I saw the Britpop documentary Live Forever on BBC America over the weekend, and thought it was quite entertaining and hilarious, even though I didn't know a whole lot about the scene and the era. The movie frames the "Brit Pop Era" as the three years between the death of Kurt Cobain (Apr 1994) and Princess Di (Aug 1997), which isn't a very long era for something that claimed it will "live forever". It does for Oasis what The Filth & The Fury did for the Sex Pistols.
The story is told through interviews with the principals, including the Gallagher brothers (Noel comes off funny and intelligent, Liam as dumber than a bag of hammers), Damon Albarn of Blur (brooding and self-important), and Jarvis Cocker of Pulp (the most likable of the lot!). It touches on the Blur vs. Oasis "Battle of Britpop" in August 1995, when both bands put out new singles ("Country House" and "Roll With It") on the same week. This chart battle was seen as some large scale class-war in the tabloids, with the "gritty working class" (Oasis) against the "arty middle class" (Blur) and Noel quoted as saying he hoped Blur would "catch AIDS and die" for keeping Oasis out of the #1 spot. There's also a hilarious interview with the Oasis tribute band Wonderwall (who are stone serious in their laddism) , and an interesting look at how Tony Blair's New Labour movement won the general election in 1997 by aligning themselves with the "hard playing" Britpop generation.
Back then, it was hard for me to separate the songs (Oasis, Blur, and Pulp were all decent bands) from the obnoxious singers, so I gave the whole Britpop scene a wide berth. I think the music itself has aged a lot better than post-grunge squall. In hindsight, I've gained an admiration for early Blur (thanks to Graham Coxon's solo work) and the first two Oasis albums, so maybe Britpop will live.. at least longer than I thought it would.
And I only missed one question on BBC America's BritPop Quiz.
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