Blur Oasis on the cover of Melody Maker, 9th December 1995
March 16, 2010
Blur / Oasis on the cover of Melody Maker, 9th December 1995. Photo by Tom Sheehan.
So last night I saw the Blur doc, No Distance Left To Run which left me feeling a little disjointed. It’s hard to put my finger on why. I suppose, as the cliché goes, I’ve grown up with Blur. But it’s more than simple nostalgia. They’ve somehow bisected with my life in a way that no other band has and while I watched Blur’s youthful exuberance become slowly grubbied by alcohol, cynicism and (whisper it) heroin, I was repeatedly reminded of my various triumphs and failures. Mostly failures. Fuck it, it is just nostalgia isn’t it?
I was at art college in London in 1990, not Goldsmiths, but one very close by. One group of friends had come from Colchester art college and were good friends with Damon’s sister. One even ended up marrying her. It all came back last night and more.
I remember how I heard Leisure at a BBQ weeks before it was released. I remember Damon running off to get the tube after coming to our graduation show; and how shortly afterwards, Modern Life is Rubbish, ended up sound tracking my hateful commuter walk during the misery of my first full time job. I remember the lonely walks from Hackney to The Barbican on Sunday afternoons. I remember the Subterranea and how you could often find Damon puking his guts up in the toilets. I remember Britpop, the Loaded parties and the hangover that kicked in around 98 when we all suddenly realised we weren’t young anymore and had stopped talking to each other. I remember the scurrilous rumours, the friends boyfriend who’d shagged Justine and how I’ve had to leave that life behind me. I remember thinking how much they’d done and how little I’d done. I guess I felt sorry for myself.
But most of all…most of all, I remember thinking…make another fucking record.
Here’s a great recording of the pre-Blur Seymour, clips of which were shown in the doc.
Tagged: 1995, ageing, alcohol, blur, britpop, damon albarn, no distance left to run, nostalgia, oasis, tom sheehan
March 16, 2010 at 10:37 am
As well, but without the proximity. No Distance left me melancholy for days.
April 27, 2010 at 11:22 am
Same again here! I suppose there’s a period of a few years when you can really go wild, but then everybody strats calming down. The footage of Graham Coxon drunk in the dressing room circa the Great Escape was a bit unnerving.
Here’s what I had to say about the film on the Pin Ups blog:
I went to the Odeon Quay to see Blur’s No Distance Left to Run film. Obviously one for the fan nutters and in attendance were James and Mark of Juno, Manda Rin, and a whole load of chaps in Fred Perry (or Ned Perry as I call it – I was wearing the Ned Perry myself ha ha). Personally I thought the film was absolutely amazing – love, pain, regret, joy, happiness, friendship – it’s all in there.
May 18, 2010 at 3:45 pm
wow, this post is quite lovely
July 27, 2010 at 4:10 pm
When I’m rich and famous I will start collecting old Music Magazines! They’re so cool… (:
Regards,
The Oasis Discography Guy
August 11, 2010 at 6:03 am
Funny you should say that, I’ve started buying up old Select magazines on eBay – there’s a (very) long-term plan to scan them & put them online. Just this weekend a bunch arrived, and there’s a great early Oasis article that basically said: “Oasis are going to be huge. Why couldn’t it happen to a good band?”
They’re an absolute blast, a volume of pop history and great writing that needs to be archived. And as sources of dramatic irony go they can’t be beat.
March 19, 2011 at 10:17 pm
Wow. So many memories, so many issues that I once owned! Love it.