Ocean Colour Scene: Always On The Outside [“The Riverboat Song”] | New British Canon
Ocean Colour Scene went through a lot. In their first sprint they morphed from press darlings to labelless failures, only to reemerge in the late stages of Britpop to become commercial heavyweights. They were a band that luxuriated in Britain’s rock past, the warm fuzz and ragged pop harmonies of The Rolling Stones, Small Faces, and early Fleetwood Mac. They took those retro pieces and conjured something entirely fresh for the Cool Britannia generation. And yet the press were keen to clobber them with a death sentence to their credibility: the band who were Dadrock before their time. This is New British Canon and this is the Story of “The Riverboat Song”.
#indiemusic #britpop #musicdocumentary
Fact-checking by Chad Van Wagner.
00:00 Introduction
00:43 The Faulting Start of Ocean Colour Scene
08:21 Out In The Wilderness
11:54 Recording Moseley Shoals
19:15 Dadrock & The Legacy of Ocean Colour Scene
Soundtrack
Luar – Citrine (https://soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
Jesse Gallagher – The Golden Present
Luar – Anchor (https://soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
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Birmingham Rock and Metal Tour: voicemap.me/brumrocktour
Moseley Shoals Deluxe Liner Notes by Daniel Rachel, 2010, Island Records
“Ocean Colour Scene: Fowler’s Mod English Usage” Simon Reynolds, The Observer, Dec 1990
“New Midland Talent: Ocean Colour Scene” Max Bell, Vox Magazine, Feb 1991
“Ocean Colour Scene: Surreal To Reel” Ted Mico, Melody Maker, Mar 1991
“The Dali Express” Paul Moody, NME, Jun 1996
“Noel’s House Band’s Party” Ted Kessler, Andy Richardson & John Mulvey, NME, Jun 1996
“MCA’s Ocean Colour Scene Reveal Its Pop Muscle On ‘Shoals’” Paul Sexton, Billboard, Jul 1996
“The Secret History of Ocean Colour Scene” John Reed, Record Collector, Jul 1996
“Scene 4, Take 2” Tom Doyle, Q Magazine, Dec 1996
“No Business Like Shoals Business” Stuart Bailie, NME, Jun 1997
“Ocean Colour Scene: The Future’s Bright” Stuart Bailie, Vox Magazine, Feb 1998
“At Least You Can Hear The Words… Not Like The Prodigy” Jim Wirth, NME, Mar 1998
“The Comeback Kid” Brendan Wallace, Bassist, May 1998
“Scene nine: the band plays on” Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, Jul 2003
“You can stop whining now” Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, Jan 2004
“Ocean Colour Scene: the band whose chief crime was being too normal” Peter Beech, The Guardian, Apr 2016
“Ocean Colour Scene’s Moseley Shoals 25 Years On, By Pete Paphides” Pete Paphides, The Quietus, Nov 2016
“Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?! – Ocean Colour Scene” Gary Ryan, NME, Mar 2022
“‘Liam Gallagher kissed me on the lips’: Ocean Colour Scene on making The Riverboat Song and 90s excess” Henry Yates, The Guardian, Feb 2025
“Interview: Ocean Colour Scene’s Simon Fowler” Aaron Slater, Songwriting Magazine, Mar 2025
@TrashTheory
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Every now and then I get people asking for a playlist of every song mentioned in my videos: Well here's a Apple Music link for this one:
https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/the-riverboat-song-video-playlist/pl.u-8aAVzW9HvEZaMNe
and the YouTube Music one:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLooaZ33lSaleRjBhIQGj8ZD76Whyf0c5x&si=hNc79813eAFry3-G
@gwaptiva
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Along with JaggedLittle Pill, Mosely Shoals headlined the soundtrack of my immigration to the UK; it was everywhere, in every pub's jukebox on every radio station… nostalgia as it is supposed to be.
@thollstitched
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
that voice map thing of Birmingham actually sounds pretty good. If I ever get over to that part of the world I'll check it out. also, Good video as usual.
@geroffmilan3328
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Their music will be listened to for at least decades from now (likely more).
Who's still reading the NME, or the taste-free drama-miners who wrote for it, except to laugh at them? 😂
@TheJamesRedwood
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Change TACK 1:15 there's always something in your VO to distract me man. Sorry, maybe I am the only one. I definitely could not do a walking tour with you talking me through, unless you start using a proof reader.
@Dovelinkhorn
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
I’m 56 and have never heard of this band. This video convinced me that was for the best. These guys suck balls.
