‘Britpop Reunion‘ live performance of Britney Spears ‘Baby One More Time” in our very own rock cover version style. This song was performed as well as another ninety minutes of nineties chart topping songs in front of two thousand plus screaming students at University of Exeter, Penryn Campus. Back in 2017 Britpop Reunion were hired by the university for their ‘Back to The 90’s’ event. Consequently we headlined the Saturday night. As you’ll see from the video below the students and faculty all massively enjoyed themselves dancing and crowd surfing along all night to songs by Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Supergrass, and more from our 90’s tribute band repertoire. ContactBritpop artist Andy Starkey to check on price and availability to hire a 90’s cover band for a University event or ball.
Baby One More Time Rock Cover Version
This really was an amazing gig for us with professional 90’s band Britpop Reunion put on an amazing performance. The Top Of The Pops stage dressing really was the icing on the cake for pure 90’s authenticity. Penryn Campus venue had hired in a huge PA system and their own dedicated sound engineer and lighting engineer. 90’s cover band Britpop Reunion were then able to just purely concentrate on performing and entertaining the crowd. We soundcheck, chilled out for a bit and then got changed into our on stage clothing. Then all of a sudden we were walking onto the stage and boy oh boy did we perform well. The whole crowd instantly joined in “Oh Baby baby, how was I supposed to know…”. This really was one of the best gigs of our lives.
Baby One More Time Rock Cover Version video
Live to 6000+ festival punters at RAF Brizefest, Brize Norton
And then live at a festival to 4000+ festival goers
‘Baby One More Time’ was released by Britney Spears in September 1998 and topped the charts at number one in the UK and in many other countries around the world. It was written by Max Martin also known for the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” (released in 1999). This was Britney’s debut single and instantly made her a household name. Her success continued through the 90’s into the Naughties and still to this very day. Most recently from 2019 onwards she was in the news disputing her conservatorship with her father Jamie Spears. And there was even a hashtag for it #FreeBritney
Check out the photos from the university event below and afterwards contact for price and availability for a 90’s themed event or University ball.
I, Andy Starkey, lead singer/bass player of Britpop Reunion do make the odd appearance from time to time on radio, podcasts and TV but it was very interesting to be called up the BBC to give my thoughts on tribute bands. I was also asked for my opinion on how ABBA are set to sue ABBA Mania tribute band for the BBC Radio 4 Today Program with Nick Robinson. The best thing about this was that I also got to discuss these topics with famous Britpop Pulp drummer Nick Banks. I’m a huge Pulp fan so this was a great fun for me. The interview was done live on BBC Radio 2 on 8th December 2021.
You can watch a “Fonejacker’ style video I produced to go along with the program below. (It took me 11 long hours to create this video by the way). Now that’s some serious effort don’t you think? Before we get into the ins and outs of it all though if you want to hire a Britpop tribute band then contact me to hire Britpop Reunion for your next live event.
Tribute Bands BBC Radio show featuring Britpop Pulp drummer Nick Banks.
Being a member of a 90’s tribute band I of course had more thoughts on the matter so thought I’d take the time to write them up below…..
I was called up by a researcher from BBC Radio 4 The Today Program and asked if I wouldn’t mind being interviewed the following morning on the show. The researcher stated that we’d be discussing tribute bands with Nick Banks from Pulp so how could I say no being a massive Pulp fan?
Even though the researcher was looking for a Pulp Tribute Band she still thought it was a great idea to speak to myself about tribute bands in general. I explained that we’re not officially a ‘Tribute to Pulp” but we do play a number of their songs including Common People (A superb encore song) and Disco 2000. On occasion I will don my brown Jarvis Cocker suit for live performances which I purchased from a charity shop back in the mid 90’s. Britpop Reunion are a tribute to a music scene in the 90’s based around lad culture and indie pop music. Therefore we perform music by artists such as Oasis, Blur, Supergrass, James and other famous Brit pop bands. We also play music by other 90’s artists like Alanis Morissette, Britney Spears, The Rembrandts, Robbie Williams and more.
Tribute bands verses the original band.
It’s worth noting that during the interview I had no idea that they would be comparing Britpop Reunion’s LIVE version of ‘Common People‘ against the actual STUDIO version by Pulp. I think it sounded pretty decent though, don’t you? What other Britpop tribute band have had their songs directly compared to the originals on national radio like this?
Tribute Bands BBC Radio show featuring Britpop Pulp drummer Nick Banks
Suing tribute bands
I had to look up the subject matter “ABBA to sue tribute band ABBA Mania” as I hadn’t heard about it. I am slightly in two minds about Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad suing the tribute band called ABBA Mania. The main issue seems to be that the tribute group had been using the term “Official” in their blurbs. Which for me is pushing it a little too far. Wording it like this makes it sound as if it’s an endorsement from the ABBA band members themselves. When this is clearly not the case.
But having since been contacted by a member of ABBA Mania he tells me the only reason they use the term “Official” is in relation to their own tribute band, NOT ABBA. It seems that other ABBA tributes have turned up calling themselves the exact same tribute band name ‘ABBA Mania’ trying to win work of the back of “The Original ABBA Mania” name. Thus an imitation of imitation of imitation has been created. Very bizarre eh.
Defending Tribute Bands
In defence of ABBA Mania, they have been together since the late 90’s. So why have ABBA chosen to take this legal action only now and not 21 years ago? Does it have something to do with the fact that after 41 years of NOT touring live themselves they have suddenly come up with this ridiculous and very expensive “Virtual” “Hologram” tour and feel it will impact their own ticket sales? Surely not right? When bands stop touring live, break up, quit or even members die it’s tribute bands that keep the legacy and music of the band alive. Tribute acts can keep solid interest in bands over many, many decades as shown by all the Beatles and Rolling Stones tributes out there.
