Blur: 3862 Days : The Official History

by Stuart Maconie

The official story of the most significant British band of the 90s. Now updated with fresh interviews including insights into lead singer Damon's new act, Gorillaz, that is sweeping awards on both sides of the Atlantic. This is the story of bitter rows with record companies, farcical feuds with Oasis, fist fights with each other, struggles with the bottle, foundering romances and a love-hate relationship with America. Drawing on the hours of exclusive interviews he has done with the band since their early days, Stuart Maconie offers a gripping insight into this intense, hedonistic quartet. Updated with fresh interviews including insights into Damon's award-winning new act Gorillaz. The official story of Blur, told through exclusive interviews.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, Biography Memoir

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Stuart Maconie is a TV and radio presenter, journalist, columnist and author.

He is the UK’s best-selling travel writer of non-TV tie-in books and his Pies and Prejudice was one of 2008’s top selling paperbacks. His work has been compared with Bill Bryson, Alan Bennett and John Peel and described by The Times as a 'National Treasure'.

He co-hosts the Radcliffe and Maconie Show on BBC Radio 2 every Monday – Thursday evening, as well as The Freak Zone on 6Music on Sunday afternoons, and has written and presented dozens of other shows on BBC Radio. His TV work includes presenting the BBC's On Trial shows, Pop on Trial and Style on Trial, as well as Stuart Maconie’s TV Towns, a popular gazeteer of major British cities and their roles in modern cultural life for ITV 4 and The Cinema Show/The DVD Collection on BBC 4.

As well as a popping up in Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights, and on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Stuart was a favourite on hit TV series such as the BBC's I love the 1970s' , I love the 1980s , and is now in variously Grumpy... . His other books include the acclaimed official biographies of both Blur and James. He can name GQ Man of the Year and Sony Awards Radio Broadcaster of the Year amongst his accolades. He has regular columns in The Radio Times and Country Walking and writes for WORD magazine and The Mirror.

Reviews

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this back in 1999 when it came out as a rabid fan. It offered great insight into the lives of each member and their history together.

If you want a different perspective you should track down their early live tour bio Starshaped on DVD...amazing stuff there.

Oh how I miss them...get back together guys!

[Aerin Bowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wooooooooooohooooooooooooo

[River · Rating 3 out of 5]

This took me forever to read, but it was well worth it! A great book if you want to know about the band, starting from their humble art school beginnings, to the golden age of Parklife, and eventually up until the completion of their last album, '13'. A literary roller coaster of blood, booze, brawling, growing up, and what Britpop was at it's finest hour, the author does a superb job at illustrating exactly what Blur was to the world in the 90's. The book also does a great job detailing the horrific time period seen in 'Starshaped' (See the DVD first if you haven't!), their disillusionment with popular American music (i.e. grunge), and how they eventually were met with success by "accidentally creating Britpop".

Tragically, the last chapter ends just a few years before Graham Coxon leaves Blur in 2002, which makes the cheerful conclusion a little bit bittersweet. Nonetheless, still an amazing well-constructed biography of the band, and an interesting read in light of them recently reuniting. As a fairly new (and American, ha!) fan of the band, I would recommend this book to those interested in learning more about the band.

[Malcolm Frawley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blur are 1 of my fave English bands (alongside Beatles, King Crimson, XTC, Squeeze, Porcupine Tree). I began this book suspecting that an 'official' biography might shave off the warts but finished it feeling very little had been kept from these pages. Although discovering them fairly early & acquiring their CDs more or less in order I was surprised to learn that it took 8 singles, 3 albums & many tours before they became an 'overnight success'. Each member's life & personality is explored in detail, & their interactions & occasional clashes are seemingly not glossed over. The book ends quite (maybe too) abruptly after the release of 13, so the Coxon-less Think Tank & reunion album Magic Whip are not discussed. However, as a record of their formation, long gestation, & eventual success it ticked all the boxes for me.

[Laurette McNabb · Rating 5 out of 5]

The detail and storytelling in this book made me feel like I was actually living it with Blur. The input from the band members added real emotional weight to the pretty public story of the band’s rise, fall, and comeback. The author’s writing style was entertaining and humorous. It was interesting reading this in 2021 with the knowledge of what’s happened to Blur since 1999, especially between Albarn and Coxon. I’ll be reading this one again.

[Jackson Parker]

Stu needs to reissue with appendix on think tank drama, reunions, Justine’s connection with MIA, and gorillaz!

