Blur (band)

Blur are an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1988 asSeymour, the group consists of singer/keyboardist Damon Albarn, guitarist/singer Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure (1991) incorporated the sounds ofMadchester and shoegazing. Following a stylistic change influenced by English guitar pop groups such as The Kinks, The Beatles and XTC, Blur released Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994) and The Great Escape (1995). As a result, the band helped to popularise the Britpop genre and achieved mass popularity in the UK, aided by a chart battle with rival bandOasis in 1995 dubbed "The Battle of Britpop".

In recording their follow-up, Blur (1997), the band underwent another reinvention, showing influence from the lo-fi style of American indie rockgroups. "Song 2", one of the album's singles, brought Blur mainstream success in the United States. Their next album, 13 (1999) saw the band members experimenting with electronic and gospel music, and featured more personal lyrics from Albarn. In May 2002, Coxon left Blur during the recording of their seventh album Think Tank (2003). Containing electronic sounds and more minimal guitar work, the album was marked by Albarn's growing interest in hip hop and African music. After a 2003 tour without Coxon, Blur did no studio work or touring as a band, as members engaged in other projects. In 2009 Blur reunited, with Coxon back in the fold, for a series of concerts and have continued to release several singles and retrospective releases. In 2012, Blur received a Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.

History

[edit]Formation and Leisure: 1988–1991

Childhood friends Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon met Alex James when they began studying at London's Goldsmiths College in 1988. Albarn was in a group named Circus, who were joined by drummer Dave Rowntree that October. Circus requested the services of Coxon after the departure of their guitarist. That December, Circus fired two members and James joined as the group's bassist. This new group named themselves Seymour in December 1988, inspired by J.D. Salinger's Seymour: An Introduction. The group performed live for the first time in summer 1989. In November, Food Records' A&R representative Andy Ross attended a Seymour performance that convinced him to court the group for his label. The only concern held by Ross and Food was that they disliked the band's name. Food drew up a list of alternatives, from which the band decided on "Blur". Food Records finally signed the newly christened band in March 1990.^[5]

	"There's No Other Way" Sample of "There's No Other Way", illustrating the band's early Baggy influence.
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From March to July 1990, Blur toured Britain, opening for The Cramps, and testing out new songs. In October 1990, after their tour was over, Blur released the "She's So High" single, which reached number 48 in the UK Singles Chart.^[6]The band had trouble creating a follow-up single, but they made progress when paired with producer Stephen Street. The resulting single release, "There's No Other Way", became a hit, peaking at number eight.As a result of the single's success, Blur became pop stars and were accepted into a clique of bands who frequented The Syndrome club in London dubbed "The Scene That Celebrates Itself". NME magazine wrote in 1991, "[Blur] are [the] acceptable pretty face of a whole clump of bands that have emerged since the whole Manchester thing started to run out of steam."

The band's third single, "Bang", performed relatively disappointingly, reaching only number 24. Andy Ross and Food owner David Balfe were convinced Blur's best course of action was to continue drawing influence from the Madchester genre. Blur attempted to expand their musical sound, but the recording of the group's debut album was hindered by Albarn having to write his lyrics in the studio. Although the resulting album Leisure (1991) peaked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart, it received mixed reviews, and according to journalist John Harris, "could not shake off the odour of anti-climax".

[edit]Britpop years: 1992–1995

After discovering they were £60,000 in debt, Blur toured the United States in 1992 in an attempt to recoup their financial losses.The group released the single "Popscene" to coincide with the start of the tour. Featuring "a rush of punk guitars, '60s pop hooks, blaring British horns, controlled fury, and postmodern humor", "Popscene" was a turning point for the band musically.^[However, upon its release it only charted at number 32. "We felt 'Popscene' was a big departure; a very, very English record", Albarn told the NME in 1993, "But that annoyed a lot of people ... We put ourselves out on a limb to pursue this English ideal and no-one was interested."As a result of the single's lacklustre performance, plans to release a single named "Never Clever" were scrapped and work on Blur's second album was pushed back.^[16]