@pyenapple
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
To be fair, even the Stone Roses went dadrock with John Squire’s stupid riffs slathering Second Coming
@slowpunkforslowpunks2050
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Hehehe, my favorite Birmingham band is Sabbath. After that, probably Traffic.
I was of the age to be hearing Ocean Colour Scene in their heyday, but was way into the noise/harsh psychedelic scene going on in Texas around that time. See: Trance Syndicate Records. So, due to my being fixated elsewhere, they didn't make a dent in my world at the time. Thanks for the education, I feel better off!
Oh, and that paragraph makes me think: Wow, I bet they didn't make much of a stir in the UK, but I'd love to watch the Trash Theory take on the Butthole Surfers. Even crazier, I'd love to hear your take on "Godspeed You! Black Emperor".
@HunterTinsley
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
My favorite Birmingham band is "The Mortals", but that's Birmingham, Alabama…
@leehaseley2164
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
UB40, regardless of all the crap they put out later in life, are the best ever.
@jimcogan8542
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Great video as always.
Loved Mosley Shoals when it first released. However…
Hated the B-sides album and the incessant blowing of smoke up Paul Weller's backside.
And I know the musical press 'build bands up, only to knock them down later when tastes change,' but while OCS were, in my opinion, recycling their own sound constantly, whilst pretending to be 'mods' – the music press were hailing them as the best band of their generation. Music tastes did change. After 4 albums, I found OCS to be incredibly repetitive and incredibly dull – reconstituted and tired music, and live, completely devoid of presence or charisma. And when the press and a large subset of their audience turned their backs on them, then they cried foul, as if they should always be entitled to that adulation that they briefly recieved. That press release documented in the video sums up everything I dislike about their attitude.
In short, they were a breath of fresh air for a brief time. Their music of that period summed up that time, and still stands today. They succeeded, against adversity. Everything they did after – bored me to tears.
@Eric_Hunt194
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Really enjoyed this video, OCS were the first band I went to see live on my own, at Sheffield Arena on the Marchin' Already tour as a 15-year-old. I fell out with them a bit in later years as my head was turned by Sonic Youth and Pavement, but now as a 40-something I've rediscovered their "golden era" of the 2nd & 3rd LPs. Now we're all dads, so the "dadrock" tag finally fits (though my own dad always loved The Riverboat Song, and me and him bonded over it back in the day). OCS were never "cool" as such, but for me that was part of the appeal anyway. Particularly when I was in my teens, being told that something was cool by the NME was just about the least cool thing imaginable.
Future "New British Canon" suggestion: Carter USM and/or Sultans of Ping FC.
Edit- even more urgent NBC suggestion: Half Man Half Biscuit and their weird 40-year journey from novelty one-hit-wonder, via indie-snob's best-kept-secret, to certified National Treasure.
@rorschach1
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
I was just listening to them this month! What timing!!!!!
@artisfalkner3998
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Fav Birmingham band? Love Sabbath, but it's actually Duran by a nose.
@Skorpychan
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
I remember hearing their stuff on the radio. It was *okay*, but didn't grab me or anything.
Britpop sort of passed me by as a teenager, because it wasn't all that good. I wanted something heavier, harder, and that actually dared to take itself seriously.
Nu-metal wasn't it either, but it at least allowed itself to feel something and served as a gateway drug into something good.
@slavetwe
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
How unpleasant a person must you be for a lawyer to work fuckin' contract law pro-bono !
@Mike-bd3yp
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
My first ever gig was OCS at the Ipswich Regent on the Moseley Shoals tour. The intro music was Green Onions. Also the first time I’d heard that song.
@woganjones2012
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
The mighty Welsh band Funnelweb covered two OCS songs in the late 90s…great times…
@neocloudmarts9613
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Good video
@LegPuppy
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
How about one on the greatest band to ever come out of England? The Fall? Ok, one of the greatest
@bsmnt_dwllr
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
oh boy, time for another exciting episode of "Is this a real band or are the Brits fucking with us again?"
@thevoid99
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
i hate that term "dad rock". it's so derogatory. that's just insulting to the good music your parents and grandparents listened to. my dad had some good taste in rock and i grew up on that stuff. there were stuff that i liked that he didn't like but that was ok. he never could get into NIN or post-punk but he did like pearl jam. i have a 6-year old nephew and 4-year old niece (who will turn 5 next month) and they like a few stuff that i listen to. i hate it when people say "oh, that's the stuff your parents and grandparents listen to". they do not understand that their kids will say that to them as well. yet, not everything our parents/grandparents listened to was any good like robert goulet or that no-talent-ass-clown michael bolton. BLECH!
