_________________________________________________________________________Swansea University E-Theses To show from where I came': Cool Cymru, pop and national identity in Wales during the 1990s. Edwards, Rebecca Jayne How to cite: _________________________________________________________________________ Edwards, Rebecca Jayne (2008) To show from where I came': Cool Cymru, pop and national identity in Wales during the 1990s.. thesis, Swansea University. http://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42472 Use policy: _________________________________________________________________________ This item is brought to you by Swansea University. Any person downloading material is agreeing to abide by the terms of the repository licence: copies of full text items may be used or reproduced in any format or medium, without prior permission for personal research or study, educational or non-commercial purposes only. The copyright for any work remains with the original author unless otherwise specified. The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holder. Permission for multiple reproductions should be obtained from the original author. Authors are personally responsible for adhering to copyright and publisher restrictions when uploading content to the repository. Please link to the metadata record in the Swansea University repository, Cronfa (link given in the citation reference above.) http://www.swansea.ac.uk/library/researchsupport/ris-support/ 4 TO SHOW FROM WHERE I CAME ’ Cool Cymru, pop and national identity in Wales during the 1990s A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Rebecca Jayne Edwards MA Swansea University March 2008 ProQuest Number: 10798180 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10798180 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 I Summary of Content his thesis examines the relationship between pop music and national identity in Wales in the 1990s; of how markers of national identity were evident in the music, performance, presentation and discourse of Welsh pop.T It argues that popular culture, and especially pop music, are absent from much scholarly writing on national identity, and that this should be redressed to enable understanding of how national identity manifests outside of state and sporting ■ occasions. It explores the origin of Cool Cymru—a label that was used as shorthand i’ | for descriptions of change in Wales, including political, economic and cultural | elements—in the press. It further examines how pop was used as a signifier of change ; by a number of players including politicians, commentators, marketing boards, | f I television producers, playwrights and film makers. It discusses the complex reaction I that the label elicited, particularly from the bands that were frequently associated with I | it. tI ! The evidence collected has come from a wide range of sources, including ; press archives, film, radio and television programmes, oral testimony and a close examination of Welsh pop itself and the discourse that surrounded it. 2 II Statements This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed . STATEMENT 1 This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Where correction services have been used, the extent and nature of the correction is clearly marked in a footnote. Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signed Date ... 2jDQ STATEMENT 2 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter- library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed.. 3 Table of contents III Table of contents I Summary of Content ........................................................................................................ 2 II Statements ..........................................................................................................................3 HI Table of contents ......................................................................................................... 4 IV Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... 6 V Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 7 Theories of National Identity ............................................................................................ 8 Modem Wales and placing Cool Cymru in context ..................................................... 17 Using music as a source ...................................................................................................21 Methodologies and Sources ............................................................................................ 23 1 Pop Music and Identity ................................................................................................. 28 1.1 Place, identity, nation and pop .............................................................................28 1.2 Music, Ethnicity and Black Nationalism ............................................................ 29 1.3 Calypso and the place of Empire ..........................................................................39 1.4 Sport and music ......................................................................................................43 1.5 Geography & Music ............................................................................................... 50 1.6 Music, Place and Journalism ................................................................................53 1.7 British and Englishness in pop .............................................................................57 1.8 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................66 2 Pop Music as Metaphor ................................................................................................68 2.1 Cool Ekitannia, Britpop and New Labour .......................................................... 68 2.2 Cool Cymru.............................................................................................................75 2.3 Plays and Films ......................................................................................................88 2.4 Advertising and Television .................................................................................. 94 2.5 Sport .......................................................................................................................101 2.6 Conclusion .............................................................................................................103 3 Creating or reporting? The story of Cool Cymru ....................................................105 3.1 The Themes.......................................................................................................... 108 3.2 The Forming of a ‘Scene’ and of ‘Cool Cymru’ ............................................. I l l 3.3 Wales: An Unlikely Origin for Pop ................................................................... 129 3.4 Imagining Wales and Imagining of Wales: Local bands, for local people. 139 3.5 Cool Cymru—a Good News Story .................................................................... 163 3.6 The Backlash or Cooling Down Cymru ............................................................179 3.7 Conclusion .............................................................................................................185 4 Experiencing Cool Cymru - remembering the hype .................................................187 4.1 BCC: Before Cool Cymru .................................................................................. 189 4.2 Writing Cool Cymru. ........................................................................................... 197 4.3 Questioning the origin and the legacy of Cool Cymru. ..................................201 4.4 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 204 5 Cool Cymru Bands and Welsh Identity ....................................................................206 5.1 Manic Street Preachers....................................................................................... 211 5.2 Catatonia ............................................................................................................... 219 5.3 Stereophonies .......................................................................................................223 5.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 227 6 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................228