Quote:
Originally Posted by CDSmith
Over here in N. America their so-called "influence" was marginal at best.
They definitely did fly on behaviour and attitude, I'll give you that. Takes more than that to actually be as big as they claimed they would be though.
And offering people a refund and then thowing a trantrum when they accept it is the mark of a true shithead premadonna. Want the money then deliver a quality performance or set a second date and honor people's tickets from the first show.
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I remember it on both sides of the Atlantic largely because they were 'taking off' just as I was leaving the States. When I moved to the UK, I knew Wonderwall and Supernova and I owned that album but that was pretty much all. Then I moved here and they were like rock gods here. Look up (if anybody can be bothered) the 'great Blur vs Oasis battle'...it shows up on nearly every 'remember when' show here.
One of the problems they had with launching themselves in the States was that Liam pretty much messed up every promo push. I can remember before I left the States watching their big MTV launch in the States only to find Liam didn't show up and Noel had to sing his bits. I thought he sang them better, if I am honest.
All of which, doesn't mean they weren't a huge influence in the music *industry* around that period. True, that is especially the case in the UK but it wasn't claimed that they weren't an influence in the States it was claimed they weren't at all. The British music industry in that period of the 90's - with Brit Pop and the Madchester scene - was a very big scene. I would say that that has pretty much died here now. Bands don't rule the media any more but them combined with the Spice Girls did in that period.
This is an interesting period for me because my awareness of the UK was still that of a person new to the culture. They were at their height just before and after the Spice Girls started to make it into the culture. The Spice Girls were my first experience with a UK pop culture penomenon. They appeared on their first tv show about two weeks after I moved here and I remember watching it. Then, I watched them creep into daily conversations.
Their music sucked but they still influenced British pop culture. I would go as far as to say that if you wanted to define British 'cool Britania' 90's by two music acts it would be the Spice Girls and Oasis. Which just, again, shows you don't have to be as good as you claim to have had influence.