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Ocean Colour Scene
22/12/2006
EVER since Britpop dissolved in a rubble of hype and empty
bluster in the mid-Nineties, it's become de rigeur for all the
bands involved to firmly dissociate themselves from it.
To their credit, Ocean Colour Scene - although often tarred with
the Britpop brush - were never really part of that whole silly
business to begin with.
If anything, they pre-dated Britpop. Formed in 1991 and hailing
from Birmingham, they were always a band who prided themselves on
their old-school R&B, Mod, soul roots.
It was only the celebrity endorsements of Noel Gallagher, Chris
Evans and radio-friendly anthems like The Riverboat Song which
elevated them as Britpop kings of ``Dadrock''.
From then on, Ocean Colour Scene became indelibly associated with
notions of mid-Nineties, philistine, vulgar laddism - ironic when
you consider their frontman Simon Fowler is an out and proud
homosexual.
In a way, Ocean Colour Scene have never really recovered from their
Britpop connections - especially with the press.
The Sun newspaper even tried to stitch up Fowler by outing him in a
stupid, salacious scandal.
But when your close pal and mentor is Paul Weller (OCS's guitarist
Steve Craddock also plays guitar in Weller's band), you clearly
learn a thing about survival against media warfare.
Hence, why now, even in 2006, Ocean Colour Scene can still command
a fairly large audience, their fans seduced by a mix of nostalgia
and bloke-ish loyalty.
For some, it seems, ```Dadrock'' will always be seen as a
compliment rather than an insult.
DAVID SUE
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