8. Pulp Common People
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuTMWgOduFM Pulp were a landmark band of the 90s, and picking their landmark song is trickier than it looks. Their earlier singles, such as Babies, Razzamatazz and Do you remember the first time? established themselves as a cult band who told brilliantly twisted stories of love, delivered through a frontman for whom the phrase 'geek chic' was seemingly invented. Britpop was certainly responsible for a plethora of bands who couldnt see beyond pastiche, this reached its nadir when the Oasis covers band Nowaysis had a hit with Id like to teach the world to sing, which Oasis borrowed the melody from for their second single Shakermaker... and now my head is beginning to hurt a bit theres post-modern and theres just plain silly. Pulp however were anything but silly, and Britpop opened a door for their worldview, style and majesty. Many pop careers are built on luck, and whilst Pulp had their fair share of fortune, they certainly earned it. Having spent years on the margins, two crucial things happened to them. Firstly they wrote Common People, based on Jarvis Cockers experience at art school with an upper class girl who wanted to slum it with the working class and his disdain for her dabbling. Common people wasnt an arty take on an Ian McEwan short story, it was an anthem in the making, it just needed to be heard in the right environment - but where would they find that? Well, Radio 1 was saturated with Britpop. Then their second crucial moment came when John Squire of The Stone Roses fell off his mountain bike a week before Glastonbury, Pulp stepped in as the Saturday night headliners and stole the show, Common people had its audience and word of mouth did the rest. Common people got the balance between the blurred lines of the working and middle classes just right, or as Ian Brown once famously said "Its not where youre from, its where youre at. And here Pulp were at the top of their game at exactly the right time.
Ed Nash
Contributor
What makes music fantastic? Star quality, amazing music, breathtaking lyrics and the ability to bring something new to the table, even if that means a new take on the classics. That's what I love to listen to and write about.
As well as writing for What Culture, I occasionally write a blog http://tedney.blogspot.co.uk and sometimes use Twitter, but sparingly @TedneyNash
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