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Britpop

Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, in reaction to the darker lyrical themes and soundscapes of the US-led grunge music and the UK's own shoegaze music scene. The movement brought British alternative rock into the mainstream and formed the larger British popular cultural movement, Cool Britannia, which evoked the Swinging Sixties and the British guitar pop of that decade.

Britpop was a media-driven focus on bands which emerged from the independent music scene of the early 1990s. Although the term was viewed as a marketing tool, and more of a cultural moment than a musical style or genre, its associated bands typically drew from the British pop music of the 1960s, glam rock and punk rock of the 1970s and indie pop of the 1980s.

The most successful bands linked with Britpop were Oasis, Blur, Suede and Pulp, known as the movement's "big four", although Suede and Pulp distanced themselves from the term. The timespan of Britpop is generally considered to be 1993–1997, and its peak years to be 1995–1996. A chart battle between Blur and Oasis (dubbed "The Battle of Britpop") brought the movement to the forefront of the British press in 1995. While music was the main focus, fashion, art and politics also got involved, with Tony Blair and New Labour aligning themselves with the movement.

During the late 1990s, many Britpop acts began to falter commercially or break up, or otherwise moved towards new genres or styles. Commercially, Britpop lost out to teen pop, while artistically it segued into a post-Britpop indie movement, associated with bands such as Travis and Coldplay.

Style, roots and influences
Though Britpop has been seen in retrospect as a marketing tool, and more of a cultural moment than a musical style or genre, there are musical conventions and influences the bands grouped under the Britpop term have in common. Britpop bands show elements from the British pop music of the 1960s, glam rock and punk rock of the 1970s, and indie pop of the 1980s in their music, attitude, and clothing. Specific influences vary: Blur drew from the Kinks and early Pink Floyd, Oasis took inspiration from the Beatles, and Elastica had a fondness for arty punk rock, notably Wire. and both incarnations of Adam and the Ants. Regardless, Britpop artists project a sense of reverence for British pop sounds of the past. The Kinks' Ray Davies and XTC's Andy Partridge are sometimes advanced as the "godfathers" or "grandfathers" of Britpop, though Davies disputes it. Others similarly labelled include Paul Weller and Adam Ant.

Alternative rock acts from the indie scene of the 1980s and early 1990s were the direct ancestors of the Britpop movement. The influence of the Smiths is common to the majority of Britpop artists. The Madchester scene, fronted by the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets (for whom Oasis's Noel Gallagher had worked as a roadie during the Madchester years), was an immediate root of Britpop since its emphasis on good times and catchy songs provided an alternative to the British-based shoegazing and American based grunge styles of music. Pre-dating Britpop by four years, Liverpool-based group the La's hit single "There She Goes" was described by Rolling Stone as a "founding piece of Britpop's foundation".

Local identity and regional British accents are common to Britpop groups, as well as references to British places and culture in lyrics and image. Stylistically, Britpop bands use catchy hooks and lyrics that were relevant to young British people of their own generation. Britpop bands conversely denounced grunge as irrelevant and having nothing to say about their lives. In contrast to the dourness of grunge, Britpop was defined by "youthful exuberance and desire for recognition". Damon Albarn of Blur summed up the attitude in 1993 when after being asked if Blur were an "anti-grunge band" he said, "Well, that's good. If punk was about getting rid of hippies, then I'm getting rid of grunge."

In spite of the professed disdain for the genres, some elements of both crept into the more enduring facets of Britpop. Noel Gallagher has since championed Ride and once stated that Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was the only songwriter he had respect for in the last ten years, and that he felt their music was similar enough that Cobain could have written "Wonderwall". By 1996, Oasis's prominence was such that NME termed a number of Britpop bands (including The Boo Radleys, Ocean Colour Scene and Cast) "Noelrock", citing Gallagher's influence on their music. Journalist John Harris described these bands, and Gallagher, as sharing "a dewy-eyed love of the 1960s, a spurning of much beyond rock's most basic ingredients, and a belief in the supremacy of 'real music'".

The imagery associated with Britpop was equally British and working class. A rise in unabashed maleness, exemplified by Loaded magazine, binge drinking and lad culture in general, would be very much part of the Britpop era. The Union Jack became a prominent symbol of the movement (as it had a generation earlier with mod bands such as the Who) and its use as a symbol of pride and nationalism contrasted deeply with the controversy that erupted just a few years before when former Smiths singer Morrissey performed draped in it. The emphasis on British reference points made it difficult for the genre to achieve success in the US.

Origins and first years

John Harris has suggested that Britpop began when Blur's fourth single "Popscene" and Suede's "The Drowners" were released around the same time in the spring of 1992. He stated, "[I]f Britpop started anywhere, it was the deluge of acclaim that greeted Suede's first records: all of them audacious, successful and very, very British." Suede were the first of the new crop of guitar-orientated bands to be embraced by the UK music media as Britain's answer to Seattle's grunge sound. Their debut album Suede became the fastest-selling debut album in the history of the UK. In April 1993, Select magazine featured Suede's lead singer Brett Anderson on the cover with a Union Flag in the background and the headline "Yanks go home!" The issue included features on Suede, the Auteurs, Denim, Saint Etienne and Pulp and helped start the idea of an emerging movement.

Blur were involved in a vibrant social scene in London (dubbed "The Scene That Celebrates Itself" by Melody Maker) that focused on a weekly club called Syndrome in Oxford Street; the bands that met up were a mix of music styles, some would be labelled shoegazing, while others would go on to be part of Britpop. The dominant musical force of the period was the grunge invasion from the United States, which filled the void left in the indie scene by the Stone Roses' inactivity. Blur, however, took on an Anglocentric aesthetic with their second album Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993).

Blur's new approach was inspired by a tour of the United States in the spring of 1992. During the tour, frontman Damon Albarn began to resent American culture and found the need to comment on that culture's influence seeping into Britain. Justine Frischmann, formerly of Suede and leader of Elastica (and at the time in a relationship with Albarn) explained, "Damon and I felt like we were in the thick of it at that point... it occurred to us that Nirvana were out there, and people were very interested in American music, and there should be some sort of manifesto for the return of Britishness." John Harris wrote in an NME article just before the release of Modern Life is Rubbish: "[Blur's] timing has been fortuitously perfect. Why? Because, as with baggies and shoegazers, loud, long-haired Americans have just found themselves condemned to the ignominious corner labelled 'yesterday's thing'." The music press also fixated on what the NME had dubbed the New Wave of New Wave, a term applied to the more punk-derivative acts such as Elastica, S*M*A*S*H and These Animal Men.

While Modern Life Is Rubbish was a moderate success, Blur's third album, Parklife, made them arguably the most popular band in the UK in 1994. Parklife continued the fiercely British nature of its predecessor, and coupled with the death of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain in April of that year British alternative rock became the dominant rock genre in the country. That same year Oasis released their debut album Definitely Maybe, which broke Suede's record for fastest-selling debut album; it went on to be certified 7× Platinum (2.1 million sales) by the BPI. Blur won four awards at the 1995 Brit Awards, including Best British Album for Parklife (ahead of Definitely Maybe). In 1995, Pulp released the album Different Class which reached number one, and included the single "Common People". The album sold over 1.3 million copies in the UK.

The term "Britpop" arose when the media were drawing on the success of British designers and films, the Young British Artists (sometimes termed "Britart") such as Damien Hirst, and on the mood of optimism with the decline of John Major's government, and the rise of the youthful Tony Blair as leader of the Labour Party. After terms such as "the New Mod" and "Lion Pop" were used in the press around 1992, journalist (and now BBC Radio 6 Music DJ) Stuart Maconie used the term Britpop in 1993 (though recounting the event in a BBC Radio 2 programme from 2020, he believed it may have been used in the 1960s, around the time of the British Invasion). However, journalist and musician John Robb states he had used the term in the late 1980s in Sounds magazine to refer to bands such as the La's, the Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets, though many of these acts would be grouped under the Baggy, Madchester and indie-dance genres at the time.

It was not until 1994 that Britpop started to be used by the UK media in relation to contemporary music and events. Bands emerged aligned with the new movement. At the start of 1995, bands including Sleeper, Supergrass and Menswear scored pop hits. Elastica released their debut album Elastica that March; its first week sales surpassed the record set by Definitely Maybe the previous year. The music press viewed the scene around Camden Town as a musical centre; frequented by groups like Blur, Elastica, and Menswear; Melody Maker declared "Camden is to 1995 what Seattle was to 1992, what Manchester was to 1989, and what Mr Blobby was to 1993."

"The Battle of Britpop"

A chart battle between Blur and Oasis, dubbed "The Battle of Britpop", brought Britpop to the forefront of the British press in 1995. The bands had initially praised each other but over the course of the year antagonisms between the two increased. Spurred on by the media, they became engaged in what the NME dubbed on the cover of its 12 August issue the "British Heavyweight Championship" with the pending release of Blur's single "Country House" and Oasis' "Roll with It" on the same day. The battle pitted the two bands against each other, with the conflict as much about British class and regional divisions as it was about music. Oasis were taken as representing the North of England, while Blur represented the South. The event caught the public's imagination and gained mass media attention in national newspapers, tabloids and television news. NME wrote about the phenomenon:

"Yes, in a week where news leaked that Saddam Hussein was preparing nuclear weapons, everyday folks were still getting slaughtered in Bosnia and Mike Tyson was making his comeback, tabloids and broadsheets alike went Britpop crazy."

