WHO REMEMBERS? The UK Nostalgia Podcast
Join amateur historians Andrew and Liam (thrice bronze medalists in 'The South Yorkshire Rememberers Chalice') as they take a trip back to life in Britain during the eighties, nineties and noughties to discuss the pop culture moments that defined a nation.
Do you remember when Del boy fell through the bar, when Marathon bars changed their name to Snickers or when Paul Sykes punched a shark? If so then come and remember with us. If not then stick around and we will remember for you. This is literally a no lose siduation (situation).
WHO REMEMBERS? The UK Nostalgia Podcast
Who Remembers........Blur vs Oasis?
Remember when music divided a nation? August 14, 1995 marked a cultural phenomenon when Blur and Oasis, the two giants of Britpop, went head-to-head in a chart battle that transcended music to become front-page news and national conversation.
We unravel the fascinating story behind this legendary showdown - how Blur deliberately scheduled "Country House" against Oasis's "Roll With It," creating the highest-selling week for UK singles in a decade. The rivalry wasn't simply about chart positions; it represented deeper divisions in British society: north versus south, working-class versus middle-class, raw authenticity versus artistic experimentation.
Beyond the music, we explore the bitter personal feuds, with Liam Gallagher confronting Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher making outrageous comments that fueled tabloid headlines. Decades later, these fierce rivals have reconciled, with Gallagher and Albarn becoming friends and collaborators, giving this cultural moment even greater poignancy.
For those who lived through it, the Britpop battle remains a vivid memory of summer 1995 when choosing between Blur or Oasis felt like an essential declaration of identity. For newer listeners, it offers fascinating insight into a time when popular music genuinely shaped the cultural landscape.
Join us as we celebrate this pivotal moment that defined a generation and ask the eternal question: were you Blur or Oasis?
Hello and welcome to the podcast. Who Remembers?
Speaker 2:In this episode we are remembering the Britpop something called the internet.
Speaker 1:Stop shouting, say scoop, but none of the locals got puddling.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's for me. No bottle this, kids. I can't speak. You can't win anything with kids. Pac-man One of the superstar video games in the business.
Speaker 1:Did you threaten to overrule me?
Speaker 2:Before we kick a fool again, remember when it's the lowest form of conversation.
Speaker 1:This is the.
Speaker 2:Hello, liam, before we start cards on the table, this wasn't supposed to be coming out for this episode, were it? This was supposed to be episode 3.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you stick with us, you'll find that we do sometimes have technical difficulties, and on this occasion we have lost michael barrymore yeah, so we had to re-record the ending of the first episode because, um, we were going to do michael barrymore next, the story of michael barrymore. Unfortunately, because we're using zoom at the moment, uh, we had to split up into two parts and I don't know if I pressed record we think we did record it, but we haven't got a recording when the final recording is done.
Speaker 2:So we were going to go with half Barrymore, but then we thought, fuck it, we'll just re-record, we'll just do it later today it's not the most controversial thing that's ever happened around Michael Barrymore, but it's frustrating. So this is who Remembers podcast and you know thing that's ever happened around Michael Barrymore, but yeah, it's frustrating. Yeah, certainly the top one. So this is who Remembers podcast. And you know we're not into dates and facts and shit, are we, liam? Really? We're talking about moments from the past that resonated with us and hopefully you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we were there. We remember it. We hope you remember it. If you don't, we still think you could take something from us remembering it. But this, I think this is certainly for me like I remember it really well, but this is right in your wheelhouse, isn't it?
Speaker 2:This is your area.
Speaker 1:If you're on Mastermind, this could be your kind of your question.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah yeah, well, like I say, I'm not very good at I'm a bit like what's his name.
Speaker 2:Paul Sykes. I'm a bit like paul sites I don't read dealer, I don't read stats, I go out and have a look. But yeah, I think this went as far as changing my life not, um, and obviously I'm not. I became a massive music fan on the back of this, to the point where I still go to loads of gigs and festivals and spend all my money, most of my money, on music and stuff, and it all came really. I were into music before ub40 and queen were my, my two, uh, when I was really young and madness, and all that came really. I were into music before ub40 and queen when I my two, when I was really young and madness, and all that um, and I had, uh, now that's what I call dance as well, so a bit cool, and now, well, that's what I call reggae, um, but it was the battle of brit pop really, like that really got me into music. What do you remember around this time? So we're talking 1994, 95, brit pop so you've.
Speaker 1:You've sort of given me a little bit of pre-prep on this. My memory at the time was I couldn't really see the fuss and you're going to set the scene and give a lot more flesh on the bones. But I was never, and have never been, that impressed by Blur, so I never really saw it as a battle. I really liked Oasis. I do to this day that, other than the sort of music that you listen to in the car, that your mum or your dad plays when you're little. Oasis are probably the band that I first got into that I still listen to regularly. Um so, yeah, I mean you're right, sort of lasting impact on my life this era. But it but it didn't sort of it didn't give me that jolt that you got into like, wow, I want to go and experience loads of live music. I just thought Oasis were brilliant and I didn't think that much of Blur at the time.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, I'll go through the story and you can butt in or whatever and ask some questions along the way about what you were thinking. But this is obviously known as the Battle of Britpop. We're not going to go massively into Britpop. We might do it at a later date. You know the rest of Britpop, the best of the rest, or whatever.
