Blur - Girls And Boys (Pet Shop Boys)-.EMI. -CDM- (c) 1994 EMI
Artist....: Blur
Album.....: Girls And Boys (Pet Shop Boys)-.EMI.
Type......: Maxi
Source....: CDDA
Tracks....: 04
Genre.....: Electronic
Rel.Date..: N/A
Label.....: EMI
Catalogue#: 8813342
Encoder...: Lame 3.90.3 MOD
Quality...: VBR kbps / 44.1Hz / Joint-Stereo
URL.......: n/a
Tracklist:
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01 Girls And Boys (Psb Radio Edit) 04:06
02 Girls And Boys (Psb 12" Mix) 07:16
03 Magpie 04:16
04 Anniversary Waltz 01:23
Total:25,6 MBB / 17:01 min
Release Notes:
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Initially, Blur was one of the multitude of British bands who
Appeared in the wake of the Stone Roses,mining the same swirling,
pseudo-psychedelic guitar pop, only with louder guitars. Following
an image makeover in the mid-'90s, the group emerged as the most
popular band in the U.K., establishing themselves as heir to the
English guitar pop tradition of the Kinks,the Small Faces, the Who,
the Jam, Madness, and the Smiths. In the process, the group broke
down the doors for a new generation of guitar bands who became
labeled as Brit-pop. With Damon Albarn's wry
lyrics and the group's mastery of British pop tradition, Blur was
the leader of Brit-pop, but they quickly became confined by the
movement; since they were its biggest band, they nearly died when
the movement itself died. Through some reinvention, Blur reclaimed
their position as an art pop band in the late '90s by incorporating
indie rock and lo-fi influences, which finally gave them their
elusive American success in 1997. But the band's legacy remained in
Britain, where they helped revitalize guitar pop by skillfully
updating the country's pop traditions.
Originally called Seymour, the group was formed in London in 1989 by
vocalist/keyboardist Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, and
bassist Alex James, with drummer Dave Rowntree joining the lineup
shortly afterward. After performing a handful of gigs and recording
a demo tape, the band signed to Food Records, a subsidiary of EMI
run by journalist Andy Ross and former Teardrop Explodes keyboardist
Dave Balfe. Balfe and Ross suggested that the band change their
name, submitting a list of alternate names for the group's approval.
From that list, the group took the name Blur.
"She's So High," the group's first single, made it into the Top 50
while the follow-up, "There's No Other Way," went Top Ten. Both
singles were included on their 1991 Stephen Street-produced debut
album, Leisure. Although it received favorable reviews, the album
fit neatly into the dying Manchester pop scene, causing some
journalists to dismiss the band as manufactured teen idols. For the
next two years, Blur struggled to distance themselves from the scene
associated with the sound of their first album.
Released in 1992, the snarling "Pop Scene" was Blur's first attempt
at changing their musical direction. A brash, spiteful rocker driven
by horns, the neo-mod single was punkier than anything the band had
previously recorded and its hooks were more immediate and catchy.
Despite Blur's clear artistic growth, "Pop Scene" didn't fit into
the climate of British pop and American grunge in 1992 and failed to
make an impression on the U.K. charts. Following the single's
commercial failure, the group began work on their second album,
Modern Life Is Rubbish, a process that would take nearly a year and
a half.
XTC's Andy Partridge was originally slated to produce Modern Life Is
Rubbish, but the relationship between Blur and Partridge quickly
soured, so Street was again brought in to produce the band. After
spending nearly a year in the studio, the band delivered the album
to Food. The record company rejected the album, declaring that it
needed a hit single. Blur went back into the studio and recorded
Albarn's "For Tomorrow," which would turn out to be a British hit.
Food was ready to release the record, but the group's U.S. record
company, SBK, believed there was no American hit single on the
record and asked them to return to the studio. Blur complied and
recorded "Chemical World," which pleased SBK for a short while; the
song would become a minor alternative hit in the U.S. and charted at
number 28 in the U.K. Modern Life Is Rubbish was set for release in
the spring of 1993 when SBK asked Blur to re-record the album with
producer Butch Vig (Nirvana, Sonic Youth). The band refused and the
record was released in May in Britain; it appeared in the United
States that fall. Modern Life Is Rubbish received good reviews in
Britain, peaking at number 15 on the charts, yet it failed to make
much of an impression in the U.S.
Modern Life Is Rubbish turned out to be a dry run for Blur's
breakthrough album, Parklife. Released in April 1994, Parklife
entered the charts at number one and catapulted the band to stardom
in Britain. The stylized new wave dance-pop single "Girls and Boys"
entered the charts at number five; the single managed to spend 15
weeks on the U.S. charts, peaking at number 52, but the album never
cracked the charts. It was a completely different story in England,
as Blur had a string of hit singles, including the ballad "To the
End" and the mod anthem "Parklife," which featured narration by Phil
Daniels, the star of the film version of the Who's Quadrophenia.
With the success of Parklife, Blur opened the door for a flood of
British indie guitar bands who dominated British pop culture in the
mid-'90s. Oasis, Elastica, Pulp, the Boo Radleys, Supergrass, Gene,
Echobelly, Menswear, and numerous other bands all benefited from the
band's success. By the beginning of 1995, Parklife had gone triple
platinum and the band had become superstars. The group spent the
first half of 1995 recording their fourth album and playing various
one-off concerts, including a sold-out stadium show. Blur released
"Country House," the first single from their new album, in August
amidst a flurry of media attention because Albarn had the single's
release moved up a week to compete with the release of "Roll With
It," a new single from Blur's chief rivals, Oasis. The strategy
backfired. Although Blur won the battle, with "Country House"
becoming the group's first number one single, they ultimately lost
the war, as Oasis became Britain's biggest band with their second
album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, completely overshadowing
the follow-up to Parklife, The Great Escape. While The Great Escape
entered the U.K. charts at number one and earned overwhelmingly
positive reviews, it sold in smaller numbers, and by the beginning
of 1996, Blur was seen as has-beens, especially since they once
again failed to break the American market, where Oasis had been
particularly successful.
In the face of negative press and weak public support, Blur nearly
broke up in early 1996, but they instead decided to spend the entire
year out of the spotlight. By the end of the year, Albarn was
declaring that he was no longer interested in British music and was
fascinated with American indie rock, a genre that Graham Coxon had
been supporting for years. These influences manifested themselves on
Blur's fifth album, Blur, which was released in February of 1997 to
generally positive reviews. The band's reinvention wasn't greeted
warmly in the U.K. -- the album and its first single, "Beetlebum,"
debuted at number one and quickly fell down the charts -- as the
group's mass audience didn't completely accept their new
incarnation. However, the band's revamped sound earned them an
audience in the U.S., where Blur received strong reviews and became
a moderate hit, thanks largely to the popularity of the single "Song
2." The success in America eventually seeped over to Britain, and by
the spring, the album had bounced back up the charts. 13 followed in
1999.