What Was: The Battle of Britpop?
Pressing Play
Hello you. Make a cup of tea, Put a record on.
14 August 1995. A Monday that pretended it was just another Monday. Two bands collided in the charts: Blur in their mock‑Tudor finery, Oasis in their parka and pint glass swagger. The press called it a chart battle. In truth it felt like a cultural bar fight that staggered out of the NME and into the national papers, spilling pints across class lines, north and south, posh and pissed. For one absurd, glorious week pop music became the nation’s nervous breakdown. When the dust settled, the landscape of mid‑90s Britain looked permanently scorched.
The Battle of Britpop: Definition and Context
One‑sentence definition: The Battle of Britpop was the head‑to‑head chart clash between Blur’s “Country House” and Oasis’s “Roll With It” on 14 August 1995, a contest that snowballed into a national obsession and a proxy war over class, geography, and identity.
The summer of 1995 was Britain on the brink. John Major’s Conservative government was staggering after fifteen years in power, unemployment numbers stubbornly high, the air thick with boredom and resignation. American grunge had been the dominant soundtrack for half a decade, its grey fog drifting over everything. Into that vacuum marched a gang of bands who felt unapologetically British. Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Suede. They cribbed from the 1960s songbook, sang about the corner shop and the bus queue, and did it with enough swagger to make Seattle sound like a damp Tuesday afternoon. By August, the movement had peaked. Blur, the art‑school intellectuals from Essex. Oasis, the working‑class mouthpieces from Manchester. Both circling the same crown.
What began as a label’s cheeky bit of gamesmanship detonated into cultural theatre. Blur’s label moved “Country House” forward to collide with Oasis’s already announced “Roll With It”. The press smelt blood and turned it into a national event. That evening, BBC news bulletins framed it as the biggest chart war in decades, and the week became a public referendum on who we were and which Britain we wanted.
Sidebar: Glossary of Terms
Britpop: A 1990s wave of British guitar bands with hooks and lyrics steeped in national character
Midweeks: Provisional sales updates during the week, like a bookmaker’s board for chart obsessives
Formats: The separate physical versions of a single, such as CD1, CD2, cassette, 7" and 12", that could count to the total
B‑side: Extra tracks bundled with the single, often cult favourites in their own right
Chart: The UK Singles Chart, compiled weekly and announced on Sundays
The Build‑up: Who Were Oasis and Blur in 1995?
Oasis: The Manchester Phenomenon
By early 1995 Oasis had stormed out of Burnage and planted themselves at the centre of British pop like they had been ordained. Liam Gallagher snarled into a mic, tambourine in hand. Noel Gallagher wrote the songs and stared down the nation. Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan and, after April 1995, new drummer Alan White completed the picture. Their debut Definitely Maybe (1994) was the fastest‑selling British debut in history and “Some Might Say” had just given them their first No. 1 in April. The melodies were Beatles, the bark was terrace.
Blur: The Art‑School Alchemists
Blur climbed slower and stranger. Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon first bonded at Stanway Comprehensive. Alex James wandered in from Goldsmiths with a bass. Dave Rowntree kept time. They shapeshifted. Baggy shimmer on Leisure (1991), the Britpop blueprint on Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), national treasure status with Parklife (1994). By 1995 they were Brit Awards darlings, limbering up for The Great Escape.
Management and Strategy
Oasis were driven by Ignition Management, Marcus Russell and Alec McKinlay, evangelists with a plan. Blur were steered by Chris Morrison at CMO Management. Behind the curtain, the labels, Creation for Oasis and Food or Parlophone for Blur, sharpened elbows and schedules. Blur’s move to the same release day was not fate. It was tactical.
Management voices, briefly
Marcus Russell (Oasis): quietly confident going into release week, pointing to the band’s Glastonbury moment and the momentum of “Some Might Say”.
Chris Morrison (Blur): acknowledging the tactical reschedule on the label side, designed to meet Oasis head on once Creation fixed 14 August.
Alan McGee (Creation): repeatedly recalling that he was up for a straight fight when Food sounded him out, convinced Oasis would walk it on fanbase alone. These are the stakes in human voices, not just org charts.