Speaker 1:Sorry, just so. What defined? You might not know the answer, but what was the definition of Britpop then? Just pop music from Britain? Is it as vague as that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're just a music journalist. So the music journalist John Harris, who wrote a brilliant book called the last party, he thinks that brit pop started with the blur song pop scene that sent you just before we recorded. Actually, he thinks that's, that's when brit pop started and it just became a a scene they just popped from britain, wasn't it?
Speaker 1:he sort of had to have that indie feel to it.
Speaker 2:Guitars yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah because I don't think you're the class spy skills as brit pop or you know, certainly not take that or anything like that. But I think Suede were probably the first band out of the clutch of what people called Britpop, what they got called Britpop and they used to get like attention from magazines and stuff like that. Their debut album actually became the fastest-selling in UK history in 1993. It got beat by, definitely maybe the year after, but they were the biggest one out of the lot. Suede. You're a fan of Suede. I'm a massive fan of Suede, I have to admit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't mind him. I like some of their songs.
Speaker 2:I don't like his voice no.
Speaker 1:I don't mind it. I don't mind it, but this was an era, though, and I don time. Yeah, we've hit the 40 mark now. Yeah, big time. But yeah, I remember at the time what? Just a lot of sort of what's the word? Like vibrancy, like they were on magazine covers and it's interesting, this, yeah I just remember sort of you couldn't help but be aware of it, whereas now I don't.
Speaker 2:I don't feel that now in the music industry anymore yeah, I mean man, I don't know how much is that. You know them Facebook posts that you get like. Remember at the 70s you could leave your door wide open and no one came in yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't want to say maybe we are getting to that stage, I don't know. I'd like to talk to people who were from the 80s or grew up in the 80s, teenagers in the 80s and the people who grew up after the 90s, because to me it's the best era. But I grew up in that era and I want to know how much is that just me literally going ooh remembers, or it was actually that good?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know. We can only live our own lives, can't we?
Speaker 2:Let us know in the comments. Smash a like.
Speaker 1:Like and subscribe. Yeah, Let us know in the comments.
Speaker 2:Smash a like, like and subscribe. Yeah, so 1994,. Anyway, blur were really struggling. They'd had a hit in 91 with there's no other way, there's no other way. But their debut album, Leisure, wasn't that well received and the second album, modern Life is Rubbish, sold pretty poorly and grunge was the biggest scene in Britain and it sort of changed overnight where Girls and Boys by Blur became a really unexpected top five hit in March 1994 and the month after that Kurt Cobain died, just as Blur. Basically the week before or whatever. That Blur released Part Life and it all changed all that grunge sound, the end of grunge, and it seems to just happen. Girls and Boys came out. I'm not saying that's why Kurt Cobain killed himself, but a month later he died. He obviously shot himself, and then Part Life came out and Blur were the biggest band in Britain throughout 1994, really Do.
Speaker 1:You know what just blows my mind now? I never felt that I don't doubt your facts. I'm sure that's true, but it never felt to me like there was any sort of real battle there.
Speaker 2:I I saw, yeah, well, I mean alan mcgee, uh, oasis manager, sorry, creation records, uh, founder, and what oasis record label he said, but this point blur were four times bigger than oasis and I don't know how he's measured that, whether, whether that means sales or whatever, but part of what I mean. Look, oasis just burst onto the scene. To quote Micah Richards, live Forever had gone top 10. That were the third single and definitely maybe did become the fastest selling British album of all time, which beats Suede from the year before. But and, by the way, they held that until 2006, which and, by the way, they held that until 2006, which is, it's not like that were being broken all the time. Do you know who broke it in 2006? Pretty obvious.
Speaker 1:Another band, 2006. Hold on, it's not a great list, is it? I'm just trying to think what was happening around 2006. So we were, you know this, some huge phenomenon. Um, is it something related to one of the reality TV shows? No I don't know if.
Speaker 2:I know, I'll tell you the band, it's the Arctic Monkeys. I think he's selling it British, I think he's selling debut album. Ah, debut, right, okay, debut album. Last night, these two bouncers and one of them.
Speaker 1:I'm still surprised by that, though I saw someone say that I don't see that as obvious, by the way.
Speaker 2:What Arctic Monkeys? I think the Arctic Monkeys are the only band that sort of got close to that hype that Oasis got yeah, but we were in the middle of the Sheffield bubble, weren't we? Maybe I didn't know, they had that initial worldwide success. Yeah, they're pretty big, obviously, even in America. I think they sold possibly more than Oasis in America. I'm not sure I saw someone say that they should re-record their first album with his new style. They're like Les Ned, these two bouncers you know like in his era. Imagine that.
Speaker 1:Amazing. I bet that you look good on the dance floor. The dance floor. I don't think it'd be it.
Speaker 2:Now I'm out of bum, I'm in trouble. I can't imagine it. Anyway, it soon became clear that, despite all these other bands popping up and what were classed as Britpop, like Elastica and Pulp, who started in the 80s I know you're a big fan of the early 80s- I wasn't aware of it until you sent it to me maybe 18 months ago, but yeah, the early stuff is quite sort of Smithsy I.
