Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish - 1993 - Ep. 26

05/15/23 • 86 min

Blur's Modern Life is Rubbish. A cracking album to celebrate episode 25 for us and the 30th anniversary of it's release on Food records in the UK on the 10th of May 1993. Unthinkable given what came afterwards that Blur were in a bit of a pickle ahead of the release of this record. We discover why they were in serious debt, in threat of being dropped by the record company, and what were the songs that made the difference allowing the album to survive and thrive. We talk about the influence of producer Stephen Street, Blur's evolving sound and image, chart performance, critial reception, and provide a track by track analysis.

As ever, to set the scene, we cover the UK news, TV, movies, singles and album charts from the date of reslease with the usual eclectic mix of one hit wonders, established artists and breakthrough acts including the likes of Kingmaker, Snow, R.E.M, Whitney Houston, Utah Saints, Janet Jackson, New Order, Sting, World Party, Duran Duran, Clannad, Terrence Trent D'Arby, George Michael, and Cliff Richard.

Our Top 3's this week are things that are rubbish about modern life. Please forgive Rick's football related rant - he was in a fragile state of mind following Sheffield Wednesday's capitulation in their recent play-off semi-final first leg at Peterborough.

Singles of the week.

Rick has gone for the beuatiful, heartfelt and wonderful song that is 'Fat Black Heart', a 1993 release by Ian Prowse's Pele: https://youtu.be/_Vv7ovOnJEM

Kate has gone for a recent catchy release by the band Bloxx called 'Television Promises': https://youtu.be/_Vv7ovOnJEM

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Singles of the week.

Rick has gone for the beuatiful, heartfelt and wonderful song that is 'Fat Black Heart', a 1993 release by Ian Prowse's Pele: https://youtu.be/_Vv7ovOnJEM

Kate has gone for a recent catchy release by the band Bloxx called 'Television Promises': https://youtu.be/_Vv7ovOnJEM

Twitter @Memorabiliapod (https://twitter.com/Memorabiliapod)

Facebook @MemorabiliaPodcast (https://www.facebook.com/Memorabilia-Podcast-102585322133793)

Previous Episode

R.E.M. - Automatic For The People - 1992 - Ep. 25

It's Autumn 1992 and R.E.M. are suddenly one of the biggest bands on the planet, riding the crest of a wave after the global success of their seventh studio LP - The wonderful 'Out of Time.' How do you follow that and create an album that:

a) sounds radically different to anything you've produced before, is

b) critically lauded and,

c) every bit as successful commercially as its predeccessor?

The answer is that you come up with 'Automatic For The People' - an astonishing record that has stood the test of time and given joy to millions of people in all four corners of the world, as well as saving lives through the incredible words and music within.

We talk about how the record was formulated, the writing and recording process, how they came up with the name, and artwork, as well as disecting every track musically and lyrically.

Find out what we thought of the record, although there's a big clue in the fact that revisiting it some 30 years on lead us to ask the question, does it have the best 3 closing tracks of any LP ever made? Also, what would the album score out of 20 and could it dislodge The Cure from the coveted Memorabilia rating chart, currently at No.1 with a score of 18.5 for the 1989 masterpiece, Disintegration.

Our regular features, are all in attendance, with October 1992 getting the memorablia podcast treatment in terms of looking at the UK single and album charts, what was playing at the cinema, airing on our TV screens and happening in the news. We discovered a bit of a disparity between what was in the top twenty in terms of singles and albums featuring artists such as Neds Atomic Dustbin, Stereo MC's, Manic Street Preachers, Prince, Lionel Richie, The Shamen, EMF, Mike Oldfield, Extreme, and Crowded House.

For our Top 3's this week, we went with the top 3 songs about sleep or dreaming. R.E.M. had to feature in one of those Top 3's, but listen in to find out which song and who chose it for their list!

Links from this week's episode:

Ian Prowse tour dates: https://amsterdam-music.com/live/

Single of the Week (chosen by Rick's Mum) - Nuts, by George Melly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrL1YM3bqUo

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email [email protected]

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Next Episode

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads - 1996 - Ep. 27

A favourite album of Kate's receives the Memorabilia Podcast scrutiny this week as we focus our attention on the intense, brooding, magnificence that is 'Murder Ballads' by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds from 1996. Their 9th studio album release, notable for its dark subject matter and cameo appearances from PJ Harvey, Kylie Monogue, and Shane McGowan, was met with widespread critical acclaim upon its release. Benefitting from the substantial airplay received for lead single 'Where The Wild Roses Grow', the record remains the bands most commercial succesful release to date. Discover the story behind the songs, how the album came to be, and what Rick and Kate thought of the album, each scoring it out of 10. Can it trouble the top ranked 5 LP's covered so far?

The UK singles and album charts reviewed are from the 5th of February 1996 with the usual mix of the good, the bad and the ugly. Rick declared the top 4 albums as the best covered to date and argued strongly that it wasn't just because he owned all 4! In the news we heard about divorce, the splitting up of the most successful British band of the 1990s (no tears were shed from our presenters), Jarvis Cocker's infamous escapades at The Brit Awards, and channel tunnel challenges. The UK box office including a film that wasn't based on George Orwells Animal Farm (although it did star a pig), a David Fincher classic and another top 10 where Kate hadn't seen a single movie!

Or Top 3's this week include songs by Ian Prowse, Tom Jones, Rage Against The Machine, Eminem, Johnny Cash and Aerosmith. Find out what subject links them all together (bit of a clue in the subject of this episode's featured album!).

Singles of the Week

Rick's: One of Us by Joan Osborne from 1996: https://youtu.be/aDdOnl0bHO4

Kate's: Greenhands by Sundara Karma from 2019: https://youtu.be/9Xkrbt1dQso

Other songs / performances mentioned on episode:

Where The Wild Roses Grow by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds featuring Kylie Minogue: https://youtu.be/lDpnjE1LUvE

Stagger Lee, and Henry Lee performed by Nick Cave and The Badseeds and PJ Harvey on The White Room 1996: https://youtu.be/OOLW_EvpWTc

Jubilee Street performed by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds live in Copenhagen: https://youtu.be/kf_zVzvYWuw

Satellite by The Hooters from 1987: https://youtu.be/RVXjBMK3EkI

Jarvis Cocker interrupts Michael Jackson at The Brits: https://youtu.be/ymCQyq-9APw

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