International velvet : how Wales conquered the '90s charts / Neil Collins.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Collins, Neil, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rock music.

Popular music.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (311 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cardiff, England : Calon, [2024]

Summary:

If the story of Wales in the 1990s was a movie plot, it would all seem so far-fetched. Thankfully, it was all true. The 1970s and '80s were a bleak time for much of Wales: the closure of steel works and coal mines led to mass unemployment while the country's culture and language was disregarded by politicians and the music industry alike. Some bands even travelled across the Severn Bridge to make sure their records arrived at the London offices sporting an English postmark. The 1990s changed everything. While Wales was already known for Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Male Voices Choirs, but bands such as Catatonia, Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics and Super Furry Animals exploded into the charts and showed the UK population the breadth of what this small but inherently musical nation could offer. Meanwhile, S4C - the Welsh-language television channel - became increasingly prominent and a new Welsh Assembly was on the horizon... Featuring fresh analysis and new interviews, International Velvet charts the UK in a decade in which 'Cool Cymru' won over the masses and shows how it inspired the still-vibrant Welsh music scene into the 21st century and beyond.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Contents

Content Notes

Foreword by Rhys Mwyn

Preface

A Musical Backwater: The Welsh Scene Pre-1990s

Year Zero: Introducing the Welsh-Language Music Revolution

Building Bridges, Not Walls: Venturing into Bilingualism

The Kinnock Factor: The Manics and Anti-Welshness

'Million Sellers': Exploring the Welsh Indie Scene

The New Seattle: Revisiting Newport's Explosive Underground Scene

Land of My Mothers: Alternative Takes on Welsh-Language Music in the Mid-'90s

Britpop vs Cool Cymru: Two Movements Go Head-to-Head

A Very Good Morning in Wales: Welsh Devolution in 1997

Every Day When I Wake Up, I Thank the Lord I'm Welsh! The Nation's Embracing of Welshness

Leaving the Twentieth Century: Wales at the Dawn of the New Millennium

A New Wave of Confidence: Welsh-Language Music in the Year 2000

Afterword

Acknowledgements

Endnotes

Plate Section

Back Cover.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781915279323

OCLC:

1443938091