[Bia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't really love this book. I feel that band "biographies" need to walk a line between music journalism and novel and this fails on the latter. Through the beginning up to Modern Life is Rubbish I feel that Stuart Maconie does a good job at narrating their lives, talking about Damon and Graham's friendship and the band getting together. It really feels like a book about college students making music. After that, the book follows this very boring routine of [studio session descriptions] [interview excerpt] [description of the songs production]. The part where I felt that the most was when he talked about Parklife and their Glastonbury set of 94. The story writes itself: they had just released Parklife and their small stage was crowded with people who knew all the songs, they perform This is a Low live as the sun is setting, Damon cries and looks out at the crowd with a big grin like yeah they finally made it! It's their big moment! The book talks about it in two lines when they're mentioning the 1998 Glastonbury performance. It really feels like he got bored after Modern Life is Rubbish. I really loved his description of that album, it's one of my life albums and it's amazing to see they were just four broke college students making music about how much working and being in your 20s sucks and nobody believed them but they stuck by it!! I really like Blur

[zuzia · Rating 5 out of 5]

woo-hoo!

[joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

My history of britpop and british music in general is virtually non-existent so much of the references made in this book (ie like 2/3rds of it) were completely lost on me. still an interesting look into the band and their influence on modern british pop. definitely going to have to relisten to the albums now that i have a new perspective on what they were going through at the time.

[Caitie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, maybe? I've had this book since pretty soon after it came out, but for some reason never read it until now. It's tricky for me to review. Band history? Great. Lots and lots of direct quotes from people involved? Great. Author's inability to self-edit? Not great. (Endless, looping sentences and unnecessary digs at other bands in every other paragraph.)

I really liked the bits about each song, and was kind of surprised at how many songs I have no memory of by name alone (mostly from The Great Escape and Modern Life Is Rubbish).

[Crispin Kott · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been ages since I read it. I only wish they were around to do a second volume.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, really, really liked this one. Truthfully, I came into this not knowing much about Blur -- really, I consider myself more of an enthusiastic Oasis fan, who's just curious about the whole 90s Britpop scene in general. But Stuart Maconie did a great job walking me through the band's formation, rising success, and evolving musical sound; his sophisticated and nuanced writing style really did get me invested in the band and interested in their music -- outside of how it related to whatever Oasis was doing at the time. Each band-member was given equal due in the story, and each of their four distinctive personalities was allowed to shine through. I'm so glad Maconie was friends with the band and was able to interview them so extensively. Their interview excerpts were all really interesting and added so much personal depth to the book, beyond what could've been just a dry re-hashing of events. (At the start of the book, Maconie mentions that he borrowed his structuring off of Barry Miles' superb Many Years From Now -- something that got an immediate nod of approval off of me). Maconie does a good job not just in his analysis of the music itself, but of the perils and tribulations of fame. It could've come across as cliched and maudlin, but the drinking, the interpersonal tensions, the struggle to crack the US, and the eventual search for a sound more different, meaningful, and striking than "pop" was conveyed with an honesty and level-headedness that does the band more credit than harm.

Overall, very impressed with this one. As a bookworm and an Oasis fan, I do wish something on this level was available for them. However, Maconie's book definitely left me with a deeper appreciation for Blur and the band's seminal place in modern English music.

5/5 stars. Recommended.

[Joey · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent three stars. Or a disjointed and hard-to-follow four stars. “3862 Days” is written by a Brit, and for British readers. This is part of the book’s charm. There is no explanation of references that English readers will understand due to consistent immersion in English culture, while others — primarily Americans — will have no idea. Entire paragraphs passed in which I, a native English speaker reading a book written by a native English speaker, understood hardly anything.

But one of the joys of “3862 Days” is that the non-English can spend 270 pages thigh-deep in English culture and society of the 1990s, which is unique and obviously deeply meaningful to those that lived it, and important to those affected by it in ways we probably don’t understand.

Readers will get a very in-depth dive into who the four members of Blur are as people. We receive track-by-track reviews of each song from each of Blur’s first six albums. It’s all written from the very biased but enthusiastic and engrossing perspective of a pop journalist (who can be insufferable, including in parts of this volume) who has been in with the band since its earliest days. So don’t expect objectivity. Finally, don’t expect any love for American 90s music here. As far as Maconie seems to think, nothing of any value could or did come from American pop or rock during the period Blur had its run in the 90s. This book is almost exclusively focused on British music. American music is simply a foil to the house of pop that Blur built. This is not an incorrect perspective, provided you’re devoutly English. Most readers of this volume probably are.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, decently written, surprisingly engaging. I really enjoyed just learning about the British music scene of the early nineties. Frankly surprised I read the whole thing as I'm certainly a blur fan but not "read a whole book about" - or so I thought. But it was just a good story and there was just a fascinating development of the band that was fun to follow in the music as I went. Good excuse to geek out and listen to all the albums. I think I have greater appreciation of their oeuvre, and particularly their eponymous album which missed me entirely when it came out.
I don't pretend they're the best band in the world, but they've been formative to me, (modern life is rubbish is a desert island album and I loved it the week it released when I was a kid) and the music, unlike other teen trends, has stayed good all these decades later. Guess that means something, anyway.

