The Second British Invasion, 1994

The hospitalisation of Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain in early April 1994 marked a turning point for not only the growing US alternate scene, but the industry as a whole. The release of his group's In Utero the previous year had maintained their commercial success, and its succession by Pearl Jam's Vs seemed to show the "grunge" sound becoming harder and more abrasive, as a reaction to the industry successfully promoting it as the next big thing. However, the noise-rock of In Utero clearly alienated some listeners, with it lacking Nevermind's massive success, quickly slipping out of the charts despite entering at #1 and garnering critical acclaim. Labels knew that the coming months would be important in deciding whether alternate rock would remain a fad or truly blow up, and several doubted the noisier strands would have the same selling power.

That year, Manchester band Oasis, consisting of brothers Liam (lead vocals) and Noel Gallagher (lead guitar and vocals), Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (rhythm guitar), Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass) and Tony McCaroll (drums) signed with Alan McGee's indie label Creation Records. Importantly, contract loopholes meant that they were actually signed to Sony Music Entertainment as their overseas distributor, who licensed them to Creation.

After two failed attempts, the band's debut Definitely Maybe was finished, mastered and presented to the label in May. Since performing "Live Forever" and a cover of their idols The Beatles' "I Am The Walrus" to executives in a company event in February of that year, Sony had kept a close eye on the band. They lacked an alternate rock group on Nirvana or Alice in Chains' level, and wanted to break into the market. In the UK, "Supersonic" was released as the band's debut single in April, followed by "Shakermaker" in June and "Live Forever" just before the album's release on 29 August, on both sides of the Atlantic.

However, in the US, their discography before the album release had been very different. Sony concluded that while their distorted guitars and untrained vocals would attract the grunge audience, their optimism and catchy melodies could offer an alternative to the nihilism and noise of In Utero. The label's publicists decided to play up their working class punk image and admiration of the Sex Pistols, and their first singles were chosen to reflect this, emphasising punk rock instead of psychedelia.

"Cigarettes and Alcohol" was released as the band's debut in June accompanied by a very punkish video of the band performing and eventually trashing the venue with the audience, denting the Billboard 100 at #81 but hitting #9 on the Alternative Songs chart, and album tracks "Rock and Roll Star" and "Bring it on Down" were serviced as promotional singles, peaking at #27 and #20 respectively.

The band were put on a short US tour for June and July, performing solo and opening for Weezer (Rivers Cuomo was an early supporter of the band and struck up a friendship with Noel and Bonehead, performing "Undone (The Sweater Song)" acoustically with them for MTV), quickly gaining a reputation for chaotic and lively sets, and performed several times for MTV programs. Even the Gallaghers' growing reputation for controversial statements in interviews seemed to gain them more exposure and support, though it also helped their critics.

Sony's marketing push and restructuring of releases to fit a certain image was initially unknown to the band ("Live Forever" received a US release in part because Liam announced it as their current single during a New York gig broadcast on MTV, causing many enquiries from retailers), but after Oasis's rise to fame in the UK, these alternate singles would become expensive and valuable imports.

Alan McGee would use this authority from Sony to get leverage over Noel (who usually decided the band's releases): previously wanting "Bring it on Down" as the group's lead single due to being a devoted punk fan, he was able to prevent the similarly fast-paced and loud "Fade Away" from being released as a B-side after convincing the US publicists (instead, it would become a promotional non-album single in early 1995, peaking at #17 on Alternative Songs), later using this power to save several potential hits from being confined to B-sides.

The efforts paid off, and while the album went straight to #1 in the UK, it peaked at a respectable #35 in March 1995. "Live Forever" became the second commercial US single in September, climbing to #64 and #2 on Alternative Songs, with a re-shot video (the UK one was deemed too low budget to get much airplay). The band had already established themselves in the UK ("Cigarettes and Alcohol" became their first domestic top 10 hit in April), and were growing in the US, with decent critical support.

"Whatever", the band's non-album single for Christmas '94, became their first to be released on both sides of the Atlantic simultaneously and their first UK top 5 (#3) and hitting #58 in the US, with a performance on the Late Show with Letterman propelling it to matching "Live Forever" on the Alternative Songs chart.

