They gave a demo tape to Peel in 1981, who granted them a Peel Session, and game them exposure on national radio. in 1982 they managed to get enough local backing to record a mini album entitled It, and although failed they still continued to seek commercial success. Their next major release was 'Freaks' (1987), an album that was recorded in one week. It received bad reception and Jarvis folded the band to study film at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. In mid 1989, they began recording another album with a bigger budget called 'Separations'. One of their singles 'Countdown' began to be mentioned in the mainstream press, showing a turning point for their fame.

Suede

Suede released a single 'Animal Nitrate' in February 1993, which went to UK top ten. The release of their first studio album 'Suede' (1993) entered the British charts at number one, registering teh biggest initial sales of a debut album. Following the success of the album, the band toured Europe receving major overage by MTV.

Elastica

Elasitca formed in mid 1992, and released their first single 'Stutter; in October 1992. It received promotional efforts of BBC Radio 1. In 1994, they released two UK Top 20 singles (Line Up and Connection) and performed on numerous radio shows.

The Boo Radleys

In 1990, The Boo Radleys released their first album 'Ichabod and I'. Although not a commercial success, it did bring the band attention to Rough Trade Records. They released 'Every Heaven' EP in 1991, and Rough Trade collapsed, and so they signed to Creation Records. Their first release with them was Everything's Alright Forever in 1992 and Giant Steps 1993. They were placed second in the 1993 NME album of the year list.

Supergrass

They formed in 1990 at Wheatly Park School. They built a reputation in the Oxford indie music scene, and built a reputation by playing at gigs at various venues around Oxfordshire. The band gained enough success to release one single in 1992 'Just Got Back Today.