Speaker 2:I think it's really good so yeah, they came out before the Smiths Paul. Paul released an album before the Smiths did mad um echo belly or another one would do super grass and cast today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, they're all yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, super grass car Dodger. They were involved. If it's good enough for you, it's good. Men's were there there were, but it was pretty clear that Oasis and Blur were by far the most popular. Pulp were big, but Oasis and Blur were just miles bigger. Blur won Best Band at 1994 Brit Awards and Damon came on stage and said I think this should have been shared with Oasis and he genuinely meant it, though it wasn't like being a dick I don't like that though You're not reckoning, you think it's a bit Just own your success, just say I think it should have been shared with Oasis.
Speaker 1:Well, I suppose it's a nice thing. I just don't like it.
Speaker 2:Well, the first signs of a rivalry hit, really hit the press when Oasis got their first number one in April 95, as some might say. Some might say yeah, and at the celebration party David Albarn attended to congratulate them, only to be I've read, this is like quoted only to be confronted by liam gallagher who was constantly saying we're fucking number one mate, right in his face. After that, alburn said he just wanted to get the better of them and that that is in terms of what, but we'll never really know like because. But how it started, because in recent years Noel Gallagher and Alan McGee have both said that the fallout started with Liam and Damon, both sort of going after the same girl or bedding the same girl. So I don't know if there were a few things you know murmuring, but in terms of the press, that's the first sort of sign that we got where he went to say oh well done Liam. And first sort of sign that we got where he went to say oh well done liam. And liam says yeah, you've not had a fucking number one, have you? You prick one mate, it's time. So I'm fucking damon's pissed off.
Speaker 2:And oasis uh, when oasis scheduled their next single, followed. Some might say roll with it, damon, all food records which would blur his record label probably. Damon decided to put country house, which were they're going to be their next single, out on the same day. Oasis moved it back because they said look, we've got the two biggest bands in England here. What's the point of putting them out on the same day? Because it'll just affect both sales. You know what I mean. Young kids can probably only afford to buy one.
Speaker 2:Fucking. Blur moved it back again. So they were proper, so they wanted to fight then, didn't they? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they were like no, no, no. So then Noetis said, well, fuck it. And Creation Records did try and talk Noel Gallagher down from. He says I'll just move it back again. And Noel was like no, we'll fucking, we'll do it, we'll go for it. So Blur were really really fucking.
Speaker 1:What was the date? By the way, then I was supposed to put it back, but what was the actual?
Speaker 2:date. It was released August the 14th 1995. And this is why it's so resonant in my eyes, in my head. Should I say is because it's summer? Do you know what I mean? Every day was sunny in that for me. Do you know what I mean? In that era, these two fucking songs were going head to head.
Speaker 1:You had Supergrass out and Pulp and all these amazing bands. Yeah, we'd gone to secondary school, got the first year out of the way. Yeah, Playing football on the fields. And yeah, like you say, every day was hot and sunny, wasn't it?
Speaker 2:Before I forget, do you know what the number three song was? Because obviously Blurring Oasis. But I've got number one and two slots in this battle and I looked at this recently and I forgot.
Speaker 1:No, I think you're in danger of making me look stupid with some of these.
Speaker 2:Well, no, I think you're in danger of making me look stupid with some of these. I don't know if anyone would have got that. You remember the original. I love you baby.
Speaker 1:I love you baby. I love you baby the original.
Speaker 2:I think that's the only song that he did. I could be wrong with that was it called the original no, no, no. The artists were called the original, the song was called I love you baby. I love you baby.
Speaker 1:I love you baby do you like the songs anyway?
Speaker 2:oh yeah, yeah. A lot of repetition. So roll with it in country house, go head to head. I mean, I would ask you I know the answer to this because we've talked about before you think both of these songs are pretty shit by the standards of the bands, aren't you?
Speaker 1:yeah, I mean we've talked about before that I'm probably a unique Oasis fan. I think you've said before that you don't believe there's another Oasis fan in the world who has the same two favourite Oasis songs as me.
Speaker 2:No, these are mad. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So Talk Tonight and she Is Love are my two favourite ever Oasis songs.
Speaker 2:Talk Tonight yeah she Is. Love is a crazy show. People say it sounds like Free Love Freeway by David Brennan. Free love, I want a free love freeway.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, if anything that makes me like it more. But yeah, no, roll with it, it's all right. It's all right.
Speaker 2:I don't mind it. It's just Oasis by numbers, though, isn't it? It's just like I imagine you wrote it in about a second.
Speaker 1:It is like AI O yeah, but I think I don't think country house is a bad song. I just I don't like the delivery of the song. It's a bit like Bob.
Speaker 2:Dylan.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just don't get some of the pronunciations of the vowels and just find it irritating, even to this day, like I would never. If it came on the radio and the car I would never leave it playing. I would always skip to another station because it not like ah, fucking blur. I don't mind blur, the fine, I just can't. Yeah, I don't like this song to listen to. It's not nice on your ears.
Speaker 2:They were a great like, because you're lying in country on his chest, so he needs a lot like that in the country yeah, it's like I don't know, but yeah, he's. Yeah, there's a line in it where he goes. He's got morning glory and life's a different story. And they asked Noel Gallagher, what did you think? And he goes. I tried to fit the title of one of their songs in one of my songs, but I couldn't fit. Bag of shit anyway, imagine that.