All in all, Sony's marketing push had resulted in a very successful first year for the band. An MTV program featuring interviews with students about their favourite bands confirmed that many liked Oasis for their working-class credentials and saw them as a more uplifting alternative to grunge, Their videos were gaining heavy MTV airplay (including the videos for UK "Supersonic" and "Shakermaker") and mainstream US success seemed imminent. However, opposition to the band was growing. In one of Cobain's first interviews after his release from hospital and rehab he stated he found the band "idiotic and repetitive", and expressed support for another UK band who were quickly shaping up to rival Oasis: Blur.
 
"I knew [Blur's] first record from the radio when we were touring right after Nevermind and but I wasn't really a massive fan until I heard [Chemical World], and I remember I went out to buy a copy but none of the stores had it, even the small ones. [...] When I went to Britain after getting out of rehab [in May 1994, after the UK release of Blur's third album Parklife], I went to the gig and afterwards I got to go backstage and I was talking to Graham [Coxon] and Alex [James] who were a bit drunk [...] and telling me about how they'd just made their best album but they had this really shitty US label [SBK] who wouldn't put their records out for months after they were released, so I promised I'd tell David [Geffen] about it and see if I could get them signed." - Kurt Cobain, NME August 1998

Blur had been growing in popularity within the UK since 1991 and even had a minor US hit with "There's No Other Way", but any more success in that market was limited by their distributor SBK Records, who released their albums months after than the UK with altered track lists and little promotion. Cobain's meeting with the band proved fateful, as he was able to deliver on his promise to have Geffen sign a one-album contract with (though both parties agreed to keep the meeting secret to maintain Blur's Anglo-centric and anti-US image). While David Geffen doubted Parklife would have major sales, he agreed to distribute the album after hearing "Girls and Boys" and having Cobain agree to release the band's MTV Unplugged show commercially, and so negotiated with SBK to release the band's music in the US in exchange for a cut of the profits and SBK keeping the rights to the first two albums.

As he predicted, "Girls and Boys" was a hit for the band, building on the success of the similarly danceable "There's No Other Way" and reaching the top 5 of the UK singles and US Dance and Alternative charts and #36 on the Billboard 100, with Parklife peaking at #66, though follow up single "End of a Century" failed to recapture the success, peaking at #12 on the US Alternative chart, #14 on the UK singles and #73 on the Billboard 100. Despite this, Geffen agreed to continue as the band's US label and the band were put on a US tour, being much more positive for the band than their gruelling experiences promoting their first two albums.

After the release of "Some Might Say", Oasis' first UK #1 single, in April 1995, the Blur-Oasis rivalry began rapidly escalating, starting with Liam Gallagher taunting Blur frontman Damon Albarn over their lack of a chart-topping single. The music press thrived on the band member's barbs to one another, and the so-called Britpop scene was rapidly growing as new bands such as Supergrass, The Verve, Sleeper and Elastica released successful debut albums. These bands also made a name for themselves in the US, with Elastica gaining exposure on the Lollapalooza tour and getting good airplay and Supergrass working on a Monkees-esque TV show with Steven Spielberg, which would debut in 1996. Pre-established UK acts such as Morrissey also received a publicity boost, with his single "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get" scraping the Billboard top 40.

At the same time in early to mid 1995, the US alternative scene lacked a major uniting band like Oasis, with Nirvana still mostly absent (Cobain was still in and out of hospital and focusing on collaborating with other artists such as Michael Stipe and David Bowie, two attempts at recording a fourth album had been abandoned and with MTV Unplugged and Incesticide Vol. 2 had been released to satisfy fans) and the Smashing Pumpkins' monumental Mellon Collie was yet to be released. The next 12 months would prove to be a major game changer for both sides of the Atlantic.
 

destiple

Banned
add a more commercially successful "British sea power" to this ( and at an earlier date) and I will gladly surrender to my british masters **sigh**
 
Since we're talking about a new British invasion, might I recommend the boybands Boyzone and East 17 as part of this new influx of Across the Pond Tallent? They can't all be Rock bands, after all. You need to throw in something for the screaming, boy-crazy teens and adolescents of that era. Here are a couple of their best songs from 95.


 

Indiana Beach Crow

Monthly Donor
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Forgot about this, sorry lads. Will start it back up soon.

