
Am I alone on often forgeting that Blur‘s first single came before There’s No Other Way took them into the Top 1o in May 1991?
The debut dates from October 1990, and while many have suggested it is a great example of shoegaze, I’ve often felt that much of its sound, particularly the way Graham Coxon plays the guitar, tips a hat to The Charlatans whose debut album Some Friendly had hit the shops just seven days earlier.
mp3: Blur – She’s So High
The song, even all these years later, long remained part of the band’s setlists, which is perhaps their way of saying that they consider it to have very much stood the test of time. They certainly seem more fond of it than There’s No Other Way, whose baggy sound hasn’t aged quite so well.
It is often forgotten that She’s So High was just one half of a double-A single on 7″ vinyl, along with this:-
mp3: Blur – I Know
Possibly the most Madchester sounding song ever to have come out of London.
Interestingly, a slightly extended version of She’s So High would be the opening track on debut album Leisure, which was released the best part of a year later in August 1991, but I Know was left off altogether.
Nowadays on the second-hand market, you can expect to pay upwards of £25 for the 7″, depending on the state the vinyl is in.
Hard to believe Graham Coxon was only 21 when he recorded those songs. That’s the sound of a seasoned pro guitarist. She’s So High has its moments but, damn, that guitar on I know.
She’s So high seemed like a trial run for Blur as a whole. I loved their early stuff. Really interesting indie.
I saw them live as this single came out, my mate stood next to Damon at the trough in the Haig Building, Liverpool Poly and splashed some piss on Damon’s desert boot. In truth there wasn’t much on show that night apart from She’s So High that suggested they’d go on to become the band they did.
I like both of those tracks but it was TNOW that really got me. I think it still sounds great.
I bought this on release. I wasn’t disappointed.
Flimflamfan
This is the first time since I’ve been listening to this blog that I don’t completely agree with JC: “She’s So High” is great, but “There’s No Other Way” was important to me in 1991 and is still one of my all-time favourite songs. S😊rry