Who coined the term ‘Cool Britannia’?
In 1997, Vanity Fair decided to build its March issue around what it regarded as Swinging London’s second age. “London Swings Again!” it declared in bold yellow letters. Inside, the 27-page mag was packed with patriotic iconography and interviews with popstars like The Spice Girls and Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, who was pictured reclining on a bed with his then-girlfriend Patsi Kensit. There was also a range of tributes to the new generation of UK artists, filmmakers and restauranters.
Tony Blair had just secured a 21-point victory against the Conservative party, giving the UK its first Labour government since James Callaghan. A very flattering photo of Callaghan appeared on page 143 alongside an equally flattering editorial: “Say hello to shirtsleeved, smiling Tony Blair, the leader of the ascendant Labour Party, The Right Honourable Tony is just 43 years old and has an outlook to match”. This was the height of ‘Cool Britannia’, a term that was already becoming something of a cliche by 1997 — but where did the term originate?
By 1993, the popularity of American grunge outfits like Nirvana was starting to wane. Writers for Select magazine set about ripping apart the aesthetic of Cobain and his cronies, accusing grunge of being dull, witless and proof of nothing other than an absence of talent. In that same edition, Jarvis Cocker of Pulp was photographed next to a wall of washing powder packets.
He spoke of “the personality” of British music, detailing further: “The sense of the romantic in the everyday. Ray Davies finding the poetic in the sun going down over Waterloo Station. You don’t get that much in American Rock”. Stuart Maconie – the man widely regarded as having coined the word Britpop – wrote a supporting feature, a manifesto of sorts. In it, he observed: “The new English pop groups are as passionate as any chest-beating rockers…what none of them are is earnest, petulant, self-serving or dull.”
According to John Harris, who was involved with Select in the 1990s, the term ‘Cool Britannia’ originated in 1967 when it was first used as the title for a minute-long song by surrealist rock troupe the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, which was set to the turn of ‘Rule Britannia’. He explained: “Cool Britannia, Britannia you are cool/Take a trip!/Britons ever, ever, ever shall be hip”. By 1995, the term was being used by Ben & Jerry’s to sell a variety of ice cream combining vanilla, strawberry and fudge-covered shortbread. Then, shortly after, Newsweek published a piece explaining “Why London Rules,” the phrase was picked up and utilised by John Major’s Tory government.
“Our fashion, music and culture are the envy of our European neighbours,” read a press release issued by the Department of National Heritage. “This abundance of talent, together with our rich heritage, makes ‘Cool Britannia’ an obvious choice for visitors from all over the world.” But Major was too late to the party. Tony Blair had already shared a drink with Blur’s Damon Albarn at the House of Commons.
A few months later, he attended the 1996 Brit Awards to celebrate Oasis’ success, where he handed David Bowie an Outstanding Contribution to British Music award. The good ship ‘Cool Britannia’, it seemed, had already been commandeered.
