Popscene

"Popscene" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur. It was released 30 March 1992 as a single. The low chart placing came as a confidence blow for the band, who were struggling financially at the time. It was intended to have been the first single from Blur's cancelled second album, the remaining songs of which were placed as B-sides on various singles from their actual second album Modern Life Is Rubbish, except for "Never Clever", the planned second single release, which was released on the Food compilation album "Food 100", along with Popscene in 1997. "Popscene" was later included on the American version and the Japanese re-issue of Modern Life Is Rubbish (as "Pop Scene"). A live "Never Clever" was, though, a B-side to "Chemical World".

The song is an attack on the homogeneous nature of the music industry and it represented a change in musical direction for Blur. The song has since become a fan favourite and is still performed live. It has been seen as one of the first Britpop singles to be released. The song had never been included on a UK Blur album, until 2009 when it was released on Blur's compilation album Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur.

Although the single did not appear on the audio version of 2000's collection Blur: The Best Of, the music video for the track did appear on the accompanying DVD release.

As a double A-side with "On Your Own", the single was released in 1997 in Australia. The first appearence of this song on an album was the US promo album Blur-ti-go (1992) in live form.

Charts

Track listings

• 7" and Cassette

1. "Popscene"
2. "Mace"

• CD

1. "Popscene"
2. "Mace"
3. "Badgeman Brown"

• 12"

1. "Popscene"
2. "I'm Fine"
3. "Mace"
4. "Garden Central"

Production credits

• "Popscene" produced by Steve Lovell
• "Mace", "Badgeman Brown", and "Garden Central" produced by Blur and John Smith
• "I'm Fine" produced by Blur