Speaker 1:But I mean look, the greatest game. Do you think there's any implication there that he so what's the story of Morning Glory then? Is he saying that I don't?
Speaker 2:think so. No, because they came out at the same time they were recording it at the same time, I think. I think that's just a weird because it's not for having a nod on, isn't it? Yeah, waking up aroused, I would say yeah. But talking of Morning Glory, why the fuck didn't Oasis release that instead of Roll With it? Or Champagne Supernova.
Speaker 1:Or she's Electric.
Speaker 2:Or all these fucking hello. Do you know what I mean? All these songs are so much better than Roll With it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're ahead and that's I think. That's why I'd say he's quite brave of oasis because I don't know how well they rated it.
Speaker 2:Maybe, no, probably, he must have, I mean rocking chair, were a b-side rocking chair is a far better song than roll yeah, that's gonna be. I mean like even blur. To be fair, it weren't a great album, great escape, but they had the universal. Do you know it really really get british gas out there now? Yeah? Yeah it's a far better song, yeah. So anyway, like I said, August 14th 1995, Roll With it and Country House go head-to-head, Do you remember watching it on.
Speaker 2:Top of the Pops. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you remember it being on the news, the main news? Because I do. They were on the front page of all the newspapers and everything. But it felt a little bit like when you were at school you had to pick a team. Do you know what I mean? Like you had to like. It's like that Father Ted thing, isn't it? Are you a blur or a wisest? That's the terrible Irish accent. What was that? Blur or a wisest?
Speaker 1:Sound like the IT guy out of the Office.
Speaker 2:Sound like Lloyd Grossman.
Speaker 1:Blur or a Y-sis. Yeah Well, I think maybe that sort of fed into it as well, because I think all of my sort of my circle, my close circle of friends and family, I think everybody just preferred a Y. I just think there was no. I don't recall being mates with any Blur fans at the time.
Speaker 2:I remember your, because people don't know. I used to go to school with your missus and I remember that I don't know if you were, I'm pretty sure she preferred blur. I can't really remember, but I do remember the girls in our class having damon alburn on their pencil cases and what have you do? You know what I mean. Rather than liam gallagher, I think you were quite uh, I think at that point it was seen as like the more handsome chap of the two, so he might have got the girl.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know what you mean probably the female favorite, yeah, um yeah, um, but like I say before this, I was into music but this made me an obsessive. I was so locked into this all week and and I genuinely couldn't choose a favorite. I thought, obviously, at this point I thought they were both brilliant songs, because I've not really heard anything like that, if you know what I mean, like there's a modern band coming out with songs like so catchy, like that. I did prefer country house, though, I have to admit, but this made me get into, maybe by, definitely, maybe in part, life, um and for whatever, I don't know, shit expression shaped my musical journey. That's a terrible. I don't know shit expression shaped my musical journey. That's a terrible. I don't like that, but you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, through these two. So for all your success you've had today, it's thanks to Oasis and Blue.
Speaker 2:Yeah exactly, yeah, without living with a Maidly-themed tune. That would never have happened. Imagine that if you went for Country House versus Roller there. But through this I got into the Beatles, the Stones, fucking Kinks, sex Pistol, all these bands and it all sparked from there. So it's a massive sort of thing for me. But anyway, you do know we got to number one. We know we won this battle. It was the best week for UK sales in a decade and Country, how many did you have to get now to get to number one?
Speaker 1:I think it's double figures isn't it About 15.
Speaker 2:I think if we pushed our theme tune for this, we'd possibly get a top 40. Blurred Country House sold 274,000 copies in the first week. Crazy and Roll With it sold 216,000. So they started at number one and number two respectively. So hard lines on the original.
Speaker 1:But this was just before, like I mean, I was never into it as much as you, but singles felt really accessible. Then you could nip into town and buy a single for like £2.60 or whatever it was.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I think 99p for a cassette, I'm pretty sure. Just on that, by the way, controversies See what you think of this. Nolan Gallagher said they were a barcode issue with a lot of the Roll With it singles, and he believes that a lot of the sales didn't actually go through. Do you think that's just sour grapes?
Speaker 1:But how would he know? I don't understand what that means. How would it be a recorded sale then?
Speaker 2:How would he know they sold it if they didn't record it as a sold? He just said, there were some CDs that were given out and the barcode had an issue, so it probably wouldn't have scanned. I don't know if that's just sour grapes.
Speaker 1:I don't think it makes sense. I think you'd have to scan the barcode for it to pay for it. You wouldn't just say, say nothing's coming up, but just give us three quid and take it. Imagine that Biggest scratch-off battle, like in a decade, I mean he might know something we don't, but he's far closer to it, which is certainly closer to it than I was. But yeah, I don't know anything about any Barco issues.
Speaker 2:Imagine if you were closer to it somehow. I'm also managing both fans at this point. I'm also managing both bands at this point, but this is weird. This is like something that I think he has got to point out. Country House there were two different versions of Country House. I've heard two different versions of Country House and they featured different B-sides and both of them counted towards the final sales. So if you're a massive Blur fan, you're getting both of them. You'd have to buy both. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But to be honest, in the end I think contrast was just simply the more catchier to the casual music fan yeah, that's interesting, though.
Speaker 1:Like, is that a bit sort of?
