Whilst enjoying a late night brandy or two with my friend The TV Philes recently, we reminisced about the indie rock / Britpop era and specifically about one compilation album ‘Shine 5′. Shine was a mid-late 90′s indie compilation series. There were ten Shine albums, but the 1996 released 5th installment was the one I played over and over and over.

So what happened to the 41 bands featured on the album? Let’s take a look in two parts (one for each CD).

Ash
Ash were ‘the band’. In 1996 to me they were the greatest on the planet. I subscribed to the fanzine, bought all the singles (and limited edition Japanese imports), had the 6 foot giant poster, saw them live countless times and covered their songs in my band. ‘Goldfinger‘ and ‘Oh Yeah‘ both featured on Shine 5 and were also on the set list for ‘Inertia’ the band that took South Leeds by storm in 1998. One of our packed gigs is pictured below. I am the one playing guitar on the right with just awful, awful hair. Goldfinger and Oh Yeah bring back great memories, and 1977 is surely one of the Britpop era’s standout albums. Since then Ash have done reasonably well over the years but haven’t released a new album since 2007.

Shed 7
As well as being the defining quiz show of Henry Kelly’s career, Going For Gold was one of the better tracks by York indie rockers Shed 7. They produced some solid work with other highlights including Chasing Rainbows and Devil In Your Shoes. The band split after the boom of the 90′s, but have since reformed and are touring again. Drummer Alan Leach is a DJ on the wedding and office Christmas party circuit in York (we tried to book him for our office party).

Dodgy
More famous for Staying Out for the Summer, If You’re Thinking of Me, and Good Enough, it was Dodgy’s In A Room that featured on Shine 5. It’s a song that now seems very dated. These days listening to an untuned radio is preferable to Dodgy. The band define themselves as ‘power pop’ and the genre must be going strong because the band still seem to be. They continue to headline smaller festivals and this year released their first new album in 11 years.

Longpigs
One of the ‘heavier’ tracks from the album, She Said still sounds like a great song. But it is hard to remember Longpigs being a great band. None of their other output springs to mind apart from their other standout single Lost Myself. After being reliably informed by friends that their 1996 album ‘The Sun Is Often Out’ is a highlight of the era, perhaps it’s time for a proper re-listen. Longpigs disbanded after the failure of their second album in 1999. But Richard Hawley went on to be very successful with Pulp and his solo career.

The Cranberries
Despite creating some great songs over the years such as Zombie, it was the frankly horrible Salvation that featured on Shine 5. It just isn’t a nice collection of sounds. The Cranberries were never really a Britpop band, and despite a 4 year hiatus have had continued success over the years.

Kula Shaker
At times maligned for being ‘rich kids’ when being working class was fashionable, Kula Shaker were one of my favourite bands of the indie era. Their psychedelic tendencies, energy and superb guitar riffs made them stand out from the 90′s crowd. Grateful When You’re Dead is a typical example of their work. They never matched the huge success of 1996′s K and this combined with bizarre links to Nazism led to the band’s demise. A shame.

Paul Weller
Out Of The Sinking was Weller’s track on Shine 5. He is so boring I can’t be arsed to write anything else about him.

Ocean Colour Scene
God I hated this band. Having just listened to The Day We Caught The Train for the first time in years it is still ball achingly shit. I couldn’t give a solitary fuck what OCS are up to now. Sorry if you do. Just Google them.

Skunk Anansie
An interesting band who are unique for describing themselves as “clit-rock”. It’s somewhat surprising that their grunge tinged rock featured in the Shine series. I hadn’t listened to Charity for years, but it’s a good track with Chili Pepperesque elements. The band is still plugging away with new music and touring. The clit-rock scene is obviously alive and well.

Cast
Another band that used to annoy me. But to be fair, whilst Shine 5′s History is not their best work they did one or two OK tracks such as Walk Away and Alright. They were also supposedly incredible live, which I can’t confirm or deny. They tried to outlive Britpop by ‘adding beats and samples’ to their work, but it didn’t do the trick and they split in 2000. They have recently reformed though.

Blur
Along with Radiohead one of the British bands that I really regret not having yet seen live. Blur also provided the 1990′s most underrated band ‘Inertia’ with some of their live material. Stereotypes is one of my least favourite Blur songs, but they are without doubt one of the UK’s best bands of the last 20 years. No Distance Left to Run is perhaps the most beautiful British song of the 90s.