There are probably as many ABBA tribute bands on the scene as there are Oasis tributes and Queen tributes. If ABBA have decided to take this kind of action then are all other tributes to various artists up for the chop next? To an extent I say good on ABBA Mania for sticking to their guns. All these articles online really are some fantastic promo for this ABBA tribute. As they say “No publicity is bad publicity”. I bet their agents phone is ringing off the hook now with theatres trying to book them.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery
The cynical side of me just thinks this is probably designed to get ABBA back in the news again. It’s the PR machine there to freely advertise help sell tickets for their ridiculous virtual live show. There’s also a good chance it’s probably just some lawyer who has contacted ABBAs lawyer and said “I can do this for you” and they’ve just run with it.
To quote Oscar Wilde ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can play to greatness’. So surely this applies here? Of course he never stated whether retribution should be received for “Copying” someone else’s work though did he.
Not the first instance of an original band suing a tribute band.
It is not the first time ABBA lawyers have been on the prowl and it won’t be the last either. I personally know someone who played in an ABBA tribute who were forced to change their name and even had their Facebook page completely removed. She is now in a completely different theatre touring ABBA tribute so I hope they are not plagued by this sort of thing any time soon.
Pulp Tribute Band
Buying tickets for and seeing a tribute band live.
No person buying a ticket to see a tribute act thinks they are seeing the real band/group. Most of the time no intellectual property is being stolen by a tribute band performing music and dressing up like a successful original band. No one is being fooled into buying tickets. Who on earth would think they are going to see “The Real Beatles”? Nearly 60 years after they stopped touring AND still dressed in Shea Stadium outfits?
Buying tickets to see a tribute band is not like going to see “Dodgy Dave” on the market stall selling counterfeit goods like Fred Perry and Adidas Originals. You’re not being fooled into paying only £15 for something that usually retails at £60.
Tribute bands are an opportunity to see your favourite bands you missed out on. Either because you were too young at the time or just because life got in the way. There’s also a good chance you just couldn’t afford the “Real Thing”. Sure you COULD go and see Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr (If you sold a kidney). But you’re not really seeing “The Beatles” are you. When punters go and see tribute bands like “The Bootleg Beatles” or “Britpop Reunion” it’s the next best thing. And all at a very reasonable price too.
Who is earning money by tribute bands performing at theatres?
I’m sure that 99.99999% of none musical folks out there don’t even realise that when a tribute act plays a theatre they have to list every artists and song they play. The venue then takes a cut from the bands pay which gets paid to the actual original artists as royalties. So tribute bands like ABBA, Elvis, Michael Jackson, Queen , Tina Turner, Oasis etc must be raking it in while sitting comfortably on their bums at home.
Theatres employ a large amount of staff and revenue is generated for the venue not just from ticket sales. But also sales from food, drink and a percentage cut of the merchandise being sold. All of which are taxable and go back into the economy.
Tribute band “Endorsements”
Unfortunately fake endorsements are rife in the tribute industry (Except for ‘Britpop Reunion’) with claims of musicians being:
The Number One Tribute to Britpop
The UK’s Best Tribute to Britpop
The UK’s Premiere Britpop Tribute Band
Of course though, none of these claims can ever be backed up with evidence. What do these statements even mean? WHO has decided these bands are ‘Number One/The Best’ etc? It’s usually just someone in the band giving themselves that monocle. Maybe they have been ‘Voted’ that endorsement by some ‘Industry Awards’? Ha!!!!! Industry awards are an utter scam and mean absolutely nothing. You pay to be entered into a category. Then you pay to attend the awards ceremony. Afterwards you pay for your award. Ergo YOU BUY THE AWARD. In some cases it’s even more ridiculous when an artist states they are “The Best tribute to Oasis”. Yet they’re just a one man show singing along to karaoke tracks.
A funny story about tribute bands and more legal action.
‘The Karpets’ are a tribute to the late 80’s/Early 90’s indie band ‘Inspiral Carpets’ . Nowadays this tribute band actually features the original singer of Inspiral Carpets ‘Tom Hingley’ fronting the tribute band. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of another similar case to this in musical history.
Recently 90’s grunge artists ‘Pearl Jam’ threatened to sue a tribute to them and made them change their band name. Looking back at their website and social media this was no doubt due to the tribute band being stupid. They had used the original artists logo and graphics from their single ‘Alive’. But, again in this tribute bands defence, Pearl Jam actually encouraged their fans to Bootleg (Record the audio from) their live performances. Of which Pearl Jam have sold nearly 14 million copies of various shows from across the world. So them threatening legal action really doesn’t sit well with me either. Considering Pearl Jam make money from these recordings.
In conclusion I firmly believe that tribute bands have the right to exist. They have the right to make money and in turn have the right to make money for the original artists. I really enjoyed my time speaking live on the radio and you can hire me speak about similar things and Britpop/The 90’s in general too. To hire a 90’s tribute bandcontact Britpop Reunion.
A little information on Nick Banks from Pulp.
Nick Banks was the drummer in Britpop band Pulp from 1986 until the band split up in 2002. He then joined them once again for the Pulp reunion from 2011 to 2013. He is still drumming in a few bands around his home town of Sheffield. Also he runs the family pottery business.
Book a Blur Tribute Band ‘Blurred’ for a festival, wedding, party, birthday, corporate event or charity fundraiser. Blurred a tribute to Blur will perform the biggest hits by Blur including Parklife, Country House, Song 2, Girls & Boys, There’s No Other Way. Also Beetlebum, Stereotypes, Chemical World, Sunday Sunday, For Tomorrow and more. All your guests will be singing and shouting along with us “All the people, so many people. And they all go hand in hand, hand in hand through their Parklife“. “Street’s like a jungle, so call the police. Following the herd, down to Greece“. Also “Wow-hoo, well I feel heavy metal” from Song 2. Look forward to a massive nineties knees up with ‘Blurred’ Blur cover band. No other Blur tribute band has the amount of quality live video that Blurred have. Contact Damon Albarn lookalike Andy Starkey to check on price and availability to book a Blur cover band.
Book a Blur tribute band.
You’ll be screaming “Woo-Hoo” at the top of your lungs while jumping around in the mosh pit to Song 2. Dancing around while chanting with us “He lives in a house, very big house in the country“. Blurred are your number one tribute band for Blur cover versions. You can hire a Blur wedding band. Or you can hire a Blur festival band. Similarly you can book a Blur birthday party band or corporate event band throughout the UK and beyond.
