Too right,still play the Roses album at least once a week. Them the Mondays, North side, charlatans got me into music as a youth, the late 80s early 90s indie scene was class and a good time to grow up.

Up the Trin

Agree, I loved a lot of the bands that came out of that at the time, great time to be young.
I actually went to a gig in Manchester that had Happy Mondays headlining, along with 808 State, Northside and James, can't quite remember but I think The Farm was on as well, awesome night. That was the night I found out that Northside was one of the more underrated Manchester bands, there set was brilliant and really got me into them after that, pity they didn't do more after that. I remember all the to do about their track '"Shall We Take A Trip" and loads of people got bent out of shape. A bit like they did when the Rave scene came around especially the government lol.

Music for me nowadays I'm even in a Band (Searching for a Drummer if anyone knows one available), Mainly go to see local bands, beit covers or Originals, Sadly we're losing venues in this area, so the old adage of use 'em or lose 'em certainly applies!

Shifty, I'm sure I recall seeing Northside at Clarence a couple of years ago. I was sat quaffing and nattering with them before they went on. Excellent band.

Yeah mate, they're still doing gigs but I think they only have one original member Dermo the front man. Haven't seen them in years though.

My question is... Will there ever be another 'scene' which not only brings about a new style of music, but also influences the whole culture of its time; fashion, lifestyle, leisure, graphic design, drugs, etc? For me, rave and acid house was the last true scene of its kind. You could maybe fight Britpop's corner but it was really just a 1990s re-hash of what had already been; guitar bands, Harrington jackets, Mod haircuts etc.

I think Grime could be categorised as a 'scene' - such that it started underground, spread by word of mouth, produced some genuine superstars, influenced popular culture in allsorts of ways, caused a bit of moral panic, and has now gone mainstream, as such movements always do; my son, on seeing Stormzy duet with Ed Sheeran at the Brits, text me to say, "The day that Grime died..."

I wonder if as you get older, this stuff happens off your radar, and matters much less, so it passes you by; whereas whatever 'scene' happened when you were in your salad days, always feels more real and meaningful and important?

Youth scenes will always occur but each will be ever less relevant or important.

Two reasons imho.

One, today's modern corporations don't fight they embrace. They have brilliantly learned to take any youth culture and refine and repackage it at an astonishing rate. Very few youth movemts are genuine for long but now you have to wonder with some whether they were ever genuine at all!

Secondly rebellion or lack of. Who exactly are most kids rebelling against. When most parents want to be your mate and teachers seem younger than their pupils where is the conflict that creates great music. When many kids are sexually wise and active at 14 where is the teenage angst. Then there is booze, drugs and porn - hard to be idealistic against that backdrop.

My parents differed hugely from me they were almost Victorian and mine were far from the worst. My dad in particular had no u derstanding of the modern world, he was a cap doffer bless him because he was born in 1932.

I try to put up boundaries with my kids and set some kind of example which is better than nowt imho. However the differences in attitude and beliefs between me and my kids is small mainly bits of detail.

Asically my generation could shock my parents, my kids couldn't shock me without betraying there own beliefs.
Thus all you get is very niche and short lived youth movements.

It up to you if you think that's good or bad.

Missing the match this weekend - off to London to see Jim Bob from Carter USM do a solo show at Shepherds Bush empire. Usually a storming live show even if he is on his acoustic guitar these days rather than the full electric show of old.

I wouldn't disagree with most of that - but I guess the relevance and importance bit is based more on distance and perspective; if you're a kid, and you're right in the thick of a 'movement' as an active participant - and it affects and moves you directly - then it is entirely relevant and important. If you're an old fart who's had his or her day, and you're only awareness of a youth movement is watching it from a distance and not really being bothered either way - because you have a sore back and a mortgage to worry about - then it looks irrelevant and trivial. Couple that with the constant cycle of believing that music was better in your day, and it's easy to convince yourself that everything that happens after that, is a pale imitation.

I do fully agree with you though on the way that these things are quickly seized on by modern corporates and monetised; and social media means that something 'underground' can be mainstream in a matter of days if it goes viral; so that phenomenon that we enjoyed, of feeling like you were in on something secret and new, is perhaps not the same for todays kids - no need for bootlegs and white labels any more, when you can just grab everything for free from out of the air at the same time that everyone else does. Doesn't feel quite so special to me - but maybe the cliquey feeling that we liked, has been replaced by being part of something that people all over the world are also liking at the same time?

All that said, there is some phenomenal new music around, and I still enjoy finding stuff based on recommends, word of mouth or (and I never thought I'd say this) streaming services recommending something based on what I'm listening to; I gave in and started using Spotify a year or so ago, and it's pointed me towards some great bands that I've subsequently bought, seen live etc etc.