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Suede (called The London Suede in the United States) are an English alternative rock band of the 1990s and the early 2000s that were cited as starting the Britpop musical movement, and reinventing English guitar-band rock music. Through their several incarnations, they were able to consistently put out albums that charted well, while still holding the respect of critics. Although they never achieved great success in North America, they are considered to be one of the most successful British rock bands of the 90s.
They have achieved three number-one albums, including their debut Suede, which also won the Mercury Prize in 1993. Suede achieved critical success to follow up Dog Man Star in 1994, which at the time was seen as being out of step with their Britpop peers. The record was overshadowed by the sudden departure of guitarist Bernard Butler shortly before the album was completed.
Suede went on to greater commercial success in the UK, mainland Europe and Asia with Coming Up (1996), which produced five top 10 singles and Head Music (1999). Both albums charted at number 1. Suede's final album A New Morning (2002), the band's first album to be released after the collapse of Nude Records, was a commercial disappointment and in 2003, after the release of their Singles compilation, Suede disbanded.
Brett Anderson and Justine Frischmann met in 1989 while studying at University College London and became a couple soon afterwards.[1] Together with Anderson's childhood friend Mat Osman, they decided they had a core of a band, and spent hours a day playing covers of The Beatles, The Smiths, and David Bowie.[2] The death of Anderson's mother made him more focused and determined than before.[3] After deciding that neither Anderson nor Frischmann had the skill to be a lead guitarist, the group placed an advert in NME seeking to fill the position.[4] It ran in the magazine's 28 October 1989 issue: "Young guitar player needed by London based band. Smiths, Commotions, Bowie, PSB's. No Musos. Some things are more important than ability. Call Brett." Liking the term "no musos" and more importantly for name-checking The Smiths, the advert ensued interest from nineteen-year-old Bernard Butler, who soon auditioned to join the group.[5] The group settled on the name Suede; lacking a drummer, the band initially used a drum machine.[6] Despite Frischmann's efforts as the group's de facto manager, the group primarily scored small-scale gigs around London's Camden Town area.[7]
Suede's first breakthrough came with their second demo Specially Suede which they sent to compete in Demo Clash, a radio show on Greater London Radio run by DJ Gary Crowley. "Wonderful Sometimes" won Demo Clash for five Sundays in a row during 1990, leading to a record contract with the Brighton-based indie label RML.[8] After a series of gigs with an unreliable drum machine, Suede decided to recruit a full-time drummer. Justin Welch briefly fulfilled the role as drummer, though he only lasted six weeks, before joining Crawley band Spitfire.[9] After Welch's departure, Suede placed another advert seeking a replacement. To the group's surprise, the ad was answered by former Smiths drummer Mike Joyce. While Joyce determined he was overqualified for the position, he recorded two songs with the group, which were set to be released as the "Be My God"/"Art" single on RML Records. The band was dissatisfied with the result, and most of the 500 copies pressed were destroyed.[10] In June 1990 Suede found a permanent drummer, Simon Gilbert, through former manager Ricky Gervais. Both worked at the ULU. After hearing their demo and realising the band were devoid of a drummer, Gilbert asked to audition.[11]
By 1991, Anderson and Frischmann had broken up; Frischmann started dating Damon Albarn of the group Blur. Frischmann believed the group could accommodate the new situation.[12] However the situation grew tense; Butler recalled, "She'd turn up late for rehearsals and say the worst thing in the world - 'I've been on a Blur video shoot.' That was when it ended, really. I think it was the day after she said that that Brett phoned me up and said, 'I've kicked her out.'" After Frischmann's departure, the character of the group changed. "If Justine hadn't left the band", Anderson said, "I don't think we'd have got anywhere. It was a combination of being personally motivated, and the chemistry being right once she'd left." Anderson and Butler became close friends and began writing several new songs together.[13] However, the band's music was out-of-step with the music of their London contemporaries as well as the American grunge bands. Anderson said, "For the whole of 1991, A&R men wouldn't give us a second look."[14]