Blur Tribute Band Blurred
A tribute to the best 90’s indie band ever featuring Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree.
Blurred Blur tribute band can also combine the best of Blur with the best or Britpop and the 1990’s. Giving you a whole night of 90’s themed music. Perfect to hire a wedding band or book a birthday party band. Andy and his professional 90’s band know the nineteen nineties like the back of their hands. So you can hire professional musician with full confidence.
Blur the band were first known at ‘Circus’ then ‘Seymour’. Frontman singer Damon Albarn and the members changed the name of the band to ‘Blur’ at the request of their record company ‘Food’. Blur’s first chart success was with the hit single ‘She’s So High‘ and then ‘There’s No Other Way‘. Initially falling somewhere between the Madchester and Shoegaze sounds Blur performed moderately well in the UK charts. But indie band Blur eventually found their greatest success during the mid 90’s changing their sound to a very ‘British’ style. Big brash horn sections, post punk angular guitars and postmodern humour coupled with lyrics about the every day lives British people. Blur really are where Britpop all started.
With the release of the single ‘Popscene’ Blur pretty much created the sound and music genre known as ‘Britpop’. After Modern Life Is Rubbish Blur delved even further into questioning what was Britishness and created the Brit pop classic album Parklife. Blur tribute band Blurred can be hired for live events across the UK, Europe, USA and beyond.
Blurred Blur Tribute Band
Members of Blur
Damon Albarn – Lead Vocals
Graham Coxon – Guitarist
Alex James – Bass Player
Dave Rowntree – Drummer
Graham Coxon is most well known for playing a 1952 blonde Fender Telecaster. Also Alex James plays a Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision Bass guitar.
Hire a UK Britpop Cover Band……In “Friends” the 90’s TV show Phoebe Buffay’s (Portrayed by Lisa Kudrow) most well known song was “Smelly Cat”. Below in the video you will learn Smelly Cat and how to play it on acoustic guitar. A somewhat hippy style character, masseuse and self-taught “Amateur Musician” (With heavily inverted commas) Phoebe Buffay performs her eccentric self written songs about random everyday things at ‘Central Perk’ coffee shop in New York. She performed the classic song Smelly Cat on multiple occasions live throughout the 10 seasons and 236 episodes. To hire Britpop Reunion 90’s tribute band who perform the theme tune from Friends “I’ll Be There For You” by The Rembrandts and many more 90’s songs. Contact band leader Andy Starkey for more information, price and availability.
Smelly Cat How To Play On Acoustic Guitar Friends TV Show Phoebe Buffay
How to play Smelly Cat on acoustic guitar by Phoebe Buffay
Smelly Cat is a quite simple song to play even for beginners learning how to play acoustic guitar. There are only three chords throughout the entire song, with a chorus, single verse and repeat chorus (With the same lyrics as the first chorus). To be honest it’s one of those songs where the worse you play and sing it the funnier it is really. So you can just enjoy learning and performing the song Smelly Cat Friends with no pressure and then perform it to your friends and family.
Video tutorial of how to play Smelly Cat on acoustic guitar (Chords and lyrics)
Band leader Andy Starkey from professional 90’s party band ‘Britpop Reunion’ took time out of his busy schedule to put together this tutorial video of how to play Smelly Cat on acoustic guitar. He shows you the chords and lyrics and breaks down when to play each chord at what moment in the song. Its all very simple really so you should be able to pick it up in no time.
The strumming pattern is also very simple with just two downstrokes per chord for the first E and A, one down stroke for the D, then one downstroke back to the A. Then back to the E and just repeat. Smelly Cat chords are the same for the verse as for the chorus. All chords are major chords and the finger positioning is shown on the below image.
Smelly Cat Chords From Friends TV Show 90s
Lyrics for Smelly Cat
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,
What are they feeding you?
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,
It’s not your fault.
They won’t take you to the vet,
You’re obviously not their favourite pet,
You may not be a bed of roses,
And you’re no friend to those with noses.
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,
What are they feeding you?
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,
It’s not your fault.
Other songs performed by Phoebe Buffay on Friends include:
The Cow in the Meadow Goes Moo.
Sticky Shoes.
Sixty-Six Colours of My Bedroom.
Emma.
and more.
Performed live by Britpop Reunion I’ll Be There For You by The Rembrandts
About the song Smelly Cat.
Smelly Cat written by Friends writers Adam Chase and Betsy Borns first appeared in season two, episode six entitled “The One with the Baby on the Bus” and can be found on the soundtrack album “Friends Again” released 1999. The song is about a poor feline who has been mistreated by its owners and has ended up with a pungent odour possibly due to the type of nourishment it’s been receiving.
Throughout the 1990’s TV show various stars have covered the song Smelly Cat including Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders who was actually featured in the show itself. Noted cover versions of Smelly Cat have been by famous artists Taylor Swift and Chris Isaak. Most recently during “Friends: The Reunion” aka “The One Where They Get Back Together” Lady Gaga performed Smelly Cat on guitar with Phoebe Buffay.
In the Friends episode entitled “The One Where Eddie Moves In” (Season 2 – Episode 17) a record company asks Phoebe to make a Smelly Cat music video but it ends up rerecording another woman’s voice singing the song instead of Phoebe’s. At the end of the episode as the credits role the main characters of friends, Rachel Greene, Ross Geller, Joey Tribbiani, Monica Geller and Chandler Bing all perform the song live with her at Central Perk.
Hire a 90’s tribute band and have Britpop Reunion take you back to the last best decade in music. Contact nineties artist Andy Starkey to check on price and availability for your event.
‘Britpop Reunion‘ performed at the Silverstone Grand Prix Classic Weekend on Friday 30th July 2021 supporting Scouting For Girls at the weekends 30th birthday bash. (The headlining band was supposed to be 90’s Acid Jazz band ‘Brand New Heavies’. But due to having to reschedule from 2020 they performed on the Saturday evening instead) . Also before Britpop Reunion took to the stage there was a 90s grunge band tribute to Pearl Jam called Legal Jam. Our 90’s band performed songs by Oasis, Blur, Ocean Colour Scene, Pulp James plus other nineties music by The La’s, Chumbawamba, Republica, The Rembrandts and more from our 90’s tribute band repertoire. Contact band leader Andy Starkey to hire a britpop festival band for a live event.
