Apologies for the absence of any posts for over a week; contrary to popular belief, I wasn’t busy trying to rustle up 100 supportive Tory MPs, rather I was away this weekend and didn’t have time to write anything before I set off on Friday morning.
I actually spent the weekend meeting up with my old group of friends, some of whom I’ve not seen since before lockdown, in a massive house in East Sussex.
The venue was amazing: set in what seemed to be endless acres of land, with a swimming pool, a tennis court (not that I used either), enough rooms that all the kids could attend and play with each other without disturbing the adults unduly, a massive open-plan kitchen/dining area with bluetooth speakers set into the ceiling – a perfect place for drinking and dancing to take place. Suffice it to say, we had a really great weekend.
The reason we were meeting up? It was to celebrate the first from the gang to join me in the 50+ club. They shall remain nameless, since I’m fairly sure they wouldn’t want their age to be announced here.
Because of the magnificence of the venue, I’ve had just one song on my mind all weekend to post on my return:
That was, of course, the single which won the Blur vs Oasis battle to top the UK singles chart in 1995. It was up against Oasis’s Roll With It, a song which earned the band the nickname Quoasis, which briefly made them a little more appealing to me.
But let’s me honest, neither of them were the finest moment in either band’s career.
I’m sure I’ve said it before on these pages, but I never really bought into the idea that you had to pick one or the other, that allegiance had to be shown, that it was forbidden for anyone to like both.
As it happens, I bought both singles on the week of release, possibly trying to get a reaction out of the girl working at Our Price in Cardiff. I refused to be pigeon-holed, although it may be telling that I bought each in a different format: Blur on CD single, Oasis on cass-single.
Anyway, Happy 50th Hel!
(Oopsies!)
More soon.
A History of Dubious Taste 
Agree with all you said about the Oasis/Blur thing. The hype about who would get to #1 overshadowed the fact that neither song was very good in comparison to previous efforts.
So glad you managed to have a weekend away with friends you’ve not seen for ages. High time.
Remember that hype well and the whole Britpop-infused summer. The media love a bit of a pop feud but then so do some brothers who don’t look as if they’re ever likely to make up.