Best Blur B-side

I've got some CDR's of this stuff and I came really close to pulling them out recently. "I'm Fine" is such a fantastic Beatles-y track.

Can't decide. Too many good ones. We've had a thread about this before but I don't know if it was a poll.

I've gone for When The Cows Come Home... they were a very good b-sides band. In a way it was the stylistic experimentation of their b-sides that made them a special band.

Young and Lovely. Why this was left of <i>Modern Life is Rubbish</i> I'll never understand.

i voted for "dizzy" because it's good.

Young and Lovely is great, as are many others. I went for Woodpigeon Song because I've played it the most, followed by Beachcoma.

Good to see them putting so much effort into all these tunes and not ripping their fans off:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yQq7SuDtom8

Exception that proves the rule, dude.

i own practically all of these, just missing a few newer ones. this will be fun to try and figure out, will vote before poll closes. i love the long version of "Down"...

i don't think i can bring to mind a single one of these songs. so much for spending all that money on the singles box set.

As for "Rednecks," that was also (until "You're So Great," anyway) the only song with Graham singing lead vocal, so even though it's crap it was still a treat for some of the more diehard fans. See also "Alex's Song."

Went for "All Your Life" because I've played it most. I'd be happy with "Dizzy," "Young and Lovely," "Get Out of Cities," "Tame," and plenty of others. Still have most of these on cassettes that a fellow Blur fan made for me back in the 28.8 modem era.

It's either "Mace" or "Daisy Bell" for me.

This poll made me feel very old indeed.

"You've got a gaping hole in your head. I'd let the birds nest there instead.."

Worst poll ever, but only because it's impossible to pick one. Probably All Your Life.

I was lucky, got the singlebox/zipup thing for £30 thanks to an auction site that tried to set itself up.

It's funny, sets like this always go out of date for 'current' bands, but it was only 2 weeks later the "no distance" single was issued with more b-sides.

After that, the "music is my radar" and then the think tank b-sides, and that's yer lot. Keep thinking I should make additional CDs for to catch up.

Are the Think Tank B sides as crap as the album? Please say no.

I don't know. A fair few "Gorillaz" b-sides have been elongated doodles, and a couple of the GTBATQ b-sides have been of the "I hope you didn't bother that nice Paul Simonon with this rub?" standard.

For the catch-up merchants:

1. Good Song
2. Morricone
3. Me, White Noise (Alternate Version)

1. Crazy Beat
2. Don't Be
3. The Outsider

1. Out Of Time (Video)
2. Money Makes Me Crazy (Marrakech Mix)
3. Tune 2

1. Music Is My Radar
2. Black Book
3. Headist / Into Another (Live)
4. Music Is My Radar (Radio Edit)
5. 7 Days (Live)
6. She's So High (Live)

1. No Distance Left To Run
2. Tender (Cornelius Remix)
3. So You
4. Battle (UNKLE Remix)
5. Beagle 2

I love Think Tank, but I never got particularly into the b-sides I heard... I only own the "Out of Time" CD single and the "Music Is My Radar" 12", though.

"Tender (Cornelius Remix)" is quite good.

A poll of fan club singles next?

I really like Eine Kleine Lift Musik but it's not a b-side it was on Warchild

Ahh yes - I have to admit I was too lazy to actually go compile my own list and instead took this off of Veikko's Blur site, which I'm pretty sure has been around since 99 or so so I trust the dude!

ESOJ, can I have your Blur boxed set? I never managed to scratch together the cash and was another one of those people relying on casette tape trading, haha. I do have the Special Collector's Edition at least.. but I can't find All Your Life -anywhere- on mp3, it's killing me!

Also - so happy to see all the Dizzy love!

Young and Lovely. Why this was left of <i>Modern Life is Rubbish</i> I'll never understand.

It was on the Japanese version that I've got. Not that it counts, really.

Me too.

I also have the US version with that other version of "Chemical World"

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Breadth of quality of Blur B sides vindicated.

Didn't vote, but probably would've picked "One Born Every Minute."