Ultimate Best Of Silverstone Video (Under 3 mins and 30 secs)
Here are all 15 songs we performed live at this prestigious event in one long playlist.
Silverstone Grand Prix Classic
At the annual three-day car and race event there was motor racing and funfair rides. Also live music and entry to grandstands, retro run and more. There was even free parking. The Silverstone circuit is home to many sports events and competitions such as British Motor Racing, Formula One, F1, Driving Experience Days, British Grand Prix, Auto Racing, GT, Drag and more.
Silverstone Grand Prix Classic Weekend Britpop Tribute Band Live Performance
Guests were able to get up close to the cars and chat with drivers. Silverstone Classic 2021 early bird adult tickets started from £47 for all day Friday.
At Silverstone Grand Prix we performed classic 90’s songs like Don’t Look Back In Anger, Disco 2000, Parklife, The Day We Caught The Train, Sit Down, Place Your Hands and more for our 90’s repertoire. For the above price you got to see three live bands and spend the entire day at Silverstone. This year from 26th to 28th August 2022 90’s star Gabrielle (Famous for her song ‘Dreams’ and her eye patch) is performing.
Britpop Reunion were on stage from 8:15pm until 9:15pm
Whats on at Silverstone Festival 2023
This year Silverstone Classic has changed its name to Silverstone Festival. It is on from 25th to 27th August 2023 and features:
McFly
Sugababes
ABC
The Christians
Win 3 Pairs Of Tickets To Silverstone Classic on Friday 30th July 2021
Competition now closed.
We gave you the chance to win three pairs of adult full day tickets on our Facebook page to Silverstone Classic on Friday 30th July 2021 where you were be able to see ‘Britpop Reunion’ perform live.
Silverstone Classic 90s Tribute Band Festival
Easy Competition to win a pair of tickets to Silverstone Classic on Friday 30th July 2021.
Rule of entry:
1) Comment anything the competition image on the ‘Britpop Reunion’ Facebook page
Thats it.
We gave away three pairs of adult full day tickets on Facebook to Silverstone Classic on Friday 30th July 2021.
The ticket enabled you to see ‘Britpop Reunion’ performing huge 90’s bangers live from artists like Oasis, Blur, Supergrass, Pulp, Stone Roses and more. Plus ‘Scouting For Girls’ and Pearl Jam tribute band ‘Legal Jam’ were performing too. There were interactive experiences to head turning car displays, hot air balloon lift offs, passenger rides, fun fair and crazy golf, the trackside excitement matches the duelling on the circuit with over 1000 cars to watch race at the home of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix.
The star-studded races featured historic cars from across the last 100 years of motorsport racing wheel-to-wheel, representing the golden ages of Formula 1, Formula 2, GT, Sports and Touring Cars. With grandstand seating included in the admission ticket price, everyone was on pole position to spectate. Visitors also had free access to the vast majority of the entertainment including funfair rides, driving experiences, stunt shows, the concerts and both racing paddocks.
Terms & Conditions
Entry for the competition started on Monday 12th July 12:00pm and closed on Friday 23rd July 2021 at 23:59.
Results of competition were randomly selected on Saturday 24th July 2021.
We contacted the three winners directly through their Facebook social media.
Winners needed to respond within 48 hours or the tickets were offered to another randomly chosen entrant.
UK residents only.
Friends, family and previous clients of the ‘Britpop Reunion’ were able to enter the competition.
No monetary value was offered instead of tickets.
“Tickets” were sent as E-Tickets shortly before the event.
One entry per Facebook account.
Britpop Reunion reserved the right to change the rules, terms and conditions or withdraw the competition at any time.
Live 90’s tribute band
‘Britpop Reunion’ 90’s tribute band features Britpop singer Andy Starkey who has a wealth of experience in all thing Nineties. He will be covering the whole of this monumental event in a new Vlog video. Also you’ll see lots of fantastic live photos after the event too.
Britpop musician Andy Starkey recorded and shot this Laid James Cover Version video for his 90’s tribute band Britpop Reunion. To hire a live Britpop cover band then book the UK’s only professional band ‘Britpop Reunion’. Contact Andy to also hire a professional nineties cover band for a party or festival. Enjoy our James Laid cover song below and ask yourself if any other Brit pop tribute band have bothered (Or could even begin to know how) to produce anything of this magnitude. (The answer’s “No” by the way).
Laid James Cover Version Video Britpop Tribute Band
Laid James Cover Version Video
With this James Laid song Andy worked on the idea of the band trying to keep the audio as close to the original recording as possible. Therefore Britpop Reunion faithfully replicated every guitar lick, bass note, exact drum pattern and keyboard part. Andy then also went on to direct and star in this self produced music video for James Laid cover version. It was filmed on the abandoned train track at Lichfield Staffordshire on the South Staffordshire Line. Is the video below not loading? Then why not view it on our 90’s YouTube channel. Imagine the effort this kind of audio and video takes to faithfully reproduce. It took many, many weeks to record, mix, film and edit.
James tribute band?
Britpop Reunion also perform a number of songs by James the band. So perhaps you could even call us a James Tribute Band of sorts. We also perform Sit Down (released numerous times by the band) and from time to time occasionally perform She’s A Star from Whiplash released 1997.
Laid was released November 1993 from the album of the same name ‘Laid’ peaking at number 25 in the UK charts. But it gained the band huge success in the USA on college radio also being featured towards the end of the nineties in the film ‘American Pie’. Can you believe that there are three official videos by the band for this song? Laid Album (Produced by Brian Eno) also features the singles Sometimes and Say Something / Jam J. The album sounds as Fresh As A Daisy today as when it was released in the 1990’s. The song Laid by James is a very easy to master featuring only three different chords played as:
Chords for Laid by James
C – Csus4 – G – F – G
Lyrics for Laid by James.
