WEBVTT - Britpop Battle: Oasis vs. Blur 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:14.760 Rivals is a production of I Heart Radio. Hello everyone, 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:17.120 and welcome to Rivals, the show about music beefs and 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:21.680 feuds and long simmering resentments between musicians. I'm Steve and 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.000 I'm Jordan's and I'm so excited for this episode because 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:27.960 it's my friend Stephen Hyde in his personal super Bowl. 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:30.720 He's been preparing for this one for twenty five years. 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:34.760 Today we are diving into Oasis versus Blur, the battle 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:38.159 of brit Pop. Stephen has extremely strong feelings on this, 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:40.760 as it will soon become apparent. Yes, when I wrote 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:43.240 my book about music rivalries, Your favorite Band is Killing 0:00:43.280 --> 0:00:45.560 Me a few years ago, I wrote the first chapter 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:48.000 on this rivalry because it was one of the first 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:51.440 rivalries that I personally ever cared about. It's what taught 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:55.800 me how to hate Jordan's. I have to say that 0:00:55.840 --> 0:00:58.000 it's awfully hard to let go of how I felt 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:00.400 when I was sixteen years old, which is that Asis 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:02.760 is great and brilliant and one of the best bands 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:07.800 ever and Blur sucks really really hard. I have to say, 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:09.479 when you were sixteen, I would have been I think 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:15.440 about six I knew nothing about the famous Oasis versus 0:01:15.440 --> 0:01:18.080 Blur chart face off that was taking place at that time. 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:22.520 To me, the winner was abundantly clear. Oasis was the 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:25.880 wonder wall band. You know everybody that the song was everywhere. 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:28.199 If I'd heard of Blur at all at that time, 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:30.160 it would have been as like a tween watching MTV 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:32.160 two and seeing the video for song of A two 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:34.440 or something, which to me sounded like something like Blink 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:36.959 two or Green Day. You know. I had no idea 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:40.559 that Blur were brit pop forefathers, probably until their best 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:43.080 of album came out in two thousand I think, which 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:45.360 is sort of like the Louder than Bombs for my 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:47.720 age demo, Like that was what all the cool record 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:50.560 stores that are in town had like posters of. But 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:52.840 even then I had no knowledge of this blood feud 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:55.680 with Oasis until learning more about the history of brit pop, 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:59.200 and to me, without knowing the British cultural implications, they 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:02.400 seemed to come from completely different musical universe. Is Oasis 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:04.560 and Blur? Yeah, this is like one of those episodes 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:06.960 where I feel like the old man pulling up his 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:10.239 rocking chair and explaining to the young people would it 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:12.600 felt like to live in a war? Because you can 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:15.160 read about it in textbooks, Sonny, but you don't know 0:02:15.200 --> 0:02:17.160 what it was like to be in the trenches, buying 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:20.120 imports singles for precious always B sides and taking your 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:23.639 marching orders from Noel Gallagher about the evils of Damon Alburn. 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:25.800 I think I have to break this down for you 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:28.320 and all the other kiddies out there. So let's get 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:35.240 into this mess. We have to start, unfortunately, Stephen with Blur. 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:38.079 They were the first earlier band. They were formed while 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:41.800 the members were attending college in London, and they initially 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:44.960 wanted to call themselves Seymour after a J. D. Salinger novella. 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:47.840 I feel like, right there, that's a pretty good indicator 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:51.560 of how different Blur are than Oasis. I wonder like 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:53.919 if the Gallagher brothers have read any J. D. Sounger. 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:57.520 I'm guessing probably not. I mean it's starting as more 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:00.280 of a Faulkner band, to be honest. Blur really their 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:04.600 debut Leisure, two years later after they formed, and a 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:07.359 two month tour of the United States in would prove 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:10.040 to be really instrumental for the band because they were 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:12.280 homesick and they were starting to sort of tweak their 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:15.280 sound as a reaction against this American grunge scene that 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:18.560 sort of helped them whenever torn across the country, and 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:21.480 they embrace their own cultural identity and the home grown 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:25.040 sounds of England like the Rolling Stones, who the Kinks, 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:27.520 bands like the Clash, and more modern groups like the 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:30.600 Specials and the Smiths and Madness and this so the 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:33.120 seas of brit pop, which was, you know, admittedly more 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:35.440 of like a headline hype kind of thing than a 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:38.360 genuine musical movement, but it did have a distinctive sound 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:41.680 with its mix of pop melodies and rock and roll swagger. Yeah, 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:43.520 you know, I feel like I have to say this 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:45.600 before we get too far into this episode, that you 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:47.720 don't have to come clean and say that I don't 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:51.400 actually think Blur sucks. You know, I respect their career 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:53.840 in legacy, and I think I can analyze it without 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:58.240 litting my intense pro oasis biases get in the way. 