The Divine Comedy
How can you not love this band? They are intelligent, funny and entirely unique. Something For The Weekend is foot tappingly uplifting and it even makes you laugh. The cheeky opening 10 seconds of the track are strangely hilarious. Lead singer/songwriter Neil Hannon is the only constant member of the band, but they are still touring and producing new music. Their last album, 2010′s Bang Goes the Knighthood reached an impressive number 20 in the UK charts. And Neil Hannon recently won Celebrity Mastermind.

Space
The Female Of The Species is a fun and quirky Britpop track clearly inspired by the 60s sound. But it’s now quite dated. Space’s 1996 album Spiders went platinum in the UK and then followed a gradual decline as Britpop faded. They split in 2005. Their fate is possibly the most typical of a Britpop band after the 90s.

Super Furry Animals
A great band who have had a long and varied career. Again, never really an indie band per se they have a sound all of their own. Something For The Weekend is an OK track, but they would go on to make the absolutely superb album Rings Around The World in 2001. The Super Furrys have released 9 albums in total and are still going strong. Their last album, 2009′s Dark Days/Light Years is a beauty.

Supergrass
What a good band they were. I saw them live 3 or 4 times in the 90s and they were always immense. Going Out is a typically catchy Britpop track, but their best work for me was some of the other tracks on the same album such as Richard III and Late In The Day. Their sound was always interesting and evolving but they split in 2010 sadly. Interestingly, drummer Danny Goffey had appeared as the crazy train guy in the 1990 supernatural romance flick Ghost (pic right).

Marion
Remember Marion? Remember their song Sleep? No? Me neither. They split post Britpop but have reformed recently. Yay.

Sleeper
Sleeper were indie. They reeked of it. The It Girl was an album that everyone cool seemed to have in 1996. Their songs are great catchy indie pop and Inbetweener is as good as any of them. The band split in 1998 following the demise of Britpop. Singer Louise Wener went on to have a successful career as a novelist.

Having recently been involved in a debate to rank the attractiveness of the Britpop super chicks – Louise from Sleeper or Sonja from Echobelly  – I’m afraid to say that Louise, you lost.

Booth & The Bad Angel
The song I Believe sounds like James. A lot. Ah, that’s because it was Tim Booth’s side project. It also featured Bernard Butler on guitar. It’s a pretty good tune. Not much more happened with Booth & The Bad Angel as the members went back to their respective bands after this release.

Blameless
I simply have no memory of the band ‘Blameless’. Possibly because Breathe (A Little Deeper) is such a generic, forgetful song. This single was the struggling band’s last hurrah and they separated shortly after.

Gin Blossoms
A rare appearance for an American band on Shine 5, with Follow You Down. This is a track I hadn’t heard for so long that listening to it again brought back good memories. But it’s not actually verygood. It’s formulaic 90s background noise. The band split in 1997, but reformed 10 years later and are now still active.

The Cardigans
As a 16 year old my main reason for liking The Cardigans was their insanely beautiful Swedish lead singer Nina Persson. Rise And Shine is a horribly dreary song, but they went on to great things courtesy of Lovefool, Erase/Rewind and My Favourite Game. They have been on hiatus since 2007 but a reunion is possibly happening soon.

Wannadies
Another Swedish band finished off CD1. I can’t name any Wannadies songs other than You And Me Song, but it is a beauty. It still sounds as exciting and emotional today as it did in 1996. A friend of mine who worked at a bar in London during the late 90s got chatting to the band one night and it led to a 3 day drugs bender in North London. It didn’t do much for their careers though. They lost their record deal and despite soldiering on for a while the band eventually called it a day in 2009

Shine 5 CD1 track listing

1. Ash : Goldfinger
2. Shed Seven : Going For Gold
3. Dodgy : In A Room
4. Longpigs : She Said
5. Cranberries : Salvation
6. Kula Shaker : Grateful When You’re Dead
7. Paul Weller : Out Of The Sinking
8. Ocean Colour Scene : The Day We Caught The Train
9. Skunk Anansie : Charity
10. Cast : History
11. Blur : Stereotypes
12. The Divine Comedy : Something For The Weekend
13. Space : Female Of The Species
14. Super Furry Animals : Something 4 The Weekend
15. Supergrass : Going Out
16. Marion : Sleep
17. Sleeper : Inbetweener
18. Booth & The Bad Angel : I Believe
19. Blameless : Breathe (A Little Deeper)
20. Gin Blossoms : Follow You Down
21. Cardigans : Rise And Shine
22. Wannadies : You And Me Song

Continued in part 2 looking at the bands on CD2….