Blur’s Parklife album reached 36 in Channel 4’s Top 100 Greatest Albums. The list was voted for by visitors to Channel 4’s website.

Below is the full list of the top 100 albums.

1. RADIOHEAD - OK Computer
2. U2 - The Joshua Tree
3. NIRVANA - Nevermind
4. MICHAEL JACKSON - Thriller
5. PINK FLOYD - Dark Side of the Moon
6. OASIS - Definitely Maybe
7. THE BEATLES - Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
8. MADONNA - Like a Prayer
9. GUNS N’ ROSES - Appetite For Destruction
10. THE BEATLES - Revolver
11. R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
12. THE BEATLES - The White Album
13. QUEEN - A Night at the Opera
14. COLDPLAY - Parachutes
15. OASIS - (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
16. ALANIS MORISSETTE - Jagged Little Pill
17. LED ZEPPELIN - Led Zeppelin IV
18. THE VERVE - Urban Hymns
19. JIMI HENDRIX - Are you Experienced
20. THE SMITHS - The Queen Is Dead
21. JOHN LENNON - Imagine
22. RADIOHEAD - The Bends
23. BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS - Exodus
24. THE STONE ROSES - The Stone Roses
25. SIMON AND GARFUNKEL - Bridge Over Troubled Water
26. BJORK - Debut
27. THE DOORS - The Doors
28. ABBA - Arrival
29. MICHAEL JACKSON - Off the Wall
30. DURAN DURAN - Rio
31. SEX PISTOLS - Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols
32. DAVID BOWIE - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
33. THE BEACH BOYS - Pet Sounds
34. JOY DIVISION - Closer
35. THE ROLLING STONES - Let It Bleed
36. BLUR - Parklife
37. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Born to Run
38. BILLIE HOLIDAY - Lady Sings the Blues
39. THE WHITE STRIPES - Elephant
40. BLACK SABBATH - Paranoid
41. THE SPECIALS - Specials
42. THE ROLLING STONES - Exile on Main Street
43. FRANK SINATRA - Songs for Swingin’ Lovers!
44. THE CLASH - London Calling
45. THE PRODIGY - The Fat of the Land
46. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND - The Velvet Underground and Nico
47. DIRE STRAITS - Brothers in Arms
48. PIXIES - Doolittle
49. ARETHA FRANKLIN - I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
50. THE LIBERTINES - The Libertines
51. HAPPY MONDAYS - Pills ‘N’ Thrills and Bellyaches
52. PATTI SMITH - Horses
53. THE WHO - Tommy
54. LOU REED - Transformer
55. BOB DYLAN - Blood on the Tracks
56. PRINCE - Sign ‘o’ the Times
57. DIDO - No Angel
58. AIR - Moon Safari
59. ELTON JOHN - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
60. THE JAM - All Mod Cons
61. JEFF BUCKLEY - Grace
62. FLEETWOOD MAC - Rumours
63. MOBY - Play
64. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
65. THE POLICE - Synchronicity
66. JONI MITCHELL - Blue
67. CURTIS MAYFIELD - Superfly
68. ELVIS PRESLEY - The Sun Sessions
69. OUTKAST - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
70. PULP - Different Class
71. KRAFTWERK - Trans-Europe Express
72. MASSIVE ATTACK - Blue Lines
73. BECK - Odelay
74. STEVIE WONDER - Songs in the Key of Life
75. KATE BUSH - Hounds of Love
76. TALKING HEADS - Fear of Music
77. EMINEM - The Marshall Mathers LP
78. MARVIN GAYE - What’s Going On
79. GEORGE MICHAEL - Faith
80. SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER - The Original Movie Soundtrack
81. PRIMAL SCREAM - Screamadelica
82. JOHN COLTRANE - A Love Supreme
83. LOVE - Forever Changes
84. PAUL SIMON - Graceland
85. NICK DRAKE - Five Leaves Left
86. MEAT LOAF - Bat Out of Hell
87. DUSTY SPRINGFIELD - Dusty in Memphis
88. DE LA SOUL - 3 Feet High and Rising
89. THE STROKES - Is this It
90. MADNESS - One Step Beyond…
91. ROBBIE WILLIAMS - I’ve Been Expecting You
92. NEIL YOUNG - After the Gold Rush
93. PUBLIC ENEMY - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
94. BLONDIE - Parallel Lines
95. THE EAGLES - Hotel California
96. JAMES BROWN - Sex Machine
97. THE STREETS - A Grand Don’t Come for Free
98. DEXY’S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS - Searching for the Young Soul Rebels
99. ROD STEWART - Every Picture Tells a Story
100. The HUMAN LEAGUE - Dare!

Channel 4

Lyrics by Oasis, Blur, Pulp and other Britpop artists are to appear on the GCSE music syllabus as of this September.

The move, which has been introduced by examiners to make the subject more engaging for pupils, has already drawn criticism from ‘traditional’ music lovers.

Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, cellist Julian Lloyd Webber commented: “Pupils are exposed to this music already, so wouldn’t it be more constructive to expose them to something they don’t know.”

“Children are missing out on a classical music education.”

The changes will see pupils listen to excerpts of Britpop’s greatest hits on headsets and answer exam questions on song structure, musical style, rhythm and instrumentation.

Although 50% of GCSE exam will still be awarded for classical music (between 1600 to 1899) the rest will reward knowledge of 20th century classical music, African and Asian music and an existing “contemporary music” section which will include the new Britpop module.

However, even Britpop expert and author John Harris has questioned whether the music would be testing enough for 16-year-old pupils.

Harris, who wrote “The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock”, said: “The problem that they may have is that from 1996 Britpop wasn’t very interesting.

