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The 1990s

A brief guide to the politics, music, television, and cinema that defined the decade

If you’re old enough to remember them, this is the website for you. If you are too young to remember them then this is also the website for you; a guide to the politics, music, television, film and fashion that shaped the United Kingdom and the world in the 1990s containing links to websites and documentaries.

(Former US President Bill Clinton, the birth of the internet, the Super Nintendo, these will all bring back memories for you if you remember the 1990s! If not, this is what it was like! Picture courtesy of the New York Times)

                                                   Politics

(Tony Blair, UK Prime Minister 1997 – 2007, standing outside No.10 having won the general election of May 1997, picture courtesy of Talk Radio website)

It was a decade that began with Margaret Thatcher in No.10 Downing Street and ended with Tony Blair, while in the United States by the end of the decade President George HW Bush had been replaced in the White house by Bill Clinton. This reflected passing of the torch from a generation shaped by World War II to that of the baby boomer generation born after it. What happened in between, from Thatcher’s downfall in 1990 through to the subsequent succession of John Major and election of victory of 1992 and the defeat of 1997 are shown all in the links below.

·YouTube links to the general election of 1992 -                   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4YY7KWJAtA&t=2s

           and of 1997 –                                                                                                           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoL_tT046tI

YouTube links to the Gulf War of 1991 -     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zQT5WB_nHE&t=1404s

Documentary about the Clinton years -       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGIpEURVn2c

Documentary series about the Major years –                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e4UZaMgIxE&t=160s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bee71Ersv1o&t=89s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2akS9uLkCk

                                                Music

                 (Oasis at Knebworth 1996 picture courtesy of NME)

It began with the Stone Roses at Spike Island with Stock, Aitken and Waterman dominating the charts; it finished with Steps and B*witched. What happened it between (Grunge, Britpop, Trip-hop, Dance, Girl Power are explained in the links below.

List of 1990s UK No.1 Singles -                                                                     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_Singles_Chart_number_ones_of_the_1990s

List of 1990s UK No. 1 Albums - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_Albums_Chart_number_ones_of_the_1990s

Live Forever; The Rise of Britpop documentary (strong language) – https://vimeo.com/channels/366281/46153236

Spice Girls documentary -                         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWbuFGNYx5U               

Nirvana documentary -                                         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dg96TdaQ94

Oasis documentary Supersonic (strong language, as you can imagine!) http://www.documentarymania.com/player.php?title=Oasis%20Supersonic

                                            Cinema

               (Film posters of the 1990s, picture courtesy of Sporacle)

While it was films such as Titanic and Forest Gump that drew the most at the box office, it has to be remembered it wasn’t a bad decade for British cinema either! Having endured a fairly lame 1980s (in 1989, annual investment in film production was a meagre £104 million; by 1996, it stood at £741 million), hits such as Trainspotting, The Full Monty and The English Patient helped put British cinema on the map again.

List of the best British films from the 1990s -                                        http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2014/the-15-best-british-films-of-the-1990s/

List of the best films from the 1990s -                                                     https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/lists/90-great-films-1990s

List of the highest grossing pictures -                                     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990s_in_film

List of trailers - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTT8GoH4BtdLaWW7hZS77IfFYwkWK-1Wc

                                                                            Television

          (Publicity shot of Friends, picture courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)

In the US it was shows like the Simpsons, The X-Files and Friends that helped to define the era, the later show widely seen as defining the era in the same way that Cheers had done in the previous decade having bowed out in 1993.          

The birth of lad culture and the rise magazines like Loaded was reflected in the popularity of the sitcom Men Behaving Badly but the girls could prove they could also be top of their game with Absolutely Fabulous.

By the end of the decade the panel show was in full swing with shows like NeverMind the Buzzcocks following in the footsteps of Have I Got News for You. In the world of soap opera the BBC launched Eldorado in 1992 but critical attacks and poor ratings led to its cancelation a year later. That decade would see EastEnders and Coronation Street battling for viewers.

Best TV shows of the 1990s -         https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/the-90-best-tv-shows-of-the-1990s/

Documentary about television in the US in the 1990s - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYkutyMvMAc

Essay about American television in the 1990s - https://www.britannica.com/art/television-in-the-United-States/The-1990s-the-loss-of-shared-experience

Eldorado documentary -                                                               https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4yRYQmMsLU

History of the BBC in the 1990s - https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/timelines/1990s

                                         Fashion

                                     (Picture courtesy of CNN)

Fashion in the 1990s was defined by a return to minimalist fashion and the rise of the supermodels, in contrast to the more elaborate and flashy trends of the previous decade.

In the early 1990s, several late 1980s fashions remained very stylish among both sexes. However, the popularity of grunge and alternative rock music helped bring the simple, unkempt grunge look to the mainstream by 1992. By 1994 this had all changed and grunge clothing rapidly declined as fashion became more feminine and form-fitting. Young women in the UK and America wore tailored skirt and trouser suits while men’s fashion was shaped by 1960s mod clothing and longer due to the success of Britpop. From the late 1990s onwards, American teenage girls imitated the look of British girl group All Saints, which consisted of baggy jeans, T-shirts, sweatshirts, tank tops, and trainers.

The anti-conformist approach to fashion led to the popularization of the casual chic look that included T-shirts, jeans, hoodies, and sneakers, a trend which continued into the 2000s. Additionally, fashion trends throughout the decade recycled styles from previous decades, notably the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

21 moments that defined 1990s fashion: -https://www.wmagazine.com/gallery/most-iconic-1990s-fashion-moments/  

1990's Fashion History - The Mood of the Millennium               https://www.fashion-era.com/the_1990s.htm

1990s fashion – A brief history of what we wore   https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/1990s-fashion-history/index.html

THE ULTIMATE FASHION HISTORY 1990s  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOPcTZScYmk

The 20 Most Famous Supermodels of the '90s   https://www.marieclaire.com/fashion/g2173/supermodels-of-the-90s/