My last Substack post was about my years as a teenager in the U.S., waaaaaayyy back in the 90s, obsessed with "Cool Britannia"! ☺️ Writing it catapulted me into beautiful nostalgia and reading this did as well!
I'm looking forward to all else you have in store for readers here!
Thank you Stephanie! Your post sounds fantastic, I can’t wait to read it! I’m fascinated by the fact that your were an Anglophile when you had so much of your own culture to contend with, and also what you make of Brits from the lens of Cool Britannia (I hope it was good!!)
Love this, Faith. The watered-down strawberries analogy is a good one!
I think you’ve touched on my own motivation for writing here. So often I’m irritated by accounts of history that bear no resemblance to what I remember, and I think, Hang on a minute! There was a lot more to it!
Excellent, thank you Wendy, I'm glad you agree! And you have your diaries to prove it, which is why I’m loving your Substack so much. Most of mine are blank pages!
Sorry I missed reading this last week, Love this Faith, love all things nostalgia, my god I want those strawberry slippers 😁 can’t wait to read your next post now lol
As the old saying goes, "nostalgia ain't what it used to be!"
Another great post, and I'm so eager to see how you're going to fix this. As others have already commented, nostalgia tends to get misunderstood or misrepresented, and there's another old saying about 'rose-tinted glasses' as well. Them were the good ol' days, but were they always?
As you know, I was also a Britpop fan and those early-mid 90s years...wow, so evocative and memorable and I had a frustrating couple of years where I went to university in the US in 1994 when Britpop was doing its thing in the UK (I finished school in the UK and then went to the US for uni). Across the pond, not many of the British bands were really able to make it big until 'Wonderwall' had its run, then 'Song 2' came around, Kula Shaker also had an impact. But so many great bands...sadly, nothing. (On the plus side, I got to see Blur, Oasis, Pulp and others in their early days in 500-600 capacity venues!)
One thing I've often thought about is how it must feel to discover a band like Oasis or Radiohead many years later, as you mention with someone reflecting on Oasis (two albums v the entire oeuvre). A big part of nostalgia for me was the albums that were released at a specific time in my life. Dog Man Star automatically brings me to one point, The Bends to another, and then Different Class, etc, etc. Plus, to see the evolution of these bands was part of the experience of appreciating them. I know the feeling of discovering a new band now and then realising they have a massive back catalogue, but I almost feel sorry for someone discovering Oasis or whomever years later and not having the chance to see their progression from one album to another.
Such good points Daniel! I agree, there are actually so many albums I can't listen to now because they take me back to such a specific memory that I don't always want to relive it - not because it was bad but because it was good and I don't want to wear it out. Dog Man Star is one such album! (And thank you for reminding me about Kula Shaker - I loved them too!)
Your point about the order of albums is a good one too. Although when I think about discovering The Beatles, Bowie and Kate Bush, each of those albums was so 'period' that I think it was easy to see the progression, even though I got to them in a non-chronological way.
I'm also fascinated to hear about how Britpop seemed from across the pond. I'm glad it was positive! And seeing all those bands in such small venues - so jealous!
I was a bit frustrated when I started at uni in Sept 1994. Suede were huge in my final days of secondary school, Parklife had come out earlier that spring and was massive that summer and I got to the US and MTV were barely showing a thing - I remember 'Creep' by Radiohead being one of the few UK artists on rotation, and 'Live Forever' was on once or twice, usually late at night on 120 Minutes. It wasn't really until spring 1997 with Wonderwall and Song 2 and Kula Shaker (sorry, wasn't a big fan of them :( ) and for a lot of Americans, that was their introduction. Suede, Pulp, Lightning Seeds a few others never hit it big across the Atlantic. (Going back, pre-Britpop, I was also a huge Jesus and Mary Chain, New Order and Pet Shop Boys fan, and they mixed success in the US)
But you know what? In a way, that adds to the experience and the way nostalgia works. It's not going to be perfect, but it still has its own special magic. And yeah, I got to see those bands in small venues, which I appreciated at the time and still do. So there's a silver lining :)
This is so interesting! I can't believe Kula Shaker made it in the US (they were a bit of a joke band here although I did really like them). I wonder what Americans thought of the Blur back catalogue after finding Song 2.
It feels as if generally the less British the songs, the more likely they are to make it, if you think of Depeche Mode who are fairly under appreciated here. Did you like them?
