#liamon compendium

Damon: "All the working class people I know despise that idea of, 'No I haven't [read a book].' I mean, Noel, who has a thing in the Melody Maker, 'How many books have you read?' 'None.' And...And the lovely thing about Liam is that it was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, that's why I've always liked Liam, I mean...whatever you think of him, god bless him, whatever it is that's going on in his head...! But, y'know, Noel has none. [hits table] Y'know? It's like, none. [hits table again] I mean, for me, that is...

Interviewer: "That's quite a bullshit statement, a pose—"

Damon: "It's a pose! And it's—"

Interviewer: "—of working class ignorance."

Damon: "But he has read books, y'know. It's...it's that!"

"I met Damon at the MTV Awards in Paris. He was in his dressing room and I walked in in slow motion and went, ‘Heellooo Daaaaaaaymooooon, I’m from Manchesteeeeeeur. Weeeee taaaaaalk reeeeeeally slooooooowly oooooooop noooooorth ‘cos we’eeeeeeeere reeeeeeeally stooooooopid. Have a good gig’. It really freaked him out and they played shit. I went up to him afterwards and said, "You were shit." He went, "What do you mean, shit?" And I went, "Well, just, like, shit. Your album's shit as well." So Damon goes, "Well I think your album's shit as well." And I was like, "Brilliant, let me buy you a drink."

- Liam, (Source?) December 1995 (1) (2)

"I sort of made up with Liam at the MTV awards in Paris the other week. He was sitting at a table near us. He looked like a jester, with hair flapping over his ears. Later on he came to our dressing room and said: "Sorry for what Our Kid said. It was out of order. He's a twat.' Then he said, 'I still think your album's shit, though', and we laughed and said, "Yours is, too!". Then later on we had a chat and he said he reckoned Blur and Oasis should always hate each other, that there should always be a rivalry because that's the way it should be in rock'n'roll. I like Liam, though, he's a good laugh, amusing company. He just gets a bit out of hand at times."

– Damon, NME, December 1995 (x)

(Clip 1) (Clip 2) (Clip 3)

+ Bonus:

‘I like Liam! I want him to be on the next Gorillaz album. Write him a decent song for once, because he hasn’t had any decent songs for years, ha ha! I cant help myself, can i? Its pathetic. Liam’s got a fantastic voice! And he’s wasted being on this big pop star with celebrity girlfriends. He could sing for Blur, so i wouldn’t have to show my face any more!’

“Life is genuinely too short to hang on to these ridiculous things that came out of nothing,” he says. “We all probably had so much in common anyway, to do what we were doing. I discovered that with Noel and Liam. Liam’s just a silly old sod, isn’t he?” He catches himself. “I know you’re gonna use that — why did I say that? I like him as well, he always makes me smile. And he’s got something about him, real charisma. I look back on all that stuff with a very warm smile.”

- Gorillaz | The Times — October 2020 (x)

- Martin Roach, Damon Albarn: Blur, Gorillaz, & Other Fables

The Top of the Pops episode aired February 22nd, 1996. Watch their performances below: