What was the first Britpop single?
Unlike the start of regimes or decades, there is no hard start to a moment. While certain parts of history can be tracked through coronation dates, deaths or victories, there’s no clear way to track when a cultural era began.
Even for more focused talking points, like Beatlemania, for example, there is still no one obvious start date when interest spiralled into obsession. There was no one single day when everyone woke up and rock and roll had began, and the same stands for Britpop; the ultimate 1990s phenomenon.
Even more so than other genres and sub-genres, Britpop is a tricky one. It’s almost impossible to adequately define, as it was never just one thing. It was music, obviously, with a cast of bands leading the way, but the music itself was a mix of rock, indie and a million other things. It also expanded further than that, though. It was fashion, film, a general cultural vibe where Britishness boomed again in a semi-ironic way that wasn’t patriotism but was a new obsession with British identity.
But in terms of a start day, there’s no way to put an X on the calendar when it comes to a general vibe like that. When did all the bands start singing in their accents and writing lyrics about the boozer again? Who knows?
However, in terms of the first single that ticks the boxes, there was a clear one. While some like to argue that Blur started it all with ‘Popscene’ in March 1992, music academics argue against it. The track is too straight out rock to truly pass. It lacks the wider influences of figures like David Bowie or Marc Bolan, or the more theatrical gobbiness that captures the era.
The track that does that, and that is marked as the opening number of the Britpop moment, comes from Suede. ‘The Drowners’ came out a few months later in May 1992 as the band’s debut single and their launch into the world. It was something that sounded completely new, standing out from the rock crowd in a way that made people realise that perhaps a new label was needed.
After that, the floodgates were open. Blur would evolve more to match. Pulp would pivot to writing more and more about the realities of modern British life. Oasis would appear alongside countless others as the 1990s boomed into excitement with this new sound.
Where did the word Britpop come from?
Just like the phenomenon itself, the origin of its label is hazy. Some think it was repurposed from the 1960s and the initial British invasion. One journalist, John Robb, who was also a member of the 1980s punk band The Membranes, claimed he used it in the ‘80s to describe acts like the Stone Roses.
But the strongest stake seems to come from BBC radio DJ Stuart Maconie. While others were fumbling around for a new label for this new sound, even using things like ‘Lionpop’ in reference to the coat of arms, he claimed he landed on ‘Britpop’ in 1993.