During the two-month American tour, the band became increasingly unhappy, often venting frustrations on each other, leading to several physical confrontations.^[17] The band members were homesick; Albarn said, "I just started to miss really simple things ... I missed everything about England so I started writing songs which created an English atmosphere."^[15] Upon the group's return to the United Kingdom, Blur (Albarn in particular) were upset by the success rival group Suede had achieved while they were gone.^[18] After a poor performance at a 1992 gig that featured a well-received set by Suede on the same bill, Blur were in danger of being dropped by Food.^[19]By that time, Blur had undergone an ideological and image shift intended to celebrate their English heritage in contrast to the popularity of American grunge bands like Nirvana.^[20] Although sceptical of Albarn's new manifesto for the band, Balfe gave assent for the band's choice of Andy Partridge of the band XTC to produce their follow-up to Leisure. The sessions with Partridge proved unsatisfactory, but a chance reunion with Stephen Street resulted in him returning to produce the group.

The band completed their second album Modern Life Is Rubbish in December 1992, but Food Records said the album required more potential hit singles and asked them to return to the studio for a second time. The band complied and Albarn wrote "For Tomorrow", which became the album's lead single. "For Tomorrow" was a minor success, reaching number 28 on the charts.^[23] Modern Life Is Rubbish was released in May 1993. The announcement of the album's release included a press photo featuring the phrase "British Image 1" spraypainted behind the band (who were dressed in a mixture of mod and skinhead attire) and a mastiff-breed dog. At the time, such imagery was viewed as nationalistic and racially insensitive by the British music press; to quiet concerns, Blur subsequently released the "British Image 2" photo, which was "a camp restaging of a pre-war aristocratic tea party".^[24] Modern Life Is Rubbishpeaked at number 15 on the British charts,^[25] but failed to break into the US Billboard 200, selling only 19,000 copies there.

	"Parklife" Sample of "Parklife", title track from Blur's third album, which features narration by Phil Daniels, the star of the film version of The Who's Quadrophenia.
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The success of Parklife (1994) revived Blur's commercial fortunes. The album's first single, the disco-influenced "Girls & Boys", found favour on BBC Radio 1. It peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart and number four on the US Modern Rock chart, where it remains the band's highest-charting single.Parklife entered the British charts at number one and stayed on the album charts for 90 weeks.Enthusiastically greeted by the music press—the NMEcalled it "a Great Pop Record ... bigger, bolder, narkier and funnier [than Modern Life is Rubbish]"—Parklife is regarded as one of Britpop's defining records.^[30][31] Blur won four awards at the 1995 Brit Awards, including Best Band and Best Album for Parklife. Coxon later pointed to Parklife as the moment when "[Blur] went from being regarded as an alternative, left field arty band to this amazing new pop sensation".

Blur began working on their fourth album The Great Escape at the start of 1995. Building upon the band's previous two albums, Albarn's lyrics for the album consisted of several third-person narratives. James reflected, "It was all more elaborate, more orchestral, more theatrical, and the lyrics were even more twisted ... It was all dysfunctional, misfit characters fucking up." The release of the album's lead single "Country House" played a part in Blur's public rivalry with Manchester band Oasis termed "The Battle of Britpop". Partly due to increasing antagonisms between the groups, Blur and Oasis ultimately decided to release their new singles on the same day, an event the NME called "The British Heavyweight Championship". The debate over which band would top the British singles chart became a media phenomenon, and Albarn appeared on the News at Ten.At the end of the week, "Country House" ultimately outsold Oasis' "Roll With It" by 274,000 copies to 216,000, becoming Blur's first number one single.

The Great Escape was released in September 1995 to rapturous reviews, and entered the UK charts at number one. The NME hailed it as "spectacularly accomplished, sumptuous, heart-stopping and inspirational". However, opinion quickly changed and Blur found themselves largely out of favour with the media once again. Following the worldwide success of Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (which went quadruple platinum in America), the media quipped that "[Blur] wound up winning the battle but losing the war."Blur became perceived as an "inauthentic middle class pop band" in comparison to the "working class heroes" Oasis, which Albarn said made him feel "stupid and confused".Bassist Alex James later summarised, "After being the People's Hero, Damon was the People's Prick for a short period ... basically, he was a loser – very publicly."