Same Name, Different Song

You know what it's like. You play Alright by Cast and that makes you think of Alright by Supergrass.

You play Slide Away by The Verve and that makes you think of Slide Away by Oasis. And then you think, I wonder if we could make a whole show of different songs with the same name?

The problem surely though is would there be enough examples to fill a show? Short answer, yes. Lots actually. 160 to be exact.

The simpler the title the more likely there is be another song with the same name. There are 5 bands with a song called Blue; The Verve, McAlmont & Butler, The Bluetones, Elastica and Symposium. However there are also two bands (Echobelly and Libido) with a track called God's Guest List which feels a bit more random.

In the end we couldn't fit even half of them into the show but had a lot of fun finding these unusual partnerships. As always on our show we ended up with some big songs by big bands and some deliciously obscure stuff too (Hillman Minx B-side anyone?).

The show is available here:

Britpop Revival Show #142 Same Name Different Song 20th January 2016 by Britpop Revival on Mixcloud

And we've created a Spotify Playlist of all the songs we found (some of the more obscure stuff is not on Spotify though). If you can think of any that we missed just add them in the comments below.

Albums Of The Year 2015

It's fair to say that we've not seen much activity on this blog in 2015 but the conversation is in full swing over on Facebook and Twitter, so come and join us.

To mark the end of the year we dedicated our final show of 2015 to a look back over the year, some of our interview and gig highlights and of course our Albums Of The Year and New Band Of The Year.

It has been another good year with plenty of old bands back together and playing again from Suede to The Bluetones, Menswear to Shed Seven and we've seen the first 90s festival with the Shiiine Weekender. It's going to be running again in 2016 and we can strongly recommend it!

Blur surprised us with a new album, The Magic Whip, and with new music from Noel Gallagher and Suede (due out January 22nd) we only needed something from Jarvis to complete the set.

So our albums of 2015 are:

1. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday
2. Blur - The Magic Whip
3. Ash - Kablammo!
4. The Charlatans - Modern Nature
5. Gaz Coombes - Matador

And our New Band Of The Year was not a band at all but the fantastic Courtney Barnett.

You can listen to our show every Wednesday at 6pm UK on Phonic FM or catch up via our Mixcloud page.

Britpop Revival Show #139 Albums Of The Year 2015 by Britpop Revival on Mixcloud

Album Of The Year & 2014 Review

It's that time of year again and we're looking back over the 12 months of 2014. We've enjoyed a good year as we moved to hosting the show weekly on Phonic FM, which has meant more output than ever before.  And of course as well as bucketloads of quality tunes from the nineties there has been a steady stream of great new music from both established names and new artists alike.

We promoted our first ever gig (former Geneva singer, Andrew Montgomery) which was a fantastic night.  As well as Andrew I've been fortunate enough to attend gigs by a number of Britpop bands including Suede, Dodgy and former Bluetone Mark Morriss and the Gene re-issue launch party but the undoubted highlight for me was seeing Speedy perform live for the first time in 17 years as their debut album finally got its release.

It's also been a pleasure to interview so many people this year for the show, from new unsigned bands to the legend that is Sir Bernard Butler.  

These are just some of the people we had on the show in 2014:

• Nigel Powell (ex The Unbelievable Truth)
• Richard McNevin-Duff of The Space Monkeys
• Jason Applin (ex Bennet)
• Speedy
• Johnny Dean of Menswear
• Mike Heaton from Embrace
• Jake Shillingford of My Life Story
• Matt James (ex Gene)
• Andrew Montgomery (ex Geneva)
• Simon Eugene (ex Out Of My Hair)
• Sonya Madan of Echobelly
• Nigel Clark of Dodgy
• Rick Witter of Shed Seven
• Will from CUD
• Bernard Butler (ex Suede, McAlmont & Butler, The Tears)
• Andy Watts (ex The Seahorses)
• Mark Morriss (ex The Bluetones)

I'm already drawing up the a list of potential names for 2015!

One of the bands I want to get onto the show is our New Band Of The Year... Superfood.  A fantastic new band with a sound that owes a clear debt to the nineties without sounding like a pastiche. Their debut album Don't Say That was released in October to rave reviews and they've been nominated for Best New Band at the NME awards (though they'll undoubtedly be more chuffed with getting the nod from us!)

And now to our Album Of The Year. Last year it was Suede's magnificiant comeback, Bloodsports but with none of Britpop's big names in the studio this year, what will take the honours?

Album Of The Year - 2014

1. Speedy - News From Nowhere

2. Manic Street Preachers - Futurology

3. Superfood - Don't Say That

4. Mark Morriss - A Flash Of Darkness

5. Andrew Montgomery - Ruled By Dreams

Yes,  perhaps no surprise this one given the fact that we played this album before anyone else and played a (very minor) part in helping to get it finally released.  A time capsule of classic 90s indie-pop from a band who were always on the edge of something big but never quite made that final step, News From Nowhere is the missing piece of your Britpop record collection.

