In short: Great read for anyone interested in the late 90s/ early 2000s pop industry in the UK - whether this is because you're a fan of the music or want to find out more about how the industry worked. (Though I imagine it's a lot less enjoyable if you don't know the bands: LOTS of names.)

stars from the Spice Girls to On cloud nineties! When music stars from the Spice Girls to

I didn’t have a great relationship with them because I said Nadine was the best singer. So, obviously the other four hated me. There was a relentless onslaught from Leigh Francis, which I could never quite understand. The impact it had on me was I was trying to save face and be like the music is the thing. To chat about Reach For The Stars, 1996 – 2006: Fame, Fallout and Pop’s Final Party, journalist Michael Cragg has worn aGirls Aloud T‑shirt for the occasion, from the band’s debut 2003 album. It is an utter triumph. There's so much that I didn't know about these bands. Being able to delve into the record label perspectives, the magazine/journalist perspectives, the TV perspectives etc was awesome, let alone discovering exactly how the songwriters came up with the music.

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Probably a robbery … Steps smile through losing out to indie’s Belle and Sebastian. Photograph: JMEnternational/Getty Images

‘There were fist-fights down at CD:UK’ – 90s pop remembered

Yet that earnestness runs the risk of missing the point, they said. “You want the Brits to effectively dance like no one’s watching, and worry less about getting it wrong than recapturing some of the fun and chaos that made it a must-watch in the 90s. But if you’re nostalgic for what it was, you’re also probably not who the music industry is worried about right now.” The Brit awards: the highs … A brilliant, celebratory, gossipy history of 90s pop. Great stories and interviews. If that's your era, you'll love it.' -- Richard Osman If you're coming to Coles by car, why not take advantage of the 2 hours free parking at Sainsbury's Pioneer Square - just follow the signs for Pioneer Square as you drive into Bicester and park in the multi-storey car park above the supermarket. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. You don't need to shop in Sainsbury's to get the free parking! Where to Find Us I LOVED this book! It tells the ‘story’ of British pop music from 96-06 starting with the explosion of the spice girls in 1996. As someone who was 10 in 96 and an avid pop fan throughout the late 90s this was a brilliant read. Lots of insight from producers, band members, journalists (eg smash hits, totp magazine( it flows right up to the emergence of pop idol, X factor etc and how that changed the world of pop music , as does streaming and the closure of high st record stores.The Brits’ truest form of relevance, said the publicist, may be that “when you see uncertainty around the Brits, you’re watching the anxieties around the music industry play out on stage: how do we break British acts on a global scale? What does diversity, equality and inclusion look like within a label, or in the nomination process? Are pop stars so ‘online’ that they’re scared of doing or saying anything interesting?” Using the arrival of the Spice Girls as a jumping-off point, this fascinating new narrative will explore, celebrate and contextualise the thus-far-uncharted period of British pop that flourished between 1996 and 2006. A double-denim-loving time before the glare of social media and the accession of streaming.