@bedstuy11
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Been waiting for this
@Zagneek
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Used to see em knocking around the Moseley boozers back in the 90s and vaguely knew them to talk to, but wasn’t really a fan. Brum bands have always been knocked by the critics, Lester Bangs was scathing about Sabbath in Rolling Stone magazine. Multi million selling bands like ELO and The Moody Blues were always deemed unfashionable by the “trendy” music press – even Duran Duran were looked down upon compared to the likes of Spandau Ballet.
Fave Brummie bands – Sabbath, The Move, Moody Blues, Broadcast, Steel Pulse, UB40s first lp is a corker, Dexys, The Beat had some great singles, Felt, Swell Maps…Brums never really had a scene / sound like Mersey Beat or Madchester – it’s far more eclectic than that, and it will never be hip but does that really matter if you like the music. 🎸😎👍
@newsclubfan
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Marching Already is a fab album. Complete in a rare way, a real range of songs that go through a wide range of pace and style that makes all the track memorable and emotive in different fashions.
I got two albums of theirs when I was a metal head and they were a dirty little secret of mine. I was not into Brit Pop, even though it was everywhere and now has a fond nostalgia for me, but these two albums are incredibly evocative for me on a much deeper level and I genuinely believe stand the test of time.
I think if you were unfamiliar with them you could put on Marchin Already now, and listen to the album as a complete piece, and it would make it's way into your rotation and become part of your own personal canon easily.
Theyre just great songs, well written, produced and performed, and incredibly enjoyable. Give Marchin Already a spin. Then another. You'll enjoy it
@IncontinentiaButtocks-jx3wq
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Please make one about Hard Skin
@Fuse_22
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
"Kids, excited to relive an era they didn't experience." There is a LOT of that happening nowadays too.
@peterwilson1317
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Favourite Birmingham band?
JESU!
https://youtu.be/CEQlVDVYdXE?si=o9Oxz1iNv8jyPFWN
@RaverHates
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Usually sponsors are a bit cringe but this one seems a perfect fit!
I don't understand the point of bad reviews; like, no one can like all music but, why put effort into writing about something you don't enjoy? What's the point in trying to get other people not to like the thing you don't like? Life's too short!
@ramiroezequielmoreno1774
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
The term Dadrock being coined like, two decades before Dad Rock is like if someone described a jazz group from the 1940's as Heavy Metal, only for that term to mean something completely different twenty years after.
@David_T
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Perhaps sitting out a couple of years was a good thing. Madchester came and went, leaving a lot of bands behind. Blur and OCS made it out.
@jockeyladjockeylad8492
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
I've always treated the wittering's of pretentious music journos with the utter contempt they deserve – but it's entertaining to imagine a failed Soho Ad Agency Exec turned Editor asking Tarquin who failed at everything apart from living off his parents money for five hundred words on the Blossom Squids – "Make them out to be a pale imitation of (insert Band here) – but don't make it too shitty just in case they come big & we have to spin it into a 'ahead of their time & we believed in them all along' piece."
The Manic Street Preachers always maintained they would rather be wrote about in 'Smash Hits' than any of the 'serious' music papers – Smash Hits didn't try to be edgy or indulge in 'isms' or 'ologies'. Ocean Colour Scene write top tunes – & are a powerhouse & a joy to behold live – that's good enough for this Puppy.
@franohmsford7548
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Good Lord that pronunciation of phfft is so annoying! It's onomatopoeic! There is no I!
@dillonfox64
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
21:43 lmao those fucking gallaghers
@TheAdArchive
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Be good to have a British Canon on Coming Up by Suede and how finding Richard Oakes was a masterstroke that is still paying off today. His guitar riffs are criminally underrated and I would argue he’s an upgrade on Bernard Butler. Indeed Suede’s last album is one of their finest with some absolute bangers on it and some incredible guitar work.
@StefanMedici
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Moseley Shoals is still a banger of an album I put on regular rotation.
@petebridge5546
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
Great video! Would be cool to see one about Mansun. Paul Draper just dropped “Mansun Retold” with some re-recorded/ reimagined classic Mansun Tracks
@iliketrains3495
February 22, 2026 at 9:03 am
I'm surprised you didn't mention Simon Fowler's homosexuality being outed by the band's founding female drummer who supposedly had a crush on him, as told by one of the other members in an interview with James Hargreaves. Simon was so distraught that he thought he had to leave the band, but the others stuck by him.
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