"Popscene" is a song by English alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band Blur

Blur (band)

Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...

. It was released 30 March 1992 as a single. The low chart placing came as a confidence blow for the band, who were struggling financially at the time. It was intended to have been the first single from Blur's cancelled second album, the remaining songs of which were placed as B-sides

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 on various singles from their actual second album Modern Life Is Rubbish

Modern Life Is Rubbish

Modern Life Is Rubbish is the second album by English alternative rock band Blur, released in May 1993. Although their debut album Leisure had been commercially successful, Blur faced a severe media backlash soon after its release, and fell out of public favour...

, except for "Never Clever", the planned second single release, which was released on the Food

Food Records

Food Records was a record label set up in 1984 by David Balfe, who later took on Andy Ross as his partner. Originally formed as an independent record label with distribution going through Rough Trade Distribution, Food licenced acts to the Polygram offshoot London and Warner's WEA Records, before...

 compilation album "Food 100", along with Popscene in 1997. "Popscene" was later included on the American version and the Japanese re-issue of Modern Life Is Rubbish (as "Pop Scene"). A live "Never Clever" was, though, a B-side to "Chemical World

Chemical World

"Chemical World" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur, featured on their second album Modern Life Is Rubbish . It was released on 28 June 1993 as the second single from that album, equalling their previous release "For Tomorrow" at number 28 in the UK Singles Charts...

".

The song is an attack on the homogeneous nature of the music industry and it represented a change in musical direction for Blur. The song has since become a fan favourite and is still performed live. It has been seen as one of the first Britpop singles to be released. The song had never been included on a UK Blur album, until 2009 when it was released on Blur's compilation album Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur

Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur

Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur is a two-disc compilation album by Blur, released by EMI Records on . Designed as a sampler for casual listeners, and with a greater focus on the band's career highlights rather than their hit singles, it is Blur's second retrospective collection, succeeding...

.

Although the single did not appear on the audio version of 2000's collection Blur: The Best Of

Blur: The Best of

Blur: The Best Of is a greatest hits compilation album by English Britpop band Blur, first released in late 2000 and is the final Blur album by Food Records. It was released on CD, cassette tape, MiniDisc, double 12" vinyl record, DVD and VHS. The CD album includes 17 of Blur's 23 singles from 1990...

, the music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 for the track did appear on the accompanying DVD release.

As a double A-side with "On Your Own

On Your Own

On Your Own may refer to:*On Your Own *On Your Own *On Your Own by Pete Shelley*On Your Own , a song from the film The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock...

", the single was released in 1997 in Australia. The first appearence of this song on an album was the US promo album Blur-ti-go (1992) in live form.

Charts

UK Top 75 (1992)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	32

Track listings

• 7" and Cassette

1. "Popscene"
2. "Mace"

• CD

1. "Popscene"
2. "Mace"
3. "Badgeman Brown"

• 12"

1. "Popscene"
2. "I'm Fine"
3. "Mace"
4. "Garden Central"

Production credits

• "Popscene" produced by Steve Lovell
• "Mace", "Badgeman Brown", and "Garden Central" produced by Blur and John Smith
• "I'm Fine" produced by Blur