Billed as the greatest pop rivalry since the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, it was spurred on by jibes thrown back and forth between the two groups, with Oasis dismissing Blur as "Chas & Dave chimney sweep music", while Blur referred to their opponents as the "Oasis Quo" in a deriding of their alleged unoriginality and inability to change. In what was the best week for UK singles sales in a decade, on 20 August, Blur's "Country House" sold 274,000 copies against "Roll with It" by Oasis which sold 216,000, the songs charting at number one and number two, respectively. Blur performed their chart topping single on the BBC's Top of the Pops, with the band's bassist Alex James wearing an 'Oasis' t-shirt. However, in the long run Oasis became more commercially successful than Blur, at home and abroad. In a 2019 interview, Oasis bandleader Noel Gallagher reflected on the chart battle between the two songs, both of which he saw as "shit", and suggested that a chart race between Oasis' "Cigarettes & Alcohol" and Blur's "Girls & Boys" would have had greater merit. He also noted that he and Blur frontman Damon Albarn – with whom Gallagher had enjoyed multiple musical collaborations during the 2010s – were now friends. Both men have noted that they do not discuss their 1990s rivalry, with Albarn adding, "I value my friendship with Noel because he is one of the only people who went through what I did in the Nineties." Noel Gallagher has also described Blur guitarist Graham Coxon as "one of the most talented guitarists of his generation."

Peak and decline

In the months following the chart battle, NME states, "Britpop became a major cultural phenomenon". Oasis's second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, sold over four million copies in the UK – becoming the fifth best-selling album in UK chart history. Blur's third album in their 'Life' trilogy, The Great Escape, sold over one million copies. At the 1996 Brit Awards, both albums were nominated for Best British Album (as was Pulp's Different Class), with Oasis winning the award. All three bands were also nominated for Best British Group and Best Video, which were won by Oasis. While accepting Best Video (for "Wonderwall"), Oasis taunted Blur by singing the chorus of the latter's "Parklife" and changing the lyrics to "shite life".

Oasis' third album Be Here Now (1997) was highly anticipated. Despite initially attracting positive reviews and selling strongly, the record was soon subjected to strong criticism from music critics, record-buyers and even Noel Gallagher himself for its overproduced and bloated sound. Music critic Jon Savage pinpointed Be Here Now as the moment where Britpop ended; Savage said that while the album "isn't the great disaster that everybody says", he commented that "[i]t was supposed to be the big, big triumphal record" of the period. At the same time, Blur sought to distance themselves from Britpop with their self-titled fifth album, assimilating American lo-fi influences such as Pavement. Albarn explained to the NME in January 1997 that "We created a movement: as far as the lineage of British bands goes, there'll always be a place for us... We genuinely started to see that world in a slightly different way."

As Britpop slowed, many acts began to falter and broke up. The sudden popularity of the pop group the Spice Girls has been seen as having "snatched the spirit of the age from those responsible for Britpop". While established acts struggled, attention began to turn to the likes of Radiohead and the Verve, who had been previously overlooked by the British media. These two bands – in particular Radiohead – showed considerably more esoteric influences from the 1960s and 1970s that were uncommon among earlier Britpop acts. In 1997, Radiohead and the Verve released their respective albums OK Computer and Urban Hymns, both widely acclaimed. Post-Britpop bands such as Travis, Stereophonics and Coldplay, influenced by Britpop acts, particularly Oasis, with more introspective lyrics, were some of the most successful rock acts of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Post-Britpop
After Britpop the media focused on bands that may have been established acts, but had been overlooked due to focus on the Britpop movement. Bands such as Radiohead and the Verve, and new acts such as Travis, Stereophonics, Feeder and particularly Coldplay, achieved wider international success than most of the Britpop groups that had preceded them, and were some of the most commercially successful acts of the late 1990s and early 2000s. These bands avoided the Britpop label while still producing music derived from it. Bands that had enjoyed some success during the mid-1990s, but were not really part of the Britpop scene, included the Verve and Radiohead. The music of most bands was guitar based, often mixing elements of British traditional rock (or British trad rock), particularly the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Small Faces with American influences. Post-Britpop bands also used elements from 1970s British rock and pop music. Drawn from across the UK, the themes of their music tended to be less parochially centred on British, English and London life, and more introspective than had been the case with Britpop at its height. This, beside a greater willingness to woo the American press and fans, may have helped a number of them in achieving international success. They have been seen as presenting the image of the rock star as an ordinary person, or "boy-next-door" and their increasingly melodic music was criticised for being bland or derivative.

The cultural and musical scene in Scotland, dubbed "Cool Caledonia" by some elements of the press, produced a number of successful alternative acts, including the Supernaturals from Glasgow. Travis, also from Glasgow, were one of the first major rock bands to emerge in the post-Britpop era, and have been credited with a major role in disseminating and even creating the subgenre of post-Britpop. From Edinburgh Idlewild, more influenced by post-grunge, produced three top 20 albums, peaking with The Remote Part (2002). The first major band to break through from the post-Britpop Welsh rock scene, dubbed "Cool Cymru", were Catatonia, whose single "Mulder and Scully" (1998) reached the top ten in the UK, and whose album International Velvet (1998) reached number one, but they were unable to make much impact in the US and, after personal problems, broke up at the end of the century. Other Welsh bands included Stereophonics and Feeder.

These acts were followed by a number of bands who shared aspects of their music, including Snow Patrol from Northern Ireland and Elbow, Embrace, Starsailor, Doves, Electric Pyramid and Keane from England. The most commercially successful band in the milieu were Coldplay, whose debut album Parachutes (2000) went multi-platinum and helped make them one of the most popular acts in the world by the time of their second album A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002). Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" (from their 2006 album Eyes Open) is the most widely played song of the 21st century on UK radio. Bands like Coldplay, Starsailor and Elbow, with introspective lyrics and even tempos, began to be criticised at the beginning of the new millennium as bland and sterile and the wave of garage rock or post-punk revival bands, like the Hives, the Vines, the Libertines, the Strokes, the Black Keys and the White Stripes, that sprang up in that period were welcomed by the musical press as "the saviours of rock and roll". However, a number of the bands of this era, particularly Travis, Stereophonics and Coldplay, continued to record and enjoy commercial success into the new millennium. The idea of post-Britpop has been extended to include bands originating in the new millennium, including Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs, Arctic Monkeys and Bloc Party, seen as a "second wave" of Britpop". These bands have been seen as looking less to music of the 1960s and more to 1970s punk and post-punk, while still being influenced by Britpop.

Retrospective documentaries on the movement include The Britpop Story – a BBC programme presented by John Harris on BBC Four in August 2005 as part of Britpop Night, ten years after Blur and Oasis went head-to-head in the charts, and Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop, a 2003 documentary film written and directed by John Dower. Both documentaries include mention of Tony Blair and New Labour's efforts to align themselves with the distinctly British cultural resurgence that was underway, as well Britpop artists such as Damien Hirst.

Britpop revival
At the beginning of the decade of the 2010s, there appeared a series of new bands that combined indie rock with the Britpop of the '90s. Viva Brother were described as "launch[ing] an update on Britpop, called Gritpop" with their debut album, Famous First Words, although they did not receive great support from the specialised music press. Soon after in 2012, All the Young released their debut album, Welcome Home.

New bands of the revival appeared some years later, including Superfood and the Australian band DMA's, whose debut album obtained favourable reviews from the specialised press.

Terminology
Artists of the genre have dismissed the "Britpop" term. Oasis bandleader Noel Gallagher denied that the band were associated with the term: "We're not Britpop, we're universal rock. The media can take the Britpop and stick it as far up the back entry of the country houses as they can take it." Blur guitarist Graham Coxon stated in the 2009 documentary Blur – No Distance Left to Run that he "didn't like being called Britpop, or pop, or PopBrit, or however you want to put it." Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker also expressed his dislike for the term in an interview with Stephen Merchant on BBC Radio 4's Chain Reaction in 2010, describing it as a "horrible, bitty, sharp sound."

In 2020, with attention turning to all "landfill indie" acts of the 2000s, Mark Beaumont of the NME argued that the term Britpop had been devalued, ignoring all the cultural aspects that had made the scene so important, with the term becoming a "catch-all" for "any band that played guitars in the 1990s."

title: Britpop


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Blur (band)

Blur are an English rock band formed in London in 1988. The band consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bass guitarist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Their debut album, Leisure (1991), incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegaze. Following a stylistic change influenced by English guitar pop groups such as the Kinks, the Beatles and XTC, Blur released the albums Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994) and The Great Escape (1995). As a result, the band helped to popularise the Britpop genre and achieved mass popularity in the UK, aided by a widely publicised chart battle with rival band Oasis in 1995 dubbed "The Battle of Britpop".

Blur's self-titled fifth album (1997) saw another stylistic shift, influenced by the lo-fi styles of American indie rock groups, and became their third UK chart-topping album. Its single "Song 2" brought the band mainstream success in the US for the first time. Their next album, 13 (1999) saw the band experimenting with electronic and art rock styles, and featured more personal lyrics from Albarn and Coxon. Their seventh album, Think Tank (2003), continued their experimentation with electronic sounds and was shaped by Albarn's growing interest in hip hop and world music, featuring more minimal guitar work. Coxon left the band early in the sessions for Think Tank, and Blur disbanded for several years after the album's tour.

In 2009, Blur reunited with Coxon and embarked on a European reunion tour. In the following years, they released several singles and compilations and toured internationally. In 2012, they received a Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. Their eighth album, The Magic Whip (2015), was their first in twelve years and the sixth consecutive Blur studio album to top the British charts. After the Magic Whip tour, Blur went on hiatus until the release of their ninth album, The Ballad of Darren, in 2023.

Formation and Leisure, 1988–1991

Blur were formed in December 1988 when bassist Alex James joined Damon Albarn's band, Circus, and they changed the name to Seymour after J. D. Salinger's Seymour: An Introduction. Already in the band were drummer Dave Rowntree, who had joined in October, and guitarist Graham Coxon, Albarn's childhood friend from Essex, who was studying at London's Goldsmiths College along with Albarn and James. The group performed live for the first time in summer 1989 in the goods shed of the East Anglian Railway Museum at Chappel & Wakes Colne. In November, Food Records' A&R representative Andy Ross attended a Seymour performance that convinced him to court the group for his label. The only concern held by Ross and Food was that they disliked the band's name. Food drew up a list of alternatives, from which the group decided on Blur. Food Records finally signed the rechristened band in March 1990.