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:00.880 So I'll just put that out there. There's any Blur 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:03.560 fans out there who are already turning off this episode 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:05.120 because they feel like this will not be a fair 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:08.520 and balanced episode of Rivals, I am promising that I 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:11.920 can do that. I think the britishness of Blur is 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:14.320 what really ties them to bands, like you were saying, 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:16.960 like the Kinks and the Smiths, Like when you listen 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:19.040 to their records, especially the ones that they made at 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:21.400 their creative peak in the mid nineties, you get a 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:23.520 real sense of what it was like to live in England. 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:25.919 I think at that time, like there's a specificity to 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:30.760 Blur lyrically that really sets them apart as cultural commentators 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:33.720 and really like on some level, like they're like satirists. 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:36.359 I think in a lot of ways, Oasis doesn't have 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:39.920 that at all. Like lyrically, they're basically focused on things 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:42.920 like cigarettes and alcohol and rock and roll and all 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:46.919 that and cool guys stuff the culture around bands basically, 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:49.480 so in a way I think like Blur is probably 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:52.279 stronger when it comes to lyrics, though I think the 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:56.960 generality of Oasis is what allowed them to transition better 0:04:57.000 --> 0:05:00.000 to the American market, And I also think it makes 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:03.200 oasis is songs more timeless, Like you listen to Blur 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:06.440 and it seems very nineties to me, whereas Oasis has 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:09.200 a timelessness where if you just like good time rock 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:14.080 and roll, Oasis delivers in spades. Blue reach peak Britishness, 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:17.040 they have to say. When they released their third album, 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:20.160 their masterpiece, really, park Life, and it's written from the 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:23.919 perspective of the British working class, and the music video 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:26.520 for the title track even had Phil Daniels, who played 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:30.479 Jimmy the mod in the nine film Quadraphenia based on 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:32.800 on the Who album. So I mean, you know, you 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:35.680 don't get much more British than Jimmy the maud here. 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:38.919 This album was an absolute smash, hitting number one for 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:42.119 nine weeks in the UK and one an unprecedented four 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:44.920 brit Awards, which is like the English equivalent of Grammy's 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:48.440 basically Best Single, Best Video for Park Life, Best Album 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:52.760 and Best British Group. And before this, you know, UK 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:55.760 indie bands were basically like fringe acts and now they 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:59.120 were at national figures. They basically had swept their version 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:01.839 of the Grammy Big War really and in their acceptance 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:05.080 speech for Best British Group, David Albert goes on stage 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.120 and says that he should be sharing this award with 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:10.200 another up and coming British group, Oasis, which Graham Cox 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:13.640 and ads much love and respect to them. Yes, which 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:15.840 again I think this is going to define in a 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:18.960 lot of ways the dynamic between these two bands, because Blur, 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:21.920 to me, we're not the instigators of this at all, 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:24.280 like they in a way were the victims of it. 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:26.960 Like I don't think that they really saw Oasis as 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:29.680 like competitors, as you can see from that speech. In 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:32.200 a way, I think they looked at them as like compatriots, 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:35.920 like we're these young British bands, We're bringing England back 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:38.520 to rock and roll at a time where grunge was 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:41.800 very dominant. And like you said before, you know, part 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:44.320 of what the inspiration was for Blur at the time 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:47.960 is that they wanted to assert that England matter too, 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:50.160 Like they didn't want to emulate what the Americans were doing, 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:52.240 so they did something that was very much kind of 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:54.400 based in their own culture. And I think they looked 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:56.880 at Oasis with pride in a way, like, oh, this 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.159 is another great British rock band coming along. And of 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:02.159 course Oways says they put out their debut definitely maybe 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:07.000 earlier on in And if you want more background on 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:10.040 the Oasis story, I recommend that you check out our 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:13.320 earlier episode on the rivalry between Noel and Liam Gallagher. 