I'm not sure many people got into Blur's back catalogue. You are so right, it was the more 'British-sounding' ones, like Blur, Suede, Pulp that just couldn't crack the market. The US music press loved 'This is Hardcore' but the public just didn't go for it. Bush was huge, and at this time, grunge was still a big thing, and the likes of Stone Temple Pilots and The Offspring were big. Luckily I was in Boston, which had a fantastic music scene and a local radio station that really championed British music (and who sadly went off the air years ago).
I like Depeche Mode, and the Cure. Not my favourites, but was a fan for sure.
What about American bands - did you get into any of them? I was and still am a big Smashing Pumpkins fan, and there was a time I loved Nine Inch Nails - I saw them live in Boston and it was probably the most violent show I've ever been to.
Love, love, love! Was anyone else obsessed with Lisa Frank everything and Backstreet Boys and N'sync? Who else feels old when they see Steve Irwin's two children on the television? I love when I read things that bring my memories back of being younger and what it was like back then.
I didn’t realise Steve Irwin’s children were up and running. I can just about cope with Bono’s daughter being in The Perfect Couple. But it all makes me feel so old 😂
That's your best piece yet. I'm too young for the 60's, but I'm pretty sure that most people weren't walking around wearing beads and caftans, or had mohicans in the 70's (everyone did seem to have big hair in the 80's though).
I don't trust nostalgia either, at least for my own time. I try to avoid it as I get older. To live in your past is not a healthy thing. To visit in another's past, however, is like travelling, it opens the mind. If it's new to me, it fresh and exciting.
Thank you Dean! Yes the mohicans thing really makes me laugh. Although I agree, big hair and perms seemed to be compulsory in the 80s. Frizzy hair is sometimes the only way to tell now that footage is actually from the past - and the cars.
This is brilliant Faith. So many lovely touches, I think my favourite is 'Big Diana,' who I now picture as the guvnor of a sketchy back street boozer. "Don't muck around in 'ere, Big Di will 'ave yer." That's one to get into the Daily Mail comments section!
Huge rock acts have now reached the point that opera did back in the day, that it's becoming a thing to be seen at, to tell your friends about. There were always people who loved it, but also people who went as it was the thing to do. It was hard to get opera tickets in the 1980s. It was worth becoming a Friend of the Royal Opera to get priority booking, tickets cost more than rock concerts. It's the other way around now. It's not hard to get Royal Opera tickets and pretty good ones are about £60-80.
The reason I say this is that anyone could go and hear Liam Gallagher do the big songs for years. You don't need Noel and the rest. Anyone can play Oasis songs, they aren't difficult. Liam's band sound pretty good. You just need Liam singing.
And Spiritualized are playing in Cardiff for £40 a ticket in December. Who made a couple of magnificent albums, and are still making great music now.
I agree. It's the concept rather than the content, so hats off to the marketing people for creating that, in a sense! Also the need to be seen to be doing something is bigger if you didn't do that thing when you were young I think. And if you have the money to do it when you didn't previously?
I did most of my bands when young. But I recently ticked off Rammstein, Kraftwerk and the Chemical Brothers. I'd see PJ Harvey in a smaller venue and I have Human League and Spiritualized.
But I'm more excited about seeing some opera or a recital now.
Haha I loved this, I have certainly realised lots of examples of "Young 'Uns" these days not getting a reference.
A colleague of mine will reply to a youngster saying: "I wasn't born when that was popular." With: "I bet you've heard of William Shakespeare though and he was centuries dead when you were a glint in your father's eye."
I’ve been thinking about this. I wonder if the leaps between decades will be as big? In tech probably, but out with that it doesn’t seem as if there are as many differences 🤔
"I remember when we had to browse the internet on a phone or computer, there was none of those fancy contact lenses or brain implants in the early 21st century" 🤣
Had a real tough day and just flaked on the sofa and read this article, brilliant stuff and totally resonates. Have a great evening Faith!
Thank you so much Luke, I’m so glad you liked it! Hope your evening picks up 😁
My last Substack post was about my years as a teenager in the U.S., waaaaaayyy back in the 90s, obsessed with "Cool Britannia"! ☺️ Writing it catapulted me into beautiful nostalgia and reading this did as well!
I'm looking forward to all else you have in store for readers here!
Thank you Stephanie! Your post sounds fantastic, I can’t wait to read it! I’m fascinated by the fact that your were an Anglophile when you had so much of your own culture to contend with, and also what you make of Brits from the lens of Cool Britannia (I hope it was good!!)
Love this, Faith. The watered-down strawberries analogy is a good one!
