Loaded's launch editor looks back at Britpop.

Live Forever is a very funny flashback to the mid-90s, and what was going on at the centre of Britpop. Unlike TV nostalgia programmes, it’s the filmed testimonies of people who actually helped to shape the decade, both culturally and politically. Even if it does come as a surprise to find out that Oasis can remember what went on. Noel and Liam, along with Jarvis and Damon, provide the main narrative to the story, with contributions from myself, Peter Mandelson and Damien Hirst, amongst others.

I approached seeing the film with a sense of dread, fearing it might be awash with flaky sentimental reminiscences and historical rewriting. But I needn't have worried - Noel and Jarvis sweep the show with their brilliant observations on the time and what's happened to pop culture since.

Launching Loaded the same month Oasis released their first single meant that we were smack bang in the middle of a creative explosion. Outsiders had got their hands on the microphones, the television shows and the art galleries for the first time since the 60s.

Our involvement with Blur and Oasis was strictly as fans. For me, having spent years on the NME where you had to have an opinion, it was great when a good band came out just to enjoy it as a fan. I remember working late and all the guys going off to see them at the 100 Club. Next morning they were all raving how they'd been let in through the fire door at the back.

Blur were already a big pop act but Oasis just came in and smashed everything else away, and their rise totally coincided with the rise of Loaded. Our staff writer Martin Deeson once said, "Every time I read an interview with that bloke Noel he's describing exactly what's going on in my life, too."

After Glastonbury ‘94 we did a double-page spread of pictures of everyone knocking about, and it varied from Oasis to The Beastie Boys to Laura Bailey. The thing was, they were all just sitting round with everyone. Suddenly there were bands who could headline festivals, had a lot of attitude but weren't so self-obsessed that they wouldn't drink with the fans.

The best bits in the film? Damon inexplicably plucking at a tiny acoustic guitar while mumbling, and Liam getting annoyed when the interviewer suggests he’s androgynous. And of course the music. James Brown 07 March 03

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