Modern British music has been popular and successful since the UK headed the Rock’n'Roll revolution in the 1950s and 1960s. Since then it has enjoyed a fantastic half-century, providing some of the greatest artists the music world has ever seen.

Like every other country, styles and tastes in music have changed in the UK massively over the last 50 years and the Brits have managed to change with the trends of the day. Consequently, this little island has musicians and artists providing all sorts of genres.

But which genre of music do Brits excel at? Thankfully, the readers of Brit Music Scene have had a good crack at answering that conundrum. Variety isn’t lacking in this country but we do definitely focus on certain types of music.

The question we asked and the results of the poll are revealed below.

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Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse were, at one point, a kind of musical dream team. Ronson produced Winehouse’ ultra-successful Back To Black album, which made her a superstar the world over, and in return, Winehouse provided the vocals for Ronson’s Version version of The Zutons’ Valerie.

And then their relationship soured while the pair were working on a theme for the latest James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace. At the time, Ronson claimed that Winehouse wasn’t “ready to work on music yet.” The pair fell out and haven’t worked together since.

Circumstances look to have thrown the pair back together, with the demos of new material Winehouse gave the record label being reportedly rejected. Island Record bosses were thought to be unhappy with the direction Winehouse was taking the new album.

Enter Mark Ronson, who The Sun claims is now going to work his magic on the tracks Winehouse has prepared in order to make them more viable for inclusion on her next album.

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The last two years have seen a slew of British groups reform, some in order to give the fans what they want, and some in order to make a quick buck (cough Spice Girls cough). But there are still many bands resisting the urge, and the calls from fans to reunite.

This lead me to ask: Which group would you most like to see reform? Most of the answers were predictable, as was the share of voting, but there were a few surprises. First, the results in full.

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In the 18 months or so that I’ve been writing Brit Music Scene, I’ve done nothing but support British bands, with the possible exception of Boyzone and the Spice Girls for obvious reasons. But I cannot bring myself to back U2 in their current state.

I’ve already reviewed their new album, No Line On The Horizon, and it’s safe to say I’m not a fan of it, giving it just three out of 10. And now I’m about to call them out for being publicity-seeking copycats. U2 fans may want to look away now.

U2 staged a surprise gig on the roof of BBC Broadcasting House in London on Friday night. 5,000 fans turned up to watch them perform a medley of tunes after news of the gig was leaked (intentionally) to various message boards on the Web.

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Band reunions are a strange beast: they are a mix of doing it for the fans and doing it for the money, they rarely last very long, and they even more rarely live up to expectations. But despite all of this, millions of people want to see their favorite groups reform.

British groups seem to be making a habit of reforming. Since I’ve been writing Brit Music Scene, we have seen The Verve, Boyzone, Led Zeppelin (for a one off concert), The Police, The Sex Pistols, The Spice Girls, Blur, and Take That all get back together in some form.

Then there are the ongoing rumors surrounding further reunions. The big ones are Led Zeppelin, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, and Robbie Williams rejoining Take That to make it a proper reunion. So no surprise then that those four bands were all included in a recent MTV poll to find out which group most people would like to see back together.

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Girl Power may have started with The Spice Girls but this new video for No Can Do shows that Sugababes are the natural successors to the idea of women being in charge and in control of men everywhere.

With former member Mutya Buena currently ensconced in the Celebrity Big Brother house, oh how the mighty have fallen, I thought it fitting to make this song the first I reviewed here on Brit Music Scene in 2009.

And I’m glad I did because it’s just the kind of song I need to cheer me up in this post-Christmas lull we all experience every year. No Can Do music video and review after the cut.

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2009 is approaching fast and so it’s time to look back at 2008. Here we’ll see the high and lowlights of Spring, with a selection of stories we covered between April and June.

April

The month started, as it always does, with April Fool’s Day, and while Brit Music Scene didn’t hoodwink its readers, YouTube did. I detailed the prank in a post entitled The Day Rick Astley Ruled The World.

I shared my Soundtrack For A Day in the middle of the month, and was joined by other b5 Music bloggers. Meanwhile, Boyzone announced their reunion shows, an event I was ecstatic about… yeah right.

The end of the month saw Amy Winehouse accused of assaulting people on a night out in London, and this was just the first time she got up to mischief while drunk during 2008. Phil Collins also announced his retirement even though most people assumed he had already retired years ago.

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2009 is approaching fast and so it’s time to look back at 2008. Here we’ll see the high and lowlights of the first three months of the year, with a selection of stories we covered between January and March.

January

The month began with Queen being named as the best British band of all time, beating The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Take That, and Oasis. Sad news in the middle of the month when Lily Allen suffered a miscarriage. She later split with boyfriend Ed Simons.

Geri Halliwell claimed that the Spice Girls wouldn’t make a penny from their huge world tour despite it selling out everywhere. She was later proved a liar when it was revealed the girls had made $20 million apiece. Then the once-great girl group canceled the tour and split up again.

The Cribs took Johnny Marr, formerly of The Smiths, on as a fourth member, while Amy Winehouse finally entered rehab.

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Reforming is obviously the thing to do now. We’ve already seen Take That make a successful comeback, The Spice Girls a less successful one, and The Police reforming and then splitting up again. We’ve also seen Boyzone reform even though no-one asked them to, and Led Zeppelin announce plans to tour and release new material even though Robert Plant won’t be involved.

Then, more recently we learned about The Faces making plans, and just last week, Blur announced they were reforming after Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon put their differences aside to work together again. So, who is next? Could it be the time for The Smiths and The Stone Roses to get back together?

Both these bands fell apart due to creative differences, otherwise known as big arguments between at least two members of the group. And ever since they split, fans have been calling for them to get back together for one last hurrah to see if the magic is still there.

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I think there must be something in the water here in the UK. Something potent that is making old groups decide to reunite and start plying their trade again. The last few years have seen many such reunions occurring, and there could be more to come.

We’ve already had Led Zeppelin reform for a one-off concert at the London 02 Arena, with rumours of a longer tour constantly bubbling around the press. We’ve also seen The Police forget their differences to embark on a huge world tour, which is due to come to an end this year in New York.

There was also the ill-omened Spice Girls tour which unfortunately ended before it was meant to due to poor sales. However, a positive note to come out of it is the retirement of Geri Halliwell and Victoria Beckham from singing. Two down, three to go.

Then there has been the more permanent reunions such as Take That (hoorah) and Boyzone (boo, hiss), as well as rumours of long-awaited returns for both Blur and The Smiths, both of which still could happen.

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