I RATHER enjoyed Andy Rutherford’s take on Britpop (19 April), but if he believes it didn’t actually exist he’s either in denial or wasn’t paying enough attention at the time.

The term ‘Britpop’ was coined as early as the late 1980s when the likes of The Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets were in the ascendancy, and they had significant influence on the later success of bands like Oasis and Blur in the 1990s. Strangely he completely omitted the historical context in which allowed Britpop bands to flourish. The early 90s were dominated by rave and techno music, and then US grunge music typified by Nirvana – there was a dearth of music that youngsters could particularly relate to in the everyday lives. Britpop was a reaction to that. Damon Albarn of Blur said at the time that their aim was to get rid of grunge in the same way the punks aimed to get rid of hippies.

Personally, I was probably too old to be part of the generation that got Britpop – I suspect the writer is too – but that’s not reason to write it out of history as irrelevant. Having filtered it out of his children’s own musical education I wonder he’s left to give them as an example of mid-90s pop. The Spice Girls?

Gerard Whyman Cae Perllan Rd, Newport