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OverviewHow Welsh bands and musicians soared up the music charts in the 1990s. 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 were disregarded by politicians and the music industry alike. Some bands even traveled 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, 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, the Welsh-language television channel S4C gained new prominence and a new Welsh Assembly was on the horizon. Featuring fresh analysis and new interviews, International Velvet charts music in the UK during the decade of the Cool Cymru cultural movement, showing how it inspired the still-vibrant Welsh music scene into the twenty-first century and beyond. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Neil CollinsPublisher: University of Wales Press Imprint: Calon ISBN: 9781915279309ISBN 10: 1915279305 Pages: 256 Publication Date: 25 July 2024 Audience: General/trade , General Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Awaiting stock  The supplier is currently out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out for you. Table of ContentsContent 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 EndnotesReviews"""A fascinating book that documents a magical time. This is one for those that were there, wearing the t-shirts, in the gigs, singing along, and an important record of why this period was so exciting for music coming from Wales.""-- ""Huw Stephens, BBC Radio Wales / BBC Radio 6 Music"" ""A sonic A470. Joining the dots in this pulsating cynefin. Meticulously researched and artfully executed. Reminds us where the beat came from. We forget what a dizzying plethora of voices we have in this tiny massive country at our peril. A Cymru Lipstick Traces.""-- ""Patrick Jones, writer"" ""I was sceptical International Velvet would be a light read about the usual suspects riding on the Cool Cymru south Wales coach to London. I was wrong. This is a comprehensive deep dive into Welsh music, the unsung heroes, the history and politics of the time. This really is an excellent book.""-- ""Helen Love"" ""If you grew up in Wales in the '70s, rocked Bogiez nightclub in the '80s, fell apart in the '90s, then got back together in the noughties, then Neil Collins' International Velvet will take you on a wonderful romantic trip through your musical past. A fab read!""-- ""Jay Pepper, Tigertailz"" ""Neil perfectly captures an important time in the history of Welsh music. Written with intelligence, clarity and great insight, it cast me back to those exciting, heady times.""-- ""Andrea Adams, Melys"" ""Neil Collins has nailed it. This is the history of a revolution that went right.""-- ""Huw Williams, The Pooh Sticks / Swansea Sound"" ""International Velvet looks beyond the Cool Cymru clich�s and puts the music, excesses, successes and failures in context.""-- ""Paul Jones, Y Cyrff / Catatonia"" ""To re-engage with the 1990s Welsh music scene via Neil Collins' excellent International Velvet book has been a joy. It was such a formative time of my life and career due to having the privilege of recording with many incredible artists. 'However, it was the friendships, the sense of camaraderie, the late night discussions in Clwb Ifor Bach, or wandering home to Canton after experiencing another great new artist inspired by the Welsh musicians around them that brings back the most inspiring memories of that era.""-- ""Greg Haver, producer and musician""" ""A fascinating book that documents a magical time. This is one for those that were there, wearing the t-shirts, in the gigs, singing along, and an important record of why this period was so exciting for music coming from Wales.""-- ""Huw Stephens, BBC Radio Wales / BBC Radio 6 Music"" ""A sonic A470. Joining the dots in this pulsating cynefin. Meticulously researched and artfully executed. Reminds us where the beat came from. We forget what a dizzying plethora of voices we have in this tiny massive country at our peril. A Cymru Lipstick Traces.""-- ""Patrick Jones, writer"" ""I was sceptical International Velvet would be a light read about the usual suspects riding on the Cool Cymru south Wales coach to London. I was wrong. This is a comprehensive deep dive into Welsh music, the unsung heroes, the history and politics of the time. This really is an excellent book.""-- ""Helen Love"" ""If you grew up in Wales in the '70s, rocked Bogiez nightclub in the '80s, fell apart in the '90s, then got back together in the noughties, then Neil Collins' International Velvet will take you on a wonderful romantic trip through your musical past. A fab read!""-- ""Jay Pepper, Tigertailz"" ""Neil perfectly captures an important time in the history of Welsh music. Written with intelligence, clarity and great insight, it cast me back to those exciting, heady times.""-- ""Andrea Adams, Melys"" ""Neil Collins has nailed it. This is the history of a revolution that went right.""-- ""Huw Williams, The Pooh Sticks / Swansea Sound"" ""International Velvet looks beyond the Cool Cymru clichés and puts the music, excesses, successes and failures in context.""-- ""Paul Jones, Y Cyrff / Catatonia"" ""To re-engage with the 1990s Welsh music scene via Neil Collins' excellent International Velvet book has been a joy. It was such a formative time of my life and career due to having the privilege of recording with many incredible artists. 'However, it was the friendships, the sense of camaraderie, the late night discussions in Clwb Ifor Bach, or wandering home to Canton after experiencing another great new artist inspired by the Welsh musicians around them that brings back the most inspiring memories of that era.""-- ""Greg Haver, producer and musician"" Author InformationNeil Collins is a writer born and bred in Cardiff. A former journalist for WalesOnline, he has also been featured in newspapers in Bristol, Newcastle, and Liverpool as well as websites including Louder Than War, Nation Cymru, This is Anfield, The Liverpool Way, Buzz, Wales Arts Review, Alternative Wales, Chortle, and the British Comedy Guide. He is the author of Make Us Dream and Red Mist. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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