Simon Neil prefers Oasis’ Roll With It to Blur’s Country House.
The Biffy Clyro frontman appeared on The Chris Moyles Show this morning – 25 years on from the infamous Britpop band’s chart battle in 1995, which saw Blur come out on top.
Asked what single he prefers out of the two, the Scottish rocker replied: “Oh I don’t know… I’d probably go with Oasis.”
He explained: “I’ve got such a soft spot for Oasis. They were one of my brother’s favourite bands, so they were part of my life growing up a LOT.
“And I love the boys, they’re such memorable boys”.
The legendary battle of the Britpop bands begun when Oasis was set to release their Roll With It single on 14 August 1995 and Blur moved their release of Country House up in order to go head-to-head with the band.
It was the perfect media story: the rough, working class, no-nonsense Northerners versus the pretentious, university-educated, hipster Southerners.
The result of the chart chase was unveiled on Sunday 20 August, at the end of the Top 40 countdown.
Country House outsold Roll With It by 274,000 to 216,000 copies. Some cynics pointed to the fact that the Blur release had TWO CD singles, one with some live tracks from their Mile End show from June 1995.
Source: Radio X
Images: Blur’s Damon Albarn in 1995, Oasis’ Liam Gallagher in 1995 with Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil inset. Picture: 1. Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images 2. Independent News and Media/Getty Images 3. Radio X