Rhino Factoids: Blur Causes a Bother at a Bookstore

19 years ago today, the boys from Blur inspired a minor mob outside a London bookstore when they turned up to sign copies of their new official photo anthology, Blurbook. (One can only imagine how many hours the band hemmed and hawed over possible titles before finally coming to an agreement on that one.)

It’s a bit of a testament to just how huge Blur were at the time that a collection of photos of Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James, and Dave Rowntree basically just being themselves was sufficiently exciting to the band’s fans that they queued up to buy it. Oh, all right, it probably had a bit to do with the fact that they were getting a chance to meet the band and have them sign their copy of the book as well. Those who’d hoped to say hello to Rowntree were left wanting, alas, as he was ill and therefore unable to make an appearance. The rest of the guys were there, though, and from the looks of the faces of the quivering crowd, Rowntree’s absence seemed to have been tolerated without significant incident, probably because most of them had really come to see Albarn, anyway.

The website ITNSource.com describes Blur’s appearance as having “caused havoc in central London…as thousands of fans crowded the streets, waiting to get a glimpse of their heroes.” If “heroes” seems like hyperbole, keep in mind that this was right in the middle of the great Blur vs. Oasis war of the mid-1990s and just over two months after the band had released the chart-topping album The Great Escape, with their latest single, “The Universal,” having literally arrived in stores only the day before. Blur’s still a big deal even now, but back then? They were one of the two biggest bands in Great Britain, so you can only imagine the line outside that Books Inc. store that day. Still, we’d be willing to bet that just about everyone who braved the weather and stood in line for hours on end to have a close encounter with Damon, Graham, and Alex still cherishes their signed copy of Blurbook to this day.