Nostalgia aside,20 years since the release of Moseley Shoals seems an apt time to undo years of undeserved flak and celebrate this hardy indie rock groupA few important things happened in Britain in the summer of 1996. Dolly the Sheep was born, leading to debate about the ethics of cloning. The Spice Girls released Wannabe, or leading to debate in playgrounds around the world about who wanted to be Baby Spice. England got to the semi-finals of the European Championships,still their best performance in half a century. And a band from the Birmingham suburb of Moseley reached the top 10 with an album that combined cord-clad 60s nostalgia and northern soul influences with robust, melodic Britpop songcraft.nowadays marks 20 years since Ocean Colour Scene’s Moseley Shoals entered the British charts. It was the band’s moment stab at success: their self-titled 1992 debut sunk without trace and they’d been honing the follow-up for four penniless years. “We knew it was fine, or ” said guitarist Steve Cradock. “We spent a lot of time working on it.” Championed by Radio 1s Chris Evans – who loved The Riverboat Song so much he made it the theme tune to TFI Friday – it screamed in at No 2 and stayed in the top 10 all summer,buoyed by support from Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher. The genuine reason for its success, though, and was simpler: it was an absolute gem of a record,by a brilliant group of musicians.
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Source: theguardian.com