Verse 1
This bed is on fire with passionate love,
The neighbours complain about the noises above,
But she only comes when she’s on top.
Verse 2
My therapist said not to see you no more,
She said you’re like a disease without any cure,
She said I’m so obsessed that I’m becoming a bore, oh no,
Ah, you think you’re so pretty.
Chorus
E-e-ee
Bridge
Caught your hand inside the till, Slammed your fingers in the door,
Fought with kitchen knives and skewers,
Dressed me up in women’s clothes, Messed around with gender roles,
Line my eyes and call me pretty.
Chorus
E-e-ee
Verse 3
Moved out of the house so you moved next door
I locked you out, you cut a hole in the wall
I found you sleeping next to me, I thought I was alone
You’re driving me crazy, When are you coming home?
Laid, Laid
Chorus
E-e-ee
Laid James Cover Song – List of James musicians who recorded Laid were:
Tim Booth – Lead Vocals
Saul Davies – Violin & Guitar
Larry Gott – Guitar
Mark Hunter- Keyboards
Jim Glennie – Bass Guitar
David Baynton-Power – drums
James Mike – Drums
Who sang Laid?
Laid was sang by Tim Booth by the band James.
Who wrote Laid?
Laid was written by Tim Booth, Larry Gott and also Jim Glennie for the Manchester band James. As with a number of James albums it was produced by Brian Eno. Did you know there is also a “Clean radio edit” of Laid by James too? The lyrics “She only comes when she’s on top” are changed to “She only SINGS when she’s on top”.
What is Laid about?
The song Laid by James tells the story of a couple who annoy the neighbours with their loud love making. Tim Booth sings about the domestic violence between the two and their hatred of each. But (As with most relationships) it turns out the couple can’t actually live with, or without each other. Maybe this was set in mid 90’s Moss Side, Manchester? If not there then where do you think possibly?
James also continue to tour live in 2022 and 2023 for their 16th studio album “All the Colours of You”.
James Laid Cover Version Video
Subtitles for Laid.
Some lovely folks have translated Laid into various different languages for us including Portuguese, German, Mexican Spanish and English of course. So hopefully you’ll be able to sing along in your preferred language too. If you’d like to add a language to our cover song then please contact Andy and he’ll add them onto the video.
Other musings about the band called James cover song.
Tim Booth (Full name Timothy John Booth born 4th February 1960) portrayed the minor villain character Victor Zsasz in Batman Begins – The first Christopher Nolan directed reboot Batman film in 2005.
To celebrate the anniversary of ‘Definitely Maybe’ Britpop musician Andy Starkey decided to take time out of his holiday to live stream this Married With Children Oasis cover version. Andy hadn’t played this song for over 20 years and it is actually one of the first Oasis set of chords he ever mastered as a teenager. Married With Children is the final song from the Oasis debut album ‘Definitely Maybe‘ which was released August 1994 on Alan McGee’s ‘Creation Records’. Britpop Reunion perform many songs by Oasis from their nineties repertoire including Roll With It, Don’t Look Back In Anger, Wonderwall, Cigarettes & Alcohol and more. To book a Britpop tribute band for a 90’s party contact Andy for more information on price and availability to hire.
Married With Children Oasis Cover Version Video
The lyrics to Married With Children were somewhat inspired by Louise Jones, who was Noel Gallagher’s girlfriend at the time . She was constantly being kept awake by the Oasis songwriter while he was writing songs and practicing his guitar. Louise would get annoyed telling Noel, “You’re music’s shite.” Gallagher said that he had to keep those lines and wrote them into this song. Those must have been fun times in their household in the nineteen nineties eh.
The song was also inspired by the USA sitcom “Married… with Children”. Noel Gallagher told nineties music paper Melody Maker “I looked at them two in the show (Al Bundy & Peggy Bundy), and looked at us two, and I thought, that’s us, that is!” (i.e. he, Noel Gallagher and his girlfriend Louise Jones). Furthermore he said “It’s another song that anybody could relate to, because if you live with a girlfriend or just a flatmate, there are always petty things that you hate about them. And this song’s just about pettiness”. Yeah, isn’t that right eh.
Married With Children Oasis Cover Version Video Acoustic Britpop Tribute Band
Further musings about the Oasis song Married With Children.
This original of this very acoustic sounding song is actually ever so slightly out of tune from regular 440Hz tuning. This suggests it was probably slowed down slightly after recording. Married With Children was an album only track and was never released as a single. Andy’s Married With Children Oasis cover version stays close to the original but has the guitar solo section removed as he preformed it solo. It would have sounded empty without another guitar strumming chords under a solo otherwise.
Noel Gallagher is known for borrowing/plagiarising other artists songs. If you listen to Lithium by Nirvana (From their 1991 sophomore album ‘Nevermind’) you’ll notice it has very similar chords played with a similar rhythm.
The final song was supposedly recorded in about half an hour on a broken Four-Track multitrack recorder in producer/engineer Mark Coyle’s bedroom.
The very dry sounding guitar part was played by Noel on a Gretsch ‘Country Gent’ that used to be owned by John Squire from The Stone Roses that was round at Owen Morris’s house. The final products is a great link between the demo stages with Mark Coyle and the finished album track.
Alan McGee from Creation records was quoted as saying “It works and when it works its charming and when it’s charming it goes on the record”. Which is a great ethos.
During the recording of Married With Children the following musicians and producers were involved with Oasis (Although not all featured on this song).
Owen Morris & Mark Coyle – Producers
Liam Gallagher – Lead Vocals
Noel Gallagher – Lead Guitarist & backing vocals
Paul Arthurs (aka Bonehead) – Rhythm guitar
Paul McGuigan (aka Guigsy) – Bass guitar
Tony McCarrol – Drummer
Married With Children Lyrics
There’s no need for you to say you’re sorry
Goodbye I’m going home
I don’t care no more so don’t you worry
Goodbye I’m going home
I hate the way that even though you
Know you’re wrong you say you’re right
I hate the books you read and all your friends
Your music’s shite it keeps me up all night, up all night
There’s no need for you to say you’re sorry
Goodbye I’m going home
I don’t care no more so don’t you worry
Goodbye I’m going home
I hate the way that you are so sarcastic
And you’re not very bright
You think that everything you’ve done’s fantastic
Your music’s shite it keeps me up all night, up all night
And it will be nice to be alone for a week or two
But I know then I will be right, right back here with you, with you….