Speaker 2:yeah, you used to be able to do it, gary barlow, once. I think you have three, do you know? For keep on walking down that open road. I'm pretty sure because I used to go into hmv a lot and I remember like there were fucking I'm sure it was that song there were three different single versions. I'm like, what's he doing? Like, just put him on an album.
Speaker 1:Why have you got three singles out? This is my third version of the song where I'm going to sing it. Is that one of the most do?
Speaker 2:you remember, like when he left Take that and everyone thought he was going to do a George Michael. You know what I mean, george, because he's obviously a songwriter and everything. It's got to be the most disappointing return for any sort of no one thought his songs were going to be that boring once he'd left.
Speaker 1:I think he's used a lot of his hits up, hasn't he? He'd written some really good stuff as a younger chap and then it just weren't there for him anymore, so he'd given all his hits out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, open Road. It's not a good song. Keep on walking down that open road and obviously Robbie fucks him up. We might do that. Actually, when Robbie left, take that Anyway, despite Sorry. Yeah, so after all the releases, it didn't calm down really. Blur went on Top of the Pops You're asking about Top of the Pops and Blair Bates' Alex James wore an Oasis t-shirt, so do you think that's a bit chica?
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's that sort of chap, though he's got that in him, is he a?
Speaker 2:winemaker or something. Now, Cheese man isn't. He Loves his cheese, loves his cheese. But he got really nasty when Noel Gallagher said that he helped Damon Albarn and Alex James caught AIDS and died.
Speaker 1:Before retracting the comment that was a really low moment. We didn't go to his birthday yeah, yeah, yeah, it wasn't Neil Gallagher no, no, he sent a message to, so he was doing a birthday thing, but he'd arranged it, I think, short notice at a place. That kind of didn't work. People had other stuff on and also kind of losing touch with him at the time. But he asked us all to this thing and nobody went basically, which is obviously not great on our part.
Speaker 2:No, no, it weren't that. He organised his birthday for the week before and we all went on that, but he couldn't make it for his own birthday so he did some other week later, so the week he goes oh, we'll do it week after, and everyone's saying I can't now, I've got plans. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So he picked out one of the sort of five or six of us and sent a message to him saying you lot can all have cancer. And he named one by one who he thought could have cancer. And then, about two hours later because I'd escaped it at this point he sent a message saying yeah, liam can have it as well. Yeah, oh, yeah, for two hours.
Speaker 2:Yeah, two hours later. Oh yeah, and Liam can have it as well. Yeah, he got pissed on his own and got angry and wished death upon anyone. So you know, it's not just Noel Gallagher who says things in the heat of the.
Speaker 1:Moment.
Speaker 2:But two hours though he was chewing on it. Graham Coxon, blur, guitarist at the Celebration Party for Blur, tried to jump out of a window and he says that he felt like he was forced into enjoying the moment. He said it was a hollow, pointless victory and he just wanted to be alone. You what? Yeah, tried to jump out of a window. I don't know how you'd like. What does he mean? He got like talked down, I think it was Damon actually On the ledge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't think it was like a suicide attempt, but I think he wanted to. He says that he basically wanted someone to know there's real people involved.
Speaker 1:How did you try to do it, though? Maybe it was just a cry for help, maybe it made me think of once. So we've got a bulldog an old English bulldog, and one we've got a new Hoover that were a lot louder than the old one. I started using that, and she'd ran and jumped at the window but just smashed into it, so I fell backwards.
Speaker 2:Suicide attempt.
Speaker 1:I just sort of ran and yeah Jumped out the window. Yeah, so she was fine, no dogs were.
Speaker 2:That's fantastic, yeah. Yeah, I think what he was trying to say. He said later that it was almost like they weren't people. It was all these record company people saying brilliant, we're like, hang on, we're real people. I think it was probably a cry for help, as if to say but is there some argument?
Speaker 1:though that obviously they got lost in this moment, then seemingly Well, yeah, I'll get on to that.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I mean whatever you think. Well, yeah, I'll get on to that. Oh yeah, I mean whatever you think the hype. Well, it was terrible marketing for Blur long-term, but at this moment they'd obviously won the battle. So, like you say, I mean the undoubted loss to Warblur. This is what's so interesting, I think, about this story is Blur won it. Blur's got the cock of the war. I mean he's wearing his Oasis T-shirt, noel Gallagher's losing plot saying fucking helps people get AIDS and stuff. But then Mourning Glory came out, the album, and it just fucking dwarfed the Great Escape in terms of sales and Oasis became the biggest band in England by far, arguably the biggest band since the Beatles.
Speaker 1:At that point, I mean, that moment was absolutely huge. I remember my brother actually bought the album I didn't buy it and we used to listen to it all the time. And I remember my mate's dad I think he got a copied version of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my dad liked it, and he only liked purely black soul music.
Speaker 1:Well, he was sort of certainly wasn't into this anyway, but yeah, he loved it by the way.
Speaker 2:The reason I said black soul music is because he will not listen to white soul music. It has to be yeah.
Speaker 1:Not authentic.
Speaker 2:No, no, I don't think it's authentic enough.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I remember like telling him oh, yeah, it's really good, because in the sort of CD sleeve it's got all the lyrics in it. And he went, oh, can I borrow it? And I remember him copying and handwriting them all out, so he'd got all the lyrics. Yeah, crazy though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was like an absolute phenomenon. And obviously it peaked when they paid 250,000 people at Nebworth. 4% of the population tried for tickets for that and they could have sold that two weeks solid at Nebworth, which they only did two nights. They could have done two weeks. Liam said they should still be playing now. Should you keep?
