Blur released Parklife: April 25, 1994

Originally posted April 25, 2012.

In the summer after Parklife was released, Britpop reached a feverish peak with the Blur vs. Oasis battle. The only the thing the bands truly shared, “apart from their public loathing of each other, was their preoccupation with the sixties, with the former attempting to re-write the entire Beatles back catalogue while Blur revived the archetypical English whimsy and art school artifice of The Kinks.” ^PR

However, “Blur’s admiration of The Kinks isn’t as blatant as their rivals’ fixation for The Fab Four.” ^PR While previous album “Modern Life Is Rubbish established Blur as the heir to the archly British pop of the Kinks, the Small Faces, and the Jam” ^AMG, Parklife “revealed the depth of that transformation” ^AMG by serving up “more eccentricity and more focused evocations of everyday life than Oasis’s work.” ^TB “The ghost of Ray Davies can be heard on the character sketch Tracy Jacks and there are echoes of the similarly styled Small Faces in the title track,” ^PR a “mod anthem” ^AMG in which Phil Daniels, the star of Quadrophenia, “lends his broadest ‘sarf London’ accent.” ^PR

Parklife

However, the band doesn’t just utilize “Ray Davies’ seriocomic social commentary” ^AMG; “Parklife runs through the entire history of post-British Invasion Britpop in the course of 16 songs, touching on psychedelia, synth pop, disco, punk, and music hall along the way.” ^AMG “From the fairground-style dembellishments and novelty instrumentation to the flirtations with punk and psych-pop, Parklife constantly surprises with its diversity of material and infectious good humour.” ^PR “Damon Albarn even manages a fair stab at Syd Barrett on Far Out.” ^PR

Indeed, Albarn “intended these songs to form a sketch of British life in the mid-‘90s, and it’s startling how close he came to his goal; not only did the bouncy, disco-fied Girls & Boys and singalong chant Parklife become anthems in the U.K., but they inaugurated a new era of Britpop and lad culture, where British youth celebrated their country and traditions.” ^AMG However, it was still “a thoroughly modern record in that it bends genres and is self-referential.” ^AMG “And, by tying the past and the present together, Blur articulated the mid-‘90s zeitgeist and produced an epoch-defining record.” ^AMG

Girls and Boys

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Awards:

• one of the top 1000 albums of all time
• BBC Top 100 Albums
• Brits Award for Best British Album
• Q Magazine’s Top 100 Albums of All Time
• one of the top 100 albums of the 1990s

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Resources and Related Links:

• DMDB page for Parklife
• Blur’s DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry
• ^AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
• ^PR Paul Roland (2001). CD Guide to Pop & Rock. B.T. Batsford LTD: London. Page 32.
• ^TB Thunder Bay (2005). Albums: The Stories Behind 50 Years of Great Recordings. Thunder Bay Press; San Diego, CA. Page 273.

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Blur “Girls and Boys” released

Girls and Boys Blur

Writer(s): Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James, Dave Rowntree (see lyrics here) Released: March 7, 1994 First Charted: March 19, 1994 Peak: 59 US, 59 CB, 38 RR, 4 MR, 5 UK, 19 AU 12 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.6 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 49.8 video, 168.91 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The rock band Blur formed in London in 1988 with singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James, and drummer Dave Rowntree. Their debut album, 1991’s Leisure connected to the Madchester and shoegazing scenes of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s while their second album, 1993’s Modern Life Is Rubbish, showcased them more as a guitar pop group. With their third album, 1994’s Parklife, Blur established themselves as one of the pillars of the Britpop movement of the 1990s. It became their best-selling album in the UK with more than a million sold. It was their first of seven consecutive albums to top the UK charts. The album produced four top-20 singles in the UK, with the lead single, “Girls and Boys,” being the most successful. Blur didn’t generate as much of an audience in the United States, although this song was one of a handful to reach the alternative rock chart, becoming their biggest hit. Damon Albarn was inspired to write the song while on vacation in Spain where he saw what he called “a rampant sexual scene among visitors.” WK Songfacts.com called it “a send-up of the hedonistic club culture of the ‘90s” SF which “deals with sexual roles, and freedom of sexual preference.” SF Radiohead’s Thom Yorke said it is one of the songs he wished he’d written. SF Graham Coxon said audiences responded to “Girls and Boys” because “there’s nothing too complicated about it and it’s got a chanty sort of chorus.” SF Alex James described itas “disco drums, nasty gutiars and Duran Duran bass.” WK Billboard’s Larry Flick said it was “a detour into clubland with an amusing, word-twisting ditty fleshed out with a trance-like synth energy and a hard, syncopated beat, courtesy of the Pet Shop Boys.” WK Vibe’s James Hunter called it “a brilliant turn on new wave disco that boasts the year’s best bent guitars.” WK British music magazines NME and Melody Maker both named “Girls and Boys” the single of the year. It was nominated for best song at the MTV Europe Music Awards. AllMusic.com’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine said the song was “undeniably catchy” and “one of the best Blur ever recorded.” WK Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 8/24/2023.

