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The Smiths formed
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Period: to
The Smiths were togeher
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The Stone Roses formed
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The Smiths first perform on Top Of The Pops
This was The Smiths' first appearance on television and they immediately made a mark with their unique blend of classic British rock and guitar pop. Poking fun at the Top Of The Pops protocol of mimed songs, Morrissey sang into a bouquet of gladioli and gave one of the most joyous, camp performances of the decade. Not wanting to lose touch with their indie roots, the band left the TOTP studio that night and jumped on the train to Manchester where they performed to a heaving crowd at the Hacienda -
The Jesus and Mary Chain cause a 'riot'
Opinions vary as to whether you could call the Jesus and Mary Chain's show at the North London Poly a riot. For some, the sight of an audience storming the stage and smashing up the band's equipment after a typically short, chaotic set was "blood-in-their eyes destruction". For others, it was a bit pathetic. Either way, nothing like it usually happened at indie gigs, thus cementing the Mary Chain's reputation for controversy and fast-tracking them to mainstream attention. -
NME releases a cassette that codifies music
In the early 80s, "indie" had meant any music released and distributed independently of the major record labels. After June 1986, the word came to be associated with underpowered guitar music made by wheyfaced, middle-class, white people. The cause? The C86 cassette, sold through mail order by the NME, which gathered together the year's leading indie contenders, largely wheyfaced, middle-class, white people making underpowered guitar music. -
Stone Roses at Spike Island
On a grassy knoll near the muddy banks of the Mersey, opposite a cement factory, The Stone Roses held a huge outdoor gig. Spike Island was rammed full of 27,000 people excitedly waiting for the big Stone Roses moment. It marked the beginning of the 1990s, a celebration of all things Madchester and the moment where The Stone Roses moved directly into the media spotlight. It was a hugely ambitious gig for an Indie band, perhaps a bit too ambitious technically. On the day there were problems with t -
Reading goes indie
With new promoters Mean Fiddler keen to erase memories of everyone from Meat Loaf to Bonnie Tyler getting bottled the year before, in 1989 the Reading festival undertook a dramatic change of direction and shed its reputation as the home of muddy rock. Kicking off with a Friday night featuring the Sugarcubes, Spacemen 3 and headlined by New Order, curtain-fringed indie kids were spoilt throughout the weekend as bands including My Bloody Valentine, Jesus Jones and Loop showed the way forward. Stal -
Madchester arrives on the nation's TV screens
The 80s looked destined to end in musical ignominy. The charts were dominated by the steely machinations of Stock, Aitken and Waterman and Jive Bunny's repeated attempts to sample the heart out of classic rock'n'roll. Salvation seemed unlikely – until, as a popular T-shirt of the time put it, God created Manchester. Actually, it was the north's golden pop past colliding with the dance revolution that gave us the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. By November 1989, both were local heroes, but it took -
Blur formed
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Oasis formed
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Blur single "Girls and Boys"
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Oasis release "Definately Maybe"
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Blur vs Oasis
At the peak of the 'Britpop' years, Blur and Oasis' respective labels decided that as a big marketing stunt they would release their new singles on the same day. This created a huge head to head battle between the two bands. The resulting news coverage turned this event into a bitter class war between the Northern working class Oasis and the Southern middle class Blur. Damon Albarn ended up being interviewed on the Ten O'clock news. In the end Blur's "Country House" won over Oasis' "Roll with it -
Oasis arrange and play at Knebworh
At this stage of Oasis's career they were top of the Britpop pile and were looking for the next big conquest. Knebworth was a venue that had long been associated with the biggest acts in rock history; Queen, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones had all played there to vast audiences. Oasis now saw themselves as part of this rock legacy and there were only few UK locations left that could handle the crowds that followed them. Oasis wanted to set a new benchmark for an open-air performance; they hired the