![]() Both singles were included on their 1991 Stephen Street-produced debut album, Leisure. "Shes So High," the groups first single, made it into the Top 50 while the follow-up, "Theres No Other Way," went Top Ten. From that list, the group took the name Blur. Balfe and Ross suggested that the band change its name, submitting a list of alternate names for the groups approval. 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. Originally called Seymour, the group was formed in London in 1989 by vocalist/keyboardist Albarn along with guitarist Graham Coxon and bassist Alex James, with drummer Dave Rowntree joining the lineup shortly afterward. But the bands legacy remained in Britain, where they helped revitalize guitar pop by skillfully updating the countrys pop traditions. 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. With Damon Albarns wry lyrics and the groups mastery of British pop tradition, Blur were 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. In the process, the group broke down the doors for a new generation of guitar bands that became labeled as Brit-pop. Following an image makeover in the mid-90s, the group emerged as the most popular band in the U.K., establishing itself as heir to the English guitar pop tradition of the Kinks, the Small Faces, the Who, the Jam, Madness, and the Smiths. Allmusic Biography : Initially, Blur were one of the multitude of British bands that appeared in the wake of the Stone Roses, mining the same swirling, pseudo-psychedelic guitar pop, only with louder guitars.
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