There’s no need for you to say you’re sorry
Goodbye I’m going home
I don’t care no more so don’t you worry
Goodbye I’m going home
Chords to Married With Children by Oasis
Slightly above a beginners level of playing, yet still pretty simple enough. You can play along to Andy’s Married With Children Oasis Cover Version Video by following the following guitar chords.
E G# C#m A C B7 E
A A7 E – F# A G
Earlier recordings of Married With Children.
A demo version of Married With Children was released on the Deluxe Edition version of the Oasis debut album ‘Definitely Maybe’. A slightly less refined version yet it doesn’t actually differ very much from the final album release. But it does feature a very loud shaker throughout and then a loud tambourine during the solo. Also it has slightly clearer lyrics sung by Liam. It clocks in at one second shorter than the final album release being three minutes and sixteen seconds.
Every Britpop band & Blur fan instantly recognises the front cover of Parklife by Blur (By photographer Bob Thomas) featuring Greyhounds at Walthamstow Stadium Dog track races. But did you know Blur’s Parklife was going to be called a multitude of alternative titles first? Oh no? Well that’s hardly surprising, it’s not spoken about much. Britpop Musician Andy Starkey from Brit pop tribute band Britpop Reunion takes you through the stories behind the naming of and various front covers of Parklife. Hire Blurred a Blur tribute band performing the songs of Blur by contacting me Andy now.
Blur Softporn (Alternative Parklife title)
Blur Parklife Alternative Titles
While Parklife by Blur was being recorded there were a number of possible alternative titles plus many different sleeves/artwork going around. Chris Thomson & Rob O’Connor (Graphic designers at Stylorouge and designers of Parklife album sleeve) met Damon Albarn and Blur at Worlds End pub on Kings Road, Chelsea where they proceeded on to a William Hill betting shop. Between them all they had been exploring “Britishness”. Including the atmosphere within betting shops and bookmakers and the types of punters visiting these sorts of establishments.
Damon was also reading ‘London Fields’ by Martin Amis, a novel about the seedier, working class side of London lives and realised his songs for Parklife were somewhat based on that book. (Drinking, sex etc). In fact I personally would say the book was a HUGE influence to Damon. Subjects like visiting America…”Magic America”, fast cars driving curiously through London streets as in “London Loves” so too there are the lyrics “The mystery of a speeding car.” Certainly not a coincidence is it.
London Fields / London Loves
Was London Fields by Martin Amis an influence on Parklife?
Having read ‘London Fields’ myself, I feel that Damon Albarn may have started reading it even further back than Parklife. Specifically during the recording of Blur’s second album ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish.’ There are multiple mentions of Portobello Road. There’s a character called “Missy” and going to “America” (Miss America) There is a chance Damon was still reading it while writing songs from their fourth album “The Great Escape” as London Fields features a character called “Kwango”. A variant spelling for the song Mr. Robinson’s “Quango” perhaps? Side note: London Fields was made into a film and released in 2018, directed by Mathew Cullen and featuring Amber Heard & Jim Sturgess. It was unfortunately mainly disliked by critics and the average film lover. And I completely agree with those reviews.
Queens Guards Parklife Blur Alternative
The alternative titles suggested instead of Parklife included:
London.
Sport.
Soft Porn (Spelled as one whole word ‘Softporn’ on the album sleeve).
Magic Arrows.
Park Life (Two separate words)
Parklife artwork
Chris & Rob’s images depicted the class divide in London, but leaned more towards the Upper Middle Class of society. As can be seen in the 1960s image of a posh tennis player. But Damon wasn’t 100% sold on this exactly and seeing these images helped him to focus on his working class and social class ideas. Between them they were using images of every day mundane things in London and reappropriating them. “Tourist Tat” like images of The Queen’s Guards would now be made newly famous for use within a different format. This was similar to how Pop Art artists like Peter Blake had done so back in the 1960s with The Beatles and The Who.
Blur Parklife Alternative Titles Tennis Player
As you’ll see a number of different album sleeves were also trialed for Parklife including:
Park Life (With a space) featuring the front grill of a Rolls Royce car.
1960’s image of a male model dressed as an upper class tennis player.
Toy models of Buckingham Palace Guards aka The Queen’s Guards dressed in traditional red tunics and bearskin hats (Tourist Tat)
Soft Porn featuring Buckingham Palace and its guards (Again)
Another alternative cover for the Parklife album cover featured a fruit and veg stall in London’s Portobello Road but no images of this are available (as far am I am aware but contact me if you have any). The alternative album sleeves were shown to the band at Maison Rouge Studio where they were recording and mixing Parklife with Stephen Street in London during 1993 & 1994. Finally of course they settled on the Greyhounds artwork and the name ‘Parklife’. But where did the name ‘Parklife’ come from?
Blur Park Life Rolls Royce Grill
A possible reason Blur’s third album ended up being called Parklife.
Dave Rowntree (Blur drummer) shared this image on Twitter from the Evening Standard newspapers ‘Flat Buyers Guide” that was pinned to the studio wall during the recording of Blur’s third album giving insight into the possible naming of PARKLIFE. It shows an advert for newly built flats for sale on Empire Wharf (On the banks of Hertford Union Canal) which overlook Victoria Park. Thus you can have a “Parklife” starting from £54,995 for a one bedroom apartment. Or £69,995 for a two bedroom flat. Imagine how much they must be worth now?
Dave Rowntree Blur Drummer Parklife
Track listing for Parklife
There are 16 songs on Parklife by Blur, two of which are instrumentals. The whole albums run time is 53 minutes.
Girls & Boys
Tracy Jacks
End of a Century
Parklife (featuring Phil Daniels)
Bank Holiday
Badhead
The Debt Collector (instrumental)
Far Out
To the End
London Loves
Trouble in the Message Centre
Clover Over Dover
Magic America
Jubilee
This Is a Low
Lot 105 (instrumental)
Other musings about Parklife.