Jon Eydmann, an A&R man at Fire Records and manager of Spitfire would be Suede's manager for a short while before the release of their debut album. During this time Suede were supporting more established bands, which was an event Gilbert perceived as Eydmann's influence.[15] Through the end of 1991 Suede received a number of favourable mentions in the music press, garnering them slots at shows hosted by NME and attended by musical figures such as former Smiths singer Morrissey. One of the gigs at the ULU in October 1991, which caught the attention of the media was Frischmann's final gig.[16] John Mulvey of the NME, the journalist who first wrote about Suede was at the ULU gig. He said "They had charm, aggression, and... if not exactly eroticism, then something a little bit dangerous and exciting."[17]
After seeing the group perform at an NME show in February 1992, Saul Galpern approached the group about signing to his independent record label Nude Records. Suede eventually signed a two single deal to Nude for the sum of £3,132.[18] Suede were being hailed as "The next big thing" and prior to the release of the group's first single, the cover of the 25 April issue of Melody Maker featured the group, with a headline stating "Suede: The Best New Band in Britain".[19] A signing war ensued after the Melody Maker issue, with major interest from Island, East West Records and Sony. The band also flew across to the states to meet Tom Zutaut of Geffen Records, who was known for signing Motley Crue and Guns N' Roses. During this visit the band noticed Eydmann's lack of business acumen towards Zutaut and his offer, which prompted the band to sack him as manager.[20] The band eventually signed to Nude/Sony after Galpern struck a deal with the major label.[21]
The band’s first sequence of singles and the debut album shocked audiences and critics alike. Their androgynous style and charged sexuality combined with Anderson's vocals and Butler's layered guitar lines helped distinguish them from their contemporaries.[22] It was during this time Anderson courted controversy by his infamous comment that would resurface in interviews and articles in the following years, that he was "a bisexual man who never had a homosexual experience."[8]
The band's debut single "The Drowners" attracted excitement because of its sharp contrast to the dying Madchester scene and the U.S. grunge sound of the time.[23] A moderate hit, "The Drowners" reached number 49 on the UK Singles Chart.[24] In August 1992 they released their second single, "Metal Mickey", which charted at number 17 and earned the band their first performance on Top of the Pops.[21] It was the only Suede single to crack the US Modern Rock top 10, peaking at number 7.[25] In February 1993, Suede performed their third single "Animal Nitrate" at the 1993 Brit Awards; upon release, it was to be their first top ten hit.[26]
The band's first album Suede (1993) entered the British charts at number one, registering the biggest initial sales of a debut since Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Welcome to the Pleasuredome a decade before.[8] It sold over 100,000 copies in its first week of release,[27] and went gold on its second day, which was an indication of the hype surrounding the band at the time.[28] In the past year they had been the most written-about band in Britain,[29] and had dominated not only the music press but broadsheet opinion pages as well.[30] One notable cover was from the April 1993 issue of the now-defunct magazine Select. The Brit-centric issue, which celebrated the new British bands with a "Yanks Go Home" headline featured Anderson superimposed in front of a Union Jack.[23] The album went on to win the 1993 Mercury Prize,[31] with UK bookmaker William Hill laying them as the 2-to-1 favourites to win.[32]
Suede made their first video release in 1993 with Love and Poison. Filmed at London's Brixton Academy, the live concert showcased the band playing much of their debut album, along with some B-sides. After the Brixton gig came the band's first American tour, which saw them make their U.S. television debut on The Tonight Show.[33] During the tours of 1993, especially the American legs, tensions began to develop between Butler and the rest of the group. The tensions grew worse on the second American tour mainly for the fact that Butler's father had died, which forced Suede to cancel the tour prematurely.[8] Butler disliked the band's indulgence on the tour during his bereavement, in which he became more alienated from the band so much that he even travelled separately.[34] Their American success was limited as they had already begun to be upstaged by their opening act, The Cranberries, who received the support from MTV that Suede lacked.[8] Their debut single "Linger" seemed to propel them to be the tour's main draw,[35] though Anderson remains sceptical, insisting that this was just a myth, and that Suede only supported them at one gig.[36] At times Butler left the stage while Suede was performing and convinced a member of The Cranberries to fill in for him.[35] Moreover, a lounge singer's lawsuit forced the band to stop using the trademarked American name "Suede". For their subsequent releases and shows performed in the United States, the band used the moniker "The London Suede". Anderson wasn't happy about having to change the group's name for the U.S. market, as he stated: "The London Suede is not the name I chose for the band, I didn't change it happily, and I'm not going to pretend I did."[37]
