Who Coined Britpop?
Short Answer
Stuart Maconie. Oh, was it John Robb?
Long Answer
John Robb first used “Britpop” in the late ’80s. A joke, really. A throwaway in Sounds and fanzines like Rox, riffing on “Britcore” and the scrappy new crop of British guitar bands. It wasn’t a manifesto. Just a word kicked around by a writer who made up a lot of them. Some stuck. This one lingered.
Fast-forward to 1993. Stuart Maconie, newly freelance and sick of plaid-shirted grunge, used it in Select magazine alongside Suede, Blur and Pulp. The headline read “Yanks Go Home”. The tone was part cheek, part quiet defiance. This was pop that came from dole queues, not diners. More Likely Lads than Lollapalooza.
Robb named it. Maconie branded it. The word grew legs, then wings, then ego. Within two years it was Noel in Number 10, Damon in a parka, and lad mags calling it a revolution. It stopped being music and started being product.
Robb’s version never stood a chance. His Britpop was regional, DIY and faintly suspicious of London. Maconie’s had melancholy and wit. What followed had slogans, sponsorship deals and nothing much to say. The bands either imploded or left the party early. The word stuck around long after the meaning went home.
So yes. Robb coined it. Maconie gave it style. The rest of us watched it get rinsed.
