4CD 90-track anthology tracing the development of indie music from the Baggy sound of
1989 to the early days of the Britpop explosion in 1994.
Includes many hit singles and cult rarities.
Key artists include Blur, Pulp, Suede, The Stone Roses, Paul Weller, The La’s, Primal
Scream, Saint Etienne, Ocean Colour Scene, Happy Mondays, Manic Street Preachers,
Supergrass, Ride, Sleeper, Gene, Echobelly, The Bluetones and Cast.
Britpop was a term coined by Select magazine in April 1993 to describe a new wave of
British acts that they felt provided an alternative to the US grunge sound. These included Suede, Pulp, The Auteurs and Saint Etienne, all featured here.
This compilation traces the movement’s roots back to Baggy Madchester groups The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets, as well as bands such as Stourbridge’s The Wonder Stuff, who took the indie scene out of the underground and into the UK charts,
increasing guitar bands’ ambitions of commercial success. Included are arguably the first Britpop singles, Blur’s ’Popscene’ from March 1992 and Suede’s ’The Drowners’ from that May and early singles by Britpop acts Dodgy, Sleeper, Echobelly, Gene, Ocean Colour
Scene and Space. Also featured are demos of future hits by The Bluetones and Cast who’d both score chart topping albums in 1995.