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I'M TONY BLUR
Blur star Dave Rowntree lifts lid on shock bid to become Labour MP and reveals real reason behind band’s feud with Oasis
Mr Rowntree is running for Parliament for Mid Sussex just when many MPs are running away from it
BLUR’S Dave Rowntree has said it is time to make “Britannia cool again” as he set out his stall to become a Labour MP.
The world-famous drummer, 59, revealed it was actually Liz Truss who encouraged him to stand for Westminster.
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Dave said he was left so outraged at her “calamitous” 50 days as PM that he thought “That's it…sign me up”, and threw his hat in the ring for Parliament.
Giving both barrels to the government, he said they had “trashed” the UK’s reputation abroad.
It is time to repair Britain and inject more pride in our nation, he said, adding: “You can love your country and not be racist.”
In an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday, Mr Rowntree said: “Wouldn't that be wonderful if it was cool, and Britannia was cool again?
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“That would be a wonderful place to be.
“We are the laughing stock of the world.”
In a news-packed interview, Mr Rowntree also:
- Revealed the reason behind Blur’s infamous rivalry with Oasis
- Hit out at sexism in the music industry 1990s
- Warned it’s harder for working class kids to make it in the music industry now
- Said threats to MPs pose a risk to Britain’s democracy
- Revealed Blur are unlikely to play Glastonbury again.
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Back in the late 1990s the “Cool Britannia” craze swept through Britain - and Britpop music was at its heart.
It was cool to wrap yourself in the union flag.
Damon Albarn breaks down in tears on stage in heartbreakingly emotional moment at Blur's final Wembley gig
Geri Halliwell quite literally did just that for that iconic Spice Girls Brit Awards performance in 1997.
Tony Blair tried to cash in on the craze by holding celeb bashes at No10, which Noel Gallagher famously rocked up to.
Dave says these parties were “frippery and nonsense” and he never went.
But he added: “It was a wonderful time to live through, when you could be proud of your country, proud of your achievements.”
Asked if he wants to bring that sense of patriotism and pride back, he said: “You can love your country and not be racist.
“That's the weird thing that we inherited from the 1970s - that if you love the UK and living in the UK you have to be blind to its faults and you have to be a racist.
“Well none of that's true.
“I think there's lots of love about the UK even now. But the UK could be so much more.”
Speaking at the Guildhall School of Music in London, he warned working class kids without the “bank of mum and dad” are finding it harder to break into the music business.
And he called for music lessons in schools to be given the same status as maths or science.
“We are not a nation of shopkeepers anymore - we are a nation of creatives”, he said.
Mr Rowntree is running for Parliament for Mid Sussex just when many MPs are running away from it.
MPs are standing down in their droves because of abuse and threats.
They have had their offices firebombed, and family homes besieged by angry protesters at night.
Two MPs have been murdered since 2016.
Speaking about this abuse, Mr Rowntree warned it is a threat to democracy and “bad for the country”.
He said: “It is detrimental to democracy in the political sense because we've always prided ourselves on our politicians being us, accessible to us.”
Mr Rowntree said he is “not going into this with my eyes closed”, but is not yet worried about his own personal safety.
In a wide-ranging sit down, he also lifted the lid on Blur’s infamous feud with Oasis.
“It was grounded in real animosity”, he said.
“The whole thing apparently was an argument in a pub between Damon and Liam over a girl but they both fancied so there we are.
“That is the defining moment in the history of Britpop!”
So, who got the girl?
“A gentleman never tells!”, Dave says with a smile.
Bands commonly played each other off to get column inches in the music papers, he said.
Most just rolled with it when Blur stuck the boot in.
“But Oasis are made of sterner stuff and they gave as good as they got”, Dave said.
“So what started off as kind of light hearted banter fairly quickly got quite rancorous actually.
“Looking back it propelled both bands - who were small indie bands at the time, we weren't playing Wembley Stadium then I'll tell you - to the next level…
“On the downside it stapled us at the hip in a way that neither band has ever really managed to shake free.”
So which member of Oasis would he vote for to be an MP?
“Oh I’d vote for Noel every time. Noel is a lovely guy, a really lovely guy.”
I think there's lots of love about the UK even now. But the UK could be so much more
Dave Rowntree
Behind the fun and fizz of the 1990s Britpop scene was a more sinister culture of sexism and misogyny, Dave said.
“The whole thing was a big boys club”, he said.
“Whether you are working in a management company or whether you are in a band, if someone pinched your bum you shut up.
“Because if you made a big deal about it, nobody would ever hire you again.”
Dave says his Blur bandmates are “amused” at his decision to stand to be the MP for Mid Sussex.
The band mostly stays out of politics.
But their famous 1995 The Great Escape tour did feature light up flying burgers - amid the height of the mad cow disease panic then sweeping Britain.
They were inspired by the Tory MP John Gummer, who famously fed his 4 year-old daughter Cordelia a beef burger in front of the cameras in a PR stunt to prove it was safe.
They took the set all around the world on tour.
“Nobody knew what the hell we were talking about, obviously. We never we never sought to explain it to anybody”, Dave laughs.
Blur are playing Coachella in the US next month.
But Mr Rowntree reckons they will not headline Glastonbury again.
“I think we're unlikely to be asked to do Glastonbury again. To be honest, we've headlined it three times”, he said.
“I think they would possibly correctly be accused of having a lack of imagination if they asked us to play it again.”
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And he suggested he will have to park his music if he wins his seat and is elected to parliament.
“I think being an MP is a full time job. Sadly Yes. You have to put other things to one side.”
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