Britpop rules - and I close in on #22

The mid-1990s were pretty good weren't they? There was a genuine feel-good factor. Euro '96 had the country on the edge of its seats, things could only get better as Labour swept the Tories aside in the '97 election and one of the greatest music rivalries in British history was in full-flow. Britpop was at its peak and the battle-lines had been drawn: Oasis vs Blur.

Britpop still rules

I remember watching the Big Breakfast on Channel 4 (with Gaby and Chris) and it was all about 'The Battle of Britpop'. Oasis' 'Roll With It' was directly up against Blur's 'Country House'. Blur eventually emerged triumphant after out-selling the boys from Madchester by 50,000+ copies. But it was Oasis' '(What's The Story) Morning Glory' which emerged as the seminal Britpop album. And after singing myself hoarse at the Slade Rooms last night, it's clear that Britpop is still alive and well (albeit in its early-40s, slightly greyer and with the kids being looked after at home). But the ingredients were all there. 'Definitely Might Be' were the tribute act and the audience was full of Adidas Samba trainers, boot-cut jeans and lots of people with their hands behind their backs, 'Liam Gallagher-esque', belting out hits like 'Live Forever', 'She's Electric' and 'Cigarettes & Alcohol'.

I had the privilege of seeing Oasis live. I've also seen Noel Gallagher and, next month, I'm set to see Liam's Oasis-reincarnation, Beady Eye. I caught the Britpop bug from my brother Ian. A student from the mid-90s - Britpop was at its height. Oasis, Blur, the 'Phonics, Cast, Pulp, Dodgy, Ocean Colour Scene - the list goes on.

I was a bit younger and probably the only Oasis 'top-mad-for-it' disciple in my year at school. I even made my way to HMV in town at 7am on a Monday morning to be the first one to buy the single 'Go Let It Out' . Unfortunately my efforts to grow a Liam-like mop-top were catastrophically unsuccessful and I've still never owned a pair of Adidas Sambas.

Ian missed out on ever seeing Oasis live - a painful regret no doubt as the Gallagher brother feud shows few signs of thawing any time soon. Hopefully last night went some small way to imagining what seeing them live in their heyday would have been like; sort of.

So the memories of the 1990s are good ones - although I suspect if we take off the rose-tinted specs and look a little closer; England lost on penalties after what was a pretty drab tournament, it gave us the Spice Girls and a plethora of manufactured boy bands and it turns out it wasn't the end of 'boom and bust'. Still, for a few hours last night, me, Ian, Alex  and lest we forget Mark Rogers (see previous blogs about Munich to appreciate this man) got to reminisce about the days when rock 'n' roll still had characters and they knew how to make a tune.

It also led to that age-old debate - your top 5 Oasis tracks? It's a great game because no-one will ever agree and can last for hours with no conclusion. For me; Fade Away, Champagne Supernova, Don't Look Back in Anger, Don't Go Away and Little by Little.

So number 22 on my list was to go to at least ten music/comedy gigs. Well, I'm 6 down; Beady Eye and Del Amitri booked in - only 2 more to go. This is one challenge I look set to complete ahead of schedule.

I'll leave you with the only single I've ever got up at 5am to go and buy...

A childhood dream to become reality? #19

A childhood dream to become reality? #19

For as long as I can remember football has been a huge part of who I am.



My first sticker album

Collecting Panini (and later Merlin) sticker albums were some of the best memories I have about growing up. Buying packs of 5 stickers for 25p from the newsagents at the bottom of Hollybush Lane on a Friday afternoon after school, was the highlight of my week. Taking them home, opening them carefully (too eager and you rip the stickers inside) then dividing them into 'gots' and 'needs'. And the sheer excitement when you got a 'shiny' sticker. I'm sure that one shiny alone could command a trade of at least ten normal stickers in the market place that was Springdale Junior school's playground. And, of course there we always one or two 'swops' you had about twenty of - in my case, Gary Penrice of QPR and Ian Bishop of West Ham.

I literally spent hours studying the albums - in fact, when I was struck down with whooping cough at Junior school I spent weeks convalescing doing nothing but studying the information in those albums. It's why I now know the name of practically every football league ground. Sad, I know, but when you're whooping up a lung at the age of 8 there's little else to do to pass the time.

Still, I digress. I can't be certain what my first game at Molineux was...it seems such a long time ago. I think we played Blackburn Rovers...or Bristol Rovers. Similar names, similar kits - and I was about six at the time. I think we lost.

The ground looked an awful lot different - awful being the operartive word here. Only two sides of the ground were open - I sat in the Family Enclosure in the then John Ireland Stand with my dad, and my two brothers, Ian and Alex. The seats were faded red and the whole place looked dreadful. I loved it.

The fact it was so bad also meant that community teams like Windsor Boys could book the ground at the end of the season for their 'end of season football festival'. My brothers both got to play on the pitch (Alex scored some screamers in the much anticipated penalty shoot out competition - he still has the video footage somewhere at home).

I remember watching from the stands thinking, next year - that'll be me. It wasn't.

Jack Hayward rebuilt Molineux and clubs like Windsor were priced out of hiring the ground. Instead, I got to grace the hallowed turf at Bilston Town (right - clearly so annoyed with being at Bilston Town I did not want to be photographed) or, in a good year, Noose Lane - home of the mighty Willenhall Town FC. Somehow it was never quite the same.

Over the years I have come to accept that I will never run out at Molineux. I will never score that winning goal and get to kiss the badge...or will I?

Number 19 on my list reads... "Score a goal on the pitch at Molineux".

So, on 6th May, Ian, Alex and I are taking part in an end of season match at Molineux. Unbeknown to me at the time or writing my list, the club have introduced a new scheme which allow fans to buy a place in a team and play a match at Molineux at the end of the season. Well, this week I heard that we've made the team. We might be £99 worse off for the privilege - but can you put a price on fulfilling a childhood dream?

"While we're living, the dreams we have as children fade away". These lyrics have, over recent years, really struck a chord with me  - but, as I hope this '30 Things before 30' challenge will prove, maybe they don't have to fade away at all - maybe you just have to really want to do it?