BritPop, Horse Racing and The Next Big Thing

Am I the only one who finds parallels between music and horse racing?

A week ago, Lisa of SuperfectaBlog posted a shout out to Magnet Magazine's look at the best of BritPop on her Facebook page. 'Best of' lists are destined to start arguments and as a music lover who spent the better part of the BritPop years exploring this genre of music, I just had to have my own say on the subject. The more I thought about BritPop, the more I realized that the era was a competition to find the next, big thing. This same drive permeates throughout the racing world from yearling sales to the Triple Crown races.

Oasis V Blur was as big a rivalry as Alydar and Affirmed


Wikipedia defines the first wave of Britop as, "Notable British bands and artists with an identifiably "Britpop" sound who were active during the "first wave" of 1993-1997." Wikipedia goes on to define the second wave of BritPop as newly signed bands launched between 1995-1999.

During the 1990s, I could not have been convinced that anything other than British music mattered. My arguments on the subject always included a step further back to include elder Madchester stalwarts such as Ride, Charlatans and the Stone Roses. Though I didn't realize it at the time, I was essentially debating the musical bloodline from which Britpop emerged.

In the late 1990s, I wrote sporadically (and poorly) as a CD/Concert reviewer for Spill Magazine. The highlight from this era of my "media life" was a sit-down interview with Colin and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead during the Kid A tour. Kid A was released in 2000 as BritPop was dying a slow, painful death. My resulting article was so horrible, I am embarrassed to post it here. The band provided me free tickets to their sold-out show at the Air Canada Centre later that night and watching Thom Yorke perform Idiotheque was as exhilarating as seeing Rachel Alexandra storming through the slop at Monmouth.

The whirling dervish that is Thom Yorke performing Idiotheque


Over the years, I abused my credentials to sneak into several gigs a week. A truly memorable event was a chance to see, then unknown, The Shins open for Modest Mouse at the Opera House in Toronto. More than a little buzzed, I somehow arranged an opportunity to interview James Mercer, lead singer of The Shins, after the performance and barraged him with non-questions such as, "You remind me a lot of The Cure." No article was ever published. During this time frame, I was on a constant quest to find new and exciting bands in much the same way that the racing public chases after two-year-olds seeking the next Kentucky Derby contender.

I managed to interview The Orb, Travis and Elliott Smith at various stages of my music critic life though I regrettably did very little with the resulting material. The interview tapes are left twisted and curled at the bottom of a box in my basement tossed aside like old programs to races I once watched.
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Although I had a job throughout high school and college, I completed my education with next to nothing in the bank - and with good reason. I spent every penny I earned on concert tickets (when I couldn't sneak in) and import CDs. There was Oasis at Lee's Palace. Blur at the Palais Royale. The Cure at Varsity Arena. Travis opening for Charlatans UK.

However, the best gig of them all was Pulp at an oversold Opera House with Marilyn Manson in attendance on the balcony. Jarvis Cocker led the band through all the hits from Common People and then delved into the back catalogue to play "Lip Gloss" and "Babies" and countless others. At the end of the night, the spindly Cocker came back on stage for a third and final encore and announced, "This is the last song. There are no other songs we can play. Thank You."

Pulp and the playful lyrics of Babies


It was a blurry decade of music. It's easy to forget that along with the "big names" listed above, I also had opportunity to watch dozens of less successful bands such as Echobelly, Ash, Marion and The LongPigs. Eventually, I grew out of the scene as I could no longer feign interest in watered down musical derivatives (Embrace, Kula Shaker) of bands I truly loved. In due course, what was once thousands of dollars worth of CDs were filed away as worthless paperweights along with ticket stubs to gigs long forgotten. The funds I spent did not quite add up to enough money to purchase The Green Monkey, but I often share a similar tinge of buyer's remorse upon seeing a Shed Seven disk amongst my hidden gems.

My despair at this flood of desperate new BritPop bands was not at all unlike a handicapper who could no longer wager on horses from the Storm Cat line as there were too many unsuccessful offspring about. I'm not knocking the greatness of Storm Cat, or the importance of BritPop, it's just that after a while, too many of the progeny don't live up to expectations and the trend dies.

Is Alex Turner the new Jarvis Cocker?


Fortunately music and horse racing both have an unfailing ability to generate new heroes. Medaglia D'Oro, Milwaukee Brew and Smarty Jones step forward where other stallions have left off to create their own new trends. Musically speaking, bands such as Vampire Weekend and the Arctic Monkeys have stepped up to continue a sound descended from the Britpop line. I can't help but a draw a direct line from the sharp first-person lyrics of Arctic Monkeys lead singer Alex Turner to those of Jarvis Cocker. Turner's turn of phrase is familiar, yet inspiring. New hit songs by the Arctic Monkeys are as refreshing as the latest Smarty Jones Stakes winner.

Smarty Jones is another in a long line of racing greatness


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Will Smarty Jones become as great a producer as Mr. Prospector?One can guess, but it's nearly impossible to predict the future for music and horse racing. I don't mind really. Not knowing what will happen next is part of the thrill that keeps me coming back for more. The opening band I see tonight just might become bigger than the Arctic Monkeys. Perhaps the upcoming MSW at Saratoga will provide racing with the next Big Brown. BritPop was hardly the pinnacle of music in Britain, it was simply a continuation of a long line of great bands that came before them. I can't wait to see and hear what happens next.

MY TOP FIVE BRITPOP BANDS
1. Blur
2. Pulp
3. Radiohead
4. The Verve (Arguably not really BritPop.)
5. Lush