Blur
Blur have always represented a unique batch of personalities to match the mix of music-styles; a set of four individuals, as opposed to four of a kind. Resultantly, friction would ensue, but never would a parting of ways have proved imaginable. Yet, come 2002, and a break-away occurs. Guitarist Graham Coxon is reportedly sacked from the band.
In 1989, things were far rosier. Playing the pub-circuit of London to anyone that would listen (usually, a couple of record-label A&R piss-heads and the landlords of such venues), the brutal sound of Seymour – bearing dangerous vocalist Damon Albarn, Coxon on six-strings and distortion-pedals, laid-back Alex James on bass and boffin drummer Dave Rowntree – boded an indie-cum-punk live-sensation. Of course, all enough for Andy Ross to sign the band to independent label, Food Records, for a reputed £5,000 and a condition that the band changed their name, whilst Rowntree refrained to wear pyjama-bottoms onstage; subsequently, their current moniker was decided upon, and Dave conceded to a change of fashion.
The band’s first single – ‘She’s So High’, backed with ‘I Know’ – surfaced the following year, and, although gaining a wave of attention for its then controversial sleeve-artwork (Mel Ramos’ image of a naked woman riding a hippo) and obtaining early airplay, it charted at 48 in the charts. With baggy as a scene vibrant of the time, it was the following ‘There’s No Other Way’ that set the ball rolling – debuting in the top-ten and granting the band a first ‘Top Of The Pops’ appearance, where they later confessed to having been severely drugged-up during the mimed performance. A third attempt at the singles-market resulted in the forgettable ‘Bang!’, a groove-based number with as much a lyrical-depth as a Steps record; its accompanying ‘TOTP’ airing was similarly bizarre, featuring Damon dancing alongside an image of a chicken. Fortunately, the debut-album ‘Leisure’ fared better, entering the upper reaches of the chart, and gaining firm press-accolade.
Though 1992 was the disaster year. ‘Popscene’ – the group’s greatest piece to date, a thrash-brass blast of pop – bombed, entering at a modest 32, and the group’s following, demanding 44-date US tour almost broke them as a unit. On top of things, the pressure was on from Food to follow up tracks for the second record, a process that wasn’t made easy due to sessions of varying quality with an enclave of differently-minded producers.
But ’93 finally featured some ripe fruit after the initial turmoil – the top-20 ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’: a Small Faces classicism spread across 16 tracks, also featuring the attributes of The Kinks and The Smiths at their most melodic, with tracks such as ‘Chemical World’ and ‘For Tomorrow’ serving as top-30 moments, and some of Blur’s finest overall 45s. The year saw an emotional, triumphant headline-set from the band at Reading Festival’s second stage – a performance that has since gone down in the group’s history.
1994 was the real breaking-point, however. Sessions with Stephen Street proved a success for the third record in a row, and ‘Parklife’ occurred: Blur’s seminal album, and one that provoked the emergence of Britpop as a scene. Singles entered the top-ten and top-twenty with ease, whilst the album floated in the chart’s higher tiers for months on end, eventually selling beyond 2 million copies worldwide. A sell-out 7,500-capacity show, with support from Pulp, was the celebration in October of the year, at London’s Alexandra Palace, later filmed for the group’s well-selling ‘Showtime’ video-release.
Immediately returning to work on a follow-up, to further capitalise on their new-found stardom, the foursome created ‘The Great Escape – a, to this day, deeply misunderstood, pop-orientated album that became their gateway to many international regions. It was preceded with an infamous feud with Oasis, triggered by a memorable chart-battle, where Blur’s ‘Country House’ made the top slot in the UK singles-charts, shielding Gallagher and co.’s inferior ‘Roll With It’ from making number-one. Of the time, following further sold-out arena-dates to over quarter of a million fans in just over a month, in addition to a date at Mile End Stadium playing to 25,000 fanatics, this was Blur at their peak of popularity. But it was also Blur at a stage of too much exposure, where Albarn’s relationship with Elastica’s Justine Frischmann was buckling under pressure, due to unrelenting media coverage.
Blur’s campaign in summer-1996 concluded with another one-off, outdoor stadium-show, this time at Dublin’s enormous RDS. It was the end of an era, and the band featured two particularly savage, heavier new songs during the set… ‘Chinese Bombs’ and a track with a working-title of ‘Song 2’. No-one was to know where the innovative direction would soon lead them.
Answer to the previous: to pastures new. The group’s fifth album – ‘Blur’ – surfaced in 1997. Almost paradoxically, it was simultaneous commercial suicide and a credible rebirth. Its tracks were layered, sleepy and distorted, grittier and more US underground-influenced than before. Young teenage fans switched off, and older, discerning music-fans turned on. The band still obtained top-five, even number-one singles, but the fever-pitch surrounding their name was cooling off; rightfully so, many of their Britpop contemporaries were no longer able to survive in the market’s change of climate, and evolution was the only advancement forward. And, finally, with the grunge-pop of the aforementioned ‘Song 2’ (its title never changed), the band achieved a niche-audience in the States, going top-50 in the Billboard charts for the first ever time.
Blur headlined Glastonbury’s Festival in 1998 to bridge the gap between a break and the recording of their new album, ‘13’ – a process which was overseen by William Orbit, Stephen Street given a break of his duties for the first time in almost nine years of working with the band. When their new album reached shelves in the first part of 1999, the departure from before was just as staggeringly radical, with first single ‘Tender’ a gospel-rock hybrid, and tracks such as ‘No Distance Left To Run’ showcasing the explicit pain incurred by Albarn following a break-up of his long-term relationship with Frischmann. As a whole, it was a diverse, experimental work, and accompanied by limited live-shows compared to before, Blur maintaining their name as a quality act.
Invited to perform a night at Scott Walker’s Meltdown in 2000 at London’s Royal Festival Hall, the band played what would be their last show together in the original line-up. A ‘Best Of’ followed soon after, and – after a long gap in band-activity, where Damon went on to form the chart-topping collective Gorillaz, and Graham continued solo-work and management of his label, Transcopic, whilst Dave and Alex flew aeroplanes – attempts at recording a new album in 2002 hit a sour note. No longer a meeting of musical minds, Coxon announced his fleeing from the group.
With the seventh album completed – ‘Think Tank’, as produced by Blur themselves alongside Norman Cook, Ben Hillier, Stephen Street and William Orbit – the first signs of its matter, ‘Out Of Time’, are a positive indication that, whatever the current climate, the entity are still stand-alone in their pursuit of dynamic, self-fulfilling and original musical-creation.
Below: As Blur were, in 1999.
OFFICIAL SITE: The band\'s authorised head-domain, and a location where webcams from Blur and fans alike unite to form, er, unique viewing-matter. The site is currently experiencing an overhaul at present.
OFFICIAL FAN-CLUB SITE: Rockfeedback\'s well-recommended fan-club service; sign up, and receive an xclusiv CD-single each year, and informative, glossy info-magazines. Priority offers on low-key gigs, too.
BLURTALK: An implausibly well-crafted, community-orientated, unofficial site; a location you\'d do well to check out sooner rather than later.