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:16.160 We get pretty deep into it, uh you know their 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:19.160 background in that episode. But I think in terms of 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:23.960 the dynamic with Blur, it's important to just say quick 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:27.720 that Oasis I think could be pretty broadly defined as 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:30.400 like the blue collar band. You know, they came from 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:33.560 more of a working class background, and I think musically 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:35.720 they were just much more of like a meat and 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:38.280 potatoes type band really, like kind of like a pub 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:40.880 rock band, which is a crazy thing to say about 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:42.800 a band that would like pretty quickly go on to 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:45.560 play stadiums. But I think that even when they were 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:49.040 playing on the biggest stages, the appeal of Oasis was 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:53.000 that these were simple songs that you could pretty much 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:55.720 memorize after the first time you heard them, and by 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:58.120 like the second or third time, you would have your 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:02.120 arms around the other lads in your group, hoisting points 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:04.760 and thinking about how you wanted to live forever. Like 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:08.800 that was the appeal of Oasis, much less cerebral than Blur. 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:10.720 Like Blur was the kind of band again, this was 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:12.720 a band that almost named themselves after a J. D. 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:16.200 Sunder story. You know, they were much more literary band, 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:18.920 and they were much more I think concerned with the 0:08:18.960 --> 0:08:21.600 culture of Britain and and commenting on what was going 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:23.840 on in England at the time, and yeah, it just 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:27.040 comes from two different worlds and I think because of 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:30.400 those different aesthetics it just really lined up well. Even 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:32.599 though Blur I don't think wanted to have a conflict, 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:35.880 I think it made it like really attractive for Oasis 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:38.840 in the beginning anyway, to be this underdog band that 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:41.280 could kind of just like throw darts at this like 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:46.040 very popular but kind of snooty and posh band called Blur. Yeah. 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:48.840 I mean this really from the jump, these two bands 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:51.080 had really distinct lanes, as you were saying, and it 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:53.880 kind of sets the groundwork for this Beetle Stones comparison 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:56.840 thing to come. I mean Oasis were the brash, swaggering 0:08:56.880 --> 0:09:00.000 working class heroes and Blur were like the tweetie are 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.120 at school kids and they had a more refined and 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:05.720 introverted approach to their music. Oasis are cocky and arrogant. 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:09.240 Blur has Alex James, who's this like winky, cuddling dude 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:11.319 who bounces around like he's in the Monkeys. I mean 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:14.760 it's you couldn't get more distinct from him than like 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:17.360 Liam Gallagher who just goes on stage and scowls with 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:19.440 his hands behind his back the whole time. In terms 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:22.200 of their music, obviously, Oasis, as you said, made the 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.920 totally opposite of Blur's kinksish character studies and all the 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:29.199 sort of satires found on Park Life. Instead of making 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:31.720 an album about the British every man, which is what 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.160 Blur did with Park Life, they made an album for 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:37.120 the British every man, like a celebration of the ordinary person. 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:39.160 I always felt like you could, actually you feel like 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:41.600 you could be an Oasis too, where I don't think 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:44.040 that's something that you feel with Blur. You know, no 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:47.040 one knows what the hell supersonic man. It just sounded cool, 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.199 and you mentioned cigarettes and alcohol. The song on the 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:53.800 Oasis track. It doesn't condone it's use, but it's about, 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:56.480 in Nole's words, someone who's on the doll who might 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:59.160 not have any other pleasures but these, so you know, 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:01.560 he's sort of unders dance where these people are coming from, 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:05.760 whereas Blur are just kind of like sketching them um style. 