[Shaun Winford · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far it's still the best book about Blur. It covers the first 11 years of their existence (which many may argue were their prime). The first chapter is almost impossible to get into but once you make it to Damon and Graham's childhood it gets very interesting. I wish there were more about their personal lives, though I understand that focusing on their musical careers and works is a sensible decision. The writing is very pretentious sometimes (I had to stop every so often just to process what the hell he was on about – or simply had to Google the namedrops) but other times surprisingly personal and touching. The writer clearly knows Blur well and is in close contact with them, and has done his homework. It greatly improved my listening experience with Blur.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best thing that’s happened to me the latter half of this year is getting super into Blur. I loved this book, sometimes bios can feel too impersonal and maybe even a little boring but this was written in a way that was very easy to immerse yourself in and really get to know everyone. I wish there was something for everything that’s happened after 1999, but this was a great read for a band that I just recently got into that I now consider one of my top favorites.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely thorough and well researched but unnecessarily bombastic in my opinion

[JJ Lehmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty decent and thorough biography of my favorite band from creation to their 6th album '13'. Loved it because I love them.

[Julia]

sometimes a book is only available as a pdf shit scan and then it takes you half a year to read it but that’s okay

[ghaliah majid · Rating 5 out of 5]

My rating is extremely biased; such an unhinged band.

[Noam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The problem with biographies of people who are still alive is that you never know if that's the right time to write it. Unfortunately for Maconie, this book ended right before the most major event to have happen to blur since they were reformed, that is of course Graham's departure and the following hiatus.

The band will reform later on, but that was an end of that chapter. Ironically enough the last quote in the book is Dave trying to guess what might make them break up, and Maconie decides to leave the reader with the impression that, despite the arguments and interpersonal issues described in the previous chapter, it would never happen.

The book is highly recommended to any Blur fan. It is very very thorough, in fact even too much so for me - who is a fan, just not a dedicated one. Even though I don't know much beyond The Best Of - Blur shaped my adolescence despite being a bit too young when they were at their prime. They started the music genre I identify with, and are my heroes' heroes.

I decided to buy this book after I re-read Alex James' autobiography, which left me feeling disappointed. It was too much about him, and not enough about the band. (Have to say, despite enjoying it a lot when I was 23-or-so, reading it when I'm nearing my 30s made me think of him a lot different. And this book didn't help much change it. He used to be my favorite, and now at best I'm ambivalent about him). And buying this book proved to be the right choice.

For me what was interesting the most were the relationship, as in any story. I love stories about deep meaningful friendship, and it doesn't get more close and deep then with bandmates. It might be the most intimate level of friendships to be found, and the book did satisfy me in that department. What was not needed in my eyes, was the elaborate description and analysis of each and every song in every album.

I get it, Maconie is a music writer, and knows a lot about it and for him it might be important to list every single influence on every single track. However, not all of it adds anything to the story of the band. And this a story of people, not musical notes.

The book has nothing to say in general about the art of being a musician, it doesn't try to be zeitgeist for the 90s, it doesn't even explore why britpop became what it is to this day - it just tell why Blur decided to do what they did. This is why, if you're not a fan of blur, you have nothing to look for in it.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

My version is the non updated one, which includes material on Gorillaz, Coxon's departure, solo career and Think Tank. There's a lot more now with another new album, Albarn's solo career, Rowntree's political endeavors etc

In 1999 blur celebrated their tenth anniversary as a band and there were a lot blur associated things coming out - the two main events was the release of the band's best album - 13 and this official bio which included interviews with the band.

Blur are important for me as they were the group that made me like alternative music and this bio tells the story, beginning with the band's roots and all the problems that came with them - since the group consists of four distinct personalities clashes were bound to happen and fighting has plagued the band from day one - Maconie makes this clear. As with most rock bios there are drugs but Maconie doesn't really dwell on these things - rather he writes about blur's role in the britpop years and then their rejection of it in order to move into weirder territories. Plus there's quite a few interesting facts behind the making of their first five albums - the sixth gets a brief mention which does shed some light on how blur work and how Stephen Street helped guide the band into stardom by acting as a peacemaker.

