This is one of the best four-disc compilation box sets you’ll hear this year, and most other years, for that matter. Of course, I’m biased, as this is the music I grew up with. Of course, the only downside is that it makes me feel so fucking old! I bought so many of these records in my late teens and early twenties, that it’s hard not to sit there and think “Where did that time go?“
Of course, it’s the big hitters that open each disc – Happy Mondays with their iconic ‘Hallelujah‘ on disc one, largely responsible for turning indie kids, like I was, on to the idea that dance music did have its place and that it was something we could embrace, despite our previous reservations, Blur on disc two, albeit with a relatively early single, the brash and noisy ‘Popscene‘, which hadn’t really suggested at that point that they were going to be anything more than a flash in the pan, and Paul Weller‘s ‘Sunflower‘, arguably his best solo single. Obviously, he needs no introduction at all.
There are lots of other bands who had big-time success included. Suede‘s classic debut, ‘The Drowners‘, is here, likewise Supergrass with the boisterous ‘Caught By The Fuzz‘ before they went stratospheric, and The Wonder Stuff with a record that made my jaw drop when I first heard it, ‘Don’t Let Me Down, Gently‘, their first Top 20 hit in the UK, and one which I regarded as my favourite single of all time for quite sometime after that.
If anything though, the best thing about this fabulous set is the inclusion of the bands who never quite made it, or at least not to the degree that those aforementioned luminaries did anyway. Plus, it’s hugely satisfying when a band comes on that you perhaps remember as being a bit “second division”, but then their track reminds you just how good they were. To this end, Thousand Yard Stare‘s thrilling ‘0-0 a.e.t.‘ had me bouncing around the room and scrambling to rediscover their ‘Hands On‘ album from 1992, from whence this track came. The memories came flooding back – I’d neglected that record for too long!
It was tremendous to hear The Bridewell Taxis again too. I haven’t thought about that band in decades and had all but forgotten them, but the euphoric post-punk of their single ‘Honesty‘ rekindled that flame in me too. Not only that but Popscene: From Baggy To Britpop is also something of an education for me, with White Town‘s ‘Catherine‘ featuring on disc two, from 1991, which is a lovely, breezy pop song that I never knew existed until now. It’s certainly nothing like the erstwhile Jyoti Mishra’s 1997 number one smash ‘Your Woman‘ but it’s no less appealing.
A running theme of this set seems to be that the better-known bands comprise songs from immediately before they really won the hearts of the general public, and you can kind of feel that momentum growing as you listen, but spare a thought for all those acts included here who didn’t manage anything like that kind of success. It’s plain to see (well, hear) that a lot of that glory depends largely on being in the right place at the right time. Why else would The Dylans never achieve a hit on the official chart, despite having put out great records like ‘Mary Quant In Blue‘, ‘Planet Love‘ (track 20 on disc one here) and ‘Godlike‘, which at least was successful on the Indie Chart, I guess. Or BMX Bandits, who are here with ‘Kylie’s Got A Crush On Us‘, not without some pretty prestigious supporters, admittedly, such as Alan McGee and Janice Long, but chart hits? Forget it.
It’s impossible to do this superb set justice in such a short review, but if you ever nostalgically look back upon a time when The Stone Roses, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, The House Of Love, Ride, Saint Etienne, Longpigs and Carter USM were all regular chart botherers and the ‘bubbling under’ lot included the likes of The Auteurs, Revolver (it’s mad that they never made it!), The Stairs, Salad and World Of Twist, then this is, categorically and definitively, the boxset for you. It would make a great Christmas present too. Just bear that in mind!
Popscene: From Baggy To Britpop 1989 – 1994 is out now on Cherry Red.