Press Warfare
By August the music press was treating Blur versus Oasis like a blood sport. NME ran a prize‑fight cover. Tabloids drew class caricatures. Broadsheets wrote essays on identity. BBC newsreaders intoned chart trivia as if it were constitutional law.
Cover as pantomime: NME’s “British Heavyweight Championship”
NME staged the week like a boxing poster: Damon and Liam squared up, belt typography, splashes and straplines engineered to pick a side before you turned the page. It sold the story as theatre and readers bought in. The cover did not document a rivalry so much as manufacture one in public.
Why did they fall out in the first place? (1994–95)
Short version: a cocktail of media goading, personal needle and one calculated scheduling shove.
Media scaffolding (1994): press framed Blur as art‑school South and Oasis as mouthy North, priming a rivalry before either camp properly engaged.
Personal flashpoint (April 1995): after Oasis hit No. 1 with “Some Might Say”, Damon Albarn says he went to the celebration party to say well done; Liam went nose to nose, “Number f**kin’ One”, which Albarn took as provocation.
Early 1995 spats: run‑ins at the NME Awards and a post‑No. 1 party hardened attitudes, even before the singles clash was booked.
The shove (August 1995): Blur’s label moved “Country House” to 14 August to meet “Roll With It” head on. That was when the simmer became a boil.
Toxic escalation (Sept 1995): Noel’s infamous Observer quote wishing illness on Blur members put petrol on the fire and required an apology the following week.
Aftershocks (BRITs 1996): Oasis mocked Blur with a “Shite‑life” Parklife parody on live TV, keeping the needle sharp into the next year.
Gossip columnists’ theory (contested): Noel later suggested Liam and Damon may have been involved with the same woman. Treat as hearsay rather than settled fact.
This is why the bands fell out: a press‑built frame, a few very human slights, and one very public scheduling dare.
The Trigger: How the Clash Was Set
The Singles: Strategic Choices
Blur chose “Country House”, a satire on former manager Dave Balfe’s rural escape, set to a knees‑up brass stomp. Oasis stuck to blunt force with “Roll With It”, Noel’s proud simple rock and roll tune. Arch versus anthemic.
Release Calendar: The Collision Course
Blur original plan: 21 August 1995
Oasis plan: 14 August 1995
The move: Food brought Blur forward to 14 August to go head to head, widely confirmed in the trade and later retrospectives.
Battle Plans
Blur’s play: cut‑price singles around £1.99 in major chains, two CD singles with exclusive content, and a Damien Hirst video dripping Brit‑art.
Oasis’s play: fewer gimmicks, let the fanbase do the heavy lifting. The arithmetic favoured Blur. The myth favoured Oasis.
The Singles as Products
Musical Content: A Study in Contrasts
“Country House”, oompah bounce, brass, a sing‑song chorus about “a very big house in the country”, Stephen Street at the desk.
“Roll With It”, four minutes of up‑and‑at‑’em, Owen Morris and Noel on production, built for pubs and terraces alike.
B‑sides and Formats: The Commercial Arsenal
Blur: “Country House” (Food: FOOD 63)
CD1 (CDFOOD 63): “Country House”, “One Born Every Minute”, “To The End (La Comédie)”
CD2 (CDFOODS 63): “Country House”, “Girls & Boys” (Live), “Parklife” (Live), “For Tomorrow” (Live)
7": FOOD 63, “Country House” / “One Born Every Minute”
Cassette: TCFOOD 63, “Country House”, “One Born Every Minute”
Oasis: “Roll With It” (Creation: CRE 212)
CD (CRESCD 212): “Roll With It”, “It’s Better People”, “Rockin’ Chair”, “Live Forever” (Glastonbury 1995)
7" (CRE 212): “Roll With It” / “It’s Better People”
Cassette (CRECS 212): “Roll With It”, “It’s Better People”
Artwork and credits
“Country House” produced by Stephen Street.
“Roll With It” produced by Noel Gallagher and Owen Morris.
