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| Cool Cymru | |
|---|---|
 Manic Street Preachers performing in London. The band were one of the pioneers of the era for Welsh music. | |
| Native name | Cŵl Cymru |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Music of Wales |
| Regional scenes | |
| Music of Wales | |
| Local scenes | |
| Music of Cardiff Music of Newport | |
| Other topics | |
| Welsh Music Prize Welsh Language Music Day | |
Cool Cymru (Welsh:Cŵl Cymru) was aWelsh cultural movement in music and independent film in the 1990s and 2000s, led by the popularity of bands such asCatatonia,Stereophonics andManic Street Preachers.[1]
The term Cool Cymru (Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales) is derived as a Welsh alternative toCool Britannia (itself apun on the British patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!"). Cool Britannia described the revival of British art and culture in the 1990s centred on London (as celebrated in a 1996Newsweek cover headlined "London Rules"), emphasisedBritish culture and used British symbols such asThe Union Jack.[2]
By 1998 many Welsh cultural figures were gaining prominence within the UK, at the same time the use of the term Cool Britannia had become maligned by some cultural commentators as a ubiquitous term for any part of British Culture.[3] As such the term Cool Cymru gained popularity for the cultural figures and phenomena which were specifically Welsh or Welsh in origin. The term continues to be used by Welsh and British commentators long after the term Cool Britannia has fallen out of favour.[4]
Commentators have alluded to Cool Britannia and Cymru as a by-product of the widespread 1970s economic and social malaise seen in the United Kingdom, particularly affecting Wales following the closure of theSouth Wales Coalfield, and theWinter of Discontent.[5] The South Wales Valleys had seen economic deprivation following the downturn, leading to high unemployment and social discontent.[5]
The 1980s however brought initial optimism, with theBig Bang, and this was cemented by the1997 election of theNew Labour class led byTony Blair. The Labour Party won a landslide election and positioned itself near to political devolution for Wales and Scotland,[6] and a PR campaign which involved association with the UK arts scene and social engagement with figures in theBritpop movement such asNoel Gallagher.[7][8]
Author Iain Ellis attributes some of the attitude behind Cool Cymru figures to the perception that Wales had, for much of the 1960s and 1970s, been 'perennial underachievers' of theUnion, stuck with "old-fashioned crooners"[9] likeShirley Bassey andTom Jones while England was represented across the globe byBeatlemania,The Rolling Stones, andThe Who.
Ellis describes how "Scotland and Northern Ireland awoke to the call of punk, post-punk, and indie rock",[9] from international names likePrimal Scream,Average White Band, theBay City Rollers in Scotland; andThe Undertones andVan Morrison inNorthern Ireland.
He further states that Wales had, compared to the rest of the United Kingdom, "a largely barren rock history".[9] This perceived inadequacy, Ellis argues, spurred the rebellious and unconventional direction of pioneers likeCerys Matthews andRichey Edwards.[9]
Wider political developments had taken to the fore in the 1990s, such asS4C taking a widened remit in theBroadcasting Act 1990, commercial sponsorship of theNational Eisteddfod of Wales reaching over £1 million for the first time, the construction of theMillennium Stadium, the redevelopment ofCardiff Bay, the establishment of NewportRiverfront Arts Centre, and the wider political and architectural construction which followed the1997 Welsh devolution referendum. First MinisterRhodri Morgan was also a keen advocate for the Welsh arts.[10]
Wales in the 1990s was enjoying a particular period of international prominence. Its reputation was heightened by the performances of sporting individuals such asJoe Calzaghe,Ryan Giggs, andScott Gibbs,[5] as well as the notorious headlines generated by figures likeHoward Marks.[5]
Actors of prominence includedIoan Gruffudd,[5] who appeared inSolomon & Gaenor (nominated forBest Foreign Language Film at the72nd Academy Awards), as well asRhys Ifans andAnthony Hopkins[5] who both appeared in theChekhov taleAugust, andLlangefni bornHuw Garmon who starred in the Oscar nominated Welsh language filmHedd Wyn.
House of America (about a dysfunctional family in a Welsh mining town) was released in 1997; in that same yearNewport-born directorJulian Richards releasedDarklands (the "first home grown Welsh horror film").[11]
TheKevin Allen-producedblack comedyTwin Town, which holds cult status[12] inSwansea and internationally, showed Wales' second city in a then-controversial light of "excessive profanity, drug-taking and violence as the order of the day",[12] and provoked the outraged response ofLiberal Democrat MPDavid Alton who railed against the film as "sordid and squalid, plunging new depths of depravity."[12]
The Guardian in a 2004 review of Cool Cymru described a road map of the scene as a "proud nation of footballer Ryan Giggs, movie starCatherine Zeta-Jones, clothes designerJulien Macdonald, rappersGoldie Lookin Chain and, to a lesser extent, Rhys Ifans andHuw Edwards."[10]
Terry Morris book and exhibit was titledCool Cymru,[13] launched at theWales Millennium Centre and opened byCharlotte Church.[13] The series later became a three-part television documentary by Llanelli-basedTinopolis.[14]
Iain Ellis describes his interpretation of Welsh music developments of the era as forming two "poles":
Self consciously Welsh Acts
To Ellis, Super Furry Animals,Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, and Catatonia were "ambitious beyond their borders", yet "asserted national identity by integrating Welsh language songs into their repertoire".[9]
Neither eschewing nor celebrating Welsh Acts
In contrast stood Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, and Mclusky, who "saw its identity more through musical genre than geography. Neither eschewing nor overtly celebrating their Welsh roots, these bands implicitly looked beyond their borders, indeed any borders."[9]
The Stereophonics' debut album,Word Gets Around, was released in 1997; the band drew attention when they became the first to sign forRichard Branson'sV2 Records.[5] The album went on to receive acclaim, with its asking of potent questions for 1990s young people in Wales, including the line fromTraffic:
"Is anyone going anywhere?
