The three-disc Britpop-of-the-’90s compilation Common People–named after the Pulp song, of course–comes out in June, and it will come packaged with liner notes written by Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley. While the track listing does have more than its share of gems, the absence of feuding NME titans Blur and Oasis will no doubt cause lots of message-board handwringing, perhaps even more than the presence of Gay Dad. Get ready to argue over what songs were missed by checking out the full tracklisting after the jump!
CD1
The Auteurs – ‘Lenny Valentino’
Elastica – ‘Stutter’
Gene – ‘Be My Light, Be My Guide’
The Stone Roses – ‘Love Spreads’
James – ‘Laid’
Dodgy – ‘Staying Out For The Summer’
Saint Etienne – ‘You’re In A Bad Way’
Dubstar – ‘Stars’
Black Grape – ‘In The Name Of The Father’
Duffy – ‘London Girls’
Marion – ‘Sleep’
These Animal Men – ‘Speeed King’
S*M*A*S*H – ‘Shame’
Cast – ‘Alright’
Bluetones – ‘Slight Return’
Perfume – ‘Lover’
The Boo Radleys – ‘Wake Up Boo!’
Menswear – ‘Daydreamer’
CD2
Pulp – ‘Common People’
Supergrass – ‘Alright’
Sleeper – ‘Inbetweener’
Echobelly – ‘Great Things’
Powder – ‘Afrodisiac’
Northern Uproar – ‘Rollercoaster’
Paul Weller – ‘Thechangingman’
The Divine Comedy – ‘Something For The Weekend’
Babybird – ‘You’re Gorgeous’
My Life Story – ‘12 Reasons Why’
Denim – ‘It Fell Off The Back Of A Van’
Kula Shaker – ‘Tattva’
Mansun – ‘Wide Open Space’
Salad – ‘Drink The Elixir’
Placebo – ‘Nancy Boy’
Longpigs – ‘She Said’
Ocean Colour Scene – ‘The Riverboat Song’
Shed Seven – ‘Chasing Rainbows’
CD3
Super Furry Animals – ‘God! Show Me Magic’
Suede – ‘Trash’
Kenickie – ‘In Your Car’
Theaudience – ‘A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed’
Catatonia – ‘Mulder And Scully’
Space – ‘Female Of The Species’
Embrace – ‘All You Good Good People’
Gomez – ‘Whippin’ Piccadilly’
Geneva – ‘Into The Blue’
Rialto – ‘Monday Morning 5:19′
The Seahorses – ‘Love Is The Law’
Hurricane #1 – ‘Step Into My World’
Monaco – ‘What Do You Want From Me’
Spearmint – ‘Sweeping The Nation’
Lodger – ‘Always Round Here’
Earl Brutus – ‘SAS And The Glam That Goes With It’
Stereophonics – ‘The Bartender And The Thief’
Gay Dad – ‘Oh Jim’
Pulp, Elastica, Supergrass for “Common People” Britpop compilation [NME]
No Primal Scream? I know they predate the mid-’90s movement, but they made it onto the Trainspotting soundtrack, so I thought they’d be grandfathered in.
Any compilation with the Bluetones’ “Slight Return” is alright by me. But it’s pretty bad to have no Oasis, Blur, Primal Scream, Charlatans, Verve or even Travis (whose “U16 Girls” is an overlooked gem) - especially if you’re going to include the f-in’ Seahorses! And what about the Lightning Seeds’ “Three Lions”, which basically defines Britpop!
That Nick Crowe was the drummer for Gay Dad joke never gets old.
i am glad i don’t have to buy this compilation, as i have received each disc, in its entirety, as mixtapes from terrible boyfriends c 1998-2001.
I’ll stick with improt copy of Live Forever thanks.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Forever-Britpop-Various-Artists/dp/B000088E39
Echobelly> Sleeper.
I couldn’t stand Louise Wener for some reason.
Weird that they left off Blur. I mean, come on. You’ve got to complete the Elastica, Suede, Blur love triangle! It’s just not historically accurate otherwise.
Catatonia’s ‘Mulder and Scully’ always puts a nostalgic smile on my face on a few different levels.
also, how come no Ash? Teenage Fanclub? Lush?
@sicksteanein: I loved Cerys’ scratchy voice!
@katles: That Nick Crowe was the drummer for Gay Dad joke never gets old.
Never, ever.
A little followthrough that happened at the time.
@moomintroll: Yes! How can this exist without “Girl From Mars”? The deluxe reissue of 1977 has been stuck in my cd player the last couple of days.
That Brit Box that came out a couple years ago is much better, and the box is a telephone booth that lights up!
@Thierry: Exactly. “Oh Yeah” was huge on the playing fields circa 1996.
No Mike Flowers?
wait -
No ride, lush, or verve (old stuff) ?
This would be a tragedy if Blur and Oasis did not have so many great records available elsewhere.
Mansun- Wide Open Space, that’s like having the best of Mansun.
This is definitely an odd mix (the logic of what got picked is clearly beyond me), but a nice reminder I should maybe look into getting the Brit box. The phone booth packaging lights up, you say?
Uh, props for the Pulp name, I guess?
@sicksteanein For this, you rule.
About half of these are songs that really define a moment for me, including ones I usually forget about (Babybird; Kula Shaker!) , and therefore I will pick it up happily. I figure the rest are maybe things I would have been enjoying if I wasn’t a mid-teenager and had been paying more thorough attention.
@ObtuseIntolerant: Ditto on having completely forgotten about Kula Shaker. I really liked that first album. What ever happened to that band? Seemed to have a lot of potential.
@SonofaVondruke: They had an album maybe a year and a half ago with a single that was oddly not terrible.
Also, Sleeper is totally > Echobelly. Jeez. And why did they pick Monday Morning 5:19 and not Untouchable? And who is this Duffy? And yay, pre-solo Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
Those are all of my thoughts about this.
@bcapirigi: The Duffy is Stephen Duffy, of Lilac Time and Me Me Me (with Alex James/Blur, Justin/Elastica). And that is how Blur is on this comp - Alex wrote “London Girls” with Duffy. It was going to be another Me Me Me single but they couldn’t get their act together.
And yes to everyone else - where is Blur, Oasis, Ride, Lush, Charlatans??
At least they have Menswe@r & Salad… although I always preferred “Kent” by Salad.
also, lack of blur and oasis is because universal were too cheap to licence them, obv.
prmlscrm, charlatans and ride are all rly outside the remit of Actual Britpop i’d say.
i kind of really like this comp, althoguh the chronology is awful, and i’d definitely go for something off the first suede alBUM rather than trash, and olympian for gene and mark for shed seven…
disc 3 is the greatest hits of 98 whatever my personal feeling about some of the tracks, i’d have had ultrasound rather than lodger though…