Stuart Pearce’s ferocious ‘psycho’ celebration. The Spice Girls dancing on the stairs of a London hotel. Jarvis Cocker rushing the stage during a Michael Jackson performance at the Brits.
Incredibly, these significant moments in British culture all happened in the same year – 1996.
And one man was at the thick of it. Dominic Mohan, former editor of The Sun, was a rising showbiz journalist when Oasis reigned supreme after two epic nights at Knebworth, the Three Lions captured the nation’s hearts at Euro 96, New Labour was on the charge, Girl Power was about to go stratospheric, Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting was released, and a certain Robbie Williams was priming himself to become the biggest pop star in the country.
In his new book 1996: My Backstage Pass to the Wildest Year of Britain’s Wildest Decade, Dominic makes the case of why the year was the greatest of the 90s and how he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with those who made it so memorable.
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Sitting down with Metro, Dominic said: ‘The apex of 1996 itself would have to have been the Knebworth concerts.
‘That was really the peak moment where there was something amazing happening – you could feel it.
‘You had this coming together of football fashion, fashion designers like Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen conquering the world.
‘You had the rise of amazing restaurants like Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White in London, you had art movements with Tracy Emin and Damien Hirst, and obviously incredible music, not only in rock but also pop. August 96 was the rise of the Spice Girls.
‘In the background you have the rise of New Labour and Tony Blair, you had the Brit Awards in February 96 which was a significant, emblematic moment because you had Jarvis Cocker, a respectable young man from Sheffield, who sang about damp bedrooms and fumbled kisses, giving two fingers to Michael Jackson and Americana.’
It was a moment in time without smartphones. Pubs were full and thriving, and jukeboxes were the tool of choice for music tastemakers – not Spotify playlists dictated by algorithms.
Your fix of celeb gossip would be splashed across tabloid newspapers that sold millions daily.
Was 1996 the greatest year of the 90s?
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Zig-a-zig-ya
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No-asis
‘I found there was a cultural phenomenon dropping on our desks every few months’, Dominic said.
‘You had the Brit Awards, Oasis at Maine Road, Euro 96…
‘A lot of musicians and footballers were a lot more approachable then. You would go to a gig and see Stuart Pearce jumping up and down at the front. You could go to a pub in Camden and bump into Blur or Pulp.
‘These people were attainable. They weren’t surrounded by managers and minders. I think, ironically, with social media, people think they’re closer to these people but they’re more distant. They’re much more protected.’
Dominic Mohan’s five important moments of 1996
Oasis’s Knebworth concerts
The most important to me, in terms of being emblematic of the year, was Oasis’s Knebworth concerts. You had footballers there, you had models there, actors, musicians.
There was a great sense of optimism but a lot of money flying around as well. Alan McGee said the bar bill for the VIP area cost him £250,000!
Explosion of Girl Power and Spice Girls
The Spice Girls sold more records than anyone in 1996 and they didn’t launch until June/July. It spread joy because it engaged the younger generation, particularly young girls.
Mel B talks about how they changed the way people dressed but the way a lot of mixed race girls wore their hair. It was OK to have an afro. She said she gets a lot of mixed race and black women coming up to her even now saying you’ve transformed my life because I could be who I was. That’s a positive legacy of the 90s.
England at Euro 96
It was an amazing spectacle but so depressing when Southgate ended up missing the penalty against Germany.
I just remember Three Lions being sung… Robbie Williams was there, Liam Gallagher was there. Baddiel and Skinner were sitting near me. Everyone was consoling themselves.
The Brit Awards
Tony Blair presented a lifetime achievement award to David Bowie. Pete Townshend presented Oasis with one of their awards. It was very much a mutual appreciation society.
If Keir Starmer turned up to the Brit Awards and went on stage to present one, I don’t think the reception will be that warm. Blair very much courted that rock and roll generation.
Oasis at Maine Road
Maine Road was the really big homecoming moment where you felt it was the crowning glory for Manchester. The whole of the city seemed to be out on the streets that weekend.
They were certainly in my hotel bar because somebody found out my room number and my bar bill was £750. They put triple whiskeys on there at 7am! That summed up the madness of the 90s.
Do you agree with Dominic about 1996? What was your best year? Email rory.mckeown@metro.co.uk or mail@ukmetro.co.uk
Today marks the 30th anniversary of Euro 96 kicking off at the old Wembley.
Terry Venables’s men would shake off the controversy of their pre-tournament trip to Hong Kong – where the infamous ‘dentist’s chair’ night out unfolded – to reach the semi-finals only to be heartbreakingly knocked out by Germany on penalties.
Former England boss Gareth Southgate famously missed his spot kick.
‘I remember going out on the Friday night, waking up hungover on the Saturday, and going to see England vs Spain in the quarter final when Stuart Pearce scored the penalty. It was a moment of redemption for him’, Dominic recalls.
‘We went to a party afterwards where I distinctly remember Chris Evans, drunk, dancing with a bloke dressed as a Carlsberg elephant.
‘The next day I got up and went to Finsbury Park to see the reformed Sex Pistols. We were in the VIP area. Johnny Depp and Kate Moss were there, as were Liam Gallagher and Patsy Kensit. Then suddenly Gareth Southgate and Stuart Pearce turn up because Terry Venables had given them the day off.
‘They met the Sex Pistols because Pearce was a massive fan. He brought Southgate along as his plus one. Southgate had never been to a concert before.
‘They were introduced on stage and they got an absolute standing ovation. I just thought “that’s the 90s in a weekend”’.
1996: My Backstage Pass to the Wildest Year of Britain’s Wildest Decade is out now via HarperCollins.