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The Broken RecordExtra
Blur
English rock band
Blur are an English rock band formed in London in 1988, consisting of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James, and drummer Dave Rowntree. Their debut album, Leisure (1991), incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegaze.
Following a stylistic change influenced by British guitar pop groups such as the Kinks, the Beatles, and XTC, Blur released the albums Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994), and The Great Escape (1995). The Parklife lead single "Girls & Boys" became a hit in the UK and the US, respectively peaking at number 5 on the UK singles chart and number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100.
As a result, the band helped to popularise the Britpop genre and achieved mass popularity in the UK, aided by a widely publicised chart battle with rival band Oasis in 1995 dubbed "the Battle of Britpop".
labels: Food Records, Parlophone, SBK Records, Virgin Records, EMI, Warner Records
genres: Britpop, alternative rock, indie rock, art pop, pop rock, art rock, lo-fi music
awards: MOJO Awards
Facts from Wikidata and Discogs, free to use.
alternative rockbritpopindie rockbritishart rockexperimental rock
The Dial Tone DailyExtra
Formation and Leisure (1988–1991)
Blur were formed in December 1988 when bassist Alex James joined Damon Albarn's band, Circus, and they changed the name to Seymour after J. D. Salinger's Seymour: An Introduction. Already in the band were drummer Dave Rowntree, who had joined in October, and guitarist Graham Coxon, Albarn's childhood friend from Essex, who was studying at the University of London's Goldsmiths College along with Albarn and James. The group performed live for the first time in summer 1989 in the goods shed of the East Anglian Railway Museum at Chappel & Wakes Colne. In November, Food Records' A&R representative Andy Ross attended a Seymour performance that convinced him to court the group for his label. After this he brought label founder David Balfe to a...
Blur's musical style has been described as Britpop, alternative rock, indie rock, art pop, pop rock, art rock, and pop, with influences from indie rock and lo-fi. AllMusic stated that the band "codified the inchoate sounds of British indie" during the early 1990s. The band's seventh studio album Think Tank moved into more of an electronic sound. The band's influences include David Bowie, Bobby Womack, William Onyeabor, the B-52's, the Kinks, Pink Floyd, the Jam, and Depeche Mode. In their days as Seymour, they were a "shambolic" avant-pop band, whose early concerts exhibited their art school background; meanwhile, Albarn "took cues" from Syd Barrett and Julian Cope.
Indie rock / pop band with art school roots from London, England, composed of Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon (1989-2002, 2008- ), Alex James (2), and Dave Rowntree. The band was formed in Colchester in December 1989 as Seymour but was renamed Blur in March 1990, after they'd signed for the Food label. Blur's early releases (the Leisure album and the singles off it) were considered indie or alternative rock, heavily influenced by the danceable rhythms of "baggy" bands from the Madchester scene and noisepop bands like My Bloody Valentine, with strains of weirder ideas running throughout, at times reminding of Syd Barrett. Tthis was more readily apparent on several single B-sides where the group let loose a darker side.
By 1992, the group was keen on reinventing themselves with a newer, smarter sound and sense of purpose, returning to a retro spectrum of British rock and pop music (e.g. The Kinks or XTC) or even nostalgic music from World War II. Their 2nd album Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993) had moderate success but began attracting attention for its Britishness but in hindsight it rolled out the carpet for the Britpop cultural movement that would all but engulf the UK for two years, wit
Also known as: Gold Frankincense And Blur, ブラー, 布勒, 布勒乐队, 布勒合唱團
From Discogs (free to use). Their entry
Liner notes
Blur, the records, oldest first
Leisure
1991 album
Blur-ti-go
1992 ep
Modern Life Is Rubbish
1993 album
Parklife
1994 album
The Great Escape
1995 album
Blur
1997 album
wanted
13
1999 album
B-Sides Gig EP
2001 ep
Think Tank
2003 album
The Magic Whip
2015 album
The Ballad of Darren
2023 album
Records from MusicBrainz; covers from the Cover Art Archive.
"Song 2" is a song by English rock band Blur. It is the second song on their eponymous fifth studio album.
Released physically on 7 April 1997, "Song 2" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. In the United States, it peaked at number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart and number six on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Background
According to Graham Coxon, "Song 2" was intended to be a joke on the record company. Damon Albarn had recorded an acoustic demo of the song which was slower and contained the song's distinctive "woo-hoo" chorus in whistle form. Coxon then suggested that they increase the speed and perform the song loudly, with Coxon deliberately seeking out an amateurish guitar sound. From there, Coxon told Albarn to tell the record company that they wanted to release the song as a single to "blow the flipping record labels' heads off". To Coxon's surprise, record executives reacted positively. When asked if the band had any idea of the song's commercial appeal, Coxon replied, "We'd just thought it was way too extreme".
Critical reception and legacy
A reviewer from Music Week wrote: "This punky, new wavathon is more immediate than most of the cuts from their new album and all the better for the catchy 'woo-hoo' bits." David Sinclair from The Times noted "the American garageband banging and crashing" of the song. The song's intro has been called Graham Coxon's "finest moment".
Music video
The music video for this song was directed by Sophie Muller, and it features the band playing in a small, secluded room with loud amplifiers behind them. During the choruses, the volume of the song sends the band members crashing against the walls and ground. The set used was modelled on that in the video for their pre-breakthrough single "Popscene". In 2022, the band uploaded a video onto their YouTube channel called "Song 2 Take 2", which shows previously unreleased footage of the video being shot in a single take. It was released in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the album.
Covers and sampling
In 1997, Electronic Arts used "Song 2" as the intro theme for the SEGA Saturn and Sony PlayStation versions of their soccer game FIFA: Road to World Cup 98. It was the first time a licensed song appeared in an EA Sports title. EA's European marketing executive Tom Stone recalled in 2023 that the company contacted the band about the rights to "Song 2", and Albarn agreed on the condition that the band receive free tickets to the 1998 FIFA World Cup final. The song also appeared in advertisements for Starship Troopers the same year.
