The group released the single ” Popscene ” to coincide with the start of the tour. Featuring “a rush of punk guitars, ’60s pop hooks, blaring British horns, controlled fury, and postmodern humor”, “Popscene” was a turning point for the band musically. However, upon its release it only charted at…
Read More
During the two-month American tour, the band became increasingly unhappy, often venting frustrations on each other, leading to several physical confrontations. The band members were homesick; Albarn said, “I just started to miss really simple things … I missed everything about England so I started writing songs which created an…
Read More
NME magazine wrote in 1991, “[Blur] are [the] acceptable pretty face of a whole clump of bands that have emerged since the whole Manchester thing started to run out of steam.”
The band’s third single, ” Bang “, performed relatively disappointingly, reaching only number 24. Andy Ross and Food owner David Balfe were convinced Blur’s best course of action was to continue drawing influence from the Madchester genre. Blur attempted to expand their musical sound, but the recording of the group’s…
Read More
In October 1990, after their tour was over, Blur released the single ” She’s So High “, which reached number 48 in the UK singles chart .
Food Records finally signed the rechristened band in March 1990.
From March to July 1990, Blur toured Britain, opening for the Cramps , and testing out new songs.
In November, Food Records ‘ A&R representative Andy Ross attended a Seymour performance that convinced him to court the group for his label.
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 .
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 .