Prince’s Parade released

Parade Prince & the Revolution

Released: March 31, 1986 Charted: April 19, 1986 Peak: 3 US, 4 UK, 11 CN, 8 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 2.11 US, 0.3 UK, 4.5 world (includes US and UK), 9.99 EAS Genre: R&B/funk

Tracks: Click on individual song titles for more details, including songwriters, recording and release dates, chart peaks, versions recorded by other artists, and basic information aobout the song. Christopher Tracy’s Parade [2:11] New Position [2:20] I Wonder U [1:39] Under the Cherry Moon [2:57] Girls & Boys [5:29] Life Can Be So Nice [3:13] Venus de Milo [1:55] Mountains [3:57] Do U Lie? [2:44] Kiss [3:37] Anotherloverholenyohead [4:00] Sometimes It Snows in April [6:48] Total Running Time: 40:57 Other Songs from This Era: Sexual Suicide [3:40] (recorded 8/10/1985 and 8/11/1985) The Screams of Passion (recorded 9/9/1985) Dream Factory [3:07] (recorded Dec. 1985) A Honest Man [1:13] (recorded 12/17/1985) Last Heart (recorded 1/12/1986) Love or Money (♥ or $) (recorded Jan. 1986) The Players: Prince (vocals, instruments) Lisa Coleman (backing vocals, keyboards) Wendy Melvoin (backing vocals, guitar) Dr. Fink (keyboards) Mark Brown (bass) Bobby Z (drums, percussion) Sheila E. (backing vocals, drums, percussion) Eric Leeds (saxophone) Atlanta Bliss (trumpet)

Rating: 4.101 out of 5.00 (average of 27 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album Prince’s last album with the Revolution also served as the soundtrack to Under the Cherry Moon, a movie starring and directed by Prince. “Undaunted by the criticism Around the World in a Day received, Prince continued to pursue his psychedelic inclinations on Parade” AM instead of the “guitar and rock elements of…1984 album Purple Rain,” WK which made him a superstar. The album gave prince his third #1 hit with “Kiss.” However, none of the other singles reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. Still, the album was a commercial success reaching #3 and going double platinum in the United States. It also restored some of the critical acclaim that had slipped with Around the World in a Day. NME and The Village Voice named Parade the album of the year. WK PopMatters.com’s Quentin B. Huff said it “doesn’t sound like anything else in the Prince canon. The album is a blend of jazz, soul, and a certain French undercurrent, probably absorbed from the film being set in France.” WK The Sunday Times called its musical scope “stunning” WK and the Detroit Free Press called it “a confirmation of Prince’s place as a superior melodist, arranger, and player, as well as a celebration of his creativity.” WK “Prince & the Revolution shift musical moods and textures from song to song.” AM “The amount of ground they cover in 12 songs is truly remarkable.” AM “The album sees Prince further diversifying musically, adding orchestrations to his music.” WK Although this was a regular-length release, it “has the sprawling feel of a double record,” which was the original plan. AM “If it had been expanded to a double album, Parade would have equaled the subsequent Sign ‘O’ the Times, but as it stands, it’s an astonishingly rewarding near-miss.” AM The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Christopher Tracy’s Parade Prince & the Revolution

Writer(s): Prince, John L. Nelson Recorded: April 17-19 and 22-24, 1985, December 1985, and January 1986 at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles Released: Parade (1986) About the Song: The album starts off with “the fluttering psychedelia of Christopher Tracy’s Parade.” AM

New Position Prince & the Revolution

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: April 17-19, 1985 and 4/23/1985 at at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles; November 1985 at Advision Studios in London Released: Parade (1986) About the Song: The “spare, jazzy funk of New Position” follow-up the psychedelic opener. AM

I Wonder U Prince & the Revolution

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: April 17-19, 1985 and 4/22/1985 at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles; 6/24/1985 at Monterey Sound Studios in Glendale, CA Released: Parade (1986) About the Song: “New Position” “morphs into the druggy I Wonder U.” AM

Under the Cherry Moon Prince & the Revolution

Writer(s): Prince, John L. Nelson Recorded: April 17-19, 1985 and 4/24/1985 at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles; 6/24/1985 at Monterey Sound Studios in Glendale, CA Released: Parade (1986)

Girls & Boys Prince & the Revolution

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: July 8-9, 1985 at Washington Avenue Warehouse in Edina, MN Released: 8/4/1986 as a single, Parade (1986), Girl 6 (soundtrack), 4Ever (2016) B-Side: “Under the Cherry Moon” / “Erotic City” / “She’s Always in My Hair” (UK), “17 Days” (UK) Peak: 11 UK, 14 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 5.14 video, 6.84 streaming About the Song: Prince & Co. are “determined not to play it safe, even on the hard funk of Girls and Boys and Mountains.” AM

Life Can Be So Nice Prince & the Revolution

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: 4/17/1985 and 4/22/1985 at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles Released: Parade (1986)

