ANYONE FANCY SOME EARLY BLUR?

The song that brought the early progress to a grinding halt.

Blur had enjoyed critical success with debut She's So High and then both critical and commercial success with There's No Other Way which reached #8 in the early summer of 1991.  But within weeks, and it literally was weeks, the Madchester sound and its 'baggy' variants which were being churned-out by so many British bands was totally out of fashion and grunge and Seattle were in vogue.

Bang stalled at #24 in July/August 1991.  The band later admitted that it was churned out in about 15 minutes as a response to the record company screaming for another obvious single for the debut Leisure released at the same time.  It took Blur an awful long time to recover commercially - three years to be precise - although the singles and album they released in 1992 and 1993 were as good as anything else in their long and illustrious career.

Here's the four songs from the 12" single:-

mp3 : Blur - Bang (extended version)
mp3 : Blur - Explain
mp3 : Blur - Luminous
mp3 : Blur - Uncle Love

Of the three b-side, Luminous perhaps gives an indication of the way the band wanted to go rather than try and churn out stuff that would appeal to the baggy brigade. You can also hear why the record company determined to chase chart positions were appalled.

A thought.

If someone had told you on the basis of Bang and the b-sides that Blur would turn out to be one of the most important and influential bands of the decade and early 21st Century - and that Damon Albarn would become such a revered figure in the music industry for the way he would branch out - you would surely have laughed out loud. 

Here's yer promo:-



Happy Listening