• Britpop Top 50

    From Mark Goodge@usenet@listmail.good-stuff.co.uk to uk.music.charts on Wed Sep 2 09:48:42 2020
    From Newsgroup: uk.music.charts

    This has already been mentioned in passing, so I thought I'd string
    together a playlist for it. I've also reformatted the list so that it
    works better in a text-only medium.

    It is a very Oasis-heavy chart (13 of the tracks are by them), and Blur
    (with 7) and Oasis together account for 20 of the 50. Other than those
    two, there are only seven acts that have more than a single entry -
    Catatonia and Ocean Colour Scene with two each, and Pulp, the Manics,
    Kula Shaker and The Verve with three each.

    Videos are mainly from the bands' (or their record labels') own YouTube channels, so it's mostly official videos all the way down. But there are
    a couple of more obscure bands towards the bottom that don't seem to
    have an official presence on YouTube, so I've had to resort to fan
    uploads, which aren't quite as good quality. And there's one well-known
    song which doesn't seem to have an official video at all, so I've had to
    use the TotP appearance. Which is notable for a rather bizarre
    introduction by the presenters.

    There's no Spotify playlist as I don't have a Spotify account, but if
    you want an audio-only version (and you can put up with Jo Whiley) you
    can listen to the Radio 2 countdown online, at least until it disappears
    from the archives (get_iplayer FTW). The Radio 2 show also includes a
    selection of tracks that, if the record-buying public had had more
    taste, would have been in the top fifty!

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000m447 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZNlfRZgt1h4fAH3YWppvmDhe0E7BV0yG

    Pos. Peak Year Artist - Title
    1. (2) 1995 Oasis - Wonderwall
    2. (1) 1996 Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger
    3. (2) 1997 Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
    4. (1) 1997 Oasis - D'you Know What I Mean
    5. (1) 1998 Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha
    6. (1) 1997 Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
    7. (3) 1994 Oasis - Whatever
    8. (1) 1995 Blur - Country House
    9. (2) 1995 Oasis - Roll With It
    10. (1) 1995 Oasis - Some Might Say
    11. (2) 1999 Blur - Tender
    12. (1) 1998 Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your
    Children Will Be Next
    13. (2) 1997 Oasis - Stand By Me
    14. (10) 1995 Oasis - Live Forever
    15. (2) 1997 Blur - Song 2
    16. (7) 1997 Verve - Lucky Man
    17. (2) 1996 Pulp - Common People
    18. (7) 1994 Oasis - Cigarettes & Alcohol
    19. (2) 1996 Manic Street Preachers - A Design For Life
    20. (4) 1996 Ocean Colour Scene - The Day We Caught The Train
    21. (2) 1995 Supergrass - Alright
    22. (N/A) 1996 Oasis - Champagne Supernova
    23. (31) 1994 Oasis - Supersonic
    24. (1) 1998 Oasis - All Around The World
    25. (4) 1999 Stereophonics - Just Looking
    26. (2) 1995 Bluetones - Slight Return
    27. (3) 1998 Catatonia - Mulder And Scully
    28. (10) 1994 Blur - Parklife
    29. (1) 1997 Blur - Beetlebum
    30. (7) 1995 Pulp - Disco 2000
    31. (5) 1998 Catatonia - Road Rage
    32. (11) 1994 Oasis - Shakermaker
    33. (10) 1999 Travis - Why Does It Always Rain On Me
    34. (5) 1995 Blur - The Universal
    35. (3) 1998 Stereophonics - The Bartender And The Thief
    36. (4) 1996 Dodgy - Good Enough
    37. (4) 1999 Stereophonics - Pick A Part That's New
    38. (2) 1997 Kula Shaker - Hush
    39. (2) 1996 Kula Shaker - Hey Dude
    40. (5) 1996 Blur - Girls And Boys
    41. (11) 1994 Shampoo - Trouble
    42. (3) 1996 Charlatans - One To Another
    43. (5) 1999 Manic Street Preachers - You Stole The Sun From My Heart
    44. (2) 1995 Pulp - Sorted For E's & Wizz/Mis-Shapes
    45. (9) 1996 Cast - Walkaway
    46. (4) 1997 Ocean Colour Scene - Hundred Mile High City
    47. (3) 1997 Seahorses - Love Is The Law
    48. (3) 1996 Suede - Trash
    49. (7) 1996 Kula Shaker - Govinda
    50. (9) 1995 Boo Radleys - Wake Up Boo
    --- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From James Heaton@heatonandmoore@gmail.com.invalid to uk.music.charts on Fri Sep 11 13:00:12 2020
    From Newsgroup: uk.music.charts


