Editing Britpop (section)

=="The Battle of Britpop"{{anchor|Battle of Britpop|The battle of Britpop}}==
[[File:Nme blur oasis.jpg|thumb|left|The UK media extensively covered the chart battle between [[Blur (band)|Blur]] and [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]]. The anticipation over who would be number one in the week leading up to the chart being announced saw Albarn (left) appear on the ''[[ITV News at Ten]]''.]]

A chart battle between Blur and [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]], dubbed "The Battle of Britpop", brought Britpop to the forefront of the British press in 1995. The bands had initially praised each other but over the course of the year antagonisms between the two increased.<ref>Richardson, Andy. "The Battle of Britpop". ''NME''. 12 August 1995.</ref> Spurred on by the media, they became engaged in what the ''NME'' dubbed on the cover of its 12 August issue the "British Heavyweight Championship" with the pending release of Blur's single "[[Country House (song)|Country House]]" and Oasis' "[[Roll with It (Oasis song)|Roll with It]]" on the same day. The battle pitted the two bands against each other, with the conflict as much about British class and regional divisions as it was about music.<ref>Harris, pg. 230.</ref> [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]] were taken as representing the North of England, while Blur represented the South.<ref name="liveforever" /> The event caught the public's imagination and gained mass media attention in national newspapers, [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloids]] and television news. ''NME'' wrote about the phenomenon:

{{blockquote|Yes, in a week where news leaked that [[Saddam Hussein]] was [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction|preparing nuclear weapons]], everyday folks were [[Bosnian genocide|still getting slaughtered]] in [[Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]] and [[Mike Tyson]] was making his comeback, tabloids and broadsheets alike went Britpop crazy.<ref>"Roll with the presses". ''NME''. 26 August 1995.</ref>}}

Billed as the greatest pop rivalry since [[the Beatles]] and [[the Rolling Stones]],<ref>{{cite news |title=When Blur beat Oasis in the battle of Britpop |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/only-in-britain/blur-beat-oasis-in-chart-battle/ |access-date=14 June 2019 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref> it was spurred on by jibes thrown back and forth between the two groups, with Oasis dismissing Blur as "[[Chas & Dave]] chimney sweep music", while Blur referred to their opponents as the "Oasis [[Status Quo (band)|Quo]]" in a deriding of their alleged unoriginality and inability to change.<ref name="Manning"/> In what was the best week for UK singles sales in a decade, on 20 August, Blur's "Country House" sold 274,000 copies against "Roll with It" by Oasis which sold 216,000, the songs charting at number one and number two, respectively.<ref name="Chart Battle">{{cite news |title=Blur and Oasis' big Britpop chart battle – the definitive story of what really happened |url=https://www.nme.com/features/blur-and-oasis-big-britpop-chart-battle-the-definitive-story-of-what-really-happened-757277#egzloKzdAR3RZ0IM.99 |access-date=18 September 2019 |website=Nme.com}}</ref><ref>Harris, pg. 235.</ref> Blur performed their chart topping single on the BBC's ''[[Top of the Pops]]'', with the band's bassist Alex James wearing an 'Oasis' t-shirt.<ref>{{cite news |title=The best of Blur at the BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/699d6808-8536-4dfc-b158-bde06c9281f7 |access-date=19 September 2019 |agency=BBC}}</ref> However, in the long run Oasis became more commercially successful than Blur, at home and abroad.<ref name="Manning">{{cite book |last1=Manning |first1=Sean |title=Rock and Roll Cage Match: Music's Greatest Rivalries, Decided |date=2008 |publisher=Crown/Archetype |page=102}}</ref> In a 2019 interview, Oasis bandleader Noel Gallagher reflected on the chart battle between the two songs, both of which he saw as "shit", and suggested that a chart race between Oasis' "[[Cigarettes & Alcohol]]" and Blur's "[[Girls & Boys (Blur song)|Girls & Boys]]" would have had greater merit. He also noted that he and Blur frontman Damon Albarn – with whom Gallagher had enjoyed multiple musical collaborations during the 2010s<ref>{{cite news |date=23 March 2013 |title=Noel Gallagher and Damon Albarn make history, performing together in London |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/noel-gallagher-231-1259218 |access-date=18 September 2019 |website=Nme.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Luke Morgan Britton |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/damon-albarn-noel-gallagher-gorillaz-we-got-the-power-2026536 |title=Damon Albarn talks working with Noel Gallagher on new Gorillaz track 'We Got The Power' |website=Nme.com |date=23 March 2017 |access-date=26 July 2017}}</ref> – were now friends.<ref name="Reel">{{cite episode|title=Noel Gallagher|series=Reel Stories|network=[[BBC Two]]|station=[[BBC|British Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=23 June 2019|minutes=9–10}}</ref> Both men have noted that they do not discuss their 1990s rivalry,<ref name="Reel"/><ref name="Reilly">{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/dont-talk-past-damon-albarn-opens-close-friendship-noel-gallagher-2365108|title='We don't talk about our past': Damon Albarn opens up on close friendship with Noel Gallagher|last=Reilly|first=Nick|date=10 August 2018|website=NME|access-date=19 January 2021}}</ref> with Albarn adding, "I value my friendship with Noel because he is one of the only people who went through what I did in the Nineties."<ref name="Reilly"/> [[Noel Gallagher]] has also described Blur guitarist [[Graham Coxon]] as "one of the most talented guitarists of his generation."<ref name="dvd">''[[Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop]]''. Bonus interviews.</ref>
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