"Like [Ray] Davies, Damon is the primary songwriter in his band. Though keyboards are his main instrument, he generally writes on guitar because “I’m not very good at playing it, so I’m forced to be simple. If I wrote on piano, I’d write big sentimental ballads all the time. Sometimes it’s better to be inadequate when you’re writing songs.” With tunes and lyrics in place, Coxon, James, and Rowntree are left to put their stamp on the material. Coxon’s unfailingly tasty guitar parts are the highlight of many a Blur track. Damon comments, “He just makes the songs better. It’s integral to the whole thing.” Alex: “He’s the best guitarist of his generation.” Graham’s response to his bandmates’ praise: “Fuckers. They never talk like that when I’m in the room."

"[Damon Albarn] befriended Steve Walters at EMI Publishing who told him to go and “take some drugs and find out what it’s all about, man.” Alex held his hand when he took acid for the first time, walked around shopping centre in New Cross and “giggled at oranges."

"We stood there and totally clocked each other. I was a bit sickened, really. I thought he was cooler than me and better looking. And up till then I’d been feeling pretty cool - baggy trousers, paisley shirt, floppy fringe - and then I see Graham who looked like me but cooler and I thought, you bastard. I knew instantly that he’d be a big part of my life."