BRITPOP
"There's something in the air. For the first time in 30 years,
Britain is exporting pop music again"
1980s
The Beginning
What are we doing here?
They say, in the eighties, there was nothing. Everyone just existed: some romanticised the good old days, some did electronic music, but generally - everyone was bored. Britain was not so great.
Oh wait! There was a punk movement.
By the end of the decade it was pretty much done though. So now people had nothing in particular to believe in. They still had their DIY clothes and wild hairstyles, but no wave already.
And this is as fashionable as it gets for sport fans.
1991
Grunge comes to the UK
Nirvana makes their famous Top of the Pops appearance
Nirvana does Top of the Pops performance, where, not allowed to play live, they just show off all over the place. And as the UK youth saw this happening, they did not exactly fall in love with Grunge, but rather got the idea for their own attitude of the next decade. "The Scene That Celebrates Itself", as they call it, was finding its way.

THE VISION ARRIVES

"Our current state sucks. Let's look for something interesting in the past. Let's pretend the past is still here."
1993
First Acknowledgement
Suede make it to the magazine cover
It was this issue of the Select magazine that stated that Britpop is a thing. It featured Suede, The Auteurs, Denim, Saint Etienne and Pulp. No Blur and no Oasis yet.
Suede were one of the first bands to establish themselves in this new genre. They set the guidelines for everyone to follow. As the journalist
John Harris wrote, "If Britpop started anywhere, it was the deluge of acclaim that greeted Suede's first records: all of them audacious, successful and very, very British"
1994
April 1994
Blur release their third studio album, Parklife
The singles include:

1. "Girls & Boys"
Released: 7 March 1994
2. "To the End"
Released: 30 May 1994
3. "Parklife"
Released: 22 August 1994
4. "End of a Century"
Released: 7 November 1994

"Blur went from being regarded as an alternative, left field arty band to this amazing new pop sensation"
— Graham Coxon, |Blur
August 1994
Oasis releases their debut album, Definitely Maybe
The singles include:

1. "Supersonic"
Released: 11 April 1994
2. "Shakermaker"
Released: 13 June 1994
3. "Live Forever"
Released: 8 August 1994
4. "Cigarettes & Alcohol"
Released: 10 October 1994
5. "Rock 'n' Roll Star"
Released: May 1995 (US radio single)
"We don't want to be an indie band from England who've had a couple of hits. We want to go on and be an important band and there's certain things you've got to do."
— Noel Gallagher, Oasis
1995
Young British Artists
Damien Hirst gets Turner prize for a divided cow
The similar go-get-'em moods dominate the art scene. Young British Artists, led by Damien Hirst, are making art as outrageous as possible. In 1995, Hirst himself gets the Turner Prize (the most prestigious prize in Fine Arts) for "Mother and Child (Divided)" - the installation consisting of a cow and a calf, divided in halves and put in tanks of formaldehyte.
Sarah Lucas' Self Portrait and "I'm Desperate" by Gillian Wearing

COMMON PEOPLE

1996
The anthem on air
She came from Greece, she had a thirst for knowledge
The song Common People released by Pulp in 1996 is voted a Britpop anthem. In a 2012 question and answer session on BBC Radio 5 Live Cocker said that he was having a conversation with the girl at the bar at [Central Saint Martins] college because he was attracted to her, although he found some aspects of her personality unpleasant. He remembered that at one point she had told him she "wanted to move to Hakney and live like 'the common people'"
Written by Natasha Savicheva
All rights for images and videos belong to their authors.
Further materials
Film
Live Forever - The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop
Hilarous documentary about the Britpop music scene in the Nineties, featuring all the main bands of the scene exposing the truth behind the myths.
Interview
Oasis from the archives: Noel in 1994
Just before the release of Definitely Maybe, Caspar Llewellyn Smith caught up with Noel Gallagher to find out about scraps with Liam, spats with Suede and why people would still be listening to his band's debut album in 20 years' time.
Website
Britpop at the BBC: Class of '94
BBC celebrates the 20th anniversary of Britpop with series of special programs and features.