Lad and Ladette Culture
Stuart Maconie on the history of modern Britain in 50 records. How the new men's magazines of the early '90s gave men an excuse to rediscover their inner Neanderthal.
The term: 'new lad' was first coined by journalist Sean O'Hagen in an article for Arena magazine, in 1993. But there was nothing essentially 'new' about this lad. In fact he seemed a throwback to the late '60s/early '70s - a simpler time when men were interested in beer, football, fast cars and dolly birds. This was explained away as a reaction to the sensitive 'new man'; a confused reaction to feminism or, more patronisingly, as a middle-class aspiration towards some sort of mythical working-class values. But, of course, all of this could be also argued to be absolute nonsense, and it was just a lucrative marketing ploy driven by cynical magazine editors at the likes of GQ and Loaded. They recognised that many young men will always be interested in the same things, even if it wasn't politically correct to admit this, hence Loaded's motto, 'For men who should know better'.
James Brown, one of the driving forces behind Loaded, had said ultimately he'd wanted to capture his old employer the NME's readership, and in the process kill the old music press. At the height of its success, Loaded would sell nearly half a million copies a month, celebrating male rogues (say Liam Gallagher, Ollie Reed or George Best) and scantily clad women. But music also played a big part, exemplified by the likes of sharp-dressed geezer Paul Weller or boozing, brawling Manc loudmouths, Oasis. And what better anthem could lads have than Cigarettes And Alcohol?
Last on
Clips
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Forget Oasis and Blur - I preferred Pulp!
Duration: 00:43
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Blur vs Oasis
Duration: 00:32
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Lads wearing their jackets indoors!
Duration: 00:18
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Laddism was an extension of Britpop
Duration: 00:26
Music Played
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Oasis
Cigarettes & Alcohol
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Symarip
Skinhead Moonstomp
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Morrissey
Suedehead
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Sham 69
Hurry Up Harry
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Wham!
Bad Boys
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Primal Scream
Loaded
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Sleeper
Inbetweener
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Oasis
Cigarettes & Alcohol
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Blur
To The End
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Oasis
Champagne Supernova
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The Mike Flowers Pops
Wonderwall
Share your comments and stories
Your contributions will play a key part in this episode, take a look at the questions below and :
- Did you buy Loaded magazine when it first came out?
- Looking back, was βladdismβ exciting or embarrassing?
- Is there anything wrong in men liking cars, booze, women and song?
- Did our culture take an ugly turn around the time of βladdismβ?
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Broadcasts
- Wed 19 Jun 2013 22:00ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2
- Wed 14 Sep 2016 23:00ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2
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