What was in in the 1990s

Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s. Referencing British guitar music of the past and writing about uniquely British topics and concerns, Oasis, Blur, Pulp and Suede, which were at the forefront of Britpop, formed the backbone of a larger British cultural movement called "Cool Britannia". The battle between Blur and Oasis in August 1995 for the top place in the charts was won by Blur at the time, however in the long run Oasis' album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? outsold Blur’s The Great Escape.

In 1989, Sky Television, UK’s first commercial satellite television, was launched. In the following year, after many delays, BSB was launched, broadcasting five channels which you received by the Squarial, an expensive flat plate antenna.The two companies merged and in 1993 BSkyB launched its Multichannels package with encryption for non-premium channels, including UK Gold, forever changing the existing television culture. By 1999, the number of channels had increased to around 60 and BSkyB launched the first subscription-based digital television platform in the UK, offering a range of 300 channels.

The dominant clothing colour at the beginning of the 1990s was fluorescent. Children and adults alike were wearing their t-shirts, sweatshirts, track suits, socks, shoes and even shoelaces in bright fluorescent blue, green, orange, pink, yellow, or possibly a mixture of all of those. Another 1990s fad was hypercolour clothing, which was made of material which changes colors according to temperature.

Revolutionising the gaming experience, PlayStation was released in 1994, the first of the succession of video game consoles to storm the market with abundance of games available on CD ROMs. Lasting over 11 years, the PlayStation enjoyed one of the longest production runs in the video game industry. Well known titles on the PlayStation included FIFA Football, Final Fantasy series, Gran Turismo, Grand Theft Auto series, Metal Gear Solid, Parasite Eve, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Spyro The Dragon, Tekken and Tomb Raider.

In 1996, pop manager Simon Fuller unleashed his commercial creation in the form of five girls nicknamed by Top of the Pops Magazine Scary, Sporty, Baby, Posh and Ginger, known as the Spice Girls, who hit the charts with their single 'Wannabe', bringing the term girl power in the forefront. Girls across the UK were engulfed in Spice mania, which was fuelled by Spiceworld: The Movie in December 1997. The Spice Girls broke records by getting their first six singles to Number One, with nine Number Ones in total, including three consecutive Christmas chart-toppers.

Hitting the screens at Christmas 1989, The Simpsons soon became the favourite family of the 1990s. In 2000 Homer, the selfish beer loving father, his wife Marge and children Bart, Lisa and baby Maggie were even awarded a star on the Hollywood Wall of Fame. Originally created by cartoonist Matt Groening, the series has become a pop culture icon, attracting hundreds of celebrities to guest star. Today the show is the longest-running and most successful cartoon of all time.

Influenced by the hairstyle of the protagonist of the 1990s hit Ice Ice Baby, , hair tramlines became popular in the early 1990s. The song itself, written by Vanilla Ice, one of the first of white rappers, had daft gangster rap lyrics, however, boys seemed to like the rapper’s image and had all sorts of zig zag lines created in their shaved hair by an electric trimmer.

Following its launch in 1998, the Furby became the must-have toy. Everyone went insane for these fluffy owl-looking robots with large eyes and soon they became rare and pricey. Apart from moving their eyes, ears and mouth, they were able to speak. They were speaking Furbish, the unique single-syllable language, but were able to “learn” English. It was possible to make the Furby say certain words or phrases more often by petting it whenever it said those words.

Released in December 1997, Titanic featuring Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet hit the cinema screens by storm. The most expensive film made yet, the crowning glory arrived when Titanic swept the boards at the Academy Awards and later on went on to be the highest grossing movie of all time worldwide. My Heart Will Go On, the theme song of the film sung by the Canadian singer Celine Dion, became one of the most successful songs in music history.

The Teletubbies first appeared on our TV screens in 1997. These four colourful characters named Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po live in a futuristic dome (the "Tubbytronic Superdome"), set in a landscape of rolling hills. Designed to fit the attention spans of the toddlers, the bizarre world of Teletubbies baffled parents and pre-school learning specialists, however the series became a cult among some parts of the adult audiences.

Originally with a black and white screen and a prepacked game of Tetris Nintendo’s Game Boy was released in 1989. It became popular for its long battery life and lower price than its competitors. Numerous games, including Pokemon, were then released for its successor, the Game Boy Color, which came into shops in 1998. The games were also playable on the original system. The original Game Boy, combined with the Game Boy Color, is still the best-selling game consoles to date, having sold over 100 million units.