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:08.720 Over Stubstance is a bit too reductive for the Oasis 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:11.080 versus Blur discussion, but I think it's not far off 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:14.080 to describing what what they have going on. Yeah, to 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:16.640 me like a handy way to break down the differing 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:20.120 world views of Blur and Oasis is I think Blur 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:23.400 essentially wrote songs from like an insider's point of view 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:27.040 of British society, particularly like the country's like trendy and 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:29.640 like most posh people, you know. I think of that 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:31.599 song country House Like, which is like one of the 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:34.920 defining Blur songs of this era, which was about their 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:38.600 manager buying this like lavish mansion in the country, and 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:40.640 the tone of that song is very much reminiscent of 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.320 like those ray Baby songs from the Kinks, where it's 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:47.839 taking this like knowing comic view of privilege, whereas Oasis 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.560 had an outsider's perspective, like they actually aspired to fame 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:53.680 and wealth when they put out their first record, they 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:55.760 didn't know anyone that had a country house like they 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:58.000 wanted to have a country house. I always think of 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:00.240 the first song, I definitely maybe rock and Rolls are 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:04.000 as being like their mission statement, like for Oasis, being 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:06.240 in a band was an escape in the idea of 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:08.600 owning a house in the country. At least at first, 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:10.720 it was like this incredible luxury that you could only 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:13.160 dream about, you know, Like for Blur it was something 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:15.480 you could that you would make fun of almost but 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:17.920 for Oasis it was like this romantic thing, you know, 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:19.800 like we want to be rich so we can be 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:22.000 one of those people. So like to me, like dead 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:24.480 is the core difference between those two groups. And yeah, 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:26.240 I mean the thing that I love about them is 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:28.800 that it's it's the case of the underdog succeeding. I mean, 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:31.760 they brought themselves out of this horrible poverty and in 0:11:31.800 --> 0:11:34.600 Northern England and be cam and it's it's rare that 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:36.960 somebody from the Jump sings about wanting to be a 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:39.120 rock and roll star on track one of their first 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:41.800 album and then does it almost instantly. Man, that's part 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:43.640 of the magic of the Oasis story. I feel like, 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:46.360 oh absolutely, it's like the greatest called shot in rock history. 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:49.120 Like some of the fiercest feuds, Oasis and Blur started 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:52.160 out actually sharing a healthy mutual respect for one another. 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:55.120 When we talked about the brit Awards earlier, when Blur 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:57.760 get up and and actually praise Oasis when they're accepting 0:11:57.760 --> 0:12:01.160 the award for Best British Artist, and I think only 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:04.840 five of the enemy awards. Liam Gallagher was actually really 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:08.480 humble when Blur walked away with five awards to Oasis 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:10.320 is three. He said, you know, I don't think we 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:12.880 Oasis should have gotten more awards than Blur. Blur are 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:16.000 a top band. I mean from from Liam Gallagher, that's 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:20.120 like incredibly high praise. But their respects started to turn 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:23.280 towards resentment after they were lumped together with Blur won 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:25.439 too many times in the press under the whole brit 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.520 pop flag banner, which which they really were kind of 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:31.000 keen to avoid. They kind of thought it was just 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:33.200 twee and like like you said, I mean, they were 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:35.960 doing more just rock and roll. They weren't really specifically 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:38.880 trying to take a stand for British culture in the 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:42.319 world or anything. And their label boss Alan McGee later 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:44.920 said that the track A Digsie's Dinner on Definitely Maybe 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:48.000 was actually a piss take to use his words of Blur, 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:50.800 uh and it was just like to show Noel basically 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:53.600 mocking the whole brit pop sound and showing that he 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:55.480 could do it in his sleep. It was easy to 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:57.720 do and but I just choose not to do it. 0:12:57.840 --> 0:12:59.880 You know, this is gonna be something that we speculated 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:02.960 this episode about about like the legitimacy of this view, 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:06.120 like whether there was genuine animus there or if it 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:09.320 was just about basically creating a hype to sell records. 