Considered by many to be ‘The Best Blur Album’ Parklife wasn’t just 16 songs. There were also eleven b-sides in total from various formats of singles Girls & Boys, To The End, Parklife and End Of A Century. They were all recorded during the same sessions as Parklife but we’re kept back for none album / b-side tracks. These included:
Magpie
Anniversary Waltz
People in Europe
Peter Panic
Threadneedle Street
Got Yer!
Beard
Supa Shoppa
Theme from an Imaginary Film
Rednecks
Alex’s Song
All of which are featured on the “The Special Collectors Edition” Blur compilation album. If you’re a big Blur fan (Especially so of the ‘Britpop’ era) then this a great selection of tunes. You really can hear the Parklifeness in all of the songs……I bet ‘People In Europe’ very nearly made it onto the actual album.
Below is a nice bit of Blur memorabilia from back in the day. It is a tracking sheet for the song ‘This Is A Low’ recorded at Matrix Studios, Little Russell Street, London WC1. A track sheet displays what track numbers were used for each instrument while being recorded.
This Is A Low Blur Track Sheet Matrix Studios London
Britpop Artist Andy Starkey has seen it all and done it. All the way through the 90’s and also into the modern day Andy has been pushing live nineties Britpop out to mass audiences. He performed in original Britpop bands throughout the nineteen nineties in Camden Town, London. As an accomplished Britpop musician Andy Starkey then moved onto the professional tribute scene. He now fronts the UK’s only professional Britpop tribute band ‘Britpop Reunion‘. Contact Andy to check on price and availability to hire a Britpop artist for your next live event and relive some 90’s nostalgia.
Britpop Artist Andy Starkey
Andrew Starkey and his band ‘Britpop Reunion‘ capture exactly what it is to be Britpop artists. You’ll hear live performances of songs by Britpop bands like:
But more than just the music you’ve also got the indie image, the original period guitars, amps and clothing too. Also with the bands Britpop 90’s swagger you’ve got one heck of a live performance too. Britpop Artist Andy Starkey knows how to handle crowds of all sizes and has been doing so for the past 30 years. Whether you’ve got 20 guests or 60,000 Andrew will have them eating out of the palms of his hands. He’ll make sure everyone’s singing and dancing along to his britpop band. “Hand in hand, through their, Parklife“. “And after all you’re my Wonderwall“. “Lets all meet up in the year 2000“. Yep, you know them all don’t you so you’ll be singing along too.
Andrew Starkey Britpop Artist performs live songs like:
Don’t Look Back In Anger, Roll With It & Wonderwall
Here’s Britpop Reunion‘s round up of the Top Ten Songs Of The 90s By Year. We’re only allowing one song per year from 1990 to 1999 and it can be from any genre. Be that Britpop, pop, rock….whatever, as long as it’s a great party tune. The nineties were such an amazing time for new and older artists to make their mark in this incredible decade. Bands like Nirvana, Suede, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Blur, Oasis, No Doubt and more. Many of these songs are performed live by 90s tribute band Britpop Reunion and are the main reasons we formed our professional group. There have been some tough decisions that you might not agree with but here’s what we think anyway. Contact band leader Andy Starkey to hire a 90s band for your special event to check on price and availability.
Top Ten Songs Of The 90s By Year
Top Ten Songs Of The 90s – Nineteen Ninety to Nineteen Ninety Four
1990
The perfect pop song from Liverpool based band THE LA’S originally released in 1988 from their self titled debut (and only real release) album. Subsequently re-released in October 1990 so we can thankfully play it ourselves. Note: This pop song has no real chorus much like ‘Losing My Religion’ by REM doesn’t have one either. A staple in our live set list and adored by all ages. This song just doesn’t age at all.
Manchester based band James with their most well known song is our choice for 1991 (Although ‘The One & Only’ by Chesney Hawkes was nearly our choice). James singer Tim Booth belts out this anthemic chorus in a way that always gets everyone singing along when we perform it live at weddings, birthdays, festivals and corporate events. This song was recorded and released multiple times (The original clocks in at 8m 31s on the 12 inch record) before it eventually gained the chart respect it deserved. Fun fact: Tim Booth appeared as a baddie in Batman Begins as Victor Zsasz. No, honestly, look it up.
Continuing with our top 10 songs of the nineties during the year that Black Wednesday occurred, Blur released ‘Popscene’ and Suede released ‘The Drowners’. This (arguably) was pretty much the start of Britpop as we know/knew it. Yet one band who had existed since the the late 70’s / 80’s had one of their biggest chart successes to date during this year. ‘Friday I’m In Love’ written by Robert Smith was released May 1992 and reached number 6 in the charts.
An uplifting song and with much happier tones than what you’d come to expect from a “Goth” band. The Cure still perform this live to this very day and so do Britpop Reunion. Another notable tune from 1992 was Mrs Robinson’ by The Lemonheads from the album ‘It’s a Shame About Ray’. This was many peoples introduction to a ‘Grunge’ type sound later mass marketed by Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl from Nirvana & Foo Fighters.
Carrying on with our top 10 songs of the 90’s but where to start? There was 4 Non Blondes with ‘What’s Up?‘, Lenny Kravitz with ‘Are You Gonna Go My Way’ and REM with ‘Everybody Hurts’. Plus Whitney Houston with ‘I’m Every Woman’ and Arrested Development with ‘Mr Wendal’. But then you had the amazing come back of Duran Duran with their hit superb worldwide hit single ‘Ordinary World’ (Where they looked more like a Britpop band than an 80’s pop band).
Then also Irish-American rappers House Of Pain hit the charts with incredible ‘Jump Around’. All that said, for us, we have to move across the pond back home to Manchester. Our Top Ten Songs Of The 90s for 1993 is ‘James’ again with ‘Laid’. Very much a pure Britpop song about what you hear your neighbours getting up to.
