When 'music really mattered': play relives the Britpop showdown of '95

It was the great Britpop showdown in the summer of 1995, billed as a contest between cheeky chaps and lairy lads.

- Chris Wiegand

Thirty years on, a new play is to revisit the fierce rivalry between Blur and Oasis as both bands put out a new single in the same week and competed to grab the No 1 spot in the charts.

Some music fans purchased both releases, many couldn't care less, but for a few days it was a decision that defined you: whether to spend £2.99 on Oasis's Roll With It or Blur's Country House?

The Battle is the debut stage play of the novelist and screenwriter John Niven. He said: "Music was so central to the culture that two pop groups could dominate the entire summer, the evening news and the front page of every newspaper in the country. We're going to take you back there."

These days, said Niven, music has "splintered into a billion different TikTok feeds". The official UK singles chart, now based on streams and downloads as well as CDs and vinyl, does not bring the nation together as its Sunday afternoon radio broadcasts once did.