I think you’ve touched on my own motivation for writing here. So often I’m irritated by accounts of history that bear no resemblance to what I remember, and I think, Hang on a minute! There was a lot more to it!
Excellent, thank you Wendy, I'm glad you agree! And you have your diaries to prove it, which is why I’m loving your Substack so much. Most of mine are blank pages!
Sorry I missed reading this last week, Love this Faith, love all things nostalgia, my god I want those strawberry slippers 😁 can’t wait to read your next post now lol
Aww thank you Francis! I'm going to catch up on your pieces this weekend too!
Great stuff, Faith! The thing where younger people don't know anything that wasn’t in their Tumblr feed drives me wild.
Thank you! I'm glad it's not just me 😊 (And thank you for subscribing!)
I look forward to reading more good stuff!
As the old saying goes, "nostalgia ain't what it used to be!"
Another great post, and I'm so eager to see how you're going to fix this. As others have already commented, nostalgia tends to get misunderstood or misrepresented, and there's another old saying about 'rose-tinted glasses' as well. Them were the good ol' days, but were they always?
As you know, I was also a Britpop fan and those early-mid 90s years...wow, so evocative and memorable and I had a frustrating couple of years where I went to university in the US in 1994 when Britpop was doing its thing in the UK (I finished school in the UK and then went to the US for uni). Across the pond, not many of the British bands were really able to make it big until 'Wonderwall' had its run, then 'Song 2' came around, Kula Shaker also had an impact. But so many great bands...sadly, nothing. (On the plus side, I got to see Blur, Oasis, Pulp and others in their early days in 500-600 capacity venues!)
One thing I've often thought about is how it must feel to discover a band like Oasis or Radiohead many years later, as you mention with someone reflecting on Oasis (two albums v the entire oeuvre). A big part of nostalgia for me was the albums that were released at a specific time in my life. Dog Man Star automatically brings me to one point, The Bends to another, and then Different Class, etc, etc. Plus, to see the evolution of these bands was part of the experience of appreciating them. I know the feeling of discovering a new band now and then realising they have a massive back catalogue, but I almost feel sorry for someone discovering Oasis or whomever years later and not having the chance to see their progression from one album to another.
Alright, I'm rambling again!
Such good points Daniel! I agree, there are actually so many albums I can't listen to now because they take me back to such a specific memory that I don't always want to relive it - not because it was bad but because it was good and I don't want to wear it out. Dog Man Star is one such album! (And thank you for reminding me about Kula Shaker - I loved them too!)
Your point about the order of albums is a good one too. Although when I think about discovering The Beatles, Bowie and Kate Bush, each of those albums was so 'period' that I think it was easy to see the progression, even though I got to them in a non-chronological way.
I'm also fascinated to hear about how Britpop seemed from across the pond. I'm glad it was positive! And seeing all those bands in such small venues - so jealous!
Thank you for such a great reply:)
I was a bit frustrated when I started at uni in Sept 1994. Suede were huge in my final days of secondary school, Parklife had come out earlier that spring and was massive that summer and I got to the US and MTV were barely showing a thing - I remember 'Creep' by Radiohead being one of the few UK artists on rotation, and 'Live Forever' was on once or twice, usually late at night on 120 Minutes. It wasn't really until spring 1997 with Wonderwall and Song 2 and Kula Shaker (sorry, wasn't a big fan of them :( ) and for a lot of Americans, that was their introduction. Suede, Pulp, Lightning Seeds a few others never hit it big across the Atlantic. (Going back, pre-Britpop, I was also a huge Jesus and Mary Chain, New Order and Pet Shop Boys fan, and they mixed success in the US)
But you know what? In a way, that adds to the experience and the way nostalgia works. It's not going to be perfect, but it still has its own special magic. And yeah, I got to see those bands in small venues, which I appreciated at the time and still do. So there's a silver lining :)
This is so interesting! I can't believe Kula Shaker made it in the US (they were a bit of a joke band here although I did really like them). I wonder what Americans thought of the Blur back catalogue after finding Song 2.
It feels as if generally the less British the songs, the more likely they are to make it, if you think of Depeche Mode who are fairly under appreciated here. Did you like them?
I'm not sure many people got into Blur's back catalogue. You are so right, it was the more 'British-sounding' ones, like Blur, Suede, Pulp that just couldn't crack the market. The US music press loved 'This is Hardcore' but the public just didn't go for it. Bush was huge, and at this time, grunge was still a big thing, and the likes of Stone Temple Pilots and The Offspring were big. Luckily I was in Boston, which had a fantastic music scene and a local radio station that really championed British music (and who sadly went off the air years ago).