In February 1994, the band released stand-alone single "Stay Together", which became their highest charting single at the time, reaching number three in the UK. The single was backed by a collection of strong B-sides; this new pompous sound, however would fracture the band and lead to the departure of Butler.[33] Despite the success of the single the band have since disowned the song.[38] In the aftermath of "Stay Together", Anderson isolated himself and wrote songs for Suede's next album.[39] It was at this time that Anderson eschewed himself from what was dubbed the "laddish Britpop movement", which he was seen by many to inaugurate.[40] Bands such as Oasis, Blur and Pulp began to dominate the music scene, whereas Suede became a lot more experimental and reclusive.
At the time Suede were said to be a band who were "unafraid to be out of step with its peers",[37] though Suede's experimentation came at a price. During the recording of the album Butler claimed in a rare interview that Anderson worked too slowly and that he was too concerned with rock stardom, often at the expense of the music.[8] The group often recorded songs with long lengths. Osman said he, Anderson, and Gilbert often thought these tracks were the result of Butler trying to wind the band members up.[41] The guitarist clashed with producer Ed Buller, who he insisted be sacked, thus allowing himself to produce the record.[42] Anderson recalled that Butler and the rest of the group largely recorded their parts separately. Days after Butler's wedding, he returned to the studio to find he was not being allowed in and his guitars were left out on the street.[43] According to John Harris's Britpop history The Last Party, the final words Butler uttered to Anderson for nine years were "you're a fucking cunt".[44] Butler left the band leaving parts of the record incomplete. Led by the single "We Are the Pigs", Suede's second album Dog Man Star finally appeared in late 1994. The album was well-received by critics receiving rapturous press across the board.[45] It entered the UK Albums Chart at number three,[24] but slid quickly down the charts.[46]
In September 1994, Suede announced their new guitarist, 17-year-old Richard Oakes, who after reading about Butler's departure, sent a demo to the band's fanclub.[47] Oakes made his video debut on "We Are the Pigs" and co-wrote the B-sides to third single "New Generation". Suede embarked on a long international tour during late 1994 and the spring of 1995, before disappearing to work on their third album. In 1995, the group contributed a track to the The Help Album charity compilation, covering Elvis Costello's "Shipbuilding".
Suede released their third album Coming Up in 1996. Anderson said that in contrast to the group's previous albums (which he felt "suffered at certain times from being quite obscure"), he intended Coming Up to be "almost like a 'greatest hits'".[28] The band was joined by new member Neil Codling, a cousin of Simon Gilbert who handled keyboards and a little guitar. He made his debut at a fanclub gig in January 1996, where The Guardian's Susan Corrigan welcomed the radio-friendly, commercial appeal of the new songs.[48] Lead single "Trash" was popular and tied with "Stay Together" as the group's highest-charting UK single, reaching number three,[24] which helped to make the album their biggest mainstream success. The album was a hit throughout Europe, Asia and Canada, but still not in the U.S. Reviews were mixed, but the album topped the UK chart and became the band's biggest-selling release.[24] The album brought the band five straight top-10 singles. Suede's next venture was Sci-Fi Lullabies, a collection of B-sides, which reached number nine on the UK Album Chart.[24]
By the time the compilation was released in 1997, the Britpop movement was noticeably waning in popularity, and the band had decided to split with long-time producer Ed Buller before commencing work on their follow up to Coming Up. Before focusing work on their next album, the group recorded a version of "Poor Little Rich Girl" for the Twentieth-Century Blues: The Songs of Noel Coward in 1998.[49] Despite being backed by their second-highest charting single "Electricity", Suede's fourth album, Head Music (1999) was something of a critical disappointment, though it once again took the band to number one on the UK Albums Chart.[24] A synth-infused album that focused less on guitar riffs and more on keyboards, it was produced by Steve Osborne, who had worked with Happy Mondays and New Order. Critical opinion was sharply divided; many felt the record was too shallow and lacking in substance, while others thought the album was the group again taking a different direction and charting new territory.
