Glasgow Mods - R&B, British Beat Music, Motown, Northern Soul

Whilst not strictly 60’s Mods or 80’s revival Mods, Britpop bands were strongly influenced by the British guitar music of the 1960s and 1970s, particularly British Invasion groups The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, and The Small Faces; and bands like the The Jam, the Buzzcocks and Wire. Specific influences varied: Blur and Oasis drew from the Kinks and the Beatles, respectively, However, they all projected a sense of reverence for the sounds of the past.

With the explosion of the Britpop scene, OCS’s music became nationally and internationally known. Their second album Moseley Shoals was received to critical acclaim, containing four hit singles and reaching the heights of #2 in the UK Albums Chart and the follow up, Marchin’ Already displacing Oasis at the top of the charts.

Their song The Riverboat Song was featured on Chris Evans’ TFI Friday as the backing music when guests were introduced, and “Hundred Mile High City” and “July” were used in the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and the associated television series. Recently their first hit single The Riverboat Song has been featured in the Vinnie Jones film “Strength and Honour”.

They also played at the largest free standing gig of all time at Knebworth supporting [Oasis]] on the 10th and 11th of August 1996.

The imagery associated with Britpop was equally British and working class. Music critic Jon Savage asserted that Britpop was “an outer-suburban, middle-class fantasy of central London streetlife, with exclusively metropolitan models.” Suede’s lyrics and videos dealt with the seedier side of suburban and sink estate life. In their early career, Blur introduced another critical element of the Britpop movement - a mod-influenced 1960s view of English life, portrayed through a clear lyrical narrative, in stark contrast to the previous shoegazing and Madchester scenes. Blur’s promotion of Modern Life Is Rubbish also prefigured the rise in male working class values within the media, with the band in press photos straining to control a pitbull terrier, and the words “British image no 1″ graffittied on a wall behind them. This rise of unabashed maleness, exemplified by Loaded magazine and lad culture in general, would be very much part of the Britpop era. The Union Flag also became a prominent symbol of the movement, and its use as a symbol of pride and nationalism contrasted deeply with the controversy that erupted just a few short years before when former Smiths singer Morrissey performed draped in it.