And remember all that Lilith Fair business? In short, there were musical movements with their own distinctive style and attitude. Then came the all-devouring grunge movement with its flannel shirts and self-loathing, which in turn was overthrown by Britpop and its retro cool. The 1990s kicked off with the Stone Roses playing a massive outdoor gig at Spike Island in Widnes for 27,000 young people dressed in flares, tie-dye t-shirts and 'Reni hats'. Then came Oasis who sung 'you might as well do the white line' and prompted questions in British parliament about their behaviour. Then it was Nirvana, whose frontman didn't just whinge about being depressed, he actually did something about it. They took drugs, shagged groupies, caused riots, got kicked off planes and raised hell in a manner befitting their position. Perhaps it's just us but we can't help finding it sad that only new mobile phones generate the same level of excitement these days.Īt the start of the 1990s, Guns 'N' Roses were the biggest rock band in the world. and North America surrounding albums by Guns n' Roses, Nirvana and other bands. This was old hat at that point since similar instances had happened in the U.K. The point is that people queued outside record shops (remember them?) all night to buy it and it shifted nearly half a million copies on its first day of release. On 21 August 1997, Oasis released their third album, 'Be Here Now.' It was rubbish but that's not the point. It's hard enough to see any music videos on Much now, let alone cutting edge ones. In the U.K., 'The Word,' for example, is much maligned these days but where would a band like Oasis make their TV debut now? In Canada, there was 'The Wedge' and 'City Limits' on Much Music where videos from Nirvana, Soundgarden and other alternative acts made their debut. Not only were there no talent shows on TV in the 1990s, there were a number outlets for new music which don't exist anymore. Not unless you're Simon Cowell, of course, who, 'inspired' by the runaway success and enormous money-making potential of the show he was originally employed as a judge on, created the 'X Factor' and 'American Idol' and made gazillions of dollars by squeezing all the life and originality out of pop and spawning an entire generation who think Leona Lewis and Clay Aiken are the pinnacle of musical talent. In the summer of 2001, this writer was approached by a TV production company about working on the website for something called 'Pop Idol.' Reasoning that TV talent shows had died a death in the 1980s ('Star Search,' anyone?), and, more worryingly, that it sounded like a cough medicine, he turned it down. You know you're getting older when you think pop music isn't as good as it used to be.Like making an involuntary noise when you sit down or thinking policemen are getting younger, it's an inevitable consequence of the aging process.That said, Ben Chalk isn't convinced it's just a matter of nostalgic opinion

Ben Chalk casts a nostalgic eye back at the 1990s and argues that music was better then…

Sifl and olly guns and roses