I like Depeche Mode, and the Cure. Not my favourites, but was a fan for sure.
What about American bands - did you get into any of them? I was and still am a big Smashing Pumpkins fan, and there was a time I loved Nine Inch Nails - I saw them live in Boston and it was probably the most violent show I've ever been to.
I loved Smashing pumpkins! And Pavement. This was my last hurrah, after these bands I sort of stopped loving music so much I think.
Love, love, love! Was anyone else obsessed with Lisa Frank everything and Backstreet Boys and N'sync? Who else feels old when they see Steve Irwin's two children on the television? I love when I read things that bring my memories back of being younger and what it was like back then.
I didn’t realise Steve Irwin’s children were up and running. I can just about cope with Bono’s daughter being in The Perfect Couple. But it all makes me feel so old 😂
Not only are the Irwin ‘children’ all grown up, but the daughter has a child of her own. haha
Nooooooooooooooo!!!!
If I have this knowledge that makes me feel old, I must share it with others so that I am not alone haha
It’s a noble calling and I’m grateful (I think!).
That's your best piece yet. I'm too young for the 60's, but I'm pretty sure that most people weren't walking around wearing beads and caftans, or had mohicans in the 70's (everyone did seem to have big hair in the 80's though).
I don't trust nostalgia either, at least for my own time. I try to avoid it as I get older. To live in your past is not a healthy thing. To visit in another's past, however, is like travelling, it opens the mind. If it's new to me, it fresh and exciting.
Thank you Dean! Yes the mohicans thing really makes me laugh. Although I agree, big hair and perms seemed to be compulsory in the 80s. Frizzy hair is sometimes the only way to tell now that footage is actually from the past - and the cars.
This is brilliant Faith. So many lovely touches, I think my favourite is 'Big Diana,' who I now picture as the guvnor of a sketchy back street boozer. "Don't muck around in 'ere, Big Di will 'ave yer." That's one to get into the Daily Mail comments section!
Thanks so much Lewis! So glad you liked it, and that bit in particular. Perhaps that’s what she’s really doing, along with Elvis and Lord Lucan 😂
I like to think there's a village out there somewhere that's got all three of them on the same Pub Watch.
Now that’s a sitcom 😂
Now that’s a sitcom 😂
Huge rock acts have now reached the point that opera did back in the day, that it's becoming a thing to be seen at, to tell your friends about. There were always people who loved it, but also people who went as it was the thing to do. It was hard to get opera tickets in the 1980s. It was worth becoming a Friend of the Royal Opera to get priority booking, tickets cost more than rock concerts. It's the other way around now. It's not hard to get Royal Opera tickets and pretty good ones are about £60-80.
The reason I say this is that anyone could go and hear Liam Gallagher do the big songs for years. You don't need Noel and the rest. Anyone can play Oasis songs, they aren't difficult. Liam's band sound pretty good. You just need Liam singing.
And Spiritualized are playing in Cardiff for £40 a ticket in December. Who made a couple of magnificent albums, and are still making great music now.
I agree. It's the concept rather than the content, so hats off to the marketing people for creating that, in a sense! Also the need to be seen to be doing something is bigger if you didn't do that thing when you were young I think. And if you have the money to do it when you didn't previously?
I did most of my bands when young. But I recently ticked off Rammstein, Kraftwerk and the Chemical Brothers. I'd see PJ Harvey in a smaller venue and I have Human League and Spiritualized.
But I'm more excited about seeing some opera or a recital now.
Haha I loved this, I have certainly realised lots of examples of "Young 'Uns" these days not getting a reference.
A colleague of mine will reply to a youngster saying: "I wasn't born when that was popular." With: "I bet you've heard of William Shakespeare though and he was centuries dead when you were a glint in your father's eye."
That’s exactly my point!!! Thanks Mark
It will be interesting to see what nostalgia is like for the children of today in 30-40 years time!
I’ve been thinking about this. I wonder if the leaps between decades will be as big? In tech probably, but out with that it doesn’t seem as if there are as many differences 🤔
"I remember when we had to browse the internet on a phone or computer, there was none of those fancy contact lenses or brain implants in the early 21st century" 🤣
OMG this is it! “We used things called thumbs to type things in” 😱😱
"I can't believe you have working thumbs Grandma, we evolved not to need them" 🤣