IIPC Debate 29
Professor Derek B. Scott (University of Leeds)
Britpop and the Sound of Englishness.
British bands of the 1960s, such as the Beatles and the Kinks, made use of existing signifiers of Englishness in many of their songs, but went on to establish a British sound (sometimes called “British Beat”) as they established their popularity around the world. This enabled Britpop groups of the 1990s to reference that sound as well as older sounds associated with music hall and folk music. In this presentation, links are traced between pop styles of the 1960s and 1990s, alongside an investigation into the character of Englishness in music.
