{"product_id":"9780007134731","title":"The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the demise of English rock","description":"\u003cp\u003e'The loveliest – and certainly the most human – book about pop music I've ever read … A delightful and humane soap opera, a real page-turner, full of rounded and entirely recognisable characters.'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJon Ronson, Daily Telegraph\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eTHE DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF BRITPOP – BLUR, OASIS, ELASTICA, SUEDE \u0026amp; TONY BLAIR\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeginning in 1994 and closing in the first months of 1998, the UK passed through a cultural moment as distinct and as celebrated as any since the war. Founded on rock music, celebrity, boom-time economics and fleeting political optimism – this was 'Cool Britannia'. Records sold in their millions, a new celebrity elite emerged and Tony Blair's Labour Party found itself, at long last, returned to government.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on interviews from all the major bands – including Oasis, Blur, Elastica and Suede – from music journalists, record executives and those close to government, The Last Party charts the rise and fall of the Britpop movement. John Harris was there; and in this gripping new book he argues that the high point of British music's cultural impact also signalled its effective demise – If rock stars were now friends of the government, then how could they continue to matter?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBritpop in numbers:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThere were an astonishing 2.6 million ticket applications for the Oasis gig at Knebworth in 1996. 1 in 24 of the British public wanted to see them play. In the end the band played to 250,000 fans across two nights with a guest list that ran to 7,000.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e’Definitely, Maybe’, Oasis's debut album, went straight to No 1, selling 100,000 copies in 4 days and outselling the Three Tenors in second place by a factor of 50%\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOn its first day in the shops Oasis's second album, ‘What's The Story, Morning Glory’, was selling at a rate of 2 copies a minute through HMV's London stores.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBy 1997 Creation Records (which had been founded 12 years earlier with a bank loan of £1,000 by an ex-British Rail Clerk Alan McGee) announced a turnover of £36million thanks almost entirely to one band: Oasis.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"John Harris","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46895236120725,"sku":"9780007134731","price":32.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9780007134731_fda8a5ec-0061-49e1-8cfd-f2348bcdd5fd.jpg?v=1776888475","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9780007134731","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}