From March to July 1990, Blur toured Britain, opening for the Cramps, and testing out new songs. In October 1990, after their tour was over, Blur released the single "She's So High", which reached number 48 in the UK Singles Chart. The band had trouble creating a follow-up single, but they made progress when paired with producer Stephen Street. The resulting single release, "There's No Other Way", became a hit, peaking at number eight. As a result of the single's success, Blur became pop stars and were accepted into a clique of bands who frequented the Syndrome club in London dubbed "The Scene That Celebrates Itself". NME magazine wrote in 1991, "[Blur] are [the] acceptable pretty face of a whole clump of bands that have emerged since the whole Manchester thing started to run out of steam."

The band's third single, "Bang", performed relatively disappointingly, reaching only number 24. Andy Ross and Food owner David Balfe were convinced Blur's best course of action was to continue drawing influence from the Madchester genre. Blur attempted to expand their musical sound, but the recording of the group's debut album was hindered by Albarn having to write his lyrics in the studio. Although the resulting album Leisure (1991) peaked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart, it received mixed reviews, and according to journalist John Harris, "could not shake off the odour of anti-climax".

Britpop years, 1992–1995
After discovering they were £60,000 in debt, Blur toured the United States in 1992 in an attempt to recoup their financial losses. The group released the single "Popscene" to coincide with the start of the tour. Featuring "a rush of punk guitars, '60s pop hooks, blaring British horns, controlled fury, and postmodern humor", "Popscene" was a turning point for the band musically. However, upon its release it only charted at number 32. "We felt 'Popscene' was a big departure; a very, very English record", Albarn told the NME in 1993, "But that annoyed a lot of people ... We put ourselves out on a limb to pursue this English ideal and no-one was interested." As a result of the single's lacklustre performance, plans to release a single named "Never Clever" were scrapped and work on Blur's second album was pushed back.

During the two-month American tour, the band became increasingly unhappy, often venting frustrations on each other, leading to several physical confrontations. The band members were homesick; Albarn said, "I just started to miss really simple things ... I missed everything about England so I started writing songs which created an English atmosphere." Upon the group's return to Britain, Blur (Albarn in particular) were upset by the success rival group Suede had achieved while they were gone. After a poor performance at a 1992 gig that featured a well-received set by Suede on the same bill, Blur were in danger of being dropped by Food. By that time, Blur had undergone an ideological and image shift intended to celebrate their English heritage in contrast to the popularity of American grunge bands like Nirvana. Although sceptical of Albarn's new manifesto for Blur, Balfe gave assent for the band's choice of Andy Partridge (of XTC) to produce their follow-up to Leisure. The sessions with Partridge proved unsatisfactory, but a chance reunion with Stephen Street resulted in him returning to produce the group.

Blur completed their second album Modern Life Is Rubbish in December 1992, but Food Records said the album required more potential hit singles and asked them to return to the studio for a second time. The band complied and Albarn wrote "For Tomorrow", which became the album's lead single. "For Tomorrow" was a minor success, reaching number 28 on the charts. Modern Life Is Rubbish was released in May 1993. The announcement of the album's release included a press photo which featured Blur, dressed in a mix of mod and skinhead attire, posing alongside a mastiff with the words "British Image 1" spraypainted behind them. At the time, such imagery was viewed as nationalistic and racially insensitive by the British music press; to quieten concerns, Blur released the "British Image 2" photo, which was "a camp restaging of a pre-war aristocratic tea party". Modern Life Is Rubbish peaked at number 15 on the British charts, but failed to break into the US Billboard 200, selling only 19,000 copies there.

The success of Parklife (1994) revived Blur's commercial fortunes. The album's first single, the disco-influenced "Girls & Boys", found favour on BBC Radio 1 and peaked at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart, and number 59 in the US Billboard Hot 100 where it remains the band's highest-charting single. Parklife entered the British charts at number one and stayed on the album charts for 90 weeks. Enthusiastically greeted by the music press—the NME called it "a Great Pop Record ... bigger, bolder, narkier and funnier [than Modern Life is Rubbish]"—Parklife is regarded as one of Britpop's defining records. Blur won four awards at the 1995 Brit Awards, including Best Band and Best Album for Parklife. Coxon later pointed to Parklife as the moment when "[Blur] went from being regarded as an alternative, left field arty band to this amazing new pop sensation".

Blur began working on their fourth album The Great Escape at the start of 1995. Building upon the band's previous two albums, Albarn's lyrics for the album consisted of several third-person narratives. James reflected, "It was all more elaborate, more orchestral, more theatrical, and the lyrics were even more twisted ... It was all dysfunctional, misfit characters fucking up." The release of the album's lead single "Country House" played a part in Blur's public rivalry with Manchester band Oasis termed the "Battle of Britpop". Partly due to increasing antagonisms between the groups, Blur and Oasis released their new singles on the same day, an event the NME called "The British Heavyweight Championship". The debate over which band would top the British singles chart became a media phenomenon, and Albarn appeared on the News at Ten. At the end of the week, "Country House" ultimately outsold Oasis' "Roll With It" by 274,000 copies to 216,000, becoming Blur's first number one single.

The Great Escape, which Albarn told the public was the last instalment in the band's Life Trilogy, was released in September 1995 to ecstatic reviews. The NME hailed it as "spectacularly accomplished, sumptuous, heart-stopping and inspirational", while Mojo argued "Blur are the very best that '95 Britpop has to offer and this is a most gong-worthy sound, complete with head-slicing guitars, catchy tunes and very funny words". Entering the UK charts at number one, the album sold nearly half a million copies in its first month of sale. However, opinion quickly changed and Blur found themselves largely out of favour with the media once again. Following the worldwide success of Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (which went quadruple platinum in the United States), the media quipped "[Blur] wound up winning the battle but losing the war." Blur became perceived as an "inauthentic middle class pop band" in comparison to the "working class heroes" Oasis, which Albarn said made him feel "stupid and confused". Alex James later summarised, "After being the People's Hero, Damon was the People's Prick for a short period ... basically, he was a loser – very publicly."

Reinvention after Britpop, 1996–2000
An early 1996 Q magazine interview revealed that relations between Blur members had become very strained; journalist Adrian Deevoy wrote that he found them "on the verge of a nervous breakup". Coxon, in particular, began to resent his bandmates: James for his playboy lifestyle, and Albarn for his control over Blur's musical direction and public image. The guitarist struggled with drinking problems and, in a rejection of the group's Britpop aesthetic, made a point of listening to noisy American alternative rock bands such as Pavement. In February 1996, when Coxon and James were absent for a lip-synced Blur performance broadcast on Italian television, they were replaced by a cardboard cutout and a roadie, respectively. Blur biographer Stuart Maconie later wrote that, at the time, "Blur were sewn together very awkwardly".

Although he had previously dismissed it, Albarn grew to appreciate Coxon's tastes in lo-fi and underground music, and recognised the need to significantly change Blur's musical direction once again. "I can sit at my piano and write brilliant observational pop songs all day long but you've got to move on", he said. He subsequently approached Street, and argued for a more stripped-down sound on the band's next record. Coxon, recognising his own personal need to—as Rowntree put it—"work this band", wrote a letter to Albarn, describing his desire for their music "to scare people again". After initial sessions in London, the band left to record the rest of the album in Iceland, away from the Britpop scene.

The result was Blur, the band's fifth studio album, released in February 1997. Although the music press predicted that the lo-fi sonic experimentation would alienate Blur's teenage girl fan-base, they generally applauded the effort. Pointing out lyrics such as "Look inside America/She's alright", and noting Albarn's "obligatory nod to Beck, [and promotion of] the new Pavement album as if paid to do so", reviewers felt the band had come to accept American values during this time—an about-face of their attitude during the Britpop years. Despite cries of "commercial suicide", the album and its first single, "Beetlebum", debuted at number one in the UK. Although the album could not match the sales of its predecessors in Britain, internationally Blur was more successful. In the US, the album received strong reviews, reached number 61 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold. The album's "Song 2" single was also popular on alternative radio, reaching number six on the Billboard Modern Rock chart and remaining on that chart for 26 weeks. After it was licensed for use in various media—such as soundtracks, advertisements and television shows—"Song 2" became the most recognisable Blur song in the US. After the success of Blur, the band embarked on a nine-month world tour.

In February 1998, a few months after completing the tour, Blur released Bustin' + Dronin' for the Japanese market. The album is a collection of Blur songs remixed by artists such as Thurston Moore, William Orbit and Moby. Among the tracks, the band were most impressed by Orbit's effort and enlisted him to replace Street as producer for their next album, citing a need to approach the recording process from a fresh perspective.

Released in March 1999, Blur's sixth studio album 13 saw them drift still further away from their Britpop-era attitude and sound. Orbit's production style allowed for more jamming, and incorporated a "variety of emotions, atmospheres, words and sounds" into the mix. 13 was creatively dominated by Coxon, who "was simply allowed to do whatever he chose, unedited", by Orbit. Albarn's lyrics—more heart-felt, personal and intimate than on previous occasions—were reflective of his break-up with Elastica frontwoman Justine Frischmann, his partner of eight years. The album received generally favourable reviews from the press. While Q called it "a dense, fascinating, idiosyncratic and accomplished art rock album", the NME felt it was inconsistent and "(at least) a quarter-of-an-hour too long". 13 debuted at the top of the UK charts, staying at that position for two weeks. The album's lead single, the gospel-based "Tender", opened at the second spot on the charts. After "Coffee & TV", the first Blur single to feature Coxon on lead vocals, only reached number 11 in the UK, manager Chris Morrison demanded a chart re-run because of what he deemed was a sales miscalculation.

