Parklife
LP by Blur
Released	April, 1994
Recorded	???
Genre	Britpop
Length	52 min 39 s
Record label	EMI
Producer	Stephen Street
Professional reviews
Rolling Stone	7 out of 10	(6/30/94, p.73)
Allmusic.com	5 stars out of 5	link
Spin magazine	Highly Recommended	(8/94, p.87)
Q	5 stars out of 5	October 2000
Blur Chronology
Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993)	Parklife (1994)	The Great Escape (1995)

Parklife is a Britpop album by the band Blur, released on April 25, 1994 (see 1994 in music). The album, along with Oasis' Definitely Maybe, launched the Britpop revolution in music in the UK and elsewhere. The bands' sketches of British life among ordinary men and women prompted many reviewers to compare the band to The Kinks. Another probable influence, especially on the title song, is The Small Faces. A surprising influence on the lyrics of "This Is a Low" is the BBC's Shipping Forecast. The songs themselves span many genres, such as the Pet Shop Boys-esque hit single "Girls And Boys", the jazzy interlude of "The Debt Collector", the Oi! punk of "Bank Holiday", and the hard rocking "Trouble In The Message Centre". Despite this, the album always sounds cohesive, and is rightly regarded as one of the best albums ever. At the time of its release it acquired full-on cultural phenomenon status in Britain, particularly in the context of the young middle classes' adoption of Estuary English (several newspaper articles about this tendency appeared during the singles chart run of the album's title track).

Contents

1 Track listing 2 Personnel 3 Chart positions 3.1 United Kingdom - album 3.2 United Kingdom - singles 3.3 Billboard Music Charts (North America) - album 3.4 Billboard (North America) - singles

Track listing

1. "Girls & Boys" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 4:51
2. "Tracy Jacks" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 4:20
3. "End of a Century" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 2:45
4. "Parklife" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 3:05
5. "Bank Holiday" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 1:42
6. "Badhead" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 3:25
7. "The Debt Collector" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 2:10
8. "Far Out" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 1:41
9. "To the End" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 4:05
10. "London Loves" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 4:15
11. "Trouble in the Message Centre" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 4:09
12. "Clover over Dover" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 3:22
13. "Magic America" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 3:38
14. "Jubilee" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 2:47
15. "This Is a Low" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 5:07
16. "Lot 105" (Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree) - 1:17

Personnel

• Phil Daniels - Trombone, Horn, Narrator
• Damon Albarn - Synthesizer, Strings, Harpsichord, Organ (Hammond), Programming, Recorder, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Melodica, Moog Synthesizer, Vibraphone
• Simon Clarke - Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Baritone)
• Graham Coxon - Guitar (Acoustic), Clarinet, Guitar, Percussion, Guitar (Electric), Saxophone, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
• Richard Edwards - Trombone
• Louise Fuller - Violin
• Kevin Godley - Director
• Stephen Hague - Piano, Producer, Engineer
• Alex James - Guitar, Vocals, Noise
• Richard Koster - Violin
• Roddy Lorimer - Trombone
• Ivan McCready - Cello
• John Metcalfe - Arranger, Viola
• Leo Payne - Strings
• Mark Pharoah - Violin
• Chris Pitsillides - Strings
• Audrey Riley - Strings
• Dave Rowntree - Percussion, Drums, Programming, Noise, Crowd Noise
• Laetitia Sadier - Vocals
• Tim Sanders - Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor)
• John Smith - Producer, Engineer
• Stephen Street - Keyboards, Programming, Sound Effects, Producer
• Bob Thomas - Photography
• Chris Tombling - Strings
• Brunskill - Photography
• John Smith - Engineer

Chart positions

United Kingdom - album

 1994  Parklife                                                 No. 1

United Kingdom - singles

 1994  Girls and Boys                                           No. 5
 1994  To the End                                               No. 16
 1994  Parklife                                                 No. 10
 1994  End of a Century                                         No. 19

Billboard Music Charts (North America) - album

 1994      Heatseekers                                          No. 6

Billboard (North America) - singles

 1994   Girls and Boys The Billboard Hot 100               No. 59
 1994   Girls and Boys Modern Rock Tracks                       No. 4
 1994   Girls and Boys Top 40 Mainstream                        No. 40
 1994   Girls and Boys Hot Dance Music/Club Play                No. 21
 1994   Girls and Boys Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales       No. 23