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Parklife
''Parklife'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 25 April 1994 on Food Records. After disappointing sales for their previous album '' Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993), ''Parklife'' returned Blur to prominence in the UK, helped by its four hit singles: " Girls & Boys", "End of a Century", " Parklife" and " To the End". Certified four times platinum in the United Kingdom, in the year following its release the album came to define the emerging Britpop scene, along with the album '' Definitely Maybe'' by future rivals Oasis. Britpop in turn would form the backbone of the broader Cool Britannia movement. ''Parklife'' therefore has attained a cultural significance above and beyond its considerable sales and critical acclaim, cementing its status as a landmark in British rock music. In 2010, ''Parklife'' was one of ten classic album covers from British artists commemorated on a UK postage stamp issued by the Royal Mail. In 2015, ''Spin'' included th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parklife (song)
"Parklife" is the title track from English rock band Blur's third studio album, '' Parklife'' (1994). When released as the album's third single in August 1994, it reached No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 30 in Ireland. The song contains elements of spoken word in the verses, narrated by actor Phil Daniels, who also appears in the song's music video. The choruses are sung by lead singer Damon Albarn. The song won British Single of the Year and British Video of the Year at the 1995 Brit Awards and was also performed at the 2012 Brit Awards. The Massed Bands of the Household Division performed "Parklife" at the London 2012 Olympics closing ceremony. The song is one of the defining tracks of Britpop, and features on the 2003 compilation album '' Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop''. Background According to Coxon the song was sarcastic, rather than a celebration of Englishness. He explained the song "wasn't about the working class, it was about the park class: dus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Great Escape (Blur Album)
''The Great Escape'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Blur. It was released on 11 September 1995 on Food and Virgin Records. The album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and charted in the top 10 in more than ten countries around the world. Less than a year after the album was released, it was certified triple platinum in the UK. The album received near-universal acclaim on release. The album continued the band's run of hit singles, with "Country House", "The Universal", "Stereotypes" and "Charmless Man" all reaching the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart. "Country House" was Blur's first number one hit in the UK, beating Oasis' " Roll with It", in a chart rivalry dubbed " The Battle of Britpop". ''The Great Escape'' is often considered to be the final album of a trio of Britpop albums released by Blur in the mid-1990s, after ''Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993) and '' Parklife'' (1994). With Blur's 1997 self-titled album, the band would change direction an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blur (band)
Blur are an English rock band formed in London in 1988. The band consists 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 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 band Oasis in 1995 dubbed "The Battle of Britpop". Blur's self-titled fifth album (1997) saw another stylistic shift, influenced by the lo-fi styles of American indie rock groups, and became their third UK chart-topping album. Its single "Song 2" brought the band mainstream success in the US for the first time. Their next album, '' 13'' (1999) saw the band experimenting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modern Life Is Rubbish
''Modern Life Is Rubbish'' is the second album by English alternative rock band Blur, released in May 1993. Although their debut album ''Leisure'' (1991) had been commercially successful, Blur faced a severe media backlash soon after its release, and fell out of public favour. After the group returned from an unsuccessful tour of the United States, poorly received live performances and the rising popularity of rival band Suede further diminished Blur's status in the UK. Under threat of being dropped by Food Records, for their next album Blur underwent an image makeover championed by frontman Damon Albarn. The band incorporated influences from traditional British guitar-pop groups such as the Kinks and the Small Faces, and the resulting sound was melodic and lushly produced, featuring brass, woodwind and backing vocalists. Albarn's lyrics on ''Modern Life Is Rubbish'' use "poignant humour and Ray Davies characterisation to investigate the dreams, traditions and prejudices of subu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
To The End (Blur Song)
"To the End" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur. It appears on their third studio album, ''Parklife'' (1994), and was released as a single in May 1994. The song describes a couple unsuccessfully trying to overcome a bad patch in a relationship, and features full orchestral accompaniment with a choric refrain in French by Lætitia Sadier from Stereolab. The song was produced by Stephen Hague, unlike the rest of the ''Parklife'' album, which was produced by Stephen Street. Blur have produced several different recordings of the song. Release Single "To the End" was released on 30 May 1994 as the second single from ''Parklife''. It was not one of Blur's major hits, charting only at number 16 in the UK Singles Chart, unlike the singles released before and after, which both reached the top 10. French version Blur also recorded a version in which Albarn sings the lead vocal in French. This was released as the third track on the 12" and CD2 editions of the "Parklife" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual band Gorillaz. Raised in Leytonstone, East London, and around Colchester, Essex, Albarn attended The Stanway School, where he met guitarist Graham Coxon and formed Blur. They released their debut album ''Leisure'' in 1991. After spending long periods touring the US, Albarn's songwriting became increasingly influenced by British bands from the 1960s. The result was the Blur albums '' Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993), '' Parklife'' (1994) and '' The Great Escape'' (1995). All three received critical acclaim, while Blur gained mass popularity in the UK, aided by a Britpop chart rivalry with Oasis. Subsequent albums such as '' Blur'' (1997), '' 13'' (1999) and ''Think Tank'' (2003) incorporated influences from lo-fi, art rock, elect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
