Merry Christmas to all of our readers! This article will be centered around the theme of Christmas and will feature some of Blur's holiday-related singles, videos, news and interesting facts. We will also feature several cool items, videos and facts for this year's Christmas season, as well as include some of our own Christmas banners, images and posters. And yes, everything is Blur-related.
1) The first product is a Blur calendar for 2013 , with large pictures of the band, group shots and scans of Damon Albarn in the monthly pages. It makes a nice present or a desktop essential for the year to come. You can order yours (£14.85 from Lulu) by clicking on the link below.
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| Available for purchase £14.85 from Lulu |
2) Christmas Milky template - the classic 'Coffee and TV' cutout designed by a fan many years ago was given a revamp, this time with a Christmas theme. Get out your scissors and tape, because it is time for a new Christmas DIY project! A forum member, notsoblurry, posted up a fantastic model of the finished product, which you can see below.
3) Shop for some official Blur merchandise - the official shop has stocked up with new gift bundles and packages, for a special price, just for this holiday. The packs include Parklive and Blur 21, as well as t-shirts, CDs and other merchandise worth the purchase for hard-core fans. Visit the official Blur store to check out the Christmas specials by clicking here.
Fun Blur Christmas facts-
1) In Christmas eve in December 1992, Blur were at their lowers point following poor record sales with their debut album 'Leisure'. They were on the verge of being dropped by their record label and in heavy debt, owing lots of money after touring the USA in the previous year.
Damon Albarn spent Christmas eve by getting himself drunk alone in his parent's house. On Christmas morning, his father woke up and heard him playing a melody on the piano - this song later became the hit single 'For Tomorrow' on Blur's second album 'Modern Life is Rubbish'.
1) In Christmas eve in December 1992, Blur were at their lowers point following poor record sales with their debut album 'Leisure'. They were on the verge of being dropped by their record label and in heavy debt, owing lots of money after touring the USA in the previous year.
Damon Albarn spent Christmas eve by getting himself drunk alone in his parent's house. On Christmas morning, his father woke up and heard him playing a melody on the piano - this song later became the hit single 'For Tomorrow' on Blur's second album 'Modern Life is Rubbish'.
3) Alex James made Christmas baubles in December 2008 in a campaign to get everyone recycling plastic. Alex created limited edition Christmas decorations for Coca Cola's campaign to raise awareness for plastic recycling, and each one sold contributed to a climate change charity. Good on Alex's humanitarian efforts, especially for the holidays! Check out the feature article here (with pics) .
4) Alex James' other band Fat Les wrote two Christmas songs - 'Naughty Christmas' and 'Carols on 45'. The British band consisted of bassist Alex, artist Damien Hirst and actor Keith Allen.
5) Damon also presented Top of the Pops in Christmas 1994. This was during the height of the britpop era and 'Parklife' success. Damon's hosting was extremely memorable - watch the video below.
5) Damon Albarn appeared briefly in the music video for the Band Aid 20 single in 2011, which was a song by various top musicians and artists collaborating for a cause. He made coffee in the video, and did not take part in the music.
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| Band Aid Damon |
And finally, some Christmas-related Blur videos.
1) The Wassailing Song - A Christmas song that was released as a limited edition CD, which was given away as a freebie in Hibernian Club, Fulham London, in 1992. Only 500 copies were pressed, but the barrier supposedly collapsed during the handout and a mad scramble took place. Fans who were lucky enough to grab their copy of the special single would later be pleased - it currently sells for £140 GBP each on ebay!
2) Don Quixote's Christmas Bonaza - a Gorillaz christmas tune. Did you know that Gorillaz's iPad album 'The Fall' was released as a free download on Christmas day in December 2010 ? The album was recorded using only the device and several beats, instrumental and recording apps, which ended up costing not more than a total of $120 ! Check out an article detailing all the apps Damon used for the special Christmas Gorillaz album here.
3) For Tomorrow - the quintessential track from Modern Life Is Rubbish. This is Damon Albarn's songwriting at it's best, written one lonely Christmas eve at home in front of his piano. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the song.
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| BlurBalls Christmas Logo - available on Deviantart |