Speaker 1:going playing it forever. I don't think they should mention that stat though, because that doesn't sound that impressive to me. 4% of the population.
Speaker 2:What's 4% of 60 million? You're the mathematician out of the two of us.
Speaker 1:Well, what's 1%? Then It'd be 0.06 million. So how many 4?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so It'd be 0.06 million. So how many Four? Yeah, so it's about 2.4 million or something like that. Yeah, a lot of people wanted to go to one single gig. This is not a tour, that's just one gig in the middle of some fucking field somewhere.
Speaker 1:Anyway. So they were massive. I imagine it'd be like every one in two.
Speaker 2:I suppose this is including like babies and old people and stuff in it. Yeah, yeah, good point. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that holds nowadays. Um, yeah, so, anyway. So, but on the other hand, blur were a national joke because oasis were the coolest band going and they just continued to take the piss out of blur, so it made blur the least cool band. Like at the of the moment they'd gone from winning this battle to literally a couple of months later to just being like a fucking national joke. So like when Oasis won Brit Awards, they all sang. What did they say? Like they said I want to thank all the people. Shite life. Do you know what I mean? It was just constantly. It was really childish, but it was just showing again how much Oasis had beat Blur and they were pointing at him, laughing at him, and Damon said about this time he said Noel Gallagher used to take the piss out of me constantly and it really really hurt. Oasis were like the bullies that I used to put up with at school.
Speaker 1:So it's just, you know it just, but it sort of felt like that they almost tried to bully the bully and it just came back on them.
Speaker 2:That's the bully and it just came back on them, that's what it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they got too cocky with the wrong person and it it came back to buy him.
Speaker 2:I don't think they understood as well. I don't think they couldn't handle fame anywhere near as well as oasis. Neither.
Speaker 1:This were amazing, by the way you know, if you want to sort of do like trash talk and and anger. Yeah, they were quite a sort of little group of posh boys coming up against sort of quite rough council state guys, and yeah, I don't think they ever got over that?
Speaker 2:yeah, because it became. Whatever you think of the bands it did became more of a well, the waiters are cooler because they're harder, you know like to younger people and they're gonna just say you're a prick and people love all that sort of stuff not that they kind of ever came to a physical fight.
Speaker 1:but I can imagine Damon sort of saying, yeah, well, maybe they live in a dirty house, and him saying well, fuck you, man you fucking wanker. I don't know.
Speaker 2:I'm going to alienate a lot of Wednesday supporters who won't listen to us. But it's a bit like Chris Wilder and Danny Rolls. You might say Danny Rolls has got the more class. You might say Danny Roll has got the he's more arty. But he's going well. Let's see who wins the next game. Whereas he's on a table singing sausage rolls. You know what I mean? He's got all the people like Look like I said this was fucking awful for Blur. They went into it as the biggest band in England. They ended it as just being an. I mean they were still commercially successful after I got onto. I mean they were still commercially successful after, as I'll get on to. But they were just a joke. They were the butt of everybody's jokes because of this battle that they won.
Speaker 1:Surely, though, they still had a. They weren't the butt of everyone's joke, were they?
Speaker 2:Because people still loved Blur yeah they were still the, but your average man on the street sort of lost interest in Blur, didn't they?
Speaker 1:And they were all about Oasis, I think.
Speaker 2:but all about Oasis, I think yeah. So I mean, I'd say I don't know who took the piss out of more Oasis, either Blur or Phil Collins. I like both of them, but Phil Collins was fucking so uncool at this period, weren't he? I mean, he's not amazingly cool now, but this was the peak of Phil Collins' uncoolness, and a lot of that was because Oasis were the biggest band in England England and they were just slagging him off all the time and Blur were put into that category. Phil Collins sold loads of records, but it weren't cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. No, it's interesting, isn't it? Well, I hope it is, because that's the point of the episode. But yeah, like you say, they won the big battle, but actually it just led to an absolute. Do you?
Speaker 2:think Mentally as well. I think not just commercially, do you think?
Speaker 1:I don't know if you've already touched on this, but do you think directly winning that battle caused their doubt? Do you think if they'd lost to Oasis that they'd have been a little bit more humble? People maybe would have felt a little bit sorry for them and thought well, they're good, they're good, they're just not as good as Oasis, but do you think it was the sort of cockiness, of winning it. That killed him ultimately.
Speaker 2:No, I just think going in against Oasis were a terrible idea. I mean it was just a really. I mean it could have, I don't know, an alternative timeline. Maybe it could have worked out for him. And Oasis are the ones sort of Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1:But I don't think Blur have that sound that felt like they could ever have gone on to any huge success.
Speaker 2:I know what you mean. There were no universal appeal.
Speaker 1:I can't think of a stadium song that Blur have done. I can't imagine them selling out a Nebworth. What would they play?
Speaker 2:Well, they have sold out Wembley recently. Well, I mean song two, which is what they came back with.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they just play that over and over again. But this is why a lot of people would say they're a better band or a more credible artist these days than Oasis, because, you know so, in 1997, they weren't cool anymore, but they changed the sound and they went to this song, which is completely different. If you think about it. It's Country House, isn't it? And all that sort of stuff and their country house in it and all that sort of stuff. Um, and their album blur, which came out in 97, um, and that were that were massive for him. You know beetle boom as well. That's another good song coffee and tv.
