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Back to: Archive · 1995 From 'Top Of The Pops' magazine, 1995. Mark Goodier: Here is Damon Albarn from Blur, hello. Damon Albarn: Er, hello. MG: 'Top Of The Pops' is a programme you have presented, not just appeared on. One of the very few. DA: Yeah, that's right. I was quite nervous at the time, but it was alright. MG: Was it a strange thing though, because when you're asked to do your four minutes, whether it's 'Girls & Boys' or whatever, you also don't have to worry about linking the whole of the show, so when you presented it, what did it mean you had to think about? DA: Erm, remembering the lines really, but I was able to write them. I think I sort of said too many lines, you know, because you have little ten second periods in which to sort of to do your bit, and the seasoned presenter just says [slowly] 'And... now... on... Top... Of... The... Pops...' and I was just trying to fill in every single... So yeah, I enjoyed it, it was good. MG: Let's just also recap on probably the best year of your career so far, 1994. What were the highlights? DA: Highlights? Ooh. There were a lot. Some of the big gigs were very... I mean, playing at Glastonbury on a lovely summer evening as the sun set was quite unbeatable really. Working with Phil Daniels early on was quite a thrill. Now I'm sick to death of him. MG: [laughs] Did he become a mate then? DA: Oh definitely, but erm... yeah, it's one of those things, you know, 'Parklife' has become such a... definitely last year it was a real sort of, you know... it became a word as opposed to an album, it was actually a sort of a way of being. So we've had to step out of that life and erm... But it's good, we've done it I think, and we've changed again. [laughter] Another change is in process. MG: It's interesting to try and imagine 'Parklife' the song without Phil Daniels on it, but of course you did do it for a session on Radio One before. DA: Yeah, exactly, it's just one of those things that erm... I mean, I'd really like to use him again because he's one of these people that... he's just great company, but I don't think it'll work again. MG: So currently you're in the studio then, are you, recording? DA: Yeah. MG: And is that one of those things... I know you're doing this for the 'Top Of The Pops' magazine, but do you normally lock yourselves away and talk to nobody? Does it have to be like that? DA: No, we've always recorded at the same time of year, in the same studio with the same producer, the same engineer. We start at 11 and finish at nine in the evening and go for a drink. It's all very - MG: A civilised day's work! DA: It's none of this sort of all-night jam sessions. MG: Is the album that you're recording now sounding different from 'Parklife'? DA: Yeah, it is. It's a bit R&B actually, which I never thought we'd make an R&B album, but there are definite elements of R&B in it. Dunno why, but it - MG: Is it something you've been listening to? DA: No, I... it's not a sort of R&B album, but it's definitely more in that vein. The characters have got more... have loosened up a bit. They're less chirpy, or more angry. [Mark laughs] We're not releasing this album... We can't physically actually release it until August, even though we'll have it finished in March, so I suspect it will all go a bit out of sync. MG: Does that mean you might get some time for a rest this year? Because it didn't appear to me, looking at your career in '94, that you had much of a break. DA: We haven't had a break sort of since late '92, but I think you have to have about a five-year period when you have to work solidly, you know, because there's always someone around the corner to steal your thunder. It's good, that's what makes it worth doing really. MG: You became a heart-throb, didn't you, last year? DA: Errr... well... MG: There are lots of people listening to this who bought the magazine because you were on the cover. DA: Well, I think I was singled out as a... I don't know what. MG: [laughs] As a heart-throb! But do you mind that kind of thing? It's got to be fun? DA: I don't mind, I mean I can't compete with people like Robbie [Williams] and Mark [Owen] and Keanu Reeves, but, you know, I try. MG: So, album out maybe towards the end of the year, maybe the autumn or something - DA: Oh, no definitely. We'll have a single out in May. MG: And more live gigs? DA: Yes. Big, big events. MG: A new single in about May, you say, so you'll be back on 'Top Of The Pops' as a performer then, but what about presenting it again, would you do that again if you were asked? DA: I'd like to present 'Grandstand' and 'Desert Island Discs' this year. MG: We'll have a word. Damon Albarn from Blur, thank you very much. DA: Pleasure.
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