“Roll With It” sleeve by Brian Cannon and Microdot, photography by Michael Spencer Jones, shot at Weston‑super‑Mare the Glastonbury weekend.
Pricing and Retail Strategy
Blur undercut Oasis in many outlets, with widely reported £1.99 stickers on Blur’s CDs in the big chains, and exploited the two‑CD tactic so one superfan could count twice. In a week decided by receipts, a pound mattered. That is the quietly brutal, fuck it truth of chart maths.
Retail reaction (shop‑floor voices)
Indie buyers grumbled that Blur’s two‑CD tactic squeezed margins while chains used £1.99 sticker prices as loss leaders.
Several shops reported fans buying both Blur CDs at once, then adding the Oasis cassette for the B‑side.
Area managers described London shops skewing Blur by price and end caps, with northern indies pulling Oasis through loyalty alone.
This is how the arithmetic felt in the tills.
Visual Identity: Videos, Sleeves and the Art of War
We have talked about barcodes and price points, so time to address the bits you actually stared at while the songs played. Blur and Oasis waged a propaganda war in paper and celluloid as much as in 4/4 time, and the contrast was obscene.
Blur: Damien Hirst’s Brit‑Art fever dream
Blur’s “Country House” promo was a three minute late‑night Channel 4 sketch. Damien Hirst turned Damon Albarn into the host of a grotesque board game, “Escape From the Rat Race”, and cast actor Keith Allen as the jowly businessman being humiliated. Matt Lucas wandered through. It pastiches Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and The Benny Hill Show, cuts between Carry On smut and art‑school irony, and even snagged a nomination for Best Video at the 1996 BRIT Awards. The single sleeve mirrors the pantomime: mock‑Tudor façades and oompah palette for the “very big house in the country” gag. By 2014 the single had passed 540,000 UK sales and remains Blur’s biggest seller.
Oasis: duffle coats and stark performance
No surrealist director. The “Roll With It” clip is a straight band performance filmed in a studio with fans looking on. The sleeve has its own lore: shot at Weston‑super‑Mare the day before Glastonbury, the Gallaghers posed in duffle coats despite the heat while a crowd gathered behind the camera. Brit‑art pantomime versus no‑frills swagger. Contrast does the work.
How the Chart Worked in 1995
The system
By 1995 the UK Singles Chart was compiled from barcode‑scanned sales reported by thousands of participating retailers, week run Sunday to Saturday, results announced the following Sunday. Midweeks turned the chart into a rolling horse race. Midweeks were not final and Thursday swings were common.
Format rules
By April 1995 the number of eligible formats per single had been reduced to three. Labels could release more, but only three counted, which is why CD1 and CD2 flourished. Airplay did not count toward the Singles Chart in 1995. The main chart was sales only, with a separate airplay rundown published elsewhere.
Release Week: Day‑by‑Day Diary
Mon 14 Aug, opening bell
Fan voices from the day: “Queued at HMV from half eight, got both Blur CDs and the Oasis tape.” “Our tower sold more Blur at lunch when the £1.99 stickers went up.” “College common room is Blur. Bus stop after school is Oasis.” Both singles hit the racks. London and the South leaned Blur. Northern cities flocked to Oasis. Bookies shaded Oasis early. Midweeks were too close to call.
Tue 15 Aug, Oasis confident
First waves suggested a narrow Oasis lead off the diehards. Blur’s price sticker started reeling in casual buyers.
Wed 16 Aug, the tide turns
Midweeks swung towards Blur as the two‑CD tactic bit. Newspapers began explaining, helpfully or not, how the count worked.
Thu 17 Aug, class war headlines
The tabloid cartoon, art‑school dandies versus lagered up lads, took over. Regional patterns hardened.
Fri 18 Aug, final push
Busy shops, heavy footfall and multiple formats doing quiet damage for Blur.
Sat 19 Aug, the wait
Trade chatter said it would be the biggest singles week in years.
Sun 20 Aug, result
At tea time the scoreboard blinked. Blur at No. 1. Oasis at No. 2. On Top of the Pops the following week, Jarvis Cocker introduced Blur. Alex James wore an Oasis T‑shirt for the victory lap.
