A Bit of a Blur Trivia Quiz

Answer:

The Blur songs are, in chronological order: 'There's No Other Way', 'Popscene', 'Chemical World', 'Girls & Boys', 'Trouble in the Message Centre', 'The Universal', 'Song 2', 'Beetlebum', 'Coffee & TV', and 'Out of Time'.

'There's No Other Way' is a single from Blur's debut album 'Leisure'. It was Blur's second single, following their debut single 'She's So High', and was released in 1991. It was typical of the indie/alternative dance sound made by various bands at the time, such as Jesus Jones and the Soup Dragons. Blur were also accused of jumping on the 'baggy' bandwagon popularised by Manchester-based bands like the Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses.

'Popscene' is a standalone single, released in 1992, although it later appeared on remasters of 'Leisure'. It bridged the gap between 'Leisure' and 'Modern Life is Rubbish'. It had a much heavier sound than its predecessors and was criticised by both 'Melody Maker' and 'NME', but became a fan favourite. 'Popscene' charted at Number 32 and the band later blamed the popularity of Nirvana for the single's failure.

'Chemical World' is a single from Blur's second album 'Modern Life is Rubbish'. It was released in 1993. One of its B-sides, 'Never Clever', had been intended as a successor to 'Popscene', but was shelved. SBK, Blur's American label, commissioned it in the hope of making the album more appealing to the US market. Different versions appeared on different versions of the album; the UK version of 'Modern Life Is Rubbish' had a version of 'Chemical World' produced by Stephen Street, while the US version was the demo, reworked by Alan Winstanley and Clive Langer, and known as 'Chemical World (Reworked)' on later compilations.

'Girls & Boys' and 'Trouble in the Message Centre' are on Blur's third - and arguably, most famous - album 'Parklife'. 'Girls & Boys', the first single from 'Parklife', is about Club 18-30 package holidays (singer Damon Albarn wrote it while on holiday in Spain with his then girlfriend, Justine Frischmann), and was released in 1994. It peaked at Number Five on the UK Singles Chart, and the chorus was sampled by Pianoman for his 1996 single 'Blurred'. Drummer Dave Rowntree did not play on it; the band used a drum machine instead. 'Trouble in the Message Centre' is an album track, and my favourite song on the album.

'The Universal' is a single from Blur's fourth album 'The Great Escape'. Following 'Country House', the winner of the Britpop War with Oasis, it was released in late 1995 and had a video based on 'A Clockwork Orange', and a cover inspired by '2001: A Space Odyssey'. It peaked at Number Five on the UK Singles Chart.

'Beetlebum' is a single from Blur's self-titled fifth album. The band went in a heavier, more experimental and rock-inspired direction, inspired by guitarist Graham Coxon's love of American rock bands such as Pavement. 'Beetlebum' was released in 1997 and peaked at Number One on the UK Singles Chart (and when my then best friend told me the name of the song, I thought she was joking!) The song was inspired by Frischmann's heroin habit.

'Coffee & TV' is a single from Blur's sixth album '13'. It is the only single to be sung by Coxon (who also did the artwork), was written about his struggles with alcoholism, and has a video featuring the adventures of an adorable milk carton. It was released in 1999 and peaked at Number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. Many of the songs on '13' were inspired by Albarn's break-up with Frischmann.

'Out of Time' is a single from Blur's seventh album 'Think Tank', and the first album released after the departure of Coxon in 2002, who had been having problems with alcoholism and depression. It was released in 2003 and peaked at Number Five on the UK Singles Chart. The video for the song did not feature the band; instead, it consisted of footage from 'Warship', a BBC documentary about people serving on an American warship, with particular focus on a woman whose partner was serving on another ship.

The wrong answers are 'Animal Nitrate' (by Suede, whose singer Brett Anderson allegedly inspired Blur's 'Charmless Man'), 'Chasing Rainbows' (by Shed Seven), 'Connection' (by Elastica), 'Female of the Species' (by Space), 'For Love' (by Lush), 'Govinda' (by Kula Shaker), 'Inbetweener' (by Sleeper), 'Lipgloss' (by Pulp), 'Supersonic' and 'Whatever' (both by Blur's rivals Oasis).