Album Of The Year... Speedy - News From Nowhere

You can listen to our review show here:

Britpop Revival Show #94 Christmas 2014 by Britpop Revival on Mixcloud

The Mark Morriss Interview

When Tim, landlord of the Rose and Crown in Calverleigh, sent me an email to say that Mark Morriss was coming to play in his skittle alley, I knew that we had to get along to interview him.

The Rose and Crown is a great country pub and had hosted a fantastic Dodgy gig in their beer garden back in the summer.  And now the former Bluetones frontman would be performing in the skittle alley.  What's next?  I'm half expecting that the first Ride reunion gig will be in their beer cellar!

Mark Morriss live in a skittle alley near you

I'd sort of met Mark a couple of times.  He was due to be a live guest on one of our very first shows until a monumental cock-up on my part put pay to that. Then we'd chatted briefly at a Shed Seven gig where he was supporting and he'd promised to get back on the show sometime. Plus he's an active Twitterer (@thequill) and will often comment when we play his songs. So we asked and he said yes and we had chat about his old stuff and his new stuff and you can listen to it all below.

The gig itself was a delight. Old songs and new songs, plus a couple of bizarre covers, lots of chat (I'm avoiding using the word banter) and a wonderfully engaging evening in a skittle alley in a pub in rural Devon.  He even played Life Without Friction for me, which he says he doesn't normally play live acoustic as it's a bit tricky, because I said it was my favourite song on his latest album.

I enjoyed the interview and the gig and the next time he is playing round your way I strongly suggest that you go and see him.  More info at www.markmorrissmusic.co.uk

The Mark Morriss Interview: Full and Unedited by Britpop Revival on Mixcloud

2nd Anniversary Request Show

Yes, incredible as it may seem it has already been 2 years since our very first show on Phonic FM.  So to celebrate we decided to host a request show. Thanks to everyone who got in touch via Twitter, Facebook or Email before and during show with their requests.  As we would should know by now with you lot, your requests were awesome.

What was really nice was realising how international we have become with requests from the USA, Portugal, the Netherlands, Finland and all over the UK, even Exeter!

Here is what you chose:

1. Popscene - Blur
2. Razzmatazz - Pulp
3. Wide Open Space - Mansun
4. Trash - Suede
5. International Bright Young Thing - Jesus Jones
6. Twisterella - Ride
7. The Day We Caught The Train - Ocean Colour Scene
8. What Do I Do Now - Sleeper
9. Town - Northern Uproar
10. Time For You - Speedy
11. Babies - Pulp
12. Lucky Man - The Verve
13. After All - The Frank And Walters
14. Live The Dream - Cast
15. Slight Return - The Bluetones
16. Monday Morning - The Candyskins
17. For The Dead - Gene
18. Monday Morning 5:19 - Rialto
19. Dimstar - Gay Dad
20. Disco Down - Shed Seven
21. Never Here - Elastica
22. Six - Mansun
23. The Wild Ones - Suede
24. Sleep Well Tonight - Gene
25. I'll See You Around - Silver Sun
26. Punka - Kenickie

and not a single request for Oasis!

Britpop Revival Show #90 2nd Anniversary Request Show by Britpop Revival on Mixcloud

The Bernard Butler Interview

We love having guests on The Britpop Revival Show but being tucked away down here in Devon it does mean that most of our interviews are on the phone. So when we learned that Bernard Butler would be playing as part of the Ben Watt Trio in the Phoenix Centre where we broadcast from, we knew that we had to try and get him into the studio. 

Bernard was a real gent and very generous with his time. He made it clear that he didn't want the interview to be about Suede and Dog Man Star's 20th anniversary. However he did talk freely about his entire career, including his ongoing working relationships with Brett Anderson and David McAlmont, his new band Trans, his production work and his sheer love of music.

He reveals that he will be working with Brett again at some point, that the Union Chapel gigs with David McAlmont this year were his best ever, that when he and Brett formed the The Tears there was strong pressure to call the band Suede and that his Top 10 hit Refugees was originally written for Sophie Ellis-Bextor!  You'll just have to give it a listen really...

This interview was recorded live in the Phonic FM studios in Exeter on 23rd October 2014. An edited version of this interview was broadcast on our show on 29th October.

The Bernard Butler Interview: Full and Unedited by Britpop Revival on Mixcloud

The Scottish Indie Special

It was night before the Scottish Independence Referendum but we steered well clear of politics and instead enjoyed two hours of choice Scottish Indie cuts.  Plenty from bands you'll know but some from ones that might have passed you by, like the frankly excellent The Gyres.

We were also delighted to be joined by Andrew Montgomery, formerly of Geneva, to discuss their LP Further which was our featured album as well as newcomers Colin's Godson.

This is probably one of my favourite shows and thanks to our awesome listeners for all their Scottish suggestions.

Britpop Revival Show #83 Scottish Indie Special 17th Sept 2014 by Britpop Revival on Mixcloud