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Blur

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Blur formed in London in 1988. The singer and keyboard player Damon Albarn and the guitarist Graham Coxon had known each other since childhood; at Goldsmiths College they met the bassist Alex James, and the drummer Dave Rowntree completed the band. At first they were called Seymour, after a story by J.D. Salinger. Their record company Food did not think that was a good name, and so in 1990 it became Blur. Together with Oasis, Blur was the biggest band of Britpop.

Music and breakthrough

The debut Leisure (1991) produced the hit There's No Other Way. On Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993) and Parklife (1994) the band sought out English everyday life, with characters and small stories, as The Kinks had done in the 1960s. The album Parklife entered at number 1 and stayed ninety weeks in the British album chart. At the Brit Awards of 1995 Blur won four prizes, including best band and best album. In August 1995 Country House won the 'Battle of Britpop': in the first week 274,000 copies were sold, against 216,000 of Roll With It by Oasis.

Influence

Afterwards the band distanced itself from the English sound. The album Blur (1997) contains Song 2, two minutes long, with a distorted bass and Albarn's shouted 'woo-hoo'. Some writers see it as a parody of grunge. On 13 (1999) and Think Tank (2003) Blur searched further; Coxon left during the recording of Think Tank. Albarn started the virtual band Gorillaz with the artist Jamie Hewlett. In 2009 Blur came back with concerts in Hyde Park, and in 2023 The Ballad of Darren appeared.

Listening

Listening tip. Parklife (1994): notice the division of roles. The actor Phil Daniels speaks the verses in a broad London accent, while Damon Albarn sings only the chorus. It sounds like music hall, the British variety theatre of around 1900.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Mentioned in other articles

See also

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (en): Blur (band
  2. timeout.com
  3. Wikipedia (en): Song 2
  4. Wikipedia (en): Parklife (song
Categories: ArtistsBritpop