I think this poll could have used a little more time for folks to vote.

Didn't vote for "Young and Lovely", but damn if that isn't one of my favorite guitar riffs.

but I can't find All Your Life -anywhere- on mp3, it's killing me!

-- Finefinemusic, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 20:58 (3 days ago) Link

If you're still looking for this I can post it for you this weekend

Theme From An Imaginary Film 0

Now, this would have been my second choice....

Yeah I like that one - really epic and silly and overmention of the word "arse". It was going to be the theme of a British sitcom apparently.

All Your Life.

Billy: thank you thank you thank you!! I'm sorry I missed this thread earlier, how embarassing.

xpost My email address is imaginary film! Love that song.

Theme from an Imaginary Film is the shit. I really really wish I'd voted for that instead of the cow song.

or All Your Life or whatever it was.

If I was to get half a dozen to a dozen of these off my brother to stick on my iPod's massive "b-sides" playlist, which ones should I get?

Film
Tame
Mace
Ludwig
Cows
Life

- When the Cows Come Home (Damon is good at this style)
- Young and Lovely (Should've been an A-Side)
- Swallows In The Heatwave (a well-accomplished Pavement hommage and the title even sounds like "Starlings In The Slipstream)
- Theme From An Imaginary Film (this was actually going to be the theme tune from a TV comedy but the word "arse" appeared in it too many times)
- St Louis (miserabilist Beatles-y stuff, really lush though)
- One Born Every Minute (Camp and silly in the best possible way)
- Polished Stones (like "Lazy Old Sun"-era Kinks put through a shoegaze filter)
- Peach (Lazy lazy)
- Ludwig (Funny instrumental #1)
- Supa Shoppa (Funny Instrumental #2)

What about Bustin' & Dronin'?

For reference, my favourite Blur songs are Beetlebum, Girls & Boys, The Universal, Ambulance, Sing, This Is A Low, and To The End, probably.

Film remains a must, then.

All Your Life
St Louis
Young & Lovely
One Born Every Minute
So You
Theme From an Imaginary Song (that or Let's Go Down the Strand)
All We Want
The Man Who Left Himself (Country Sad Ballad Man prequel?)
Some Glad Morning (if only because it's the last thing recorded with Graham)
The Horrors (weird instrumental #1)
Beard (weird instrumental #2)

i think they kind of sucked at b-sides. they basically gave up and did rubbish 'comedy' ones after MLIR iirc.

are there no awesome wacked-out 13-era b-sides worth naming then

I missed this one, would have voted for beachcoma, but there you go.

most of the 13-era b-sides were remixes and versions i think.

I'm sad I missed this poll when it happened! Young and Lovely and Woodpigeon are my favorites. Why was Young and Lovely ditched from the album?! itisamystery.jpg

'turn it up' was thrown in y&l's penultimate slot to crack the US market iirc, which the entire band vocally regret

'black book' is my fairly predictable favourite though, as well as one of my favourite blur songs full stop, it's like 'tender' done right & genuinely raises me to catharsis every time. that rhodes piano entrance, shit

No votes for 'Magpie' or 'Get Out Of Cities'?

While Blur were definitely not a great B-sides band like Suede or Oasis were, listening to their B-sides is very different experience. Rather than come across as a series of A-sides that were cruelly buried on flips, the Blur B-sides cover a whole spectrum. One minute you could be listening to a song which is honest to god should-have-made-the-album stuff, the next minute you could be listening to something a little more off-the-cuff and experimental, some of it which is truly inspired and works, and some of it which doesn't. And then there's some out-and-out horrific shite, like the "comedy" tracks on the Parklife B-sides. Picking through the B-sides is an experience in itself.

Ah..

About 6 months ago I saw the big cd box for £50 at local char shop.

Couldn't justify it really..

Still, I have all the cd box versions, and managed to Obtain the rarities 3cd and not fussed about the dvds anyway

i still covet that box

Found myself on a gloomy January Monday on the platform at Ealing Broadway having to run an equally gloomy errand, so 'Modern Life...' made the perfect soundtrack.