Blur to celebrate 25th anniversary of ‘Parklife’ with ‘Live at the BBC’ release and vintage memorabilia

"All the people, so many people..."

Blur are to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ‘Parklife’ through the release of a range of vintage merchandise and a previously unreleased ‘Live At the BBC’ session.

The seminal album was released in 1994 and is considered to be one of the defining records of both the 1990s and the Britpop scene.

The group’s label Parlophone confirmed today (July 18) that the ‘BBC Radio 1 Parklife Session’ will be released on August 2 together with a special anniversary collection of ‘Parklife’-era merchandise. You can view and pre-order here.

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The anniversary merchandise contains iconic vintage designs that were originally available to buy in the 1990s, including Blur FC and their famous dog track logo.

‘Live at the BBC’ was originally recorded at the BBC in Manchester on March 7, 1994 just weeks ahead of the album’s release on April 25, 1994.

The recording contains 4 tracks, ‘Girls & Boys’, ‘Jubilee’, ‘Trouble In The Message Centre’ and ‘Lot 105’, from a session hosted by Mark Radcliffe. It will be available on 10″ vinyl and to stream from August 2.

Earlier this year, Damon Albarn revealed that Brexit was a major factor in why Blur turned down the opportunity to play a series of shows to mark the album’s 25th anniversary.

When asked by Metro if any offers had been made, Albarn replied: “Yes, they have been. I’d only want to perform that if it was a positive thing.

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“Say we got to the point of having a second referendum, then I would be happy to play that record as a celebration and as a way of reminding ourselves of a time when we had an idea of Britishness that wasn’t political.

“It was more about our music and culture,” he continued. “That was a bit naive, no question, but it had a funny side, it had a humour to it. So I’m not against performing that album but I wouldn’t want to do it if I felt like it was just about money.”

Blur did reunite, albeit briefly, back in March at Damon Albarn’s ‘Africa Express’ show in Leytonstone.

Performing in his home town to mark Waltham Forest’s celebrations as the London Borough of Culture for 2019, Albarn was joined on stage by bandmates Dave Rowntree, Alex James and Graham Coxon.

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