In July 1999, in celebration of their tenth anniversary, Blur released a 22-CD limited edition box-set of their singles. The accompanying tour saw Blur play the A-sides of the 22 singles in their chronological order of release. In October 2000, the group released the compilation Blur: The Best Of,  which debuted at number three in the UK and went 4× Platinum due to 1,200,000 copies being shipped. Dismissed by the band as "the first record we have seen as product", the track listing and release dates of Blur: The Best Of were determined on the basis of market research and focus groups conducted by Blur's record label, EMI. By this time, the group had largely disowned the upbeat pop singles from the Britpop era, and favoured the more arty, experimental work on Blur and 13. In an otherwise highly enthusiastic review of the best-of for the NME, Steve Sutherland criticised the band's "sheer disregard" for their earlier work; "Just because these songs embarrassed them once they started listening to broadsheet critics and retreated wounded from the big-sales battle with Oasis doesn't mean that we're morons to love them."

Coxon's departure, Think Tank and hiatus, 2001–2007
After 13 and the subsequent tours in 1999–2000, band members pursued other projects. Graham Coxon recorded a string of solo albums, while Damon Albarn dedicated his time to Gorillaz, the animated band he had created with Jamie Hewlett. Alex James worked with Fat Les and co-wrote several songs with Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Marianne Faithfull.

Recording for Blur's next album began in London in November 2001, but concerted work started in June 2002, with the sessions moving to Marrakech, Morocco soon after, and then to Devon back in the UK. Not long after the sessions began, Coxon left the group. Graham had developed a drinking problem once Blur had become more mainstream being more involved in the business side of music then he would have liked to have, which ended up giving him huge anxiety and depression problems. This caused friendships and relationship problems. Coxon said "there were no rows" and "[the band] just recognized the feeling that we needed some time apart". Before the album was released, Blur released a new single, "Don't Bomb When You Are the Bomb" as a very limited white label release. The song is largely electronic, and was part of the band's protest against war in the Middle East. Albarn, however, attempted to assuage fans' fears that the album would be electronic by providing reassurances that the band's new album would be "a rockin' record", and also said that it has "a lot of finely crafted pop songs". Early in 2002, Blur recorded a song that would be played by European Space Agency's Beagle 2 lander once it touched down; however, attempts to locate the probe after it landed on Mars were fruitless.

Think Tank, released in May 2003, was filled with atmospheric, brooding electronic sounds, featuring simpler guitar lines played by Albarn, and largely relying on other instruments to replace Coxon. The guitarist's absence also meant that Think Tank was almost entirely written by Albarn. Its sound was seen as a testament to Albarn's increasing interest in African and Middle Eastern music, and to his complete control over the group's creative direction. Think Tank was yet another UK number one and reached number 56 in the United States. It was also nominated for best album at the 2004 Brit Awards. The band did a successful tour in 2003, with former Verve guitarist Simon Tong filling in for Coxon.

In 2005, XFM News reported that Blur would record an EP, and denied that they would hire a replacement guitarist for Coxon. There were also some aborted recordings made in 2005. Overall the band kept a low profile and did no studio or touring work as a three-piece. After Coxon significantly thawed on the subject of rejoining Blur, in 2007 band members announced that they would reunite, and that they intended to record together first in August, with the date later being pushed back to September, then October. Though the band members finally met up in October, they posted on their website that they had only "met up for an enjoyable lunch" and that there were no "other music plans for Blur".

Reunion performances, 2008–2015

In December 2008, Blur announced they would reunite for a concert at London's Hyde Park on 3 July 2009. Days later, the band added a second date, for 2 July. A series of June preview shows were also announced, ending at Manchester Evening News arena on the 26th. All the shows were well received; The Guardian's music critic Alexis Petridis gave their performance at Goldsmiths college a full five stars, and wrote "Blur's music seems to have potentiated by the passing of years ... they sound both more frenetic and punky and more nuanced and exploratory than they did at the height of their fame". Blur headlined the Glastonbury Festival on 28 June, where they played for the first time since their headline slot in 1998. Reviews of the Glastonbury performance were enthusiastic; The Guardian called them "the best Glastonbury headliners in an age". The band released their second greatest hits album Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur on 15 June 2009.

Blur also headlined at other summer festivals, including Oxegen 2009 in Ireland, and the Scottish outdoor show of T in the Park. Their T in the Park headline slot was put in jeopardy after Graham Coxon was admitted to hospital with food poisoning. Ultimately, the band did play, albeit an hour and a half after they were scheduled to appear. After the completion of the reunion dates, James said the group had not discussed further plans, and Albarn told Q soon after that Blur had no intention of recording or touring again. He said, "I just can't do it anymore", and explained that the main motivation for participating in the reunion was to repair his relationship with Coxon, which he succeeded at. Coxon also said that no further Blur activity was planned, telling NME.com in September, "We're in touch and we say 'Wotcha' and all that but nothing has been mentioned about any more shows or anything else".

In January 2010, No Distance Left to Run, a documentary about the band, was released in cinemas and a month later on DVD. The same month, their 1994 album Parklife was one of ten classic album covers from British artists commemorated on a UK postage stamp issued by the Royal Mail; the collection was unveiled by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. In April 2010, Blur released their first new recording since 2003, "Fool's Day", for the Record Store Day event, as a vinyl record limited to 1000 copies; it was later made available as a free download on their website. No Distance Left to Run was nominated as Best Long Form Music Video for the 53rd Grammy Awards, Blur's first-ever Grammy nomination.

In February 2012, Blur were awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the 2012 Brit Awards. Later that month, Albarn and Coxon premiered a new track together live, "Under the Westway". In April, the band announced that a box-set entitled Blur 21—containing all seven Blur studio albums, four discs of unreleased rarities and three DVDs—would be released in July. Blur had also entered the studio early that year to record material for a new album, but in May producer William Orbit told the NME that Albarn had halted recording. Blur's official Twitter and Facebook pages announced that the band would release two singles "The Puritan" and "Under the Westway" on 2 July. That August, Blur headlined a show at Hyde Park for the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony. In 2013, the band performed at the Rock Werchter in Belgium, the Spanish and Portuguese dates of the Primavera Sound festival, and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the United States.

The Magic Whip and second hiatus, 2015–2022
In April 2015, Blur released their first studio album in twelve years, The Magic Whip. Conceived over five days in Hong Kong after a cancelled Japan tour in 2013, the album was inspired by the city as well. "There's nothing pastoral about it", Albarn said, "it's very urban". The Magic Whip also marks the return of Coxon, absent on all but one track on Think Tank, and Stephen Street, Blur's producer during the Britpop era.

The Magic Whip received positive reviews. Awarding the album a full five stars, The Daily Telegraph called The Magic Whip "a triumphant comeback that retains the band's core identity while allowing ideas they'd fermented separately over the past decade to infuse their sound with mature and peculiar new flavour combinations". The NME concurred, saying Blur were "a reunited band making music to rival their very best". It was also a commercial success, becoming the sixth consecutive Blur LP since Parklife (1994) to top the British charts. The Guardian also noted that at times during its first week of release, The Magic Whip sold "more than the rest of the top five combined". The Magic Whip also became Blur's highest charting album in the United States when it peaked at number 24 on the Billboard 200. That December New World Towers, a documentary on the recording process of The Magic Whip, was released in select British theatres.

Blur went on hiatus following the 2015 Magic Whip tour. They briefly reunited in March 2019 for a surprise performance at an Albarn-organized Africa Express event in London.

The Ballad of Darren, and second reunion, 2022–present
On 14 November 2022, Blur announced that they would perform at Wembley Stadium on 8 July 2023 – their first headline performance since 2015. On 10 February 2023, in line with the reunion, the band collaborated with clothing brand PLEASURES to release a line of items commemorating their 1997 album Blur.

On 18 May 2023, Blur released "The Narcissist", the first single from their ninth studio album The Ballad of Darren. The next day, the band played their first concert in eight years on 19 May 2023 at the Colchester Arts Centre in Colchester. Following the warmup shows, Blur performed at Primavera Sound in Barcelona and Malahide Castle near Dublin. Blur headlined Wembley Stadium on 8 July and 9 July 2023, with Jockstrap, Sleaford Mods, and Self Esteem as the support acts for the first show, and The Selecter and Paul Weller as support acts for the second show. The Ballad of Darren was released on 21 July, and was preceded by the second single "St. Charles Square". After the album's release, the band performed at the Øyafestivalen in Oslo on 10 August, Way Out West in Gothenburg on 11 August, Flow Festival in Helsinki on 13 August and Summer Sonic Festival in Tokyo and Osaka on 19 and 20 August.

On 5 December, Albarn announced that Blur would enter another hiatus, saying, "[It's] time to wrap up this campaign. It’s too much for me." However, the band accepted a late night phone call offer to play 2024's Coachella, with management giving them five minutes to decide, prompting Albarn to postpone the hiatus. Blur added a warm-up show at Pomona Fox Theater supported by Jockstrap on 10 April, the group's first U.S. shows since 2015. The band's first week Coachella performance on 13 April drew significant media attention for the lack of crowd interaction during "Girls & Boys" and Albarn's visible frustration. During the band's second week Coachella performance on 20 April, Albarn said it was probably the band's final show. In early May 2024, it was announced that July 2024 will see the release of a new documentary titled To the End.

Musical style and influences
Blur's musical style has been described as Britpop,   indie rock, alternative rock, art pop, pop rock,  and art rock, with influences from indie rock and lo-fi. The band's seventh studio album Think Tank moved into more of an electronic sound. Some of the band's influences include David Bowie, Bobby Womack, William Onyeabor, the B-52's, the Kinks, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, the Jam and Depeche Mode.

