COOL BRITANNIA WHERE ARE YA?

THOUGHT THIS WAS PRETTY INTERESTING!!!

Britannia then and now

1996-7

Man in charge John Major was ousted by Tony Blair in May 1997.

Motto Things can only get better.

Art Young British Artists (YBAs): Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and Sam Taylor-Wood. Saatchi and Jopling.

Music Britpop - Blur, Oasis, Pulp. Spice Girls.

Restaurants River Cafe, Terence Conran's Gastrodome.

Nightlife Superstar DJs and club culture, the Ministry of Sound, Groucho Club, Soho House.

People's princess Diana.

Drugs Ecstasy and weed; beginning of the slide in price of cocaine.

Exchange rates £1 = $1.69

Fashion McQueen and Galliano.

Regeneration hotspots London Docklands, Shoreditch, Edinburgh's Leith.

Public Enemy Estate agents.

2009

Man in charge Gordon Brown

Motto Keep calm and carry on.

Art MBAs (middle-aged British artists), Charles Avery, Darren Almond, Tomma Abts

Music Solo girls - Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, Little Boots and Adele. Supergroup revivals, boutique commercial festivals (eg Bestival, Latitude), The X Factor

Restaurants Moro, Bistrotheque, Les Trois Garçons, The Fat Duck.

Nightlife Bungalow 8, burlesque nights, Cordy House, Shoreditch House.

People's princess Jade Goody.

Drugs Ketamine and MDMA; cocaine, heroin and crack widely, cheaply available; politicians, doctors and journalists talk of the dangers to mental health of super-strength marijuana (skunk).

Exchange rates £1 = $1.43/€1.08

Fashion Celebrity-endorsed high street collections.

Hotspots Manchester, Newcastle and Gateshead, Hackney.

Public Enemy Bankers.