HYPE IS BULLSHIT CLIFF JONES

I got a tip off from Laurent at Creation Records. She said, “Look, there’s going to be a gig tonight, this new band that Alan’s signing, they’re playing at Water Rats. Come down to see them. You’ll really like it.” So I went to that gig. And then they played again, like two weeks later at Deptford. They were probably about 10 people in the audience for their set, and I went with Mike. Every single one of those people was a journalist who later went on to be important in Britpop. I remember staying up with Mike, we were so blown away. We then went back into central London, we went to a place called the Troy Club. We stayed up all night drinking and just going, this is our moment. This is it. We finally got a new popstar figurehead, and his name is Liam Gallagher. It was all about Liam. That was the high point. I think the low point for me is difficult because it was a triumph in so many ways but I would say Knebworth was the end and I can tell you the exact moment for me. I remember being out there and wandering in the crowd and seeing a bunch of rugger buggers who were all posh kids. They were all singing along with their pints. I kind of thought, “You know what, this is the fucking end. This is what Britpop is; all the promise of that sort of class agility is now here.” It felt like a sort of swan song. I feel that those of us that were ahead of the curve knew at that point it was over.