Band members

 * Damon Albarn – lead vocals, keyboards, guitar (1988–2004, 2008–2016, 2019, 2022–present)
 * Graham Coxon – guitar, backing and lead vocals, saxophone (1988–2002, 2008–2016, 2019, 2022–present)
 * Alex James – bass, backing vocals (1988–2004, 2008–2016, 2019, 2022–present)
 * Dave Rowntree – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1988–2004, 2008–2016, 2019, 2022–present)

Former touring musicians

 * Kick Horns – horn section (1992–1995)
 * Cara Tivey – keyboards (1993–1995)
 * Mike Smith – keyboards, saxophone (1994–1998, 1999, 2003, 2009–2015, 2023)
 * Richard Sidwell – trumpet (1995–1999)
 * Diana Gutkind – keyboards, backing vocals (1995–2000)
 * Simon Tong – guitar (2003)
 * Beverley Brown – backing vocals (2003)
 * Cornelius Macarthy – backing vocals (2003)
 * Karl Vanden Bossche – percussion (2003, 2015)
 * Wayne Hernandez – backing vocals (2003, 2009–2015)
 * Wendi Rose – backing vocals (2003, 2009–2015)
 * Sam Freeman – backing vocals (2009)
 * Janet "Cookie" Ramus – backing vocals (2009, 2012–2013)
 * Alistair White – trombone, euphonium (2009, 2012–2014)
 * Dan Carpenter – trumpet (2009, 2012–2014)
 * Dave Williamson – trombone (2009, 2012–2014)
 * Tyrone Henry – backing vocals (2012)
 * Barnaby Dixon – trombone (2012–2013)
 * Travis Cole – backing vocals (2013–2015)
 * Rory Simmons – trumpet (2015)
 * Simon Finch – trumpet (2015)
 * Eoghan Kelly – trombone (2015)
 * Tom Richards – saxophone (2015)

Discography
Studio albums
 * Leisure (1991)
 * Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993)
 * Parklife (1994)
 * The Great Escape (1995)
 * Blur (1997)
 * 13 (1999)
 * Think Tank (2003)
 * The Magic Whip (2015)
 * The Ballad of Darren (2023)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Blur (band)


text:
Supergrass

Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993 in Oxford. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey (drums, backing vocals). Originally a three-piece, the band was officially joined by Rob Coombes in 2002.

The band signed to Parlophone Records in 1994 and produced I Should Coco (1995), the best-selling debut album for the label since the Beatles' Please Please Me. Their first album's fourth single, "Alright", was an international hit. The band went on to release five albums: In It for the Money (1997), Supergrass (1999), Life on Other Planets (2002), Road to Rouen (2005) and Diamond Hoo Ha (2008), as well as a compilation called Supergrass Is 10 (2004).

In August 2009, the band signed to Cooking Vinyl and began work on their seventh studio album, Release the Drones. The album remains unreleased and unfinished. On 12 April 2010, the band announced that they were splitting up due to musical and creative differences. The group disbanded after four farewell gigs, the final one at La Cigale, Paris, on 11 June 2010.

The band reformed in 2019, initially to perform at Pilton Party followed by a "secret" gig at Oslo in Hackney, London. The band made their final appearance of their reunion to date with a performance in honour of Foo Fighters' recently deceased drummer Taylor Hawkins at his tribute concert, performing some of Hawkins' favourite songs from Supergrass's catalogue. Hawkins had previously expressed his love of the band, and had even made a cameo drum appearance at one of their concerts.

The Jennifers and formation (1990–1993)
At the age of 16 and 18 respectively and whilst attending Wheatley Park School just outside Oxford, Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey were playing in the Jennifers along with Nick Goffey and Andy Davies. Danny and Nick Goffey are the sons of former BBC Top Gear presenter and motoring journalist Chris Goffey.

The Jennifers began building a reputation in the Oxford indie music scene, influenced by Ride, the Charlatans, Inspiral Carpets, the Kinks, the Who, and including traits of the shoegaze era. The band played gigs at various venues around Oxfordshire, often public houses and clubs. One pub the band played at was the Jericho Tavern in Oxford.

They sold a demo tape recorded and produced by Nick Langston at Stargoat Studios near Banbury. The demo featured three songs – "Flying" which featured a 20-second countdown at the beginning, the recording of a rocket launch and then a fast guitar-based song which appeared influenced by the Stone Roses, the second song, "Inside of Me" was similar in style but changed to a slower, almost funk jam at the end, the third song simply titled on the tape "(Slow Song)" was a guitar-based ballad. The band enjoyed enough success to release one single in 1992, "Just Got Back Today" on Nude Records, which is now a highly sought after rarity. Second single, "Tightrope" was never released due to disagreements with Nude Records (but does appear on compilation CD 'Days Spent Dreaming' ), the band split up soon after this in the fall of 1992. Andy Davies went off to university and Nic Goffey went on to form a directing partnership with friend Dom Hawley, later directing many videos for Supergrass.

When Coombes began working at the local Harvester he befriended co-worker Mick Quinn. The two realised they had common music interests and Coombes invited Quinn to come and jam with himself and Goffey. In February 1993 they formed Theodore Supergrass "for about two months". As Quinn further explains, "then we realized that Theodore was a bit rubbish so we took that off."

Goffey claims that the name was his idea and says, "Although the others will dispute it, it was me. We were Theodore Supergrass and the idea was the band would be a little black character, and we wouldn't ever have to do interviews. We'd get the questions in advance, script the answers and then animate Theodore Supergrass answering them. But it cost too much money."

Gaz's brother, Rob Coombes, played flute for the band's début gig at the Co-Op Hall, Oxford in 1993. In January 1995 he first performed as keyboardist with the band for a live Radio 1 John Peel session. His role in the band progressed over the years, post-I Should Coco material is credited to "Supergrass and Rob Coombes", however, he wasn't introduced as a band member until almost a decade later.

Britpop years and stardom (1994–1998)
In mid-1994, Supergrass issued their debut single "Caught by the Fuzz" on the small independent local label Backbeat Records. The song recounts lead singer and guitarist Gaz Coombes's experience of being arrested by the police for possession of cannabis. The limited release of vinyl copies sold out quickly, thanks in part to support from John Peel on his Radio One show. The Parlophone label signed the band and re-released the single in the autumn of the same year. It achieved the rare feat of being both NME and Melody Maker's "Single Of The Week" status in the same week.

"Mansize Rooster", released in February 1995, peaked at number 20 in the UK Singles Chart and "Lenny" was the band's first top 10 single. "Lenny" was followed soon afterwards by the band's debut album, I Should Coco (May 1995), which entered the UK Albums Chart at number one. It achieved half a million sales in the UK and over a million worldwide. NME reviewer Steve Sutherland gave the album a nine out of ten rating, writing, "These freaks shall inherit the earth." The album's fourth single, the double A-side release "Alright"/"Time", stayed in the UK Top Three for a month, peaking at number two.

Supergrass followed I Should Coco with 18 months of heavy touring, appearing at festivals such as Scotland's T in the Park and the Glastonbury Festival. After Performing at Rio's Hollywood Rock Festival in April 1996, Supergrass met the train robber Ronnie Biggs, and he apparently said to them, "I was frightened for my life when I heard there was a supergrass in the area." A photograph of Ronnie Biggs and Gaz together was subsequently included in the music video for their 1996 single "Going Out". Recorded at Great Linford Manor the single peaked at number five in the UK chart, but was the last song produced by Sam Williams. Supergrass returned to Sawmills Studio to co-produce follow up album, In It for the Money (released April 1997), with John Cornfield. The album was a huge success and went platinum in the UK, but confused some fans expecting something similar to I Should Coco. The single, "Richard III", reached number two. Subsequent releases, "Sun Hits the Sky" and "Late in the Day", reached numbers 10 and 18 respectively.

Around this time Supergrass also appeared on the front cover of The Big Issue, interviewed for the magazine at Heathrow Airport by ex-drug smuggler Howard Marks.

Further musical growth (1999–2004)
The band again took a short break before returning in 1999 with the single "Pumping on Your Stereo". The promo video, produced in conjunction with the Jim Henson's Creature Shop, featured the band with comical "muppet" bodies. The single generated welcome publicity following their time out of the limelight, as did a small sold-out tour scheduled around the single release, the final night of which was at Shepherd's Bush Empire as part of MTV's "Five Night Stand" festival. The single and the tour were followed by their third LP Supergrass (1999). The following spring the record was released in the US Once more, the album was recorded at Sawmills Studio with longtime associate Cornfield producing. Supergrass was well received critically and commercially and it has since gone platinum in the UK, but did not reap the same level of success as its predecessors. Critics claimed the album was "hit and miss", which showed up particularly as the "also-rans are surrounded by songs that are as great as anything Supergrass has ever recorded". Their next single, "Moving", proved popular and reached the Top Ten in the UK. And their third single, "Mary" entered the Top 40. There followed a long hiatus.

After three years out of the limelight, the band returned with Life on Other Planets (September 2002), recorded at Heliocentric, Rockfield and Mayfair Studios and produced by Beck collaborator Tony Hoffer. The album was released in the UK on Parlophone, but in the US on the Island Def Jam imprint. The record was not as commercially successful as Supergrass's first three albums, failing to make the Top Three in the UK albums chart. However, the critical response to the album was generally very positive, with Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic claiming "The world is a better place for having Supergrass in it.". It has since gone gold in the UK. Life on Other Planets was also notable as it was the first Supergrass album to recognise Rob Coombes as an official member. For the band's first three albums, Supergrass officially consisted of Gaz Coombes, Goffey and Quinn although Rob Coombes contributed to many of the band's songs and videos, and toured with them. Tracks recorded before this were often credited to "Supergrass and Rob Coombes". The band followed Life on Other Planets with another extended three-year hiatus, devoted to touring and personal engagements.

