Ongoing History Daily: Blur facts

Blur has been with us since 1988 and were one of the two biggest bands of the Britpop era (Oasis being the other one). Here are a few miscellaneous facts about them.

(1) Singer Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon met when they were 11. Around the same time, Coxon was a guest on the BBC kids’ show, Blue Peter.

(2) The first band Damon and Graham were in was called Real Lives. Graham played the saxophone as well as the guitar.

And (3) in December 1988, Damon and Graham were in a band called Circus, which also featured drummer Dave Rowntree. When bass player Alex James joined up, they changed their name to Seymour. When they got the attention of a record company, the promise was they’d sign the group but only if they changed their name. Seymour was presented with a list of possible names to choose from and the only one that appealed to them was “Blur.”