I’ll give it a go.
I’m still going through the 1001 albums thing – I’ve reached 1980, and The Pretenders. Thoroughly enjoyed More Specials at lunch, which I somehow hadn’t heard before.
Re: Blur, MLiR is my favourite album of theirs. So many great tunes. Having listened to a lot of The Kinks recently (see above), it’s clear who their biggest influence was. Great stories, great tunes, brilliant playing. Graham Coxon is one of the most inventive guitarists of our time.