Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #179381 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Surfing the trouser wave of "baggy" music, Blur burped on to the British pop scene with the single "There's No Other Way" in 1991, promptly vanished, and resurfaced several years later with the album Park Life. This time for good. Stuart Maconie's 3862 Days, covering the duration between the band's formation as Seymour and the publication of this book, is the first fully comprehensive biography of the art group from Essex, more famously known as Blur. Park Life launched a thousand pseudo-cockney choruses of "All the people, so many people, they all go hand in hand, hand in hand through their parklife". Three years later the same crowds cried endless "Woo Hoo's" followed by a bout of misheard lyrics from the thrashy "Song 2" from the group's eponymous fifth album. But Blur are much more than masters of the catchy tune and have consistently redefined the boundaries of pop to great success. The recent 13 embraced experimentation to critical and popular acclaim while Park Life heralded the phenomenon "Britpop", the fleeting moment when British music reawakened and once again became the envy of the world. A fascinating part of 3862 Days explores this period and the largely media-fabricated rivalry between Blur and northern lads Oasis. Beginning with a war of words and a head-to-head chart battle in August 1995, the feud culminated with Noel Gallagher's outspoken desire for both Damon Albarn and Alex James to die of AIDS-related illnesses.

Flaunting official status, the book could easily sell itself on fresh interviews alone, with band members and key players block quoted throughout. These give the lowdown on Albarn's public romance and break-up with Justine Frischmann of Elastica, Graham Coxen's hatred of commercialism, Alex James's lust for the ultimate popstar life and his laddish activities with actor Keith Allen and artist Damien Hirst (all to Coxen's horror and disgust), and Dave Rowntree, well, er, he's the drummer. Enough said. Maconie, music journalist and radio presenter, has followed Blur since their early days and vividly pieces together the group's history. He writes with an enthusiastic and sharp style and offers incisive reviews of the music, peppered with just enough cynicism and a dash of acerbic wit. For the blurb on Blur, 3862 Days is a definitive memoir. --Robert Brookes

Synopsis
Named after the length of time between the members' first rehearsal in 1988 and its publication, this work follows Blur from their origins as a shambolic alcoholic Colchester art band named Seymour, right through to their current status among the darlings of Britpop.

Customer Reviews

Excellent - Stuart Maconie knows his Blur
I'm a bit of a Blur completist and get hold of just about every product they bring out - including this. The fact that the book is written by Stuart Maconie adds instant cred. He has supported the band and practicularly "stalked" them on tour and in the recording studio from the start - if anybody knows their story, he does. He is obviously a big mate of the band as is evident from the epilogue where he writes about having dinner with Damon and looking around Alex's flat, yet he manages to avoid heaping too much praise on everything the band have ever written - probably because not everything they've released has been completely great. What this book does give you is the story of how Seymour became Blur, how they have so far released six albums (Maconie comments on just about every track on every album which are the bits of the book I found particularly interesting), the whole Oasis thing plus how Damon found success with the classic 'Parklife' album but was at the same time cracking-up. Nice cartoons, embarassing school photos, even a cover designed by Graham make this worth getting hold of. Good title too. Out of all Blur's 10th Anniversary Celebrations (the box-set, the exhibition, the gigs, the DVD...) this book was probably the best thing to come out of it all.

This is most certainly not a low
This book is fantastic. I've been a fan of Blur since 1992, and this book is perfect for any long serving fan, but also offers tremendous insight for the uninitiated many, who will put this book down having gained a whole new idea of who Blur are. The detail included doesn't decrease its readability, and is credit to Maconie for his editing from what must have been hundreds of hours of interviews. A Fitting book for a top band.

A must have for every blur fan
this book has quotes and mixed fellings from all for members of the fab group also commments from behind the scenes people. an excellent insiders view of blur growing up and graham and alex at goldsmiths-great!