13.1.08

This Might Be Why YouTube Is Brilliant..

It throws you up random videos of songs you loved crazily as a pre-pubescent, can shout along to even now, and haven't seen since 1997...does anyone remember Republica? I had to go through a few videos before I found the exact one that used to air here..
Republica-Ready To Go




It also passes Top of the Pops (Channel V used to air it here, between 1995 and 98/99) recordings of old shout-along pop favourites your way. Though I do not like the presenter for dissing Shampoo towards the end of the clip, it's still a pretty awesome clip and I love the costumes- there's something about midriff-baring shirts and chunky boots with miniskirts that just screams '1990s!' at me, though their clothes wouldn't look out of place in this decade either. Also, the girl on the left - I never could figure out which of the Shampoo girls was which- is wearing the hell out of those silly pink heart-framed sunglasses. It's rather a nice thing to go back to feeling eleven years old again, dancing (more like just jumping all over the place, really) around my bedroom.
Shampoo- Trouble (Live on Top of the Pops)

It's funny just how much 1990s music I loved...I've always thought I was a Britpop fan (and I am) but in hindsight, I liked the pop/rock stuff and random songs (anyone who liked the Suggs cover of Simon and Garfunkel's Cecilia, put your hand up!) every bit as much. Which should not be surprising, given that my musical tastes were formed in that decade.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my daze! That Shampoo song was one of the first singles I bought when I was about 8 or 9! It was a cassette single and instead of a plastic case, it came inside a carboard slip cover.... that's how cheapo it was back in the days...

Yohan said...

Hee hee. I rembember Republica very well! The 90s was quite decent, up until boybands, jailbaiters, and nu metal took over at the turn of the century.

I used to think that a 2 or 3 year age gap was huge in those years (it's the line between remembering the pre-Bakra Cyrus or not), but it seems you were watching the music channels around the same time I was.

Do you remember when MTV didn't show any Hindi music? Those were the days.

Yohan said...

Unrelated, but check out this link:

Sleeve faces

Blue Floppy Hat said...

Susie: I think cassette-buying is an essential part of growing up in the 90s...I'm still a little surprised when I look at my old tapes and see (from the PoV of now) absurdly low prices.
Yohan: My house, for some reason, didn't get MTV, which was fine because they started doing the 24/7 Bollywood thing very early on. Channel V, on the other hand, took the better part of its programming cues from Hong Kong for quite a bit (I think), so it was ok for longer. Now they're both just bad.

Anonymous said...

Yeah MTV wasn't carried by some cable operators. But before 96 or 97 it was all English music, and the veejays were hilarious. And of course, all the boys loved Shenaz Treasurywala, and all the girls hated the fact that we liked her.

mimi said...

OMG cecilia!! That song entirely transports me back to being 13 or so, and all my dorky friends in secondary school. And shampoo, and republica... they still use that song on some ad here, which has killed it dead, but god, how I loved her hair.
then I discovered suede, and elastica et al, and John Peel's show on the radio while I did my homework... ahh...

I remember coming across Channel V at someone's house on a fambly trip to India and being stunned that indian music channels weren't all filled with pervalicious gyrating/mountain-frolicking Sallu's and Govinda's. And I bought my first 'indie' album at some little bakery near my grandparents', some MTV compilation from that late-night alternative show they had, with suede and republica and garbage and radiohead and butthole surfers... I always thought it was a weird thing to find in some random Gujju village, but I guess not!

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Unknown said...

Ah I love looking up songs on Youtube.. it's so much more satisfying than MTV was as a kid, when you had to wait around for your favorite videos to come on...

Jen (MahaloFashion) said...

oh the 90s...kind of a boring decade but interesting the same time!

Perakath said...

I know a Republica song called Drop Dead Gorgeous, but that's it. Trouble was of course from the Power Rangers movie, and Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 2. It's quite a crappy song, actually!

Isn't Republica a British band? And Top of the Pops certainly is British. Hence, both = Britpop, yes?

Anonymous said...

@Perakath: Not all pop that comes from the UK can be called Britpop. In fact, Britpop actually refers to a type of guitar rock exemplified by Suede, Blur, Oasis and Pulp. The pop being referred to in Britpop is a 1960s-ish pop revival, combined with British lyrical sensibilities. The lyrics probably made Britpop less accessible in the US, although there are lots of Britpop lovers here too.

Perakath said...

Oh, I see. Britpop refers to a type of guitar ROCK? Excuse me. :)

Are you familiar with the NWOBHM? (pronounced nn-wob-hm)

Yohan said...

Ah yes. I googled that, and I am familiar with the full form: New Wave of British Heavy Metal. I watch lots of rockumentaries.

Stephanie said...

YouTube makes my world go round.

riz said...

I am soooo nostalgic for 90s BritPop it's not even funny! :)

Claire said...

OMG, Top Of The Pops, u-tube addition. Childhood nostalgia awaits... Thank you!

Baby Owl. said...

Ahhh 90's music... 90's tv...
it was all so much better back then!
Have loved watching these videos... think I'll have to go find some more!

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