Speaker 2:That's my favorite blur that's off 13 but yeah, that's brilliant. Yeah, that's brilliant. So blur sort of weren't commercially ever successful, but they were sort of still coming out with these good songs and and getting reviews. Oasis released Beer Now which was absolutely huge again in terms of sales. But then they become a bit of a joke. By 1998, it was pretty uncool to like Oasis. It had sort of turned a little bit and Britpop were over and do you know what I mean? And people had sort of said, hang on, why did everyone lose the shit to this band who just ripped the Beatles off? Not my what I think, but do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1:So is that when we're sort of saying the build-up was 94, the big battle was 95, and then by 98 they were both fucked.
Speaker 2:By 98 they were both yeah, absolutely exhausted, yeah, and Pulp had split up pretty much. But well, they had split up, but he'd had a breakdown. Jarvis, britpop were just absolutely hammered. The only band who came out of that period really well, two of them were Radiohead and the Verve. They weren't really Britpop at all, well, they weren't Britpop at all, but it was the same era and those two people put it down a lot to the Queen of Hearts dying as well. The mood of the nation was not celebratory anymore and I do think something happened in 97 that you lost that optimism.
Speaker 1:Yeah so our queen of hearts was directly involved. Goodbye rose. May you ever grow in our hearts. You are the grace placed yourselves where lives were torn apart.
Speaker 2:So today they're all mates. Well, I said they're all mates Tongue-in-cheek. Alex James said Blur won the battle, oasis won the war but Blur won the campaign. But I don't know. Like I say, they became quite critically acclaimed and sort of experimented and stuff and Oasis just carried on with the same. They were nowhere near as good as the first two albums, obviously, but they're still fucking miles bigger, but the demand for Oasis now is huge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're miles bigger, Miles, miles, miles bigger. But Noel and Damon are friends. Now Damon says they never, ever talk about the rival, which I imagine that being so weird. Just like we said it last week, I think where, yeah, like Germany in the war, what happened in 1995? Nothing happened in 1995.
Speaker 1:We don't talk about 1995.
Speaker 2:Nothing happened at all. Who do?
Speaker 1:you think, would rather not talk about it more, because I think no one would hate that they lost the battle.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. But, Damon, and all of that, it probably do you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:I reckon we don't want to talk about it because if Damon mentions that they won the battle, that Noel will then go on to ridicule him for the years it came after. But imagine if they have another battle.
Speaker 2:That's what they should do. Another battle Like come out again 2025. Yeah, they collaborated together on a Gorillaz track which I sent you before. Did you like that track? It's all right. I quite like the chorus, I don't like the woman shouting on it. Yeah, there's a lot of choir. It's a decent song. Yeah, it's not bad, and Graeme Coxon supported Noel in 2012. Liam, as far as I know, isn't mates with him, and every time on Twitter.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure Liam's got any mates though.
Speaker 2:I think he's got loads of mates, but, like you know, I don't know. But every time he refers to his name in Albert, he always calls him Dermot. Like all the time, like on Twitter, he'll say he's got a new song out and he's Dermot. He's so funny.
Speaker 1:He's proper funny. Noel Gallagher is clearly how can I sort of word it Because he's clearly a bit of a knob in the sense that he's really sort of passionate about what he believes in. But it blows my mind that he's good mates with Andy Goldstein, who's like the same knob, but from a man United stance. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the day he can be mates shows me that at least, despite how unbelievably biased they both are, that they can at least kind of come together and have a bit of banter.
Speaker 2:So yeah, are that they can at least kind of come together and have a bit of banter. We've spoken before in the past that we think Noel Gallagher is only in to man City and Oasis Not even music and football, just Oasis and man City.
Speaker 1:I don't think he cares about anything else. You'd never see him in a nice restaurant. It's either man City or Oasis or High Flying Birds.
Speaker 2:Yeah, or High Flying Birds obviously as well. But obviously Oasis have reformed. We should have probably fucking put this out. We'll just reshare it again when they finally get it. In fact, we could do Oasis at Nebworth as another episode.
Speaker 1:I think we might do a Liam V Noll episode, which is obviously less sort of nostalgic. Well it is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, liam, nostalgic but it but it's well, it is. Yeah, I mean, have you heard the wibbling rivalry cd where it's just them arguing for?
Speaker 1:15 minutes. It got in the charts. No, it's just that it's brilliant.
Speaker 2:It's just them just swearing at each other constantly just like having a go. But that's blurring oasis, I think of the songs.
Speaker 1:I still think country house is a better song slightly, but they're both pretty crap um, just out of interest, because I've named so my my favourite two Oasis songs already named Cheers, love and Talk. Tonight favourite two Blur songs would be Coffee on TV and it'd have to be song two. I don't know enough else by them. What's yours two favourite tracks?
Speaker 2:by each Champagne. Supervenir is my favourite Oasis track. I think that's an excellent song and then my second favourite Oasis track. I might go.
Speaker 1:Can I predict what I think it might be? Go on, I think you like the sort of more harsher sort of I think you might go Cigarettes and Alcohol. That would be up there, maybe Fucking in the Bushes, maybe.