0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:13.120 And I think there's ample evidence that it was overblown, 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:16.000 that there really wasn't that much of a conflict. I 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:19.960 do think, however, that like Oasis, their main problem with 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:23.199 Blur is that at this time, Blur was the bigger band, 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:26.160 and Oasis had a lot of ambition and they wanted 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:27.559 to be the biggest band. I think they wanted to 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:29.559 be the biggest band in the world. But before you 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:30.960 could be the biggest band in the world, you had 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:33.320 to be the biggest band in England. And this just 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:35.920 strikes me as like a classic case of like, well, 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:37.920 if you want to be the boss, you have to 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.920 take out the boss. And it seems like, you know, 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:45.160 more than anything, that was what was motivating the trash 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:47.719 talking that was going on, like we can lower these 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:51.000 guys a peg. Also, if you talk about the most 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:53.800 famous band in the country, that's gonna get you a 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:56.439 lot of press attention. It's gonna basically be a double 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:58.720 win because not only are you making them, you know 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:02.600 Blur look bad but also elevating yourself, and it seems 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:05.360 like that is the strategy like from this point on 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:08.240 with Oasis, like in relation to Blur, that like they're 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.280 basically just gonna like mess with these guys heads as 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:14.120 much as they can until they can overtake them. And 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:16.480 it's funny to me and it maybe like a little 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:19.560 sad too that like Blur did not know how to 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:22.400 deal with this. I mean they really I think we're 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:26.920 like mystified by like the attacks that Oasis we're gonna 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:29.640 be launching on them like from here on out. Oh yeah. 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:31.600 They took it personally. Instead of like being able to 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:34.960 trash talk back, they took it very personally. Damon was 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:37.800 in a Blurred documentary No Distance Left to Run In 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:40.680 and he says, Noel Gallaghy used to take the piss 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:43.440 out of me constantly and it really really hurt at 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:46.080 the time. Oasis were like the bullies I had to 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:48.320 put up with in the school, which is you know said, 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:50.600 I mean, the Gallagher brothers came from Manchester and they 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:54.880 had this this difficult upbringing and very violent adolescence and 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:57.480 they can't resist. You know, it's it's fight or flight 0:14:57.520 --> 0:14:59.920 at all times for them, and they can't resist the 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:03.400 chance to to just take shots at the leading band, 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:07.080 and you know, Blur coming from you know, good London 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:11.080 families is just the perfect target. Yeah, And that's the 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:12.760 thing about this is that you know, you can look 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:14.720 at this scenario and you can go like, yeah, oh, 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:18.240 way's there were bullies. Their treatment of Blur was unfair. 0:15:18.520 --> 0:15:21.200 But I think the reason why, like the trash talking 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:23.840 landed is that what they were saying how to bring 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:26.440 a truth to it. There's this great documentary about britpop 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:28.760 that came out in two thousand three called of Course, 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:32.400 Live Forever, where Noel Gallagher he's filmed sitting in this 0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:35.200 like huge opulent house. I assume it's like one of 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:38.280 his like twenty seven houses, and he's like in this 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:41.320 like high backed chair that looks like a throne. You know, 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:43.440 it looks like he's like King Noel sitting in this 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:46.000 huge house and he's talking in this interview about how 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:48.840 he used to work on building sites, and which is 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:50.720 kind of like a weird image because again he's like 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:53.040 in the midst of this huge house and he's talking 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:55.920 about his working class background. But he basically says about 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:58.120 Blur that like, you know, when before I was famous, 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:00.520 like I used to you know, work abs where I 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.440 would get dirt underneath my fingernails. And I'm not saying 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:05.480 that's a badge of honor, it's just the fact, like 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:08.320 that's where I come from. And then like in the 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:10.560 same interview, I think it's like in the DVD extras, 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:14.360 actually he calls Damon Auburn a condescending cock. That's a 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:18.800 quote for writing songs about the encroachment of American culture 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:20.720 on England, which was like again one of the big 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:25.320 themes of those like classic Blur records and those quote 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:27.240 is if you've got the time to worry about American 0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:30.760 culture creeping into a British society, then I would get 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:33.680 a proper fucking job. And then he of course calls 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:37.280 Damon Auburn a fucking student, which I think he like, 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.240 that's also like what he said about Radiohead and probably 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.280 like every other like prominent British band of that time. 