Here are some of my ideas:
-The singles battle is the equivalent to Beatles on Ed Sullivan, The Universal vs Roll With It ITTL
-Manics break through into US with "Faster", Richey disappearance butterflied but EMG is a lot closer to THB
-Be Here Now comes out late 98 after even worse studio problems and drug abuse, is a lot more MBV and Stone Roses influenced (think
), Liam dies at 27, SOTSOG Noel solo?
-Supergrass make that TV show with Spielberg for MTV, breaking them and lots of other UK bands in the US
-Graham leaves Blur after TGE and joins Pavement, BTC is Pavement's breakthrough album on both sides of the Atlantic (including Coffee and TV and You're So Great), not sure what to do with Graham if Pavement gets just as big as Blur
-Gorillaz starts earlier, maybe Alex James involved
-Bernard never leaves Suede but Richard still joins- DMS is an even bigger flop but CU and HM are even more successful
-Joyce court case butterflied and The Smiths reunite, however Morrissey dies in place of Kirsty MacColl
-The Jam reunite and start releasing music again (not really sure what to do with Ocean Colour Scene)
-The Verve continue as ITTL but get better lawyers and keep the royalties from BSS, and so continue on (Ashcroft solo albums)
-Elastica second album butterflied
-Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines (Bang Bang and The Albions?) have more US success due to better established market for UK acts (maybe also applies to grime)
I want to get Ash, The Boo Radleys and Sleeper in there somewhere as well, and The Fall as well. Not really sure what to do with Radiohead (Talk Show Host is a sleeper hit???).

On the US front:
-Geffen release Incesticide 2 and MTV Unplugged as stopgaps, Nirvana 4th album in 96 (maybe?), mix of acoustic and noise plus Grohl songs, Foo Fighters are more explicitly just Nirvana without Kurt and go by Late!
-As a reaction to more pop-oriented UK music, US rock becomes much harder (Metallica's Load closer to earlier albums, QOTSA earlier breakthrough, maybe RHCP make another album with Mustaine?), only serves to increase UK viability to pop charts
-Rap also displaced as UK music is seen as more cutting edge? (although it's impossible to displace Gangster's Paradise etc, and maybe Manics give Public Enemy a mid-career boost?) Maybe Biggie/Tupac deaths butterflied
-Weezer (possibly also New Radicals and Harvey Danger, if they're more of a thing ITTL) have big US backlash around 96 after appearing with Supergrass and Oasis, seen as co-opting UK sounds instead of "more authentic" US hard rock sounds, not sure whether to make Pinkerton more successful or a total flop
-Brian Jonestown Massacre and other psychedelic acts (Super Furry Animals and Ride?) have big breakthrough around 98, psychedelia becomes the new trend (Oasis 3rd album), MGMT more successful and earlier?
-Indie rock revival of early 2000s possibly displaced later or becomes more minor (or major?), Strokes second album with Nigel Godrich?
-Possible inversion of TTL with Wowee Zowee/BTC as a massively successful, varied alternate album and Mellon Collie seen as a deliberately awkward flop?

Again, sorry for totally forgetting about this. I'll do a proper update soon.
 
Oops, "Soon" might have been an understatement. On the plus side, reading Everything (A Book About Manic Street Preachers) has given me some ideas.

**********************************
The disappearance of Manic Street Preachers lyricist, second guitarist and architect of their most recent album The Holy Bible Richey Edwards didn't stop Sony's promotional campaign to finally break the band and their album 6 months after its release; instead, it only seemed to increase it by magnitudes.

"I remember we was doing a signing session in LA near the end of the tour and some fifteen-year-old boy with eyeliner came up in line and said to me 'I think what you've done with Richey's legacy is completely disgusting' and I just felt like that was my absolute lowest point as a human being" - Nicky Wire, 2014

"We were just completely lost [...] we needed time to think the whole thing over but we were just thrust straight into the hardest tour of our lives [...] the three of us doing thirty fucking interviews a day in a foreign country with no chance to stop and think about what the fuck had happened with Richey [...] and every single time we'd see that fucking picture of him with '4 REAL' on his arm and we'd have to justify the lyrics to some cunt who was subliminally accusing us [...] 'You saw this and read the words, why the fuck didn't you see it coming?'. Us not breaking up in '95 was such a miracle it should've been in the real Bible" - James Dean Bradfield, 1999

The disproportionate amounts of publicity given to the band and album (including the predictable moral guardian complaints about the title and lyrics, leading to some chains stocking the album as simply "Manic Street Preachers") from these few promotional sessions lead to Sony hastily booking an ill-advised 4-month, 60-show tour of the US and Canada. In many ways the tour was disorganised, with the band's emotional state at the time and the short notice booking of venues of varying sizes practically setting up the tour to inevitable failure; however, it did undeniably make the band a household name, with Sony's marginally more US radio-friendly remixed album spawning a top 40 hit with "She is Suffering".