3862 Days is the way a bio should be - informative, not exhaustive with humorous moments.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

L'avevo letto per la prima volta milioni di anni fa e mi era piaciuto molto, stavolta un po' meno. Dedica troppo spazio alla fase iniziale, all'infanzia dei quattro e al periodo pre-Leisure, e va troppo di corsa nel raccontare alcuni dei periodi più importanti (in particolare il post Great Escape con la band che stava per sciogliersi e la crisi che ha portato a uno dei loro album migliori). Credo che, in sostanza, soltanto Modern Life Is Rubbish abbia lo spazio che merita.
Rimane comunque un libro molto bello, di un autore che li ha seguiti dai tempi dei Seymour, e grazie alle numerosissime interviste non solo ai protagonisti ma anche all'entourage e ai due boss della Food, tra gli altri, permette di conoscere le opinioni e le storie di chi era veramente dentro alla band; in più recupera tantissimi stralci di vecchie interviste che permettono di farsi quattro risate di fronte alle idiozie (consapevoli) del primo Damon Albarn (la più bella di tutte "Non ho dischi e le altre band non mi interessano").
L'edizione italiana, pur ammirevole (stando a GR, - ok, non una fonte troppo attendibile - è l'unica edizione in una lingua diversa dall'inglese), è piena di refusi e ha una traduzione che ho trovato abbastanza tremenda.

[Lucia Caporalini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coffee & Tv was my favourite song when I was a kid and I have always listened to Blur, but I've become really obsessed with them for two months and I listened to every single thing they ever made and I'm such in a state of complete devotion that I absolutely had to read this book. And I've read a lot of books about famous people, especially bands, and this is one of the best. The author, Stuart Maconie, has known the band since the very first years of their career and he's been an intimate friend of theirs so he actually knows what he's talking about. And nothing is left to approximation: there's the real story of the band, with all its ups and downs, all the crazy shit and all the breakdowns. And it's awesome. While reading, I had to remind myself that this book was written in 1999 and therefore it was before all the nasty shit about "Graham's issue". But it's great to think that all those terrible moments are now gone, and that they've had glorious reunions since 2009 and a new record in 2015. The epilogue is particularly beautiful: the author's flashes of memories of his life on the road with Damon, Graham, Alex and Dave. The coolest things you could think of. Next step: Alex's autobiography.

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall the book was very enjoyable, striking a balance between factual and entertaining. It contains big chunks of direct quotes from the band members a device I thought worked well. I also really enjoyed the inclusion of brief but insightful track by track run downs of each album as they came up. Blur's career has been far from plain sailing and Stuart Maconie captures the ups, and many, downs well.

It's interesting reading this in 2013. Published in 1999 Maconie is, by no fault of his own, blissfully ignorant of the tension and further bad blood to come that would result in Graham Coxon's departure a few years later. Of course we now know that, for the moment, Blur are happily reconciled with Graham back in the fold, but the tone at the end of the book seems very much to imply that Blur had worked out all their differences while recording 13 and that it would be smooth sailing from that point forward. I would be thrilled if Maconie decided to update his book now, though some may point out that the No Distance Left to Run film did much to fill in the years between 1999 and 2009.

[Nel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A refreshingly classy, elegantly written biography chronicling the trials & tribulations of the English quartet Blur (my personal favorite band... ever), told from someone apparently close to the band himself. However, as someone else pointed out, there is far too much emphasis on the business side and too little about the actual creative process and inspiration behind Blur's music. I can't help but feel that since this was the 'official biography' granted with ~exclusive~ interviews from the band, an opportunity was missed to make this the absolutely definitive book about the group, but as it's unfortunately missing such a key element it doesn't really "capture" Blur.

However, there's lots of good information, new insights from the band, lovely sketches of the four boys in candid moments, adorable baby photos, and what I especially liked, cover artwork by Graham Coxon himself.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last year, I saw Damon Albarn solo and decided to dig out all my old Blur stuff to get reacquainted with my favorite band from my teen years. How was I to know this would be the year of The Magic Whip, the tiny show at Music Hall of Williamsburg and headlining Madison Square Garden? Well, I decided to stumble back into this book to warm up for MSG. The remarkable thing about Maconie's writing is how he grounds Blur in time and place. He gives you context about not just the music scene but the backgrounds of people who aren't even in the band. It makes for quite the lush picture.

Of course, now we all know the chaos went far deeper than he predicts since this ends with the release of 13. The book does get less detailed and more idealistic towards the end, but it's still nice to revisit before hearing the old hits again.

[aleksandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good and I didn't really expect it to be. Loved the fact it had direct quotes from the band members. First chapters which described their childhood and early years were my favourite - really detailed and covered stuff I didn't know.
There was a lack of balance tho - chapters regarding Blur's self-titled and 13 period were too short - I'd love to read more about the process of creating these records and about band's dynamic because these albums are my faves, but oh well.
Knowing what happened with Blur later on makes the ending bittersweet - Maconie is hopeful, making readers believe that despite the band's disagreements, it will all be fine. It wasn't.
These days it's good to know Blur had their happy ending. Would love to read second book about 2008-2015 period, but we have two very good documentaries from the band, so that will do.

[Dave Finnigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a fan of the band but this is very good

[Kayleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only thing I hated about this book is that it ends in 1999. Maconie should write the next volume!