i-want-more

You've taken the fun out of everything

I am reading Bit of a Blur by Alex James. I really enjoy these type of books. James is an interesting man. I once encountered him in the cloakroom queue at The Laurel Tree while at Blow Up, the popular indie/mod revival club night that was once the toast of London.

Blow Up was fun. It was always heaving with people, some of them proper scenesters, some of them common-or-garden punters up from the burbs, like me. The toilets used to block, overflow and run down the stairs like a particularly foul water feature. You could feel the floor in the upstairs room sagging dangerously while you were dancing. Occasionally you'd spot some minor indie royalty (Steve Diggle out of The Buzzcocks?!) and you'd feel thrilled that you were a mere 750 yards from the very centre of the universe, The Good Mixer on Inverness Street.

To reverse back a bit to Blur, Alex James wasn't the only member of said band that I encountered in the 1990s. One evening, when I was working at the theatre, I spied Damon in the Upper Circle. You couldn't really miss him. His gangly legs were sticking awkwardly out into the aisle. All of Blur are very tall men, they're like the polar opposite of the Small Faces...but I digress. At the time, I was confused that one of the country's biggest pop stars should be watching a West End musical.

Anyway, the poor bloke looked really bored. I decided to go and say hello to him before the start of the second act. I said something like "I'm a big fan" (reader, I know you have an impression of me as a cynic, but I genuinely was - Blur were at their best at this point) and asked for his autograph. He obliged, and asked me, "Exactly how much longer does this thing go on for?". I responded that the whole musical was three hours long, and to be honest, it would be better if he cut his losses, because it didn't get any better. He took my advice and left twenty minutes later.

My meeting of minds with Mr Albarn took place post-Parklife, but pre-Great Escape. A little while later, I read somewhere that Damon had planned the latter album to be a musical. I seem to recall, although it's some years since I've heard it, that it's a bit of a concept album about getting the success you crave and being alienated and unable to cope with it. Boo hoo!

So, what Damon was doing that evening was research, pure and simple. You can't knock him for that.

Labels: blur

posted by deafdisco @ 11:20 am