I’ve just finished reading The Last Party by John Harris, which was a great read and a good summing up of everything that was right and wrong about Britpop and Britain in the 90s and beyond. See also Shifty by Adam Curtis which I just watched on the iPlayer.
Of course it mentions The Good Mixer in Camden, Graham Coxon and Food Records local which used to feature regularly in the NME gossip column.
The funny thing is I used to drink there regularly in 1988/1989 when it was an old man pub for Irish people and also a magnet for the Cork folk I used to hang out with. Mick Lynch from Stump drank there but I don’t think any of my Cork friends knew him personally. They did Sunday dinners and served Beamish and I watched the first Frank Bruno / Mike Tyson fight there even though I don’t like boxing.
Anyway, here’s John Harris’ description of what it was like just a few years later…
I don’t remember seeing Alan Bennett, Morrissey, Beryl Bainbridge or anyone from Madness.