The Last Party :Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock
The Last Party :Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock
paperback
Published:
21 June, 2004
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Description
'The loveliest – and certainly the most human – book about pop music I've ever read … A delightful and humane soap opera, a real page-turner, full of rounded and entirely recognisable characters.'
Jon Ronson, Daily Telegraph
THE DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF BRITPOP – BLUR, OASIS, ELASTICA, SUEDE & TONY BLAIR
Beginning in 1994 and closing in the first months of 1998, the UK passed through a cultural moment as distinct and as celebrated as any since the war. Founded on rock music, celebrity, boom-time economics and fleeting political optimism – this was 'Cool Britannia'. Records sold in their millions, a new celebrity elite emerged and Tony Blair's Labour Party found itself, at long last, returned to government.
Drawing on interviews from all the major bands – including Oasis, Blur, Elastica and Suede – from music journalists, record executives and those close to government, The Last Party charts the rise and fall of the Britpop movement. John Harris was there; and in this gripping new book he argues that the high point of British music's cultural impact also signalled its effective demise – If rock stars were now friends of the government, then how could they continue to matter?
Britpop in numbers:
- There were an astonishing 2.6 million ticket applications for the Oasis gig at Knebworth in 1996. 1 in 24 of the British public wanted to see them play. In the end the band played to 250,000 fans across two nights with a guest list that ran to 7,000.
- ’Definitely, Maybe’, Oasis's debut album, went straight to No 1, selling 100,000 copies in 4 days and outselling the Three Tenors in second place by a factor of 50%
- On its first day in the shops Oasis's second album, ‘What's The Story, Morning Glory’, was selling at a rate of 2 copies a minute through HMV's London stores.
- By 1997 Creation Records (which had been founded 12 years earlier with a bank loan of £1,000 by an ex-British Rail Clerk Alan McGee) announced a turnover of £36million thanks almost entirely to one band: Oasis.
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9780007134731 |
| ISBN10 | 0007134738 |
| Number Of Pages | 464 |
| Item Weight | 320 g |
| Product Dimensions | 129 x 198 x 28 mm |
| Publisher / Reseller | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Format | paperback |
Media Reviews
‘THE LAST PARTY is a title that deserves to stick around the book charts.' Mark Lawson, Guardian
'THE LAST PARTY is that rare thing, a book principally about rock musicians that is a compulsive page-turner.’ The Sunday Times
'Compelling … it reminds us what a corrosive and mean place the pop world can be.' Mojo
'A fine, bittersweet read.' Q Magazine
GoodReads Reviews
Author's Bio
John Harris is a highly respected journalist who has written regular columns the NME, Mojo, Q Magazine, Select, Rolling Stone, New Statesman and the Independent