Panel at Cardiff Library and Hub: Author Neil Collins, Bill Cummings and Gordon Anderson(Cardiff Library) discuss the book International Velvet: How Wales Conquered the '90s Charts
Episode 9, Jul 31, 01:52 PM
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On the 17th of July 2025 at Cardiff Library and Hub there was a Open Space panel: featuring Author Neil Collins, writer and podcaster Bill Cummings editor of God Is In The TV Zine and hosted by Cardiff libraries Gordon Anderson. They discussed Neil's book, "International Velvet: How Wales Conquered the '90s Charts," which explores that era of Welsh music and what led up to it, as well as its lasting impact on music and culture to this day. Listen to a phone recording from the event above.
The 1970s and ‘80s were a bleak time for much of Wales - but the 1990s changed everything. Wales was already known for Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Male Voice Choirs. But suddenly bands such as Catatonia, Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Super Furry Animals, 60ft Dolls and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci exploded into the charts and showed the UK population the breadth of what this small but inherently musical nation could offer. Meanwhile, S4C became increasingly prominent and a new National Assembly for Wales was on the horizon…
Featuring fresh analysis and new interviews, International Velvet (Calon) charts the UK in a decade in which ‘Cool Cymru’ won over the masses and shows how it inspired the still-vibrant Welsh music scene into the 21st century and beyond.
The 1970s and ‘80s were a bleak time for much of Wales - but the 1990s changed everything. Wales was already known for Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Male Voice Choirs. But suddenly bands such as Catatonia, Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Super Furry Animals, 60ft Dolls and Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci exploded into the charts and showed the UK population the breadth of what this small but inherently musical nation could offer. Meanwhile, S4C became increasingly prominent and a new National Assembly for Wales was on the horizon…
Featuring fresh analysis and new interviews, International Velvet (Calon) charts the UK in a decade in which ‘Cool Cymru’ won over the masses and shows how it inspired the still-vibrant Welsh music scene into the 21st century and beyond.