When it comes to that defining mid-90s era known as Britpop, Australia has already nominated ‘Wonderwall’ by Oasis as the anthem of choice, and in fact, the best song of the last 20 years according to Triple J’s Hottest 100 anniversary of 2013.
But what about Britpop’s own natives? What does the UK think is the defining song of their patriotic musical boom?
That was the question put to the nation by BBC 6 Music, and over the weekend the radio station revealed the results of their listeners poll in a Top 30 countdown, crafted from more than 30,000 votes.
While Oasis performed strongly in the poll, scoring three songs in the Top 30 as well as ranking higher than famous former rivals Blur, the emblematic Britpop rockers lost out on gracing either of the top two positions on the poll.
Landing at #1 was none other than Pulp’s ‘Common People’, the 1995 single that preceded the band’s fifth album, Different Class. “It is one of the defining records of Britpop because it seemed to embrace the essence of the time so perfectly,” BBC 6 Music host Steve Lamacq said of the winner. “It is one of the defining records of Britpop… a big, bold anthem, but with a great narrative.”
“It was a big, bold anthem, but with a great narrative. And it seemed to sum up a feeling of ‘us and them’, as if to illustrate how the indie mavericks had taken on the pop stars and – for once – they’d won,” Lamacq said of the tune and frontman Jarvis Cocker’s lyrics; inspired by the real-life encounter with the Greek girl who “studied sculpture at Saint Martin’s College,” as mentioned in the song.
‘Common People’ reached the #1 spot over The Verve’s 1997 anthem ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ (at #2), as well as two …Morning Glory cuts from Oasis (‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ at #3, ‘Wonderwall’ at #4), followed by Blur (#5 & #7), Suede (#6), The Bluetones (#8), and another appearance from Pulp with ‘Disco 2000’ (at #9).
Rounding out the Top 10 was ‘Girl From Mars’ by Irish alt-rock band Ash (think of UK’s adoption of the northerners in the same way Australia co-opts New Zealand’s successes), while the Top 30 featured tunes from Radiohead, Supergrass, Elastica, Welsh rockers Manic Street Preachers, and a long list of bands that are likely only familiar to UK teens of the mid-90s (ever heard of My Life Story’s ’12 Reasons Why?’ Exactly).
The BBC 6 Music poll was conceived as part of a week-long celebration to mark 20 years since the height of Britpop. The biggest sign of how much things have changed in the two decades since the mid-90s boom isn’t so much the fact that Pulp and Oasis have retired, but that Noel Gallagher would much rather bury the hatchet and collaborate with Blur frontman Damon Albarn than be caught dead working with his brother Liam on an Oasis reunion.
View the full Greatest Britpop Anthems Top 30 below, along with Pulp’s ‘Common People’ music video (starring Sadie Frost – another Britpop ‘sign of the times’) below.
The Top 30 Britpop Anthems
via BBC 6 Music
- ‘Common People’ – Pulp
- ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ – The Verve
- ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ – Oasis
- ‘Wonderwall’ – Oasis
- ‘Parklife’ – Blur
- ‘Animal Nitrate’ – Suede
- ‘Girls And Boys’ – Blur
- ‘Slight Return’ – The Bluetones
- ‘Disco 2000’ – Pulp
- ‘Girl From Mars’ – Ash
- ‘The Bends’ – Radiohead
- ‘The Riverboat Song’ – Ocean Colour Scene
- ‘Alright’ – Supergrass
- ‘Wide Open Space’ – Mansun
- ‘Something For The Weekend’ – The Divine Comedy
- ‘She Said’ – Longpigs
- ’12 Reasons Why’ – My Life Story
- ‘Going For Gold’ – Shed 17
- ‘Trash’ – Suede
- ‘Everything Must Go’ – Manic Street Preachers
- ‘The Changing Man’ – Paul Weller
- ‘Inbetweener’ – Sleeper
- ‘Female Of The Species’ – Space
- ‘Line Up’ – Elastica
- ‘Staying Out For The Summer’ – Dodgy
- ‘Road Rage’ – Catatonia
- ‘Great Things’ – Echobelly
- ‘For The Dead’ – Gene
- ‘Wake Up Boo’ – The Boo Radleys
- ‘Ladykillers’ – Lush