“It went back to the three chord trick, endless copying of the Beatles and the Who. By 1996 it had got very uninspired.”

He added: “Oasis were gloriously basic and made a virtue of it but God help the students in the classroom taking apart the music of Kula Shaker and Northern Uproar. There’s nothing there.”

Harris also pointed out that pupils taking the exam would only have been six-years-old during the genre’s height in 1995.

He continued: “Britpop lost the lustre of cool three or four years ago. It’s practically the music of their parents.”

Teachers will begin training for the new Britpop module in April.

Launch

The release details for the highly anticipated Glastonbury Festival DVD, entitled “Glastonbury Anthems - The Best Of 1994 to 2004″ have just been revealed, with tracks by Coldplay, Blur, Radiohead and Ash all included.

“Glastonbury Anthems - The Best Of 1994 to 2004″ will be released on March 21 on EMI Records and will be the first ever official Glastonbury DVD compilation, containing 20 performances taken from the last 10 years of the festival’s history.

The tracklisting was chosen by fans via an official Glastonbury website poll at www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk with over 30,000 punters casting their vote for the defining moments in the event’s past decade.

The DVD opens with Blur’s “This Is A Low” in ‘94 and includes seminal Glastonbury moments from Radiohead, Coldplay, Basement Jaxx, The Manic Street Preachers, Franz Ferdinand and 2004’s unforgettable performance of “Hey Jude” by Paul McCartney.

The DVD also includes an exclusive short film showing some of the other experiences at Glastonbury called ‘Visit To The Glastonbury Greenfields’ as well as a four minute clip from the legendary Glastonbury Fayre film shot at the 1971 Festival.

Additional material includes an interview with Michael and Jean Eavis filmed in 1995, a photo gallery and an aerial tour of the site from the 2004 festival.

The full tracklisting of “Glastonbury Anthems - The Best Of 1994 to 2004″ is:
Blur - “This Is A Low” (1994)
The Levellers - “One Way Of Life” (1994)
Elastica - “Connection” (1995)
Prodigy - “Breathe” (1997)
Radiohead - “Karma Police” (1997)
Placebo - “The Crawl” (1998)
Robbie Williams - “Angels” (1998)
Fun Lovin’ Criminals - “Scooby Snax” (1999)
Manic Street Preachers - “A Design For Life” (1999)
The Chemical Brothers - “Hey Boy Hey Girl” (2000)
Moby - “Why Does My Heart” (2000)
Travis - “Driftwood” (2000)
Coldplay - “Yellow” (2002)
Faithless - “We Come 1″ (2002)
Ash - “Shining Light” (2002)
Supergrass - “Pumping On Your Stereo” (2003)
Primal Scream - “Rocks” (2003)
Basement Jaxx - “Good Luck” (2004)
Franz Ferdinand - “Matinee” (2004)
Paul McCartney - “Hey Jude” (2004)

Xfm

To celebrate 15 years of Blur, a brand new internet radio station, named Blurcast, has been launched which is dedicated to the band’s entire back-catalogue.

The station launches on Thursday 20th January 2005, Blurcast will be launched with an exciting programme of b-sides, rarities, solo material, collaborations, interviews and live tracks… 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

Blurcast is free to listen to with only a Live365 registraction required, which is also free.

To find out more goto www.blurcast.com

Following the announcement of the death of John Peel, tributes have started flooding in from all parts of the world with Thom York, Damon Albarn, Noel Gallagher and James Dean Bradfield all paying their respects to a unique, indescribably influential and much loved figure in radio history.

As previously reported, John Peel tragically passed away on (October 26) after suffering from a heart attack - aged 65 - while on holiday in Cuzco, Peru. Since then, numerous musicians and music fans alike have been contacting Xfm to pay tribute to a DJ who occupied a unique place in people’s memories and hearts.

“It was because of him I got to hear some of the most obscure but influential music I ever heard. He was a lifeline to hearing music I would never have been aware of otherwise. When you lived in the provinces, he gave you a window into a world you were not part of.”

- James Dean Bradfield, The Manic Street Preachers.

John Peel’s patronage was for me, like countless other musicians one of the most significant things that happen to us in our career. The world is going to be a poorer place with his sudden departure. I will miss him deeply. I want to send my heartfelt sympathy to his lovely family. John’s memory will never be forgotten because he had the spirit of music in him.”

- Damon Albarn, Blur.

“Who am I going to listen to now? He’s been my inspiration since I was 14. I’m thinking about you. Thanks John Peel.”

- Thom Yorke, Radiohead

“I was shocked to hear about John. I was fortunate enough to meet him and play a session at his home. I remember we had a great conversation about Elvis that day and when I saw his record collection it blew me away. He was the first to play our debut single Caught By The Fuzz on the radio which I know brought us to people attention he was a big influence to so many. We will miss him.”

- Gaz Coombes, Supergrass.

“John Peel was a rare breed amongst radio DJ’s, his contribution to introducing new music to music fans in this country has been phenomenal and he will be sadly missed.”

- Noel Gallagher, Oasis.

“In a world that is becoming ever more homogenised and pre-programmed, John Peel stuck up for the ’sore thumbs’ of the music scene and I really can’t think of anyone who could have done it better or who’s going to do it now he’s gone.”

- Jarvis Cocker, Pulp.

It’s not just musicians who have been moved by John’s passing. There has been a deluge of e-mails and messages from across the globe, all remembering his championing of the music that changed their lives and enriched their record collections.

“I have many happy memories growing up listening to John Peel and he was responsible for nurturing my love of music. I first heard Eek-A-Mouse, Roses and Mondays and Nirvana (to name a very few) whilst listening to his sultry tones on the wireless. My heartfelt condolences go out to all his family at this sad time.”

Xfm