THE BALLAD OF DARREN,
by Blur
First impressions count, and in 1993, when waves of Britpop were breaking, Damon Albarn in a London hotel was impressive. Quick, clever, and speaking in that offhand Mockney many upper middleclass pop aspirants affect, Albarn discussed his clothes - Mod-referencing Fred Perry shirts, Doc Martens - as visual signifiers.
He also jabbed at peers such as Suede's Brett Anderson: "I have no ambiguous sexuality to exploit, nor any demons inside me. I'm quite a happy person." He wasn't in this for pop hits, he was here for a career, and he casually said, "I think I'm articulate enough to carry it off."
Blur embraced observational English songwriting (Syd Barrett, Ray Davies, Lennon-McCartney), but - at the instigation of guitarist Graham Coxon - sidestepped into American indie-rock, their Song 2 of 1997 punching out inUS sport stadia.
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