In June 2004 the band's record company suggested the band release a singles compilation Supergrass Is 10, spawning two new self-produced tracks: "Kiss of Life" and "Bullet". The companion DVD contained "Home Movie", a humorous documentary charting the band's first 10 years' achievements, made in collaboration with "Seen the Light" video director Simon Hilton. The record entered the UK albums chart at number four and has since gone gold in the UK.

Development (2005–2008)
Recording of their fifth studio album, Road to Rouen, began in France in a studio built by the band in Normandy. Working with French engineer Pierre-Olivier Marger and it represented a significant change in direction and was perceived as a more mature body of work.

"St. Petersburg", the string-laden first single, was released on 8 August 2005. The album followed a week later (released 27 September in North America) and reached No. 9 on the UK chart, going on to achieve silver status in the UK. Opinion at the time was divided, but the album garnered the band many new fans and a measure of creative respect, some even embracing it as "the sound of a band at last hitting their stride".

Second single, "Low C", featured a video by acclaimed "Pumping On Your Stereo" video director Garth Jennings, shot in Weeki Wachee Springs Florida. Third single "Fin", interpreted as a missive to the Coombes brothers' recently deceased mother, received much critical praise, The Guardian referring to it as "so gorgeously light and airy that listening to it is like sleepwalking in space".

The band toured the songs in both acoustic and electric formats with percussionist Satin Singh joining the live band throughout. From August 2005 to September 2006 they performed in Japan, South America, the United States, and Europe, finishing with a memorable gig at the Beijing Pop Festival.

The follow-up album, Diamond Hoo Ha was recorded at Hansa Tonstudio, Berlin, with producer Nick Launay, and mixed at Seedy Underbelly Studios in Los Angeles. The band toured in the summer of 2007, headlining Guilfest, among others, and debuting new material, with the youngest sibling of the Coombes brothers, ex-22-20s keyboardist Charly, on second guitar, percussion and backing vocals.

On 27 September 2007, bassist Mick Quinn sustained a broken heel bone and two spinal fractures in a sleepwalking accident whilst on holiday in France (Quinn sleepwalked out of a first floor window of the villa he was staying at in the South of France. ). During his recuperation, Gaz and Danny promoted first single "Diamond Hoo Ha Man" as the Diamond Hoo Ha Men, with a run of small club shows in December and January. To celebrate the single release, Mick Quinn appeared as Diamond Hoo Ha Man "Biff Hymenn" at the Apple Store, Regent Street, London, marking his return to touring duties on 15 January. Charly directed Glange Fever (under pseudonym "Chas Harrison") a rockumentary which followed their exploits.

For a handful of "full band" Supergrass dates on the Diamond Hoo Ha tour (as opposed to Gaz & Danny as the Diamond Hoo Ha Men duo), Charly Coombes filled in for Mick Quinn on bass while he recovered from his injuries. When Mick recovered & returned to the band, Charly remained with them on second guitar & percussion (as per his work on the record) for the rest of the tour.

In February 2008, the video of their second single "Bad Blood" was released on the band's official web-site, winning Best Rock Video at the UK Music Video Awards, and the single followed on 17 March.

In 2008, Parlophone was taken over by venture capitalist group, Terra Firma, and Supergrass ended their contract with the label. "Rebel In You", final single from the Diamond Hoo Ha album, was released, under licence from Parlophone, on the band's own imprint, "Supergrass Records".

Independent career and split (2009–2010)
The band headlined Wychwood Festival on 30 May and also Sellindge Music Festival (6 June), Provinssirock Festival (13 June) and a short European trek in July at BBK Live (10 July) at Bilbao, Bikini Festival (11 July) in Toulouse, Festival Les Ardentes (12 July ) in Liège (Belgium) and Paredes de Coura Festival (30 July) in Portugal. There was also a co-headlining date at 2009's Truck Festival along with Ash, on 25–26 July at Hill Farm in Steventon, Oxfordshire.

On 12 April 2010, the band announced they were to split up after a series of four farewell shows, with their final gig in Paris on 11 June 2010.

At the time of the split, Supergrass were working on their seventh studio album, tentatively titled Release the Drones. In early 2010, the band revealed that the album had been influenced by krautrock bands such as Can, and drone music, and that the members had swapped instruments on several tracks during its recording. Coombes said of the approach to the album: "This record's actually been very collaborative. It's been cool to try something different and chaotic." Coombes stated that the album was "nearly finished", and it was scheduled for release in May. The album remains unfinished and unreleased.

Reformation (2019–present)
In July 2019, it was reported in the press that the band were to reform and play at Pilton Party on 6 September 2019. On 22 August 2019, the Twitter account Secretglasto posted "We're not going to Grass up the special guest at the Pilton Party, but we're pretty sure they'll be Super." In an interview with The Times, the band confirmed they are not going to be working on new material, with Goffey stating that "the positive vibe of playing together would be compromised by going into a studio for ages" and that "the idea is to play gigs, not create more music". Gaz Coombes told Q that he was prepared to give a year up to perform with Supergrass, but was wary of promising to make new music.

After performing two warm up shows at The Empire in Coventry and the Cheese & Grain in Frome the band embarked on a short European tour visiting France, Belgium and The Netherlands before doing a full UK tour finishing with two sold-out shows at Alexandra Palace, London on 7 March.

The band were due to tour across America and Australia in April and May 2020 as well as festival appearances in Norway, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK (which would have also included their 5th appearance at Glastonbury) but all were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the tour's cancellation, Supergrass still managed to perform a live-streamed gig on 21 August at The Bullingdon in their hometown of Oxford. The show was a collaboration with Goose Island Brewery and served as a launch event for the new Supergrass-inspired beer Man Sized Brew Sir, which was named after the band's song "Mansize Rooster". Ticket proceeds for the event went to the Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy Charity and the band's charity of choice, the suicide prevention charity CALM. The band also played a socially-distanced show at the Virgin Money Unity Arena in Newcastle the next day.

On 27 November, Supergrass released Live on Other Planets, a live album consisting of songs recorded at various dates on their recent reunion tour. The album was released to mark the band's 25th anniversary; to capture the reunion gigs and thank the fans who attended; and to support grassroots music venues, with proceeds from the album's sales going to the #SaveOurVenues campaign in aid of venues struggling due to the pandemic.

On 3 September 2022 the band performed a 3-song set at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium. Gaz Coombes also took lead vocal duties on covers of David Bowie's "Modern Love" (performed with Nile Rodgers) and the Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (performed with Foo Fighters alongside Stewart Copeland on drums). Following the performance, Gaz Coombes confirmed on his social media that it was the band's "final Supergrass reunion show". "I want to thank all you [Supergrass] fans for the love and incredible support you've shown us over the last three years," he wrote. "It's been a blast." Shortly thereafter, Coombes announced a return to his solo career – as did Goffey, who confirmed the band's hiatus to NME. "Gaz is gonna do something himself, and I've got this thing coming up, so we'll give it a rest for six months and then we’ll see," he said.

Solo projects
During 1998, Coombes and Quinn were invited to play on Dr John's Anutha Zone album (they appear on the track "Voices In My Head"), whilst Goffey contributed to the debut album by Lodger (which also featured his partner Pearl Lowe and members of the band Delicatessen).

Danny Goffey has also embarked on a solo project between Supergrass engagements called "Van Goffey" which saw tracks being released via MySpace in August 2006, the first three being "Crack House Blues", "I Feel so Gaye" and "Natalie Loves the F". He plays drums on the charity football song "Born In England" by a collective of musicians called Twisted X, which charted at number 8 in the UK Charts in 2004. Danny Goffey was also a drummer on the 2004 charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", along with members of Radiohead and the Darkness under the name Band Aid 20.

In July 2008, Coombes joined Foo Fighters on stage during a show that saluted the Who's musical career, VH1 Rock Honors. Coombes performed vocals on the Who's classic song "Bargain".

In 2007 and 2008, while Mick Quinn was still recuperating from his injury, Danny Goffey and Gaz Coombes were performing as the duo Diamond Hoo Ha Men, the name taken from the band's sixth album and its lead single (see above). They appeared in character as Duke Diamond and Randy Hoo Ha to play gigs at small venues. Gigs included an appearance at the Apple Store on London's Regent Street, which featured Mick Quinn's first appearance in the band since his injury. He appeared on stage introduced by Gaz as Biff Hymen.

Goffey and Coombes were members of side-project the Hotrats (originally the Hot Rats). They released an album of covers produced by Nigel Godrich called Turn Ons on 25 January 2010. A cover of "Drive My Car" by the Beatles appears in an advert for Orange, a fragrance by Hugo Boss. Since Supergrass announced they were to split, the Hotrats have joined with Air to perform The Virgin Suicides live for the first time, over several concert dates. A deluxe 3CD / 1DVD box-set of the Hot Rats album was scheduled for release in June 2020.

In May 2010, Mick Quinn formed the DB Band with former Shake Appeal bassist Fab Wilson. The band released their first EP "Stranger in the Alps" on 17 September 2011. They have toured the Netherlands, France and appeared at Oxford's Truck Festival in Steventon.

Gaz Coombes completed his first solo album, Here Come the Bombs, at his home studio in Oxford. The album was recorded with Sam Williams, who produced 1995's I Should Coco for Supergrass, and released on 21 May 2012. Coombes' second album, Matador, was released 26 January 2015, charting at No. 18 on the UK Albums Chart and nominated for the 2015 Mercury Music Prize. Coombes released a third studio album, titled Worlds Strongest Man on Caroline Records in 2018.

In 2015, Mick Quinn began playing as touring bassist for Swervedriver, whose members Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge were childhood friends of his in Oxford. He would eventually join the band as a full member in 2017, appearing on the band's 2019 album Future Ruins.

