A Pathfinder by Sarah Haney

Table_of_Contents

Introduction & Scope Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

Introduction:

Britpop was a popular music movement that thrived throughout the mid-1990s. It was created as a response to the grunge rock being produced in America at the time and a reaction against America’s monopoly on popular music. Britpop celebrated 1960s British rock and pop produced by the Beatles, the Kinks, and the Small Faces. In contrast to the electronic dance music popular in the 1980s and 1990s, Britpop bands performed guitar-based songs. The most prominent Britpop bands of the 1990s were Suede (London), Elastica (London), Oasis (Manchester), Blur (London), and Pulp (Sheffield). These groups fed on 1960s nostalgia, often addressed quintessentially British subjects, emphasized their English accents, and paid homage to British musical icons like David Bowie and Morrissey. Britpop is also credited with reclaiming the Union Jack flag, which in the previous years had become associated with the National Front. Britpop musicians transformed the Union Jack into an icon of popular culture by incorporating the image into album covers, wearing it as a fashion statement, and designing guitars based on it.

The 1990s ushered in a period where it was encouraged to take pride in British nationality. Britpop had the potential to be more than just a musical movement; former Prime Minister Tony Blair believed it was the start of a cultural Renaissance in Great Britain as it ushered in a resurgence of British fashion, art, literature, and politics. Blair became a sort of patron of the Britpop musicians, inviting them to 10 Downing Street and supporting them at award shows and in the media. In return Britpop bands like Oasis supported the Labour party.

Music history has shown that all countries go through periods of nationalism in their music production. Though Britpop failed to make an impact in America, likely because of its Anglocentrism, it stands as a testament to British patriotism and has surely influenced musicians in all parts of the world. This Pathfinder was designed to provide the researcher or music enthusiast with the best resources on the Britpop movement.

Subject Headings:

· Rock music – Great Britain – 1991-2000

· Rock music – 1991-2000 – History and criticism

· Rock musicians – England – Biography

· Popular Music

· Musical groups

· Subculture – History – 20^th century

Browsing_Areas:

· 016.78 Discographies

· 780 Music Bibliographies

· 781.64 Music Encyclopedias

· 781.66 Rock Music

· 782.42166 English Rock Biographies

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Encyclopedias_&_Dictionaries:

Encyclopedias & Dictionaries are excellent tools to find basic information about a subject. These sources contained articles about the Britpop movement and biographical information about the artists.

Bianco, D. P. (Ed.). (1998). Parents aren't supposed to like it: Rock & other pop musicians of the 1990s (Vol. 2). Detroit, MI: U·X·L.

This three-volume set is arranged by musical genre. The articles give some biographical background, but the focus is more on the artists' musical careers, giving a good sense of how their music was received both critically and in the marketplace. “A boon to collections with a need for material on rock and pop musicians.” Wadham, T. (1998 August). Reference books. School Library, 44:8, 188.

Hochman, S. (Ed.). (1999). Popular musicians. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.

This encyclopedia contains over 500 articles describing the careers, successes, and critical reputations of a wide variety of contemporary artists. Useful features include a glossary, bibliography, timeline of first releases, index of song and album titles, and list of articles by musical style. “Superbly organized, attractively presented, and filled with interesting information in an easy-to-read format, this source should be wildly popular in school, public, and academic libraries alike.” Popular Musicians (book review). (2000, May). American Libraries, 31:5, 65.

Clarke, D. (Ed.). (1998) The Penguin encyclopedia of popular music. New York: Penguin Books.

Larkin, C. (Ed.). (1995-2002). The Guinness encyclopedia of popular music. New York: Stockton Press.

Larkin, C. (Ed.). (1998). The Virgin encyclopedia of indie & new wave. London: Muze UK.

Larkin, C. (Ed). (2002). The Virgin encyclopedia of popular music. London: Virgin Books.

Rees, D., & Crampton, L. (1999). Rock stars encyclopedia. New York: DK.

Romanowski, P., George-Warren, H., & Pareles, J. (Eds.). (2001). The Rolling stone encyclopedia of rock & roll. New York: Fireside.

Sadie, S. (Ed). (2001). The New Grove dictionary of music and musicians (2^nd ed.). New York: Macmillan Publishers.

Wells, N. & Hawksley, L. (Eds.). (1998). The Billboard illustrated encyclopedia of rock. New York: Billboard Books.

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Bibliographies:

Bibliographies are alphabetized lists of authors or works on a specific subject.

Pollock, B. (Ed.). (1997-1998). Popular music: An annotated index of American popular songs (Vol. 22-23). Detroit, MI: Gale Research.

An annotated guide to American popular songs. Includes a lyricists and composers index, important performances index, awards index, and a list of publishers for songs published in a given year.

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Discographies:

Discographies are reference sources that list all the recordings of a musician or singer. They may be consulted to find out information about the title of a particular album or song, when it was produced, the musicians involved in the recording, and the studio in which it was recorded.

Bogdanov, V., Woodstra, C. & Erlewine, S. T. (Eds.). (2002). All music guide to rock: The definitive guide to rock, pop, and soul. San Francisco, CA: Backbeat Books.