Final Scores
Blur, “Country House”: 274,000
Oasis, “Roll With It”: 216,000
The gap was 58,000. Both totals were huge. “Roll With It” was one of the biggest selling No. 2s of the year. Blur won the week. Oasis kept the momentum. That week alone moved almost half a million physical singles between two guitar bands.
Top 10 that week, 20 August 1995
Blur, “Country House”
Oasis, “Roll With It”
The Original, “I Luv U Baby”
Take That, “Never Forget”
Robson and Jerome, “You’ll Never Walk Alone”
Michael Jackson, “You Are Not Alone”
TLC, “Waterfalls”
The Rembrandts, “I’ll Be There For You”
Daniel O’Donnell, “I Believe”
Seal, “Kiss From A Rose”
The Battle of Britpop in Numbers
If your attention span cannot handle a week‑long soap opera, here is the mercifully concise ledger:
First week sales: Blur 274,000 vs Oasis 216,000. Margin: 58,000.
Formats and pricing: Blur weaponised the rules, two CD singles at entry price in many chains, plus cassette and 7". Oasis issued one CD plus cassette at standard price. Sales only chart, maximum three eligible formats, which made the maths matter.
Anatomy of Victory
Price and formats did the work for Blur. London and the South plus national chains gave them a base. Oasis dominated the North and Scotland and the independent shops. Strategy out‑muscled sentiment.
Critical and Public Response
Blur had the trophy but called it hollow, with Graham Coxon bristling at the circus. Oasis complained about formats and mumbled about barcodes. Then they doubled down, a few weeks later releasing Morning Glory and rewriting the decade.
Media Legacy
The battle showed that a stunt could move hundreds of thousands of units and lead the evening news. Labels tried to bottle the lightning. None quite managed it again.
Legacy and Critical Reception
Blur took the victory lap on Top of the Pops, with Alex James wearing an Oasis T‑shirt because irony tastes better in front of millions. Inside Blur the glow curdled quickly, Graham Coxon called the whole thing a circus, Damon Albarn soon set about dismantling the Britpop persona. Oasis brushed off defeat, muttered about barcodes and released (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, a juggernaut that would sell into the tens of millions worldwide and define mid‑90s rock. The Great Escape still went straight to No. 1 and spawned hits, then the band disappeared up Britpop’s tailpipe for a bit. Top of the Pops was still a television behemoth in 1995; both bands’ slots turned a routine chart update into appointment viewing.
The Bigger Picture
Britpop’s commercial explosion
The week turned a scene into a siege. Shops became supply depots. Fans became foot soldiers. Journalists became war correspondents. Sales spiked across guitar music.
Cool Britannia and cultural politics
The soundtrack meshed neatly with a broader feel‑good Britain moment that politicians and tabloids were desperate to badge. Oasis would end up at No. 10. Blur were at every awards bash going.
Third‑Party Reactions
Not the bands, not the tabloids, just the chorus around them.
Jarvis Cocker: “There is no skill to being alright on the telly.”
Brett Anderson: “Britpop was a laddish, distasteful, misogynistic, nationalistic cartoon.”
Steve Lamacq: “Suddenly misfits became pop stars, and we were part of it.”
Jo Whiley: “It was like they were our mates down the pub. There was no fakery or pretence.”
Fan Ephemera: A Short Vignette
HMV Oxford Street, Monday lunchtime. Cardboard dumpbins groaning, listening posts alternating “Country House” and “Roll With It”. A kid in a school blazer buys both, CD1 and CD2 for Blur, cassette for Oasis, just to be safe. At the counter, a clerk says, “We are changing the chart by the minute.” Composite of contemporary shop‑floor reports, but that was the vibe.
Counterfactuals: Two What‑ifs
If Oasis had led with “Rockin’ Chair”, a stronger song beloved by Noel, the margin might have tightened. The two‑CD tactic still bites.
If Blur had stayed on 21 August, they would still have bagged No. 1 the following week, but the front‑page circus and those sales would have shrunk.
