‘Graham was keen, Damon less so': Dave Rowntree on his early snaps of Blur
Dave Rowntree, drummer and founder member of Blur, brought his camera along to all of the band's first adventures. He captured up-close and personal pictures of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and himself during the thrilling early stages of the band's rise to the top. 'This was on the tube on the way to the studio,' says Rowntree of this image. 'Given the haircuts it was probably Maison Rouge in Chelsea.' No One You Know, published by Hero, is available to preorder now
Rowntree was a member of Blur before they were called Blur, joining up with Albarn and Coxon when they were in various bands in Colchester in the late 1980s
After James stepped in as bassist, Blur went on to become one of the most innovative and successful UK bands of all time: helping to create Britpop and then moving on from it in a way that no other band has achieved
Rowntree created a one-of-its kind document showing what it's really like to be in a young band during the vital first few years, when everything is new, romantic and fresh
Rowntree: 'Around the time the band started I bought an Olympus OM-10 camera and started documenting our day-to-day lives. Graham was keen, Damon sometimes less so'
These images were taken during Blur's debut tours of the US and Japan, as well as in the studio in the UK. We see them playing games in the tour bus, larking around backstage, messing about in hotel rooms, at video shoots, with fans and friends. 'Smoking was the national pastime in Japan in the 1990s so Graham and I felt very much at home,' says Rowntree. 'You could even smoke on JAL, the national airline. Then you couldn't, and it was time to quit'
'Word got out that we were playing an acoustic gig at a Tokyo radio station. We had to be smuggled out through a record shop at the back of the building'
'I became obsessed with Pachinko – a Japanese version of bagatelle. The parlours are stuffed to the gills with machines, and the noise of thousands of clattering metal balls and the electronic bleeps of the machines is overwhelming'
'Japanese gigs start very early so the audience can catch the train home. It was a joy for us, because we could go out for dinner after the show'
'I bought a new lens for my camera, and there was something seriously wrong with it. If I put the background out of focus the lens made these lush spirals. Eventually it fell to bits in my hand, which was a shame'
'Backstage before a show. To be honest, dressing rooms aren't much better now, though the rider has improved beyond a bag of Wotsits'
'An early selfie, taken long before it was fashionable. Virgin Airlines to Japan – luxury to help offset the excruciating jet lag to follow'
'Japanese fans liked to give us bags of presents and we loved to receive them. We couldn't meet everyone in person, so we'd ask the crew to go out after a show on a 'present run''
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
35 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The 1975 at Glastonbury review – amid the irony, ego and pints of Guinness, this is a world-class band
The 1975's first Glastonbury headlining slot arrives preceded by some intriguing rumours about what's going to happen. Some fairly eye-popping figures are being bandied about regarding the cost of their set's staging – which allegedly vastly outweighs the fee the band are being paid – while one dubious online source insists Healy has shaved his head for the occasion. He hasn't (he appears onstage tonsorially intact), but clearly large sums of money have been spent somewhere along the way. What ensues isn't quite as complex as their last tour, which featured lead singer Matty Healy eating raw steak, doing push ups, climbing through a television and Prince Andrew's face appearing on a bank of television screens accompanied by the strains of Mahler's 5th Symphony. Nevertheless, there are huge video screens everywhere: not just behind the band, but above them and at either side of the stage, and indeed below the actual video screens that Glastonbury traditionally provides. The treadmill that ran across the front of the stage during their 2018 tour – there for Healy to glide around on, something he does with admirable insouciance – makes a reappearance, while, for reasons that aren't entirely clear, the rear half of a car makes an appearance stage right at one point. Healy sings from within it. The screens alternately bathe the stage in white or pink light, show Adam Curtis-esque montages of news footage, flash up lyrics as Healy sings them – a good idea in the case of Part of the Band, a song packed with authentically funny lines. But this being the 1975, never a band to miss the opportunity to make a meta point about being in a band, they also flash up critiques of Healy's lyrics – 'MINDLESS HOLLERING' – and more generally, of the 1975 themselves: 'They're essentially making robotic Huey Lewis tunes' is a particularly cutting judgement on the band's signature synth-heavy, pastel-hued 80s pop-rock-influenced sound. Later, the screens render their lyrics as meaningless gibberish by displaying what it sounds like he's singing – 'oh mah hez smell like chocolate'. And this is done immediately after Healy informs the audience that he's 'the greatest songwriter of my generation … a poet'. 