Britpop Busters
Five facts about the legendary Britpoppers...

BLUR
Briefly known as Seymour, Blur have always been at the forefront of Britpop. Known for the odd outburst or two, you really have to wonder where some of their material comes from. Well, believe it or not, if you listen carefully to 'Miss America', snatched from 'Modern Life Is Rubbish', Graham's shout of "Michael!" at the beginning refers to publisher Mike Smith. Apparently, after knocking a few back at the local pub to celebrate Mike's move from MCA to EMI Publishing, Graham went back to the studio to add guitar parts to 'Miss America' while the rest of the mob hopped off to a Pulp concert. When the rest of the rabble returned, they found an 'off his trolley' Graham banging on a chair leg. As Mike entered the room, Graham shouted his name. Oh to be a Britpopper...

OASIS
After spending several years as a guitar technician for Inspiral Carpets, Noel returned to Manchester to find that his brother had formed a band. Agreeing to join them, (only if he had complete control, of course) seems to have paid off for the smart Gallagher in the long run. However, we bet it knocked him for six when he found out that his little brother Liam couldn't dance. Liam once admitted: "I can't dance. I'm not in a band for that. It's about the music and that's it. You don't go to an Oasis gig because the singer's jumping around or because the guitarist does a great ****ing windmill." True, but the least you could do is look as though you're enjoying yourself...

SUPERGRASS
First performing their songs to a herd of cows outside Gaz's house, Supergrass started out in 1994 after failing in the job market as a factory worker (Gaz Coombes), plunger-dishwasher (Mick Quinn), dinner man (Danny Goffey) and astrophysicist (Robert Coombes). Astrophysicist, we hear you say? Mmmmm... Even though Rob's been with the band since about 1997, he's always been the silent member. You really do have to ponder what a scientist can bring to a Britpop group. Not very much as it seems, as he admitted: "When I started playing with the band, I couldn't really play the piano; I was just playing the songs." So, surley you'd expect that he's a master on the ivories now, right? Well, maybe not: "I'd say I could, but I'm sure a lot of people would probably say I couldn't." These damn scientists, tell em' to stay away!

ELASTICA
Guitarist and vocalist Justine Frischmann began performing professionally in the early '90s, forming Suede with her boyfriend Brett Anderson. Soon after the relationship had burst it's bubble, Elastica was born. Mingling into the Britpop pack quite nicely, (she dated Damon Albarn for a couple of years) it's quite a surprise to know that Justine had such a dim view of herself. She once said: "Sometimes I do get frustrated because I feel I just look like a bloke. I've had Japanese interviews where they say, You've gone out with Damon and he's so handsome! I often get called 'sir' in shops, usually by people who are older, and sometimes I think, should I grow my hair a bit and make an effort? But **** it, I don't really want to." The perfect Britpop attitude, we think you'll agree.

PULP
We've always wondered exactly what is inside Cocker's cranium as his song writing goes. Well, something to leave your bonce ticking is when he controversially recast the cotton-picking blues standard 'The Boll Weevil Blues' at a South Bank concert, (in tribute to the great folk archivist Harry Smith). Apparently, his version was about an imaginary conversation he'd had with a cockroach about to fall into a pan of spaghetti bolognese. Cocker explained: "When I was living in a squat in Camberwell, we had quite a problem with cockroaches, and I turned this Baby Belling cooker on one night and then got distracted. When I went back to the cooker, there was a cockroach doing a tightrope walk along the edge of the pan. I didn't have any money at the time and I knew if it fell in – desperate as I was – I wouldn't be able to eat the food because of the cockroach juice, so I was trying to persuade it to fall off the other way..." It's just amazing what some Brit-pot can do for you...