Winning by default in our opinion though in our top 10 songs of the 90s for 1993 is ‘Parklife’ by Blur featuring Quadrophenia star (And Eastenders star) Phil Daniels. This song really is exactly what Britpop was about, telling tales about the every day lives of normal, common people. A highly Ray Davies/The Kinks inspired indie pop tune that caught the ears of many none indie folk, turning them on to Blur forever. Yet strangely topping out at only number 10 in the UK charts. At every single performance ‘Britpop Reunion‘ have done since we formed in 2014 we have performed ‘Parklife‘ live and it continues to be enjoyed by crowds many decades later. “All the people, so many people….”.
Top Ten Songs Of The 90s – Nineteen Ninety Five to Nineteen Ninety Nine
1995
During the year of nineteen ninety five we were solidly into the era of Britpop bands dominating the UK charts. By this point in the 90’s it was VERY COOL to be in an indie pop guitar based band. Every late teen/early 20 something was in a Britpop wannabe band. You had ‘Country House’ by Blur, battling it out with ‘Roll With It’ by Oasis for number 1 in the charts. Also ‘Alright’ by Supergrass and another Oasis firm favourite ‘Wonderwall‘ (And the list goes on). But how do you choose just one song to sum up this amazing year of music?
Well, we’re going to give it a go. For us it has to be the Laura Branigan inspired corker ‘Disco 2000’ by Pulp. Again this is the epitome of what we consider to be Britpop. Songs about everyday folk like you and me. Agreeing to meet up with an old pal years later if things haven’t quite gone to plan throughout the rest of their life.
‘Disco 2000‘ by Pulp from the album ‘Different Class’
Top Ten Songs Of The Nineties – 1996
We’re still in the era of full on Britpop bands mode in the mid nineties with huge crowd favourites to choose from by Reef, Cast, Radiohead and The Bluetones. But also the 90’s were a huge mixed bag of genres too from artists like Republica, Spice Girls, Mark Morrison, Gina G, Coolio and more. But Britpop artist Andy Starkey says there is only one song from 1996 that sums up this year, if not the whole 90s decade and Britpop movement. And thats ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ by Oasis.
The song starts off with a piano tribute/rip off to ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon (Surely they had to pay some royalties along the way due to similarities?). Then goes full on Noel-Rock. Liam Gallagher takes a backseat and lets his brother sing this one. (As Liam, given the chance to choose one song had chosen Wonderwall instead). Probably the biggest song in our live performances enjoyed by every single person on and off stage.
Heading out of Britpop era now but still firmly in the realms of 90’s pop music. We had Blur with a totally new American sounding style with ‘Song 2‘ (Inspired by bands like Pavement). Also ‘Karma Police’ by Radiohead and the fantastic ‘Torn’ by Neighbours star Natalie Imbruglia (Did you know this is a cover version?). Britpop Reunion perform the 1997 hit ‘Ironic’ by Alanis Morissette which always goes does incredibly well at weddings. Also ‘Tubthumping’ by Chumbawamba is an insane live song with people literally loosing their minds and going full on mosh-pit.
But for us the winner of 1997 has to be ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ by The Verve. Using a sample by the Andrew Loog Oldham orchestral cover of the Rolling Stones’ song “The Last Time” Richard Ashcroft and his fellow band mates created this new 8/4 looped time signature track. An absolute classic banger of a 90’s song about how life treats you.
By 1998 what we classed as ‘Britpop‘ was pretty much completely totally over. An indie band that remained though still releasing Brit pop esque songs were the likes of Catatonia (feat Cerys Matthews from BBC Radio 6 Music) with ‘Road Rage’. But even Shed Seven had moved on to become more like Happy Mondays/Black Grape with the lad chanty ‘She Left Me On Friday’. Ex Suede guitarist Bernard Butler re-emerged with his debut solo album ‘People Move On’ album. Featuring the dreamy esque single ‘Stay’ which is a little to derivative of late period Beatles (even though it had that amazing Bernard Butler guitar tone solo). Still, there were massive chart pop hits emerging from B*Witched with ‘C’est La Vie’, Massive Attack with ‘Teardrop’ and Aerosmith ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’.
‘Dance The Night Away’ by The Mavericks and ‘Let Me Entertain You’ by Robbie Williams are unstoppable to this day and still on heavy rotation on daytime radio. But for Britpop Reunion, the crazily big chart hit from Britney Spears ‘Baby One More Time’ is where its at. We’ve changed the key of this tune every so slightly and rocked it up a little bit. Feel the power of this 90’s pop tune below in our live video at a 90’s Night at a University in Cornwall.
‘Baby One More Time’’ by Britney Spears from the album ‘Baby One More Time’
Finally we’re at the end of the decade with 1999
1999 was a funny old year for music. Britpop had completely disappeared (Quite rightfully) and much of the charts were filled with R&B. Eminem broke though with The Slim Shady LP featuring ‘My Name Is’, Christina Aguilera had ‘Genie In A Bottle’ (Theres a great mash up of this with The Strokes’ track “Hard To Explain”). Mr Oizo ‘Flat Beat’ hit number one from Levis commercial and still sounds great to this very day. A little more guitar based The Offspring ‘Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)’ is a superb track. But pop wise for us it has to be ‘Livin’ la Vida Loca’ by Ricky Martin. This has to be one of the catchiest songs ever. Latino style melody, beats and horns combined with cool surf guitars. It almost has a Dick Dale feel to it.
‘Livin’ la Vida Loca’’ by Ricky Martin from the album ‘Ricky Martin’
Summing up Music In The Nineties.
Every decade of music has huge differences in genres dominating at certain points but the nineties for us is where it was all at. Pop, rock, indie, grunge, goth, baggy and dance all produced great high chart scoring songs. Indie became Britpop which then just became ‘Pop’ music for a few years. Record labels scrambled to sign ANYTHING that looked remotely like a Britpop band even into the mid nineties. But by then though Britpop had come and gone which lead to record companies folding due to huge loses and debt from lack of sales. Big lessons all to be learned from to this very day. It’s doubtful we’ll ever see anything as exciting as The Battle Of Britpop ever again.
Don’t forget to contact band leader Andy Starkey from Britpop Reunion to hire a 90’s band for your big event.