Discography

 * Studio albums

 * I Should Coco (1995)
 * In It for the Money (1997)
 * Supergrass (1999)
 * Life on Other Planets (2002)
 * Road to Rouen (2005)
 * Diamond Hoo Ha (2008)

title: Supergrass


text:
Eunice Kennedy Shriver

Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver (née Kennedy, July 10, 1921 – August 11, 2009) was an American philanthropist and a member of the Kennedy family. She was the founder of the Special Olympics, a sports organization for persons with intellectual disabilities. For her efforts on behalf of disabled people, Shriver was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984.

She was a sister of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward Kennedy, and U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith. She was married to Sargent Shriver, who was the United States Ambassador to France and the final Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1972. They had several children including broadcast journalist Maria Shriver.

Early life, education, and early career
Eunice Mary Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on July 10, 1921. She was the fifth of nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., and Rose Fitzgerald. Her siblings included U.S. President and Senator John F. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, and U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith.

Eunice was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart School in Noroton, Connecticut, and Manhattanville College. She studied at Stanford University where she competed on the swimming and track and field teams. After graduating from Stanford in 1943 with a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology, she moved to Washington, D.C. and worked for the Special War Problems Division of the U.S. State Department. Kennedy eventually moved to the U.S. Justice Department as executive secretary for a project dealing with juvenile delinquency. During her time in Washington, she shared a townhouse in Georgetown with her brother John, then a U.S. Congressman. Kennedy served as a social worker at the Federal Industrial Institution for Women for one year before moving to Chicago in 1951 to work with the House of the Good Shepherd women's shelter and Chicago Juvenile Court.

Charity work and awards
Shriver became executive vice president of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation in 1957. She shifted the organization's focus from Catholic charities to research on the causes of intellectual disabilities, and humane ways to treat them. This interest eventually culminated in, among other things, the Special Olympics movement.

A long-time advocate for children's health and disability issues, Shriver championed the creation of the President's Panel on Mental Retardation in 1961. The panel was significant in the movement from institutionalization to community integration in the U.S. and throughout the world. Shriver was a key founder of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), a part of the National Institutes of Health in 1962.

In 1962, Shriver founded Camp Shriver, a summer day camp for children and adults with intellectual disabilities at her Maryland farm to explore their capabilities in a variety of sports and physical activities. From that camp came the concept of Special Olympics. Shriver founded the Special Olympics in 1968. That year, the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation helped to plan and fund the First International Special Olympics Summer Games, held in Chicago's Soldier Field where 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from 26 states and Canada competed. In her speech at the opening ceremony, Shriver said, "The Chicago Special Olympics prove a very fundamental fact, the fact that exceptional children — children with mental retardation — can be exceptional athletes, the fact that through sports they can realize their potential for growth." Special Olympics Inc. was established as a nonprofit charity in 1968; since that time, nearly three million athletes have participated.

In 1969, Shriver moved to France and pursued her interest in intellectual disability there. She started organizing small activities with Paris organizations, mostly reaching out to families of kids who had special needs to provide activities for them, laying the foundation for a robust international expansion of the Special Olympics in the late 1970s and 1980s.

In 1982, Shriver founded the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Center for Community of Caring at University of Utah, Salt Lake City. The Community is a "grades K-12, whole school, comprehensive character education program with a focus on disabilities... adopted by almost 1,200 schools nationwide and in Canada".

Shriver was awarded the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 1984 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan for her work on behalf of persons with disabilities. In 1988, she received the Laetare Medal, considered the highest award for American Catholics, by the University of Notre Dame. In 1990 Shriver was awarded the Eagle Award from the United States Sports Academy. The Eagle Award is the academy's highest international honor and was awarded to Shriver for her significant contributions to international sport.

In 1992, Shriver received the Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by the Jefferson Awards for Public Service.

For her work in nationalizing the Special Olympics, Shriver received the Civitan International World Citizenship Award. Her advocacy on this issue has also earned her other awards and recognitions, including honorary degrees from numerous universities. She is the second American and only woman to appear on a US coin while still living. Her portrait is on the obverse of the 1995 commemorative silver dollar honoring the Special Olympics. On the reverse is the quotation attributed to Shriver, "As we hope for the best in them, hope is reborn in us."

In 1998, Shriver was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Shriver received the 2002 Theodore Roosevelt Award (the Teddy), an annual award given by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to a graduate from an NCAA member institution who earned a varsity letter in college for participation in intercollegiate athletics, and who ultimately became a distinguished citizen of national reputation based on outstanding life accomplishment. In addition to the Teddy recognition, she was selected in 2006 as part of the NCAA Centennial celebration as one of the 100 most-influential individuals in its first century; she was listed ninth. In 2006, she received a papal knighthood from Pope Benedict XVI, being made a Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (DSG). Her mother had been created a papal countess in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.

In 2008, she received the Foremother Award from the National Center for Health Research for her lifetime achievements.

In 2008, the U.S. Congress changed the NICHD's name to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. In December 2008, Sports Illustrated named Shriver the first recipient of Sportsman of the Year Legacy Award. On May 9, 2009, the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in Washington, D.C., unveiled an historic portrait of her, the first portrait the NPG has ever commissioned of an individual who had not served as a U.S. president or First Lady. The portrait depicts her with four Special Olympics athletes (including Loretta Claiborne) and one Best Buddies participant. It was painted by David Lenz, the winner of the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition in 2006. As part of the Portrait Competition prize, the NPG commissioned a work from the winning artist to depict a living subject for the collection. Lenz, whose son, Sam, has Down syndrome and is an enthusiastic Special Olympics athlete, was inspired by Shriver's dedication to working with people with intellectual disabilities.

Shriver became involved with Dorothy Hamill's special skating program in the Special Olympics after Hamill's Olympic Games ice-skating win. In September 2010, the State University of New York at Brockport, home of the 1979 Special Olympics, renamed its football stadium the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium.

In July 2017, Shriver posthumously received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2017 ESPY Awards.

Political involvement
Shriver actively campaigned for her elder brother, John, during his successful 1960 U.S. presidential election.

Although Shriver was a Democrat, she was a vocal supporter of the anti-abortion movement. In 1990, Shriver wrote a letter to The New York Times denouncing an abortion rights group for having used a quotation of President Kennedy's words out of context in support of their position. Shriver was one of several prominent Democrats – including Governor Robert P. Casey of Pennsylvania and Bishop Austin Vaughan of New York – who took out a full-page The New York Times advertisement opposing "abortion on demand" during the 1992 Democratic Convention (the Party adopted a 1992 platform that emphasized its support for abortion rights). Shriver was a supporter of several anti-abortion organizations: Feminists for Life of America, the Susan B. Anthony List, and Democrats for Life of America.

Despite being a Democrat, Shriver supported her Republican son-in-law Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful 2003 Governor of California election.

On January 28, 2008, aged 86, Shriver was present at American University in Washington, D.C., when her brother, U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, announced his endorsement of Barack Obama's 2008 Democratic U.S. presidential campaign.

Personal life
On May 23, 1953, aged 31, Shriver married Sargent Shriver in a Roman Catholic ceremony at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. Her husband served as the U.S. ambassador to France from 1968 to 1970 and was the 1972 Democratic U.S. vice presidential candidate (with George McGovern as the candidate for U.S. President). They had five children: Robert Sargent Shriver III, Maria Owings Shriver (Schwarzenegger), Timothy Perry Shriver, Mark Kennedy Shriver, and Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver. Shriver had nineteen grandchildren.

Shriver had a close relationship with her sister Rosemary Kennedy, who was intellectually disabled and who became incapacitated due to a lobotomy.

Shriver suffered a stroke and broken hip in 2005. On November 18, 2007, aged 86, she was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where she spent several weeks.

Death
On August 7, 2009, Shriver was admitted to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Massachusetts with an undisclosed ailment. On August 10, her relatives were called to the hospital. She died at the hospital the next day at the age of 88, two weeks before her brother, Senator Ted Kennedy, died on August 25, 2009, at the age of 77.

Shriver's family issued a statement upon her death, reading in part:

"Inspired by her love of God, her devotion to her family, and her relentless belief in the dignity and worth of every human life, she worked without ceasing—searching, pushing, demanding, hoping for change. She was a living prayer, a living advocate, a living center of power. She set out to change the world and to change us, and she did that and more. She founded the movement that became Special Olympics, the largest movement for acceptance and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities in the history of the world. Her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, and they in turn are her living legacy."

President Barack Obama remarked after Shriver's death that she was "an extraordinary woman who, as much as anyone, taught our nation—and our world—that no physical or mental barrier can restrain the power of the human spirit."

Funeral and burial
On August 14, 2009, an invitation-only Requiem Mass was celebrated for Shriver at St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church in Hyannis. Following the Requiem Mass, she was buried at the St. Francis Xavier parish cemetery in nearby Centerville, Massachusetts. Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter of condolence to her family. Because her brother Ted had terminal brain cancer, he was unable to attend the funeral, and their sister Jean Kennedy Smith stayed with him. Ted died two weeks later, leaving Jean as the sole surviving child of Joseph and Rose Kennedy until her death on June 17, 2020, at the age of 92.

title: Eunice Kennedy Shriver


text:
John Lingard

John Lingard (5 February 1771 – 17 July 1851) was an English Catholic priest and historian, the author of The History of England, From the First Invasion by the Romans to the Accession of Henry VIII, an eight-volume work published in 1819. Lingard was a teacher at the English College at Douai, and at the seminary at Crook Hall, and later St. Cuthbert's College. In 1811 he retired to Hornby in Lancashire to continue work on his writing.