Speaker 2:No, no, I think you might go. Cigarettes and Alcohol, that would be up there, maybe fucking In the Bushes, maybe no, no, I think, live Forever. I think I'd go.
Speaker 1:Champagne Soup oh really, I would never go that.
Speaker 2:I think that's too melodic and Whatever's up there as well. Don't Look Back in. Anger's fucking amazing, it's just been played that many times. Yeah, and my favourite two Blur songs. I'd probably go. That is difficult a lot, I have to say. The best of blur, the best of blur. I think I would go for end of a century of part life's brilliant song and maybe, uh, bad head off. That album's really good as well. Uh, part of part life's a great album, to be fair.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, probably my favorite two just on part life as well, where it's the same guy.
Speaker 2:It's the same guy. It's the same guy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, brilliant. I don't know the words well enough, but maybe you can do the bit where he comes in. But we said to him we've put you on karaoke. He went oh, I'm not doing it. It was a pub in Dromfield. He said yeah, no, we signed you up, you've got to come down and do it. We were sort of shepherding him towards the stage and we put the microphone in his hand and sort of shoved him up onto the stage and at the second the music kicked in. He went straight into this. You missed it. You're supposed to do the confidence.
Speaker 2:Sorry, I thought I thought you were going to play.
Speaker 1:Confidence is a Sorry.
Speaker 2:I thought you were going to play a clip.
Speaker 1:No, no, I want you to do it.
Speaker 2:All right, Right, I hang on yeah he's ruined.
Speaker 1:He went straight in to this.
Speaker 2:Confidence is a prefer. I don't know what the lyrics are. Oh Josh, that's completely backfired. Confidence is a what is it?
Speaker 1:Park life. I know that bit.
Speaker 2:What does it mean park life? Confidence is a prefer.
Speaker 1:See, I think it's something like it. See, I think it's something like it's a preferential statement of the man who says that he's not. It's not like Simon Jordan.
Speaker 2:You're not in charge of your convictions.
Speaker 1:You're not square the circle Part life lyrics.
Speaker 2:Give me a minute it starts with oi. Confidence is a Fucking hell. Preferential preference Confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur of what is known as. You wouldn't get that from Oasis, would you?
Speaker 1:no, but he knew. The funny bit is he knew the song well enough to go straight into that yeah, yeah, yeah, there were no lyrics on screen confidence is a preference, it's absolutely ruined the anecdote, but anyway, next episode, liam, if we record it right.
Speaker 2:Listen up, ryan, because he's been waiting for this for ages oh yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:of course I thought you were going to say Barrymore, but obviously we're not re-recording that yet are we?
Speaker 2:No, we're going to re-record Barrymore Ryan's not been waiting for Barrymore for ages.
Speaker 1:So, the next one is the Sopranos, and we are going to do it. So we're going to remember the ending of Sopranos, but that is going to open the floodgates, the sluice gates, for us to just remember General Sopranos.
Speaker 2:I've been watching loads of Sopranos recently and to the point where I'm going to say something out of line to someone, because our mate was talking about how someone in his team at work had started crying like this bloke. And the first thing with Phil Liotardo, when he goes to cry like a fucking woman, it's a fucking disgrace. I want to say something like that because I've been watching so many clips of it and I think it's the, it's definitely my favourite ever show.
Speaker 1:I think, oh, I think there's going to be a lot of that.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, so we're going to go, we so we're going to go, we're going to talk about the final episode, but we'll build up towards what happened in the final sorry, the final scene, really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what we're going to do is we're going to remember the ending to Sopranos, we're going to give our thoughts on it, because I think there is almost an unofficial sort of yeah, he's dead, here's what it means, that's it. Don't have to tune in not dead, but yeah, we're gonna remember at the ending.
Speaker 1:Talk about what we, what we feel about that, after the full build of everything, go through some of the characters talk about where the family had got to, to that, that sort of stands, maybe even do a where, where, where would they be now?
Speaker 2:I don't know yeah, I'd like to do that. I would like to talk about, I mean not, not very. There's only fucking paul there left. I don't know what the crew would be up to, to be honest. But uh, yeah, but we'll talk about it and we'll go, because obviously it's such a huge series to try and do in one episode. We're just going to sort of concentrate on the ending and work his way around that.
Speaker 1:But thank you for today, liam, for yeah, yeah, for anyone listening to this, when it goes out, we're all going to try and release the first couple at the same time or very close together, but if you listen to this, there should be a bit of a gap to the next episode. So find us on Twitter. There's a thing at the end where we're going to tell you where to find us. But, yeah, send us a message, tell us your Sopranos memories, the standout memories. It can be a moment, a character, anything. We're more than happy to try and remember it with you.
Speaker 2:It's mad that I can't even remember the fucking lyrics to Part Life, to be completely honest. But if you've got anything that you want us to remember, yeah, let us know. Thank you, Liam.
Speaker 1:Yep Good evening.
Speaker 2:Thank you for listening to who Remembers. If you want to get in touch with us, you can find us at whorememberspod at outlookcom. If you are a right-wing fascist, you can find us on twitter at who remembers pod, or if you're a woken, or you can find us on blue sky at who remembers pod. Once again, thank you for listening and we'll see you next time for more remembering.