Brackett, N., & Hoard, C. (Eds.). (2004). The new Rolling Stone album guide. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Robbins, I. A. & Sprague, D. (Eds.). (1997). The Trouser Press guide to '90s rock: The all-new fifth edition of the Trouser Press record guide. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Strong, M. C. (2000). The great rock discography. Edinburgh, Scotland: Mojo Books.

Whitburn, J. (2000). The billboard book of top 40 hits. New York: Billboard Books.

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Periodicals:

Periodicals are excellent sources for current information on a particular topic.

These magazines played a large part in the promotion and development of

Britpop—which prospered from the media frenzy. These magazines are still relevant sources of information on popular music today.

Melody Maker.

New York: IPC Specialist & Professional Press [Electronic version] 1997-1999.

Mojo. New York: EMap Metro, Monthly 1993-

Rolling Stone. New York: Straight Arrow Publishers, Monthly 1967-

Spin. New York: Spin Media, Monthly 1985-

Vanity Fair. New York: Condé Nast, Monthly 1913-

The March 1997 edition of Vanity Fair (pictured above) caught Britpop at the height of its popularity in a feature on British musicians, fashion designers, and artists.

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Books:

Although books are not generally considered reference sources they often provide more complete information about a subject.

These are some of the most comprehensive non-fiction books on the subject of Britpop and British culture of the 1990s.

Calcutt, A. (2001). Brit cult: An a-z of British popular culture. Chicago: Contemporary Books.

A dictionary of every person, place, or thing pertinent to British popular culture. Contains in-depth articles on Oasis, Blur, Suede, and Jarvis Cocker, lead singer of Pulp.

DeRogotis, J. (2003). Milk it!: Collected musings on the alternative music explosion of the 90s. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.

A collection of articles and interviews by music critic, J. DeRogotis. Of special interest is an interview with Justine Frischmann of Elastica, and reviews of albums by Blur and Oasis.

Harris, J. (2004). Britpop!: Cool Britannia and the spectacular demise of English rock. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.

The definitive book about Britpop. Harris goes into great detail about the history, political environment, and musical influences that created the Britpop movement. He follows the careers of many of the major and peripheral bands, dissects their albums, and charts their successes and failures.

Hewitt, P. (1997). Getting high: The adventures of Oasis. New York: Hyperion.

In this biography of Oasis, Hewitt follows the Gallagher brothers from their school years in Manchester to the height of their fame in the mid-1990s.

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Audiovisual_Materials:

Though not typically considered reference sources, audiovisual materials are essential to researching and understanding the Britpop movement.

Sound Recordings:

These recordings are excellent representations of Britpop bands and include the most popular and influential albums of the genre.

Blur (Musical group). (1993). Modern life is rubbish (sound recording). New York: Food Records.

Blur (Musical group). (1994). Parklife (sound recording). New York: Food Records.

Elastica (Musical group). (2003). The Radio one sessions (sound recording). New York: Koch Records.

Oasis (Rock group). (1994). Definitely maybe (sound recording). New York: Epic.

Oasis (Rock group). (1995). (What's the story) morning glory? (sound recording). New York: Epic.

Pulp (Musical group). (1995). Different class (sound recording). New York: Island.

Pulp (Musical group). (1997). This is hardcore (sound recording). New York: Island.

Suede (Musical Group). (1993). The London Suede (sound recording). New York: Nude/Columbia.

Various performers. (2007). The Brit box: UK indie, shoegaze and Brit-pop gems of the last millennium (sound recording). Burbank, CA: Rhino.

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Video Recordings:

These documentaries explore the popular music of England in the 1990s. They contain interviews with prominent figures in the Britpop scene, commentaries by rock critics, and footage of concerts.

Battsek, J. (Producer), & Dower, J. (Director). (2004). Live forever: The rise and fall of Britpop [Motion Picture]. United Kingdom: Passion Pictures.

Wood, E. (Producer & Director). (2005). Made in Sheffield [Motion Picture]. United Kingdom: Plexifilm.

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Electronic_Resources:

Electronic resources have enjoyed a surge in popularity because they are easy to access and can provide the most current information on a topic.

E-books:

These e-books from Netlibrary supply information about the Britpop subculture, the political implications of the Britpop movement and the political environment of Great Britain in the 1990s.

Muggleton, D. & Weinzierl, R. (2003). The post-subcultures reader. New York: Berg.

Gabriel, J. (1998). Whitewash: Racialized politics and the media. New York: Routledge.

Blake, A. (1999). Living through pop. New York: Routledge.

Webster, F. (2001). Culture and politics in the information age: A new politics?. New York: Routledge.

The Hutchinson chronology of world history. (2004). Abingdon, England: Oxon Helicon.

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Websites:

Allmusic [URL]

A large, informative site covering multiple styles of music (rap, rock, classical, country, etc.) that can be searched by artist/group, song, or album.

Music Index: A Subject-Author Guide to Music Periodical Literature 1974-2008 [URL]

A database of music periodicals searchable by keyword, title, author, subject, periodical, year, and language. It contains many of the Britpop articles from the periodicals listed above.

Oasis [URL]

The Official Oasis website and fan community. Provides information about albums and touring as well as band photos and merchandise.

Blur [URL]

The official website of Blur.

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