Biography
Born in 1771 in St Thomas Street in central Winchester to recusant parents, John Lingard was the son of John and Elizabeth Rennell Lingard. His mother was from an old Catholic family who had been persecuted for their beliefs; his father was, by trade, a carpenter, who had converted to Catholicism upon his marriage. They each migrated from their native Claxby in Lincolnshire, first to London, where they met once again and married, then, after a short return to their old home, to Winchester, where he was born.

Bishop Challoner recommended the young John Lingard for a burse at the English College at Douai, France. He entered the college in September 1782, to commence training for the priesthood. At the English College, he excelled in the humanities before beginning the study of theology. At the end of his course in philosophy he was retained as professor of grammar at one of the lower schools. Narrowly escaping attacks by mobs at the time of the French Revolution upon the declaration of war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and France, he returned to England in 1793 in charge of two brothers named Oliveira and of William, afterwards Lord Stourton. For nearly a year, he was tutor to young Stourton at Baron Stourton's residence near York.

When Lingard learned that a number of his students from Douai had made it to Arthur Storey's school in Tudhoe, he asked leave of the Baron to join them, which was granted.

In 1792 Thomas Eyre was appointed to the mission of Pontop Hall, near Lanchester, County Durham. In 1794 Bishop William Gibson asked Eyre to take charge of the Northern students who had been expelled from Douai, and who were then temporarily at Tudhoe under John Lingard. Eyre relocated Lingard and his students to Pontop Hall, and then later to Crook Hall, all within a few miles of Durham. Nominally Lingard held the chair of philosophy; practically, besides the duties of vice-president to Eyre, he undertook in addition those of prefect of studies, procurator, and of professor of Church history.

Lingard concluded his theological studies and was ordained at York in April 1795. In 1805, he wrote a series of letters which, after their publication in a periodical, were collected as Catholic Loyalty Vindicated. In 1806 the first edition of The Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church appeared, a development of his informal lectures. He remained at Crook Hall for fourteen years until, in 1808, the seminary moved to St. Cuthbert's College. Lingard donated a stained glass window to St. Cuthbert's Chapel at Ushaw.

Upon the death of Eyre in 1810, Lingard, having continued as vice-president, governed the college, at the same time teaching theology. In 1811, he retired to take charge of the secluded mission at Hornby, near Lancashire. He was offered the presidency of St Patrick's College, Maynooth and of Old Hall Green, but declined both.

In 1819, the first three volumes of The History of England was published. Volume I was originally intended as textbook for schools. In 1821, Pope Pius VIII created Lingard a doctor of Divinity. A fourth volume followed in 1823, bringing the history up to the reign of Edward VI. He built St. Mary's Church with the proceeds from volume IV of the History of England. Lingard would refer to it in jest as "Henry VIII's Chapel". (The church is a Grade II listed building.) When he traveled to Rome for research in 1825, Pope Leo XII presented him with a gold medal. Subsequent volumes appeared at intervals until he completed the work in 1849.

Lingard also authored the very popular Catholic hymn to the Virgin Mary titled Hail Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star, loosely based on the medieval Latin plainchant Ave maris stella. J. Vincent Higginson described it as "one of the oldest English vernacular hymns commonly found in Catholic hymnals."

Lingard died at Hornby on 17 July 1851 at the age of eighty-one. He was buried, at his request, in the cloister of the college cemetery at Ushaw.

The Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church
The Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church arose from a series of informal talks Lingard gave at Ushaw. They were compiled and edited, and published at Newcastle in 1806. Lingard emphasized that he drew his information wherever possible from original works. He demonstrated that the church in England grew contemporaneously with expanding political structures, and that the institutional structure of the church planted by Augustine of Canterbury developed within the politico-social environment of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Lingard argued that "...By preserving the use of the Latin tongue, they imposed on the clergy the necessity of study, kept alive the spirit of improvement, and transmitted to future generations the writings of the classics, and the monuments of profane and ecclesiastical history." In his discussion of saints and their holy books, Lingard implies a continuity between the Anglo-Saxon Christians and the English Roman Catholics of his own day, some of whom retained custody of the ancient manuscripts. The section regarding Ecgberht of Ripon, Willibrord, and Boniface suggests that a number of practices and traditions many of his contemporaries would regard as "Romish", where actually exported to the continent by Englishmen. By drawing a connection between Anglo-Saxon Christians and nineteenth century Roman Catholics he sought to show that the latter were not only good Christians, but also good and loyal Englishmen.

The History of England
The principal object of his major work, The History of England, is to emphasise the disastrous effects of the Reformation. The book was later expanded by the author and the title changed to reflect the period covered. As each additional volume appeared the History reputation increased, while Lingard continued to revise and improve the whole work. Most of the earnings from this project and his other writings were directed towards the educating of students to the priesthood.

In his style and presentation of English history, Lingard demonstrates the prevalent manner of Catholic scholarship – he gives, for example, no indication that he is a priest on the title page, and professes emphatically to be writing an impartial history. But in a curious turnaround, his History by its very impartiality is a Catholic apologetic, and Lingard's desire for impartiality is a reflection of the Catholic political and intellectual situation in the Emancipation era.

The Catholic position in the early nineteenth century, politically speaking, was that of a minority body, allied to the Whig-Radical-Dissenting political grouping, and seeking religious and political freedom. This alliance encouraged Old Catholic intellectuals to present their arguments in 'liberal' and 'reasonable' form – the argumentative advantage in this being that it presented Catholics as enlightened and tolerant, and their opposition as prejudiced and bigoted.

Lingard himself argued that one of his chief duties as an historian was:"'to weigh with care the value of the authorities on which I rely, and to watch with jealousy the secret workings of my own personal feelings and prepossessions. Such vigilance is a matter of necessity to every writer of history ... Otherwise, he will be continually tempted to make an unfair use of the privilege of the historian; he will sacrifice the interests of truth to the interests of party, national, or religious, or political.' (J. Lingard, 'History of England', vol 1, 6th edition, London: Charles Dolman, 1854, p. 6.)"

Lingard adopted a non-controversial and sober approach to history with the emphasis on incontrovertible fact and using primary rather than secondary sources. In the History, Lingard faces the task of convincing Protestants of the fundamental truths of the Catholic faith, while maintaining an unbiased presentation of historical truth. He possesses little sense of "preaching to the converted" (in a very literal sense), and aims his work more at influencing Protestants than placating his Ultramontane opposition. In a letter of 18 December 1819, Lingard wrote: "... my only chance of being read by Protestants depends upon my having the reputation of a temperate writer. The good to be done is by writing a book which Protestants will read." (Lingard to Kirke, in Haile, Bonney, Life and Letters of John Lingard, 1771–1851, London: 1912, pp 166–67).

Lingard's History is also an apt demonstration of the advantages a Catholic historian of the time may have had, in terms of impartiality. Lingard's religion had to a large extent isolated him from the mainstream nationalism which surrounded Protestant historians, as well as from the growing "providentialist" concept of history. Lingard's strength of argument, however, continued to be popular, and the influence of Protestant animosity for Catholic apologetic also led him to develop a keen critical judgement. He was devoted to absolute accuracy and detail and the History was a groundbreaking work in its use of primary sources. Lingard made extensive use of Vatican archives and French, Italian, Spanish and English dispatches, document collections and state papers – the first British historian to do so. The peripheral nature of English Catholicism put him in a position of "outside observer" to much of English intellectual culture, and this is reflected in his historical works. Despite this distancing effect, however, Lingard maintained an active interest in politics all his life and was a noted pamphleteer.

The edition that is usually seen is a 10 volume set, "to the Accession of William and Mary in 1688." There is an enlarged 13 volume set published just before Lingard's death which was his final revision, "to the Commencement of the Reign of William the Third." The History was abridged and revised adding material to bring its treatment up to the then present and used as a text in English Catholic schools during the nineteenth century.

Lesser known than Lingard's historical works is his anonymously published translation of the Four Gospels in 1836. The title page reads simply that the work is "by a Catholic." Lingard departed from usual Catholic practice by using early Greek manuscripts rather than the Latin Vulgate as the principal basis for the translation. This resulted in such renderings as "repent" rather than "do penance" (Matt 3:2). His willingness to depart from Catholic custom contrasts with his contempt for the Protestant concept of "private interpretation" of Scripture. In a note to John 1:1, he states, "Hence it happens that men of every persuasion find confirmation of their peculiar opinions in the sacred volumes: for, in fact, it is not the Scripture that informs them, but that they affix their own meaning to the language of Scripture."

Lingard's work influenced Francis P. Kenrick (1796–1863), Roman Catholic Bishop of Philadelphia, and later Archbishop of Baltimore, who published his own translation of the Four Gospels in 1849. By 1851, Lingard felt sufficiently confident to publish a new edition of his Four Gospels in his own name.

William Cobbett used Lingard's history as an unbiased reference source for his own History of the Protestant Reformation in which he puts forward the argument that the reformation had disastrous consequences for the ordinary people of England. His work would in turn be influential in the passage of the Catholic emancipation bill by preparing the way for public acceptance and the minimisation of sectarian violence.

Lingard was accorded no recognition by the British intellectual establishment. History of England is a substantial scholarly work which gave full treatment to the history of England. From 1811 until his death in 1851 Lingard spent most of his life in the village of Hornby near Lancaster, where he devoted himself to his study and writing. A quiet, gentle man, he was well liked by the residents. Lingard's popularity as an historian had its day, but his contribution to historical method came at a critical point in British intellectual history. That he was also a Catholic priest, in a turbulent time for the Church in England, makes that contribution all the more interesting.

In 1821 Pope Pius VII honoured Lingard with a triple doctorate – in theology, canon law and civil law – and a few years later Leo XII conferred upon him a gold medal generally only given to cardinals and princes. There is even strong evidence that he was made a cardinal in pectore ("in the breast") in 1826. This meant that the Pope could have announced the appointment publicly at some future time.

title: John Lingard