Sony's marketing of the band to the Nine Inch Nails and Nirvana "alternative nation" crowd relied on Richey's tragic story and "authenticity" to an almost cynical degree, with the infamous "4 REAL" image being practically inescapable. Intrigued journalists bombarded the band with questions about him, and the paradox of his constant presence despite his absence made him seem like an unconventional mascot (many fans at first incorrectly assumed he was the singer). These exploitative tactics did wonders for the band though: The Holy Bible peaked at #13 on the top albums chart in the summer, and re releases of Generation Terrorists (in its original configuration) and Gold Against The Soul with "Suicide is Painless" and "Patrick Bateman" as respective bonus tracks also made the charts at #83 and #96. It seemed as if the early hyperbolic promises of global success followed by a rapid split were coming true, only with a different, much more uncommercial album.

If the band were disintegrating during their 1994 tours with Richey, 1995's Manics were barely held together. Under-rehearsed (naturally leading to rave reviews about the "sheer punk energy" and "spirited performances"), abusing alcohol and disillusioned to the point of Nicky spending a night in jail for attacking a stage invader with his bass, the tour captured the band at its worst, yet seemed to sell out every night. Ultimately, the Manics only made it to a relatively impressive 39 gigs, with an unrealistic tour bus schedule, venues in the Bible Belt cancelling at the last minute due to the controversy and the band's abrupt early return home 3/4 of the way through. By all logic, a terrible mess of a tour- yet one that has become legendary among fans and that gave the band hyperbolic accolades from new fans and the press such as "[the band that has] all the best bits of the Clash, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana and Guns n Roses".

"There was a sort of unspoken assumption among the fans it would be their last ever show, so naturally everyone was desperate for a ticket" - Band biographer Simon Price

After spending the best part of the entire year in the gruelling process of breaking America, the band returned to the UK for their first performance since the already legendary London Astoria gigs nearly exactly a year prior, making their home debut as a three-piece in an MTV Unplugged show. The band were highly resistant to MTV's proposal at first, until the producers conceded and let them film in Wales (instead of the intended LA) and have the crowd be exclusively fan club members with low price tickets. Even then, Wire was the most enthusiastic by far, the other two understandably wanting to end the extremely hectic year early. Retroactively, however, all three agree it was a good idea, and it is generally seen as the turning point of their career, from the Richey era to the future.

The first half of the show had a very somber mood, with the setlist almost entirely composed of THB songs; however, the second half, focusing on older fan favourites, was much more uplifting and triumphant; with a string section (including a Welsh triple harp) joining the band, the Welsh flag hung behind the band, Traci Lords reprising her vocal role on "Little Baby Nothing", producer Dave Eringa on electric piano, Sean Moore moving between a drum kit, cajon, timpani and, for the first time on stage, trumpet for several songs, and the somewhat incongruous crowd singalong of the standard "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head". Most importantly, the band debuted a new song, dedicated to Richey with a plea for his return and introduced as "one of the last lyrics he ever wrote": "Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky", generating an overwhelming emotional response from the audience.

For Bradfield, who had left the stage early holding back tears after destroying his prized Gibson and cursing the audience halfway through "Die in the Summertime" just four months prior, it was an amazing moment to have 5,000 fans singing along to "Motorcycle Emptiness" and giving the band a standing ovation. This level of rousing, emotional power was a clear inspiration and driving force for their next album, which went far from the darkness and tragedy of THB: Sounds in the Grass.

Manic Street Preachers US Singles
"Faster" (b/w "Sculpture of Man", "Love's Sweet Exile (Live in Bangkok)" "Faster (Dub Mix)") - #8 Alternative Songs, #77 Hot 100
"She is Suffering" (b/w "Too Cold Here", "Slash n Burn (Live)" "What's My Name (Live)" "Love Sent Us Under") - #1 Alternative Songs, #27 Hot 100
"Die in the Summertime" Promo- #65 US Airplay
"Yes" Promo- #85 US Airplay

MTV Unplugged: Cardiff International Arena 10/12/95
"Faster"
"Die in the Summertime"
"Love's Sweet Exile"
"Too Cold Here"
"4st 7lb"
"She is Suffering"
-
"This is Yesterday"
"Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky"
"Life Becoming a Landslide"
"Never Want Again"
"Little Baby Nothing" (with Traci Lords)
"From Despair to Where"
Encore
"Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head"
"Motorcycle Emptiness"
 
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