    "Chris Brown" <extreme_rice@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:rje5ao$hg7$1@dont-email.me...
    On 02/09/2020 09:48, Mark Goodge wrote:
    This has already been mentioned in passing, so I thought I'd string
    together a playlist for it. I've also reformatted the list so that it
    works better in a text-only medium.

    Ta.

    It is a very Oasis-heavy chart (13 of the tracks are by them), and Blur
    (with 7) and Oasis together account for 20 of the 50.

    Yes, I did think this was a potential disadvantage of this format (and one they obviously tried to work around in the radio show) that the top end would inevitably be very Oasis-heavy. Those 13 tracks are literally all their 90s hits - unless you count 'Wibbling Rivalry' - plus one that was never a UK single.

    Other than those
    two, there are only seven acts that have more than a single entry -
    Catatonia and Ocean Colour Scene with two each, and Pulp, the Manics,
    Kula Shaker and The Verve with three each.

    Three Stereophonics tracks as well.

    Videos are mainly from the bands' (or their record labels') own YouTube
    channels, so it's mostly official videos all the way down. But there are
    a couple of more obscure bands towards the bottom that don't seem to
    have an official presence on YouTube, so I've had to resort to fan
    uploads, which aren't quite as good quality.

    I can't believe that any of these acts are really that obscure, but then
    it often seems a bit random which videos aren't available on official channels; I'm sure it reflects all kinds of contractual stuff behind the scenes, but it's very opaque. For that matter some videos on official channels aren't the versions you might expect - and whilst it doesn't
    apply in this case, a surprising number of official channels are clearly uploading old VHS copies.

    And there's one well-known
    song which doesn't seem to have an official video at all, so I've had to
    use the TotP appearance. Which is notable for a rather bizarre
    introduction by the presenters.

    I'm going to have have to watch it now because I'm sure I've seen videos
    for all 51 of these songs (but see above).

    There's no Spotify playlist as I don't have a Spotify account,

    I have.

    but if
    you want an audio-only version (and you can put up with Jo Whiley) you
    can listen to the Radio 2 countdown online, at least until it disappears
    from the archives (get_iplayer FTW).

    I finished listening to it yesterday - which is why I was avoiding this
    post for fear of spoilers even though I had a pretty good idea what was going to be in there.


    The Radio 2 show also includes a
    selection of tracks that, if the record-buying public had had more
    taste, would have been in the top fifty!

    Or, a cynic might suggest, tracks that relate to star interviews they'd recorded before the chart was delivered. In order to accommodate that,
    they dropped several tracks from the Top 50 itself, mostly by acts with multiple entries.
    For the record, the "bonus" tracks were:
    Elastica - Connection
    Sleeper - Inbetweener [plus interview with Louise Wener]
    McAlmont & Butler - Yes [introduced by Johnny Marr]
    Echobelly - Great Things [introduced by Sonia Madan]

    Given how white and male Britpop was, these 4 also upped the diversity -
    first 2 female fronted. 3rd fronted by BAME LGBT. 4th fronted by female BAME.

    For the avoidance of doubt, I state this as observation not criticism. Particularly as I loved 3rd and 4th at the time (although loved Natural
    Animal even more).

