MovieChat Forums > Live Forever (2003) Discussion > Message for Theo Robertson

Message for Theo Robertson

posted 21 years ago by noelgallagherisgod2002
5 replies | jump to latest

As you can probably tell by my log-in name... I am a worshipper of Noel Gallagher, therefore I will defend what he says. Noel comments that, 'Britain was dead in the 80's'. This quote is not just directed at 80's music, but its whole culture. Fashion (goths and nu-romantics were at the height of fashion!!!), Politics (Thatcherism, which was *beep*, hence the praise of New Labour in the film), Film (can't recall anything great coming from Britain in the 80's. Those are a few examples, and I agree that the 80's was a very dull period for Britain. To argue that record sales were high, meaning that the 80's was a brilliant time for British music is ridiculous! The 1980's was full of poor music and poor bands that have faded into obscurity (obviously, there are a few great bands that were around in the 80's, but not as many as other decades). The US also went into a very dull period in the 80's in terms of their music, so they bought a few records from the British shores...big deal. Phil Collins has sold a fair few albums, but he's just *beep*! I will finsh by saying that Peter Mandelson doesn't heap praise on Tony Blair's guitar playing (he says he was not familiar with his band because he was a political anorak, whereas Blair liked to play music and socialise), and that Oasis sold LOADS of copies of (What's The Story) Morning Glory? in the US and many other places in the world, such as a large part of Asia and a lot of Europe. I believe Blur did the same with Parklife, so the Britpop scene did actually export a lot for Britain!

[–] cigarettes_and_alcohol 21 years ago

Totally agree with you, the britpop scene rejuvinated rock n' roll throughout the world. Most of the popular music in the 80s was stale and contrived, and the fact that some british bands sold well in the states doesnt mean it was a great scene. Oasis, Radiohead, The Verve, and Blur all released brilliant records from 1994-1997, and their music impacted america without question. Grunge died with Kurt Cobain, and the leftover Nirvana clones were a joke. Britpop made British culture "cool" to North Americans, as there was an increased interest in not only music, but British film and fashion.

p.s. (What's the Story) Morning Glory? has sold around 16 million copies worldwide and went to #4 on the american album charts

[–] Theo Robertson 20 years ago

I see that Noelisgod seems to have disappeared which is a pity since I can understand what he`s saying about 1980s music . Yeah I actually think that that 90s Britpop was better than most 80s music but that doesn`t disguise the fact that British music was at its most succesful in the 1980s

For example THE RAW AND THE COOKED by Fine Young Cannibals topped the American album charts for six weeks in 1989 so Oasis getting to number 4 in the US album charts means very little except to point out I`m correct in my analysis

[–] johnb742 20 years ago

I agree that music in the 80's was overall pretty bad(the charts was anyway), but there was alot of great bands that were around in the 80's.

New Order, The Smiths, Happy Mondays, Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets, Jesus & The Mary Chain, Run DMC, Public Enemy, De La Soul, Primal Scream, The Cure, The Jam to name but a few.

[–] Le_Crunchie 19 years ago

The Inspired Carpets are Oasis, prior to Noel.

The 80’s was the nuts, any tart who disagrees was never there. You’ll never get the same for music. The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, The Smiths etc, the House Scene, the Raves and the sweeties that came with them. Get real lads, Thatchericsm was necessary. The music was the nuts and the scene was awesome.

Defiantly Maybe is a far superior album to What’s the Story (Morning Glory)

[–] agian 19 years ago

I have to agree with Theo on this one. I also love Britpop , Oasis and all that but realistically it didn't make that big an impact overseas as many are led to believe. British music was far more commercially successful in the 80's than the 90's. I think Def Leppard sold like 12 million copies of 'Hysteria' just in America and Phil Collins sold gazillions more not to mention Elton John , Duran Duran , Culture Club , Fine Young Canibals etc...
In Australia Britpop was not even half as popular as Grunge. Bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam were everywhere. The only Britpop band that made any major inroads were Oasis. The rest like Blur , Pulp and Suede etc.. had minor success.
Radiohead were more popular but I don't really consider them Britpop even though they generally came out of that early 90's era. Their sound & look were quite different and they were obviously a lot more progressive than most if not all Britpop bands that sounded very 60's.
The 80's also produced some great bands like the Jam , The Smiths , The Cure , Happy Mondays , Stone Roses , U2 , REM , PIL , to name a few. U2 are still going strong today so it could'nt have been all bad.
I think the 80's just like any other decade produced a wide variety of music and styles. It's a bit simplistic to say that "Britain was dead in the 80's" or whatever Noel's quote was. It was probably dead for him , but afcourse he would say that coz all of his success came in the following decade.
I can understand Brits feeling proud of the Britpop phenomenon , it's completely natural. It was an exciting time , with a lot of hype , buzz and activity going on. Very reminiscent of the 60's. Nostalgia is a strange and wonderful thing sometimes but it can also hold you back. That quote in the movie where a kid is asked what he thinks of "Be Here Now" , in some ways sums up the movement at its tailend - "It's the same old thing , in it? , guitar rock - dad rock"