Myths Checked
“Blur cheated with two CDs.”
Misleading. By spring 1995 three formats were eligible and labels chose their three. Blur used two CDs within the rules. Strategy, not skulduggery.
“Oasis were robbed by barcode glitches.”
Unproven. Allegations surfaced. No decisive evidence. Even without any glitches, the price and format edge was real.
“It was pure North versus South, working class versus middle class.”
Partly a press cartoon. The class and regional framing helped sell papers, but reality was messier.
Aftermath to Closure
Blur’s The Great Escape landed No. 1 in September and fired off more big singles. Oasis answered with (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, which went stratospheric at home and, crucially, in the United States, where Blur never cracked the mainstream to the same degree. Years later the principals made peace. Damon and Noel shared a stage at the Teenage Cancer Trust show in 2013. Noel then sang on Gorillaz’ “We Got The Power” in 2017. The pantomime ended. The friendship stuck.
Afterlives: Fan Memory
The week lives on in documentaries, fan forums and oral histories. The sleeves, the TOTP clips and grainy shop photos circulate every anniversary, keeping the story alive as lived folklore, not just a museum exhibit.
TOTP and Broadcast Notes
Radio 1, the other megaphone
Breakfast Show (Chris Evans): hyped the head to head in the irreverent morning slot.
The Evening Session (Lamacq and Whiley): debated tactics, B‑sides and midweeks with callers.
Sunday Top 40: the chart reveal closed the week’s soap opera for millions listening at tea time.
24 Aug 1995, BBC TV, Top of the Pops: Blur performed “Country House”, introduced by Jarvis Cocker. Alex James wore an Oasis tee.
Week of 14 Aug: network news carried the chart race in daily bulletins. Music mags ran the midweeks like election swingometers.
International Footnotes
Ireland: “Country House” reached No. 1; “Roll With It” peaked at No. 2.
New Zealand: “Roll With It” peaked at No. 17.
Australia: “Roll With It” peaked at No. 48 (ARIA).
United States: “Country House” was serviced to alternative radio in September 1995; “Roll With It” remained largely a UK‑centric single.
Ephemera and Deep Cuts
Collect the artefacts while they last: the HMV dump‑bin postcards, the NME cover that staged it like a prize fight, the flimsy jewel‑case inserts for CD1 and CD2. The battle was fought in magazines and record shops as much as on the radio.
If you want to hear what the fuss was actually about, skip the A‑sides. Put on Blur’s “To the End (La Comédie)”, a swooning duet with Françoise Hardy, and Oasis’s “Rockin’ Chair”, a Noel Gallagher keeper that somehow ended up a B‑side.
Data and Artefacts Appendix
Complete micro timeline
14 Aug 1995, singles released head to head.
20 Aug 1995, Blur No. 1, Oasis No. 2.
11 Sept 1995, The Great Escape (Blur).
2 Oct 1995, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (Oasis).
Airplay context
Radio 1 and ILR spins drove awareness. Airplay did not count towards the Singles Chart in 1995. Sales only.
Managers, producers, artwork at a glance
Blur: Manager Chris Morrison at CMO; producer Stephen Street; label Food or Parlophone.
Oasis: Manager Ignition, Marcus Russell and Alec McKinlay; producers Noel Gallagher and Owen Morris; artwork Brian Cannon and Microdot; photos Michael Spencer Jones; label Creation.
Three dates a newcomer should remember
14 August 1995, release day.
20 August 1995, result day.
2 October 1995, Morning Glory detonates.
Two Minute Recap
In August 1995 Blur and Oasis released “Country House” and “Roll With It” on the same day and turned a chart week into national theatre. Blur won the single battle, 274,000 to 216,000, and did a cheeky Top of the Pops lap. Oasis shrugged, then dropped one of the decade’s juggernaut albums and conquered everywhere, including the United States. The saga supercharged Britpop, taught labels that rivalry sells and marked the high water line of the CD single era. Years later the principals were on the same stage, then the same record. The heat faded. The story did not. Back to the bus stop. Back to the barcodes.