Everyone’s got to be somewhere."
Tackling the topic of youth unemployment was also a focus of the era:
"I don’t live to work,
I work to live,
I live at the weekend."
Stereophonics - "Last of the Big Time Drinkers"[15]
Writer Griffin Kaye described Stereophonics as "proud, unapologetic Welshmen who serve as the anchormen of the Cool Cymru sound, helping carry the sound from one generation to the next."[16]
Ellis describesGruff Rhys' psychedelia driven art as "the heart and soul of the "Cool Cymru" movement",[9] yet he acknowledges it was the act's resonance with the "London-based Britpop movement and its attendant media" which helped its growth, thanks to their dissonance with the more standardised acts of the era such asOasis. The group famously reached number 11 in the UK charts withMwng in 2001, to much surprise given the presence of a full ten Welsh language songs on the album.[17]
Pooh Sticks lead singer Huw Williams, who helped raise the profiles of60 Ft. Dolls and Catatonia,[18] co-founded the Welsh Music Foundation, a now defunct Government supported organisation which in the Cool Cymru era was praised for raising the profile of Welsh music internationally and at home.[18] The organisation is credited with individual successes such as the growth ofLostprophets andMclusky,[18] as well as bringingBBC Radio 1 on its first visit to Wales for Sound City in Cardiff.[18]
Amid the growth ofWelsh Language Music Day,Horizons Gorwelion,Sŵn Festival,Tafwyl, and the wider proliferation of contemporary independent Welsh musicians, the BBC has asked whether Cool Cymru is back.[19]Huw Stephens addressed the idea in hisBBC Radio 4 programme,Cymru Rising.[20]
Throughout the 1990s hurdlerColin Jackson became one of Great Britain's most successful athletes, but was also notable for waving theWelsh flag after every win for Great Britain. Jackson would later acknowledge that he had become more aware of his identity due toAnti-Welsh sentiment during this period, stating "I felt the discrimination was because I was Welsh more than anything else."[21]
Jackson's success and open pride in being Welsh saw him idolized in Wales, and he became an early icon ofCool Cymru, with Jackson winningBBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year three times and being invited to present the Best British Group Award to fellow Welshmen, The Manic Street Preachers at the1997 Brit Awards.[22]
In his first year,Graham Henry led Wales to a then record ten straight victories. A first ever win for the Welsh againstSouth Africa and a close victory overEngland atWembley.
"Wales’s Five Nations victory against England – the event seeming to herald a return to not only erstwhile rugby glory-days but also the pop-cultural success of 70s Welsh artists, particularly given the phenomenal success of (Tom) Jones’s retro-kitsch album Reload which also featured Cerys Matthews, James Dean Bradfield and the Stereophonics."
A song detailed Wales' recent losses and suggested that the losses would be forgotten with victory over England, and was viewed by some commentators in England and Wales as antagonistic or jingoistic. However, the song also received praise as showing the pride Wales was now displaying in the BBC's "year of Cool Cymru".[24] The build-up to the match also featuredTom Jones andMax Boyce as well as traditional Welsh choirs.
With a much fancied England aiming to complete aGrand Slam they looked by far the better team for much of the game, but only lead Wales by 6 points with 3 minutes left. With Wales' final attacking play,Scott Quinnell passed the ball toScott Gibbs who memorably broke through England's defensive line, ran around one defender, side-stepped another and crossed for one of the most celebrated tries in Welsh rugby history. Man of the matchNeil Jenkins kicked the conversion to win the match by a single point. Gibbs's try has since become one of the most celebrated in Welsh history, being replayed at many events such as that year's Stereophonics concert atMorfa, Swansea.[25]
With rugby becoming a professional sport in 1995 and Wales winning the bid to host the1999 World Cup, theWelsh Rugby Union was able to finance redevelopment of the oldNational Stadium. The project was costed at £121 million and was partially funded by £46 million from theMillennium Commission, as such the new development was named theMillennium Stadium.[26][27]
The project was completed by June 1999 in time to host the opening ceremony of the World Cup and seven matches including theWorld Cup Final. The development also foreshadowed more redevelopment in Cardiff and Cardiff Bay. The development was a major part of Cardiff'surban renewal. The stadium has contributed between £100m-£135m to the city's economy every year since its construction.[28]
In 2021,Matthew Rhys spoke about his belief that Cool Cymru had a positive impact on the acceptance of the Welsh language, adding that he wished to emulate that affect in his own career.[29]
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