A bit more of a Blur

BLUR'S reunion is all thanks to an autobiography one of them wrote.

Bassist Alex James's book A Bit of a Blur reminded Graham Coxon of some of the fantastic times the Brit-pop megastars had enjoyed.

So he finally agreed to join them for a tour this summer-eight years after he walked out.

The guitarist told Rated: "I'd only seen the negatives in Blur for a while.

"Alex's book showed me the group in a more positive light. It warmed me to the idea of playing with them again."

But he thinks the book, published last year, should have been more scandalous! "If Alex was allowed to write the book he could have written, it would have been amazing," laughs Graham.

"Some of the bits that were taken out by the lawyers were very juicy indeed.

"They were so juicy and hilarious, and they were some of the bits that made me think happily about Blur again."

Graham first started talking to his old band- mates-including singer Damon Albarn and drummer Dave Rowntree-two years ago.

He admits all four of them had said things in the past that they regretted. He explains: "Over the past two years, all the things we needed to say to each other have been said.

"At first, Damon didn't want us to play together again. He was just happy we were all talking again, and that what had been seen as a problem could be talked about so easily."

Graham turned 40 in March, and he's a much mellower, happier man than the troubled soul towards the end of his Blur days. Then, he was drinking too much and finding superstardom too much to cope with.

"I didn't really notice turning 40," he smiles. "It wasn't like when I turned 30 -that was a disaster. I went mental.

"Between 28 to 32, I was pretty much a mess. I got myself straight for the sake of my daughter and thanks to a couple of friends who really cared and talked some sense into me."

Graham has been teetotal for eight years now, and he arranges for our interview to take place at his local branch of Caffe Nero in Camden, North London. "Being straight is all right," he shrugs, over a coffee.

"Every now and then I feel like I want to let my hair down but there isn't much of an opportunity. I feel like I want to smoke 20 cigarettes and drink a bottle of port. But I know that's a silly thing to do. So I go out riding one of my motorbikes instead."

Since leaving Blur, Graham has enjoyed solo success with hits like Freakin' Out and Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery. They were similar to Blur's rock & roll- but he is about to release his first folk music album, The Spinning Top.

Amazingly, he reckons he was "wasting my talent somewhat" when he was an indie idol, as he couldn't play folk guitar like his hero-the late singer Davey Graham.

"I was getting depressed that all I was known for was being an indie guitar-slinger," he sighs. "I got tired of berating myself that I couldn't play like Davey, so I thought I should at least have a go.

"I wanted to write songs on the acoustic guitar, even if it just meant I could stop and play something interesting when I went to buy an acoustic from a guitar shop.

"Before, I'd be nervous about testing out an acoustic guitar, as I'd wonder what to play on it." Before Blur's reunion gigs, Graham will set off on a solo tour for his album this month.

But he claims his singing voice has previously let him down in concert.

"My voice can be OK in the studio but it's a bit weak live," he says. "That's been brought to my attention by lots of people!

"It makes me work harder, and it doesn't sound so bad on the new record. I either sing like I do on this record, or in a Cockney whine-I do Cockney whining slang."

After that it's Blur's tour, including headlining the Glastonbury and T In The Park festivals.

Graham has already shunned Damon's idea that the band play their No1 hit Country House -a song all four of Blur quickly grew to hate-in a new folk style similar to Graham's album.

"I doubt that'll happen," he frowns. "I don't want to re-work the old songs. They're public property and I don't think they should be messed with.

"We aren't writing any new songs either.

"We've got too much work to do rehearsing the old songs and remembering how to play them well!"

Graham Coxon's album The Spinning Top is out tomorrow.

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