What is Brit-Pop?

[Jonathan]

I would never, ever call Squeeze "Britpop." They simply don't fit the timeframe.

[rocketman70]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

Obviously, you've never seen me rock out to "Tracy Jacks"


and that's probably a good thing.

Heh, now that would be sight to see. Um, no.

Great song though.

[Rafe]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

I would never, ever call Squeeze "Britpop." They simply don't fit the timeframe.

Or style. Or anything remotely comparable to what was Britpop.

[Shimmercore]

You guys forgot The LA's!

[Rafe]

I will never forget The La's.

[rcc94]

One of my favorite "Greatest Hits" albums is Squeeze's Singles - 45's and under. It's copyrighted 1982. It scares me how long ago that is getting to be.

Most of my favorite bands/artist were actively performing and recording 1978-1983 in the UK (and Ireland) - The Police, Duran Duran, U2, XTC, Peter Gabriel, The Smiths, and Elvis Costello. (Thus my love of the woxy vintage channel . )

[JSpaceman]

Originally Posted by Rafe

New wave started the day Lydon left the Pistols and formed PIL. It all snowballed from there.

Good call on that one.

Originally Posted by Shimmercore

You guys forgot The LA's!

I think I mentioned them in the other Britpop thread.

[the happy prole]

To me, Britpop begins with Suede. Suede wanted to be the biggest band in the world and they weren't embarassed to admit it. In fact, they'd tell you every chance they got. Blur, Oasis, Pulp-- all of them were larger than life and completely cultivated that rockstar image.

I think BritPOP is a great name. It reflects the fact that pop success and the charts were an integral part of those bands. You just can't really see Morrissey, Robert Smith, or any of the shoegazers crowing about the number of records they sold in the way the Britpop bands did.

[Rafe]

Originally Posted by the happy prole

You just can't really see Morrissey, Robert Smith, or any of the shoegazers crowing about the number of records they sold in the way the Britpop bands did.

True.

[The Telescopes] Our single "7th # Disaster sold 425 copies. We are the future! [/The Telescopes]

[JSpaceman]

What? Four didn't chime in? Consider me shocked and disappointed...

[Jonathan]

He was too busy shoving cotton into his ears after that Toploader album...

[malheureux]

Originally Posted by Rafe

Great band, Good blokes! They are difficult to pigeon-hole, as they were definitely born out of the pub-rock scene of the late 70's. "Take me, I'm yours" was possibly a new wave tune, and one of their early efforts - trying to find a sound to get their break, it's widely thought. Once established, I think they were simply intelligent pop, or as some said "the new Lennon and Mcartney" refering to Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook).

god. now this is another band that i really, truly adore. squeeze is definately in my top ten, if not top five. 'take me i'm yours' i would agree, is new wave-ish, more than anything else, and i would agree with rafe, in that they were terribly difficult to label as far as sound. i mean, they started in the mid-to-late 70's, which i don't think would count as britpop, however, they do have some quite poppy, and snotty kind of tunes. it's almost pop/softpunk/new wave to me. take 'cool for cats', for example: great tune with a fantastic beat, snotty lyrics, but new wave instumentation and tone. it's the jam though. or 'goodbye girl' - i would say this is pretty poppy, plus it was a bit later than cats. 'up the junction' is one of the saddest songs, lyrically, in their collection, but is somewhat uptempo, like a britpop number. their later stuff, like 'black coffee in bed' or 'tempted' was not even in the park anymore, but still pretty solid [well, except 'tempted', which i think is a dud].

i was thrilled to discover that when they were contacted about doing the vh1 'bands reunited' show, they flatly refused. brilliant.

i love this band. very much. it's a true sight to see me driving along somewhere, rocking out to 'cool for cats'...

[JSpaceman]

Originally Posted by malheureux

[well, except 'tempted', which i think is a dud].

Are ya serious? I know that's one of those cliche songs that EVERYONE seems to like to the point it gets overplayed eventually (as is Brown Eyed Girl, for example) but it's STILL such a great tune. And I'll always love those backing vocals in the tune. And I'll agree on "Up The Junction." I think that was the first Squeeze song I ever heard and it's still definitely one of my favourites. Great lyrics.

Funny, I'd been trying for a couple of months to find the jingle that they did for Dr. Pepper in the mid-80's just for shits and giggles and finally came up with it today. Weird, but funny.

[Rafe]

"Cool For Cats" is a fun tune. You want a self-deprecating, funny song full of pathos about living in a working class London back in the early 80's, "Up The Junction" is it. Brilliant.

Nice post, Malheureux.

[skidminix]

MalH - every day our taste in music converges a bit more! Well, except that I really love Tempted. (I mean, when Chris sings "The people keep on crowding"... it's like magic.) What I consider the true "dud" is "Loving You Tonight", which was the follow up to Tempted when Paul Carrack rejoined the group for the Some Fantastic Place album (one of my least favorite of theirs).

JSpace - where can I find this Dr. Pepper jingle of theirs???

[JSpaceman]

Originally Posted by skidminix

JSpace - where can I find this Dr. Pepper jingle of theirs???

I'll upload it to Yousend it when I get a chance. It's nothing spectacular, but still interesting to hear...

[skidminix]

Originally Posted by JSpaceman

I'll upload it to Yousend it when I get a chance. It's nothing spectacular, but still interesting to hear...

Cool, thanks. I *am* a completist, so you know I've got to add it to the collection...

[malheureux]

Originally Posted by skidminix

MalH - every day our taste in music converges a bit more! Well, except that I really love Tempted. (I mean, when Chris sings "The people keep on crowding"... it's like magic.) What I consider the true "dud" is "Loving You Tonight", which was the follow up to Tempted when Paul Carrack rejoined the group for the Some Fantastic Place album (one of my least favorite of theirs).

JSpace - where can I find this Dr. Pepper jingle of theirs???

okay fellas, i stand corrected. it's not that i think it's a total dud, it's just a dud for them. i guess tv has ruined another jam, with it being on a commercial for dentyne ice or some crap like that. 'loving you tonght' is utter terds, i will agree with you completely on this one.
i will also say the magic moment in temped for me is this:

At my bedside empty pocket
A foot without a sock
Your body gets much closer
I fumble for the clock
Alarmed by the seduction
I wish it would stop

genius. sorry to offend all you 'brown eyed girl' lovers out there!
i too, would like to hear this jingle, by the way...

[skidminix]

Originally Posted by malheureux

okay fellas, i stand corrected. it's not that i think it's a total dud, it's just a dud for them. i guess tv has ruined another jam, with it being on a commercial for dentyne ice or some crap like that. 'loving you tonght' is utter terds, i will agree with you completely on this one.
i will also say the magic moment in temped for me is this:

At my bedside empty pocket
A foot without a sock
Your body gets much closer
I fumble for the clock
Alarmed by the seduction
I wish it would stop

YES!!! And you've pointed out another reason why I don't watch tv commercials or listen to commercial radio (when I can avoid it) - I don't get sick of the songs I've always loved...

[JSpaceman]

Difford & Tilbrook for Squeeze