Oasis and Blur are two bands that would define Britpop in the 1990s. Their respective impacts on the sub-genre and their equal disdain for each other would come to a head with the Battle of Britpop in 1995.
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The historical chart showdown would see the bands’ already heated rivalry kicked up a notch.
Oasis
At the time of the Battle of Britpop, Oasis, a band from Manchester, England, fronted by brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, who have their own longstanding beef, had cemented themselves as Britain’s hot new act with their 1994 debut, Definitely Maybe.
In 1995, the band was set to release its follow-up (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? The album would harbor massive hits like “Wonderwall,” “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” and “Champagne Supernova.”
Blur
The London-formed outfit Blur had altered their sound not long before the Battle of Britpop came to a head. Their full-length debut, Leisure (1991), charted well but was overall met with mixed reviews. It wasn’t until they shifted to a more Britpop style that they rose in the ranks.
Their 1994 album Parklife, which featured hits like the title track and “Girls & Boys,” would secure their role as heavy hitters in the subgenre. In 1995, the band was also scheduled to release their acclaimed album’s follow-up, The Great Escape.
A Grade-A Beef
Oasis and Blur, after the releases of Definitely Maybe and Parklife, respectively, quickly became Britpop’s “Big Two.” Once champions of one another, their beef began with a few choice words.
Everything seemed hunky-dory at the 1995 NME Awards, The Guardian reports. Blur took home five awards that night and Oasis garnered three wins themselves. During the night, members of the bands were photographed together with Oasis’ Liam Gallagher even saying, “I don’t think we should have got more [awards] than Blur. Blur are a top band,” the outlet notes.
However, months later at a Creation Records party, the same Gallagher brother taunted Blur’s Damon Albarn because Oasis’ recent single, “Some Might Say,” had just reached No. 1. “Damon got on one about it and decided to take Oasis on,” Creation Records executive Alan McGee told NME (via The Guardian). “Oasis, being Oasis, decided to hate them. And Blur, being Blur, thought it was a game.” At that moment, a beef was born.
The Battle of Britpop
At the time of the Battle of Britpop, both Oasis’ and Blur’s new albums were scheduled for release – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? in September 1995 and The Great Escape that October. That wasn’t the issue, though. The competition came when Blur moved the release date of their single “Country House” to coincide with the release of Oasis’ “Roll With It.”
A chart battle ensued, with insults being flung from both sides, until eventually Blur was crowned victorious after “Country House” topped the British singles chart, winning 58,000 more copies sold.
While Blur won the battle that captivated all of the United Kingdom, Oasis would go on to win the war, making history with (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? and becoming international icons because of their beloved hit “Wonderwall.”
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