Venus de Milo Prince & the Revolution

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: 7/11/1985 at Washington Avenue Warehouse in Edlina, MN; 8/13/1986 at Monterey Sound Studios in Glendale, CA Released: Parade (1986) About the Song: “All of the group’s musical adventures, even the cabaret-pop of Venus de Milo and Do U Lie? do nothing to undercut the melodicism of the record.” AM

Mountains Prince & the Revolution

Writer(s): Prince, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman Recorded: 11/30/1985 and December 1985 at Washington Avenue Warehouse in Edina, MN Released: 5/7/1986 as a single, Parade (1986), 4Ever (2016) B-Side: “Alexa de Paris” Peak: 23 BB, 19 CB, 23 GR, 21 RR, 15 RB, 45 UK, 45 AU, 18 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 5.8 video, 7.94 streaming About the Song: Prince & Co. are “determined not to play it safe, even on the hard funk of Girls and Boys and Mountains.” AM

Do U Lie? Prince & the Revolution

Writer(s): Prince & the Revolution Recorded: July 1985 at Washington Avenue Warehouse in Edina, MN; August 1985 at Monterey Sound Studios in Glendale, CA Released: Parade (1986) About the Song: “All of the group’s musical adventures, even the cabaret-pop of Venus de Milo and Do U Lie? do nothing to undercut the melodicism of the record.” AM

Kiss Prince & the Revolution

Writer(s): Prince, arranged by David Z (see lyrics here) Recorded: April 27-28, 1985 and January 14-22, 1986 at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles Released: 2/5/1986 as a single, Parade (1986), The Hits 2 (1993), The Very Best of (2001), extended version: Ultimate (2006), 4Ever (2016) B-Side: “♥ or $” Peak: 12 BB, 12 BA, 12 CB, 2 GR, 11 RR, 14 RB, 6 UK, 4 CN, 2 AU, 6 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 2.47 US, 0.4 UK, 2.87 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 93.97 video, 508.74 streaming Covered by: Art of Noise with Tom Jones (charted 10/29/1988, 31 BB, 37 CB, 35 GR, 33 RR, 14 MR, 5 UK, 8 AU, 27 DF) About the Song: “The stunning Kiss” AM was the lead single from Prince’s eighth album, Parade. It “hits hard with just a dry guitar, keyboard, drum machine, and layered vocals.” AM Warner Bros. wasn’t sold on the song, but Prince insisted it be added to Parade and be released as a single. It marked his third trip to the pinnacle of the Billboard Hot 100, after 1984’s “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy.” This was his eighth top 10 hit and “one of the finest songs in Prince’s oeuvre.” TB The song was originally intended for the debut album for funk band Mazarati, formed by Mark Brown (aka “Brownmark”), who was the bassist with the Revolution. He asked Prince for a song and Prince “dashed off a minute-long bluesy acoustic demo for them.” SF Producer David Z worked on the song with the band, “giving it an irresistible funk groove.” SF Once Prince heard it, he took the song back, putting his vocals on the track but retained David Z’s “unique, funky rhythm and background vocal arrangement, along with Mazarati’s background vocals.” WK Brown told Uncut magazine that he let Prince have the song back because he was promised a songwriting credit, which would result in a big payday. The band, however, was not pleased and Brown didn’t get a credit or payment. He said, “I quit the band shortly after that. He treated me so bad.” SF This song prevented another Prince-penned song from reaching #1 – the Bangles’ “Manic Monday” stalled at #2 behind “Kiss.” It made him only the fifth songwriter (or songwriting team) to hold down the top two spots. FB Tom Jones and Art of Noise had a hit (#5 UK, #31 US) with their cover of “Kiss” in 1988. Maroon 5 covered the song for their deluxe edition of their Overexposed album. The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Song and won for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Anotherloverholen yohead Prince & the Revolution

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: December 16-17, 1985 at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles; January 1986 at Monterey Sound Studios in Glendale, California Released: 7/2/1986 as a single, Parade (1986) B-Side: “Girls and Boys” (US), “I Wanna Be Your Lover” (UK) Peak: 63 BB, 74 CB, 18 RB, 36 UK, 13 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 4.0 video, 6.8 streaming

Sometimes It Snows in April Prince & the Revolution

Writer(s): Prince, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman Recorded: 4/21/1985 at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles; 7/27/1985 at Monterey Sound Studios in Glendale, CA; November 1985 at Advision Studios in London Released: Parade (1986) About the Song: “Even with all of its attributes, Parade is a little off-balance, stopping too quickly to give the haunting closer, Sometimes It Snows in April, the resonance it needs. For some tastes, it may also be a bit too lyrically cryptic, but Prince’s weird religious and sexual metaphors develop into a motif that actually gives the album weight.” AM

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine FB Fred Bronson (2007). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (4th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 633. BC Benoit Clerc (2022). Prince: All the Songs – The Story Behind Every Track. Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.: Great Britain PV PrinceVault.com SF Songfacts page for “Kiss’ TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 222. WK Wikipedia page for Around the World in a Day WK Wikipedia page for “Kiss” Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/23/2008; last updated 7/27/2025.