Wetherspoons are the Wal-Mart of English pubs. They crop up all over the place, gobbling up local, family owned establishments. On principle, you want to shun Wetherspoons in favor of a more authentic establishment, but the dirt cheap drink specials are nearly impossible to resist.
I felt slightly guilty the first time I went into a Wetherspoons pub, but I was soon won over by the hip, new décor, fantastic location next to Camden Lock, and inexpensive drinks. The main thing that impressed me about my first trip to Wetherspoons was the music videos they were playing. I love Blur, Pulp, and other BritPop bands, but, living in America, I had never seen their videos. In fact, I hardly thought of Blur as real people since the only pictures I’d seen of the band were the cartoon renderings of Damon, Graham, Alex, and Dave that adorn the Best of Blur CD. A giant version of this iconic image even hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. So, when the video for "Park Life" came on, I was transfixed. Rarely had I seen so much cuteness on screen.
One of the first purchases I made when I returned to the States was a VHS copy of The Best of Blur, a collection of 22 music videos from one of the best bands of the nineties. Unlike the CD, this video follows the band chronologically, from their boyish, low-tech early videos (“She’s So High”) to their cutting edge, award-winning films (“The Universal,” “Coffee and TV,” “Parklife”). For the ten years this collection spans, Blur remains original and adorable. Frontman Damon Albarn is one of the most beautiful men ever to walk this planet.
The Best of Blur contains basic liner notes with the writers (all the songs were written by Blur), video directors, chart positions, and, if applicable, awards and nominations of all the songs.
In the primitive “She’s So High,” which kicks off this video collection, Damon and Graham look younger than their 22 and 21 years, respectively. The pseudo-psychedelic video has the lads mugging for the camera amidst cheesy, neon lights. Damon looks silly in his bowl haircut in “She’s So High” and the next video “There’s No Other Way,” which features Blur sitting around the dinner table of an upper-middle class family eating a massive meal. For such a skinny bunch, a lot of Blur’s videos and songs involve food! Their label is even called Food Records. Graham, in round glasses, looks just like Harry Potter, and Damon tries to be sullen and creepy by glaring at the camera, but he is overshadowed by the video’s freaky twins.
“Bang,” which isn’t on the Best of Blur CD is about the passage of time, so, fittingly, it uses “Ray of Light” style fast-motion photography to show various London landmarks such as Tower Bridge, Tottenham Court Road, Centre Point, and double-decker buses. Damon has cut his hair and looks gorgeous, as he will in every video from now on -- with the exception of “No Distance Left to Run.” Unfortunately, “Bang” is in black and white, so we can’t see the brilliant red of the buses and blue of Damon’s eyes.
I don’t need anyone, but a little love will make things better, goes the refrain with typical Blur ambivalence. In the grand tradition of The Smiths, Blur is adept at making sad songs with cheerful melodies.
“For Tomorrow,” also shot in black and white, is very similar to “Bang,” as we see Damon riding around London on the back of a bus, Trafalgar Square, and people of all walks of life singing along to the “La, la, la-la-la” refrain. I’m very jealous of the woman who gets to roll down Primrose Hill with Damon at the end.
Continuing the nature and outdoors theme is “Chemical World” in which the boys lounge around in impossibly green field with cows and rabbits. Alex looks ridiculous in tight, black denim shorts.
Oddly enough, three of the videos -- “Popscene,” “Beetlebum,” and “Song 2”-- have the band performing against a backdrop of Oriental rugs. In the cheesy “Popscene,” the band’s name is spelled out in lights on the rug, and we also see tacky people getting ready for a date. The drugged-out “Beetlebum” features a scruffy Damon rolling around on the carpet and a stoner-friendly sequence of space imagery. I wonder if they used the same rugs for the next single, “Song 2,” which shows the boys being subjected to wind machines that smash them into the rug-covered walls.
“Sunday Sunday” and “Parklife” are silly videos that must have been a blast to make, as is “On Your Own,” which was shot in a desert. In the latter, Dave hides in a bunker, and Damon, wearing an L.L. Cool J style fuzzy hat, prances around pretending to be a hip-hop star. The best silly video is probably “Country House,” and not just because it shows Damon in the bath. A highlight is the visual spoof on “Bohemian Rhapsody” during the bridge, “Blow, blow me out / I am so sad I don’t know why.”
The funniest video, in my opinion, is “Charmless Man,” in which the band torments a yuppie by following him around.
Mirroring the song’s content, “Boys and Girls” is intentionally tacky and low quality, and it grosses me out. Videos involving men in Speedos should be banned. The aforementioned “charmless man” wears boxer briefs that are a bit sickening, as well.
“To the End” also does an excellent job matching the song’s tone. In this case, that means that the video is made in the tradition of French films of the 1930s. It’s a bit hard to follow the plot of the romance-turned-deadly, but style triumphs over substance in this Renoir-esque mini-film.
In “The Universal,” Blur turns its attention to another great director, Stanley Kubrick, as the band pays homage to A Clockwork Orange. In the paranoid, futuristic video, Damon wears eyeliner on just one eye and flashes his crooked teeth, which seem to have been doctored in this video to look more uneven.
“End of a Century” and “Stereotypes” are essentially the same -- live performances in front of gigantic crowds. “Tender” is monotonous, just like the song, which goes on for about two minutes too long. It’s simply studio footage of Blur with the extra musicians and gospel choir that round out the unique song.
“M.O.R.,” on the other hand, is an elaborate takeoff of a '70s heist movie with stunt doubles riding motorcycles and jet skis.
The only Blur video that got significant airplay in the USA was “Coffee and TV,” an unbearably cute story of a missing boy (Graham) who is tracked down by a milk carton that has his photo on it. MTV named it the best music video of 1999.
Fittingly, the final video in this collection is “No Distance Left to Run,” a song Damon wrote following his breakup with Elastica’s Justine Frischmann.
I won’t kill myself trying to stay in your life
I’ve got no distance left to run
The most poignant line of the song is:
I hope you’re with someone who makes you feel safe when you’re sleeping tonight
so, for the video, the band allows a crew to film them while they are asleep. The only interesting things that happen are that Alex coughs and we get to see Damon shirtless. In the morning, the crew wakes up Damon (“Good morning, sir”) and asks the disheveled band leader what the song is about. Groggy Damon mutters, “It’s definitely a sad song… It’s a warning and a kind of gentle reminder.” I wish he’d said more, but I guess Damon isn’t a morning person. Alas, that’s as close as I’ll get to being in bed with Damon Albarn.
Video Listing:
1. She's So High
2. There's No Other Way
3. Bang
4. Popscene
5. For Tomorrow
6. Chemical World
7. Sunday Sunday
8. Girls And Boys
9. To The End
10. Parklife
11. End Of A Century
12. Country House
13. The Universal
14. Stereotypes
15. Charmless Man
16. Beetlebum
17. Song 2
18. On Your Own
19. M.O.R.
20. Tender
21. Coffee And TV
22. No Distance Left To Run
This review is part of SpiderKid’s First Great British Write-Off. Go here if you want to join in.
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