    James

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  • From Chris Brown@extreme_rice@yahoo.com to uk.music.charts on Fri Sep 11 23:53:42 2020
    From Newsgroup: uk.music.charts

    On 11/09/2020 13:00, James Heaton wrote:

    "Chris Brown" <extreme_rice@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:rje5ao$hg7$1@dont-email.me...
    On 02/09/2020 09:48, Mark Goodge wrote:
    This has already been mentioned in passing, so I thought I'd string
    together a playlist for it. I've also reformatted the list so that it
    works better in a text-only medium.

    Ta.

    It is a very Oasis-heavy chart (13 of the tracks are by them), and Blur
    (with 7) and Oasis together account for 20 of the 50.

    Yes, I did think this was a potential disadvantage of this format (and
    one they obviously tried to work around in the radio show) that the
    top end would inevitably be very Oasis-heavy. Those 13 tracks are
    literally all their 90s hits - unless you count 'Wibbling Rivalry' -
    plus one that was never a UK single.

    Other than those
    two, there are only seven acts that have more than a single entry -
    Catatonia and Ocean Colour Scene with two each, and Pulp, the Manics,
    Kula Shaker and The Verve with three each.

    Three Stereophonics tracks as well.

    Videos are mainly from the bands' (or their record labels') own YouTube
    channels, so it's mostly official videos all the way down. But there are >>> a couple of more obscure bands towards the bottom that don't seem to
    have an official presence on YouTube, so I've had to resort to fan
    uploads, which aren't quite as good quality.

    I can't believe that any of these acts are really that obscure, but
    then it often seems a bit random which videos aren't available on
    official channels; I'm sure it reflects all kinds of contractual stuff
    behind the scenes, but it's very opaque. For that matter some videos
    on official channels aren't the versions you might expect - and whilst
    it doesn't apply in this case, a surprising number of official
    channels are clearly uploading old VHS copies.

    And there's one well-known
    song which doesn't seem to have an official video at all, so I've had to >>> use the TotP appearance. Which is notable for a rather bizarre
    introduction by the presenters.

    I'm going to have have to watch it now because I'm sure I've seen
    videos for all 51 of these songs (but see above).

    There's no Spotify playlist as I don't have a Spotify account,

    I have.

    but if
    you want an audio-only version (and you can put up with Jo Whiley) you
    can listen to the Radio 2 countdown online, at least until it disappears >>> from the archives (get_iplayer FTW).

    I finished listening to it yesterday - which is why I was avoiding
    this post for fear of spoilers even though I had a pretty good idea
    what was going to be in there.


    The Radio 2 show also includes a
    selection of tracks that, if the record-buying public had had more
    taste, would have been in the top fifty!

    Or, a cynic might suggest, tracks that relate to star interviews
    they'd recorded before the chart was delivered. In order to
    accommodate that, they dropped several tracks from the Top 50 itself,
    mostly by acts with multiple entries.
    For the record, the "bonus" tracks were:
    Elastica - Connection
    Sleeper - Inbetweener [plus interview with Louise Wener]
    McAlmont & Butler - Yes [introduced by Johnny Marr]
    Johnny Marr's favourite Britpop record he said. Good of him not to pick
    one of the Marion records he produced.
    Echobelly - Great Things [introduced by Sonia Madan]

    Given how white and male Britpop was, these 4 also upped the diversity - first 2 female fronted.-a 3rd fronted by BAME LGBT.-a 4th fronted by
    female BAME.

    That had crossed my mind, although in fairness Britpop generally was a
    bit more diverse than it's sometimes given credit for, it's more that
    the biggest sellers weren't.

    For the avoidance of doubt, I state this as observation not criticism. Particularly as I loved 3rd and 4th at the time (although loved Natural Animal even more).

    You're not the only person who's said that recently. I've been listening
    to a lot of Echobelly lately and their music has aged pretty well. I've especially got into the Lustra album, which is probably their
    best-produced.

    Chris
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