Pulp! Oasis! Robbie Williams! Why it feels like we're back in 1995

Pulp’s new album is arriving at a prescient time. It’s 30 years ago this month that we saw the coronation of Jarvis Cocker as a bona fide British star. 

In the wake of the success of “Common People”, Pulp were belatedly asked to headline Saturday night on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury 1995 – after The Stone Roses pulled out because guitarist John Squire had broken his collarbone while out cycling.  

Pulp were by no means the organisers’ first choice: Blur, Primal Scream and Rod Stewart all reportedly turned down the prestigious slot. However, one of the biggest gambles in Glastonbury’s history ended up providing us with one of its most iconic, cherished moments. Jarvis’s performance even now is spoken of in reverential tones by those who were privileged to witness it, and is still the yardstick for what defines a winning performance on the Pyramid Stage. And several of their contemporaries seem keen to celebrate the anniversary too. 

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Another Worthy Farm headliner that same year was Oasis, on a victory lap after the success of debut album Definitely Maybe and subsequent singles “Whatever” and “Some Might Say” – the latter becoming their first number one. That night, they premiered a bunch of songs from what would become their globe-conquering classic (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, and were joined briefly onstage for a dance by their new (and short-lived) pal Robbie Williams, who was just about to quit Take That amid a blaze of publicity. 

It may not have escaped anyone’s attention that the Gallaghers are also back this year, striding round the country’s stadiums on the year’s most in-demand, dynamically priced tour. Richard Ashcroft and Cast being among the support acts only reinforces that ’95 feeling. 

Coincidentally, Robbie Williams is back hitting the big venues too, as well as releasing a new album called Britpop, with a cover picture taken at THAT Glastonbury, posing backstage in the now-iconic look of bleached-blond hairdo and red adidas trackie top. He insists he’s given the album its rather pointed title as the material is “upbeat, anthemic”, and refers back to a “golden age for British music”.

That period gave birth to the likes of Supergrass and Gene, who are performing their debut albums from 1995 (I Should Coco and Olympian, respectively) in full to sold-out crowds this year.  

The Britpop era was often said to be harking back to the golden pop period of the 60s, but now we seem to be recalling another fecund period, albeit with the same acts. Mind you, 1995 also saw the slightly awkward reactivation of The Beatles, so there is a precedent. Kind of. 

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