one shit wonder - amazing acts that somehow created one of the biggest duds in history

Bang is great. I made my partial (partial) case for Crazy Beat upthread.

the band hate Bang but it's probably my favourite song on Leisure, I will say its charms are kind of fleeting and intangible and it's a bad choice for a single (they should have gone with Sing)

imo Sing is probably the song that would have worked least well as a single - too lengthy, droney and vaporous - but it is the best early Blur song.

I think - as shown on Trainspotting - that Sing is sonically interesting and immediately gets your attention, it would really stand out on Radio or TOTP and show their range. Whereas Bang sounds like every other shuffling post-Madchester indie song and doesn't even have a proper chorus, it's only by listening to the LP a lot that you start to get the feel of it, so it's madness to put it out as your third single, it's like announcing you have no other ideas.

Sing would stick out but I don't think it would have sold to an audience who only know There's No Other Way. Not that 'Bang' sold much either, mind, but I can't imagine 'Sing' would have taken them to TOTP again. The closest thing to it on the 1991 charts would be To Here Knows When which was selling to a fanbase who already knew what the band were about.

"Sing" was left off the US version of Leisure, which disappointed me. I guess the wags at SBK didn't see the hit potential either.

"Honey Pie" might be the worst song in this entire thread.

Underworld - Bruce Lee

Wake Up Boo, much as I do like it, is a good example of a hit song that eclipsed a great, multifaceted band

I also know people who maybe missed the original Britpop era who associate Blur with downbeat pity-fests like Tender, Coffee + TV and No Distance Left To Run. Damon's extracurricular work corroborates that view quite a bit - his default post- Britpop mode is to sound a bit tired and despondent. But in the 90s I remember them being upbraided in the press for being all cheery and chirpy

Bruce Lee is fucking amazing

It’s an instant skip for me, the rest of Beaucoup Fish is so propulsive and then slap bang in the middle, Skym then this lumpen slow plod for 4 minutes. Never understood why it got a single release compared to say, Moaner or Cups.

I can never skip anything on Beaucoup Fish

Moaner got a limited single release at the time of Batman & Robin but was already two years old by 1999. Although I somehow can imagine a radio edit of Cups despite it being 12m long.