'I was only joking,' he adds later, although his talent as a frontman is less open to question: there's something gripping about the way he switches from straightforward 'Glastonbury-are-you-with-us?' enthusiasm to role-playing as a raddled, tormented pop star, pint in one hand, cigarette in the other. He makes earnest pronouncements about the lasting friendships at the centre of the band and is seemingly astonished at the size of the crowd: 'Oh Jesus,' he mutters as the lights reveal its full extent, 'yeah, it's normal, it's fine'. But then, there'll be arched-eyebrow examinations of his own genius, from posing to dancing with wild enthusiasm. It's a show that's frequently strange and self-deprecating – an intriguingly different approach to the business of headlining the world's biggest music festival – although it runs the risk of the actual music they make getting lost somewhere amid the visual bombardment and commentary. Happily, their set also functions as a reminder that behind all the irony, the 1975 are impressively skilled at the prosaic business of writing songs. If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know) or She's American have pop-facing melodies strong enough to shine through. The one point where the staging seems to overwhelm the show itself is during a lengthy interlude when the band vanish from the stage entirely and the message 'Matty is changing his trousers' flashes on to the screen. It's a very risky move indeed at a festival where there's always something else you could be watching: a minor exodus duly takes place in the audience. But when they return they start rolling out the big hits: It's Not Living (If It's Not With You), Sex, Love It If We Made It's dense parade of millennial angst, the gleaming pop of The Sound. It ends with About You's appropriately epic balladry, and the members of the 1975 embracing each other, apparently genuinely emotional: a straightforward conclusion to a bold, experimental, occasionally confounding, but ultimately hugely impressive performance.
The Independent
36 minutes ago
- The Independent
Victoria Beckham teases David after husband returns from surgery
Victoria Beckham shared an Instagram video teasing her husband David Beckham following his recent wrist surgery. The video shows David Beckham, wearing a sling, at home inspecting a bowl of vegetables. Victoria playfully commented on his 'over-performing on the cucumber front' while he held a cucumber. David Beckham underwent surgery to repair a wrist injury he sustained during a 2003 football match between England and South Africa. Watch the video in full above.
BBC News
36 minutes ago
- BBC News
Leeds Playhouse theatre sells off 50 years worth of costumes
Thousands of handmade outfits have gone on sale as part of Leeds Playhouse's first ever costume from shows including Little Shop of Horrors, The Sound of Music, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Wizard of Oz, will be available to purchase, with a starting price for some items of just £ Marzetti, head of costume at Leeds Playhouse, said Saturday's sale was a result of the theatre running out of space."We wanted to make sure the costumes had a future life. Some things have been here since Leeds Playhouse began over 50 years ago and they are still in really beautiful condition," she said. Money from the sale, which runs from 09:30 to 16:00 BST at the Barber Studio, will go towards future theatre productions. "You can get things from £1 up to a caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland, which is £250. But it is beautiful and one off," said Ms Marzetti."We've got some beautiful costumes from Into the Woods, which we loved working on. They were beautiful things to make, but they are so specific to the show that we're going to sell them. They're not cheap but they are beautiful."We've got some My Fair Lady ballgowns going in and we've got Toad from Wind in the Willows' three-piece suit." Perusing the sale on Friday, director Ian Wilson from theatre company Curtain Up Productions said he was looking for something specific."We're producing White Christmas at Christmas in Ilkley and we knew the Playhouse did White Christmas a few years ago so we've come into see what they've got and they have the entire selection," he said."We've got an entire rail of stuff that's going to get a second life."Ms Marzetti said the sale was not just for theatre companies, but for those looking for Halloween costumes, something to jazz up their regular wardrobe or even a wedding dress."If you want something covered in blood, we've got a whole section of that. We've got circus and panto and a lot of cos play and period costumes," she said."If anybody's going to a festival and wants to dress up we've got lots of glitzy things and furry things for them to wear." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