This Is A Low
"This Is a Low" is a song by English rock band Blur for their third studio album, '' Parklife''. The song was released as a promotional single in 1995. Background and recording Originally titled "We Are the Low", the song began life as an instrumental during the ''Parklife'' sessions. In the guitar solo, Graham Coxon played three solos, including one of him sat in front of his amp, turned up to maximum volume. According to bassist Alex James, Damon Albarn was finding it hard to write lyrics. In his autobiography, ''A Bit of a Blur'', he revealed that "for Christmas I bought him a handkerchief with a map of the shipping forecast regions on it... you can never tell where the muse is going to appear." "We always found the shipping forecast soothing," James explained. "We used to listen to it n the American tourto remind us of home. It's very good for a hangover. Good cure for insomnia, too." On 4 February 1994, the penultimate day of official recording, Albarn was due to go int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Girls & Boys (Blur Song)
"Girls & Boys" is a 1994 song by British rock band Blur. It was released as the lead single from the group's third album, ''Parklife'' (1994). Charting at number five on the UK Singles Chart, "Girls & Boys" was Blur's first top 5 hit and their most successful single until " Country House" reached number one the following year. The single surpassed their previous commercial peak "There's No Other Way" by three spots on the UK Singles Chart, and saw the group achieve greater worldwide success. In the US, the track reached number 59 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart, becoming the band's second single to hit the chart after "There's No Other Way". It also reached number four on the ''Billboard'' Modern Rock songs chart. "Girls & Boys" was named single of the year by ''NME'' and '' Melody Maker''. It was also nominated for best song at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Composition Damon Albarn was inspired to write the song while on holiday in Magaluf, Spain, with then-gi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Britpop
Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the UK's own shoegaze music scene. The movement brought British alternative rock into the mainstream and formed the backbone of a larger British popular cultural movement, Cool Britannia, which evoked the Swinging Sixties and the British guitar pop of that decade. Britpop was a media-driven focus on bands which emerged from the independent music scene of the early 1990s. Although the term was viewed as a marketing tool, and more of a cultural moment than a musical style or genre, its associated bands typically drew from the British pop music of the 1960s, glam rock and punk rock of the 1970s and indie pop of the 1980s. The most successful bands linked with Britpop were Oasis, Blur, Suede and Pulp, known as the movement's "big four", ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
End Of A Century
"End of a Century" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur. Released in November 1994, it was the last single to be released from their third album, ''Parklife'' (1994). "End of a Century" reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart, considered a disappointment by Andy Ross of Food Records. Albarn later stated that "End of a Century" may not have been the best choice for the album's fourth single, and that "This Is a Low" would have been a better alternative. Lyrical content Damon Albarn stated that the song is about "how couples get into staying in and staring at each other. Only instead of candle-light, it's the TV light." The opening line, "she said there's ants in the carpet", refers to an infestation of ants that Albarn and his then-girlfriend Justine Frischmann suffered in their then-home in Kensington. The lyrics seem to emphasise the then upcoming millennium change and the fact that people contemplate the future rather than take care of the present. Producer St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the chief songwriter, lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis until their split in 2009. After leaving Oasis, he formed Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. He is one of the most successful songwriters in British music history, as the writer of eight UK number-one singles, and co-writer of a further number one; and the sole or primary writer of ten UK number-one studio albums. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential songwriters in the history of British rock music, cited by numerous major subsequent artists as an influence. Gallagher began playing the guitar at age twelve, and became a roadie and technician for Inspiral Carpets at age 21. He learnt that his younger brother Liam had joined a band called The Rain, which eventually became Oasis, and Liam invited him to join the group as their lead guitarist. He agreed on condition that he wri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Street
Stephen Brian Street (born 29 March 1960 in Hackney, London) is an English music producer best known for his work with The Smiths, The Cranberries and Blur. Street collaborated with Morrissey on his debut album ''Viva Hate'' following the split of The Smiths. More recently he has worked with Kaiser Chiefs, Babyshambles and The Courteeners. For a time, he was managed by Gail Colson's company Gailforce Management. In February 2020, Street received the award for Outstanding Contribution to UK Music at the Music Producer's Guild Awards. Career Early career Street began his musical career in the late 1970s playing in various bands around London. He played bass in the new wave ska/pop group, Bim, with future Neneh Cherry/Massive Attack producer Cameron McVey. The band were featured in the ''Listen to London'' documentary film. Street started at Island Records' Fallout Shelter Studio in 1982 firstly as an "in-house assistant" and then as an "in-house engineer". The Smiths and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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