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:47.520 As an oaysis fan, I think this is beautiful, of course, 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:50.720 and I am someone who is more apt to sort 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:54.400 of like sympathize with the blue collar underdog band. So 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:56.600 you know, I of course eat all this stuff up. 0:16:57.120 --> 0:16:59.200 I will say, like, on some level, I will concede 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:01.160 that like this is no Gallagher again being a bit 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:03.560 of a bully and maybe even being a hypocrite, you know, 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:06.960 talking about having dirt under his figure and nails, like 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.600 when he was a much richer rock star, probably at 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:13.639 that point than Damon Alburn was. But again, he's puncturing 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:17.399 the pretensions of like smart culture and I put smart 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:20.399 in quotes, and he's doing it a way that I 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:23.439 think resonates with people. And as an American fan, that 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:25.399 was one of the things I connected with. Like I 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:30.000 liked the no bullshit attitude of Oasis and it really 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:33.360 connected with me after all those years of like grunge 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:36.440 bands basically being miserable about being famous. It's like, here 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:40.200 was an unpretentious guy from like a really hard rocking 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:44.919 band that embraced being famous and made fun of people 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.360 that like took rock start him too seriously. I mean 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:50.680 that I think was the appeal of Oasis. I think 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:52.240 it was the same interview where he said, yeah, I 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:54.879 used to work on building sites that fundamentally makes my 0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:57.879 soul more pure than blurs, right, you know. I mean 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:00.160 he's kidding and it's funny, but on some level, Oh 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:03.159 you wonder how much he's actually kidding, Yeah exactly. I 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:06.000 mean he says it with a wink, but he also 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:08.680 used that as a cudgel against Blur, you know, and 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:13.600 it really worked. Yeah, it's pretty brutal shanking. Uh. Taking 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:16.840 it back, things start to really get weird between the 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:20.879 two bands. Backstage at the Enemy Awards, Liam starts taking 0:18:20.880 --> 0:18:23.320 shots at Alex James, who I always thought was kind 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:25.879 of like the cute one, sort of like the Davy 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:29.040 Jones of Blur, like always sort of like always winking 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:30.879 at the camera. He's like, he's the one that just 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:34.760 seems to be so impressed with his own adorability. And 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:36.600 I can see how Liam will get really piste off 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:40.840 by that, So he starts shouting various uh not nice 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:44.879 things at Alex James and Graham Coxon is very drunk 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:46.879 and walks up and kisses Liam on the cheek and 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:50.880 tries to like smooth things over. This doesn't completely boil 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:53.280 over into a full out rumble, but you can definitely 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:56.480 tell that something is about to happen between these two bands. Yeah, 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:59.520 and it goes to another level when Always puts out 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:02.840 the singles I might say uh, which is one of 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:05.480 the great Oasis songs and also an example of something 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:09.600 I was talking about earlier, where lyrically, Oasis songs are 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:12.560 like nonsensical, Like that is one of the most famous 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:16.440 nonsensical Oasis songs of all time, talking about there's fishes 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:18.879 in the dishes and like that whole thing at the 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:23.720 end makes no sense, just terrible lyrics, but just a 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:26.720 brilliant rock song and incredible sort of like t Rex 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:30.600 inspired guitar riff and Owasis through a party when that 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:33.520 song went to number one and Damon Alburn decides to 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:35.360 show up, I guess it's like a sign of goodwill, 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:38.080 like he's trying to support again this other you know 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:41.280 band in the British rock scene. And apparently at the party, 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:44.040 you know, Damon Alburn's hanging out and Liam Gallagher comes 0:19:44.080 --> 0:19:45.600