Lack of staying power’ malaise hits Britpop

Leading the charge in calling for a return to nitty-gritty Rock N’Roll are the "old boys of pop" — Elton John, George Michael and U2’s Bono.

And the new generation — from The Spice Girls’ Mel C to Boyzone heartthrob Ronan Keating — agree that enough is enough.

In the Sixties, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones ruled hit parades around the world. In the Eighties, Britain supplied 32 per cent of record sales in the United States. That has now dropped to 0.2 per cent.

Daily Telegraph pop critic Neil McCormick summed up the malaise: "There is a real crisis in the industry with sales in decline and British acts now barely troubling the U S charts."

"Pop is a world of precision choreography and perfect teeth with an undercurrent of adolescent sexuality…And it has come for your children," he warned.

Eight to 16-year-olds, dubbed the Tweenies by record executives, spend almost 50 million pounds a month on music in Britain. They are constantly courted in teen magazines; new groups are groomed on tours of schools.

The feisty "Girl Power" quartet The Spice Girls have gone head to head with the fresh-faced boyband Westlife in a battle to land the coveted Number One slot in the album charts. Hype reigned Supreme — in the playgrounds of Britain.

But few manufactured groups have shown any staying power.

George Michael complained that everyone over the age of six in Britain is bored to death with the record industry’s clumsy, cynical attempts to make money.

Pop’s elder statesman Elton John agreed: "British records are not making it because many are cheesy and second-rate."

Bono, proclaiming that pop was dead, put it even more strongly: "People are sick to the teeth of processed and hyped pop bands. It’s crap. They want something real again."

Hits rarely last beyond a week at Number One in the showcase singles chart and Ronan Keating, who fronted Boyzone so successfully, agrees the hype is overdone.

But Keating, now carving out a solo career, has shown what an astute follower of fickle pop fashions he is — the Irish star is co-manager of Westlife.

The Spice Girls have sold more than 30 million albums around the world but even Mel C, one of their leading lights, is worried about the way the business is going.

"I fear for young bands, I really do," she said. "People saw everything we achieved with the Spice Girls and realised you could sell a lot of records that way. But I think record companies and management have perhaps taken it to extremes."