The next three singles released from the album failed to crack the top 10, breaking a run stretching back to the 1996 single "Trash". Anderson also began being criticized more by fans for his often use of redundant vocabulary and limited lyrical themes. The track which received the most attention and criticism was "Savoire Faire".[50] Though Anderson's heavy drug use at the time was seen as a deterrent to his creativity, when in 2002, he admitted that he "was a crack addict for ages."[50] Speaking of his drug abuse Anderson said, "I just really, really enjoyed drugs. I gave up by myself. Didn't go to rehab, just stopped doing it. Did it the hard way, which is the best way, because you feel the pain. You're never going to do it again if you have to go through that pain."[44]
Not long after the release of Head Music, Nude Records effectively ceased to exist. Like many of their labelmates, Suede ended up signing to Nude's parent company/distributor Sony to record their fifth album, A New Morning (2002). The long and troubled gestation of the album saw keyboardist Neil Codling leave the band, citing chronic fatigue syndrome, to be replaced by Alex Lee, formerly of Strangelove.[51] Between the release of Head Music and A New Morning, Suede wrote and recorded "Simon" as the title theme for the film Far From China,[52] a track which was included on the compilation DVD Lost in TV.
In concert, Lee played keyboards, second guitar, backing vocals and occasionally harmonica. The album title, according to Anderson, referred to "a fresh start, a new band and a new fresh outlook" – the singer had been addicted to heroin and crack cocaine for a number of years by this time, which was having an increasingly deleterious effect on his health. He was quoted at the time as saying "we've all cleaned up our drug problems ... which is nice." Despite the rejuvenation of the group's health, the album was a commercial disappointment which failed to crack the top 20, and ultimately was never released in the U.S.[53] Although the group began work with Tony Hoffer producing,[54] the album was produced by "big name" Britpop producers John Leckie (The Stone Roses, Radiohead) and Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur). A New Morning was considered a solid enough outing by fans of the band, but critical reaction was decidedly lukewarm and the mainstream public interest had long disappeared. Only two singles, "Positivity" and "Obsessions," were released from the album, the fewest singles taken from any of the band's albums, and neither charted particularly well. Anderson has since stressed his disappointment with Suede's final album, stating "We made one Suede album too many. 'A New Morning' is the only one I don't believe in as much as the other Suede records and I totally believed in the first four, even 'Head Music' which divided the fans."[55]
In October 2003, Suede released their second compilation album Singles, and accompanying single "Attitude", which made UK number 15. The group had begun working on a follow-up album to A New Morning, which was planned to be released after the Singles compilation.[56] Anderson said that "Most of the new material is more aggressive and less song based than A New Morning."[56] And that the album would "sound nothing like traditional Suede."[56] The planned album never saw release.
Suede played five nights at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts, dedicating each night to one of their five albums and playing through an entire album a night[57] – with B-sides and rarities as encores – in chronological order. After these shows, the band announced there would be no more projects under the Suede name for the foreseeable future – effectively announcing the end of the band, as they stated on their website: "There will not be a new studio album until the band feel that the moment is artistically right to make one."[58] Their last concert at London's Astoria on 13 December 2003 was a two-and-a-half hour marathon show, split into two parts (plus encore) with the first part being "songs we want to play". Brett made an announcement that "there will be another Suede album" to everyone's delight, but added "...but not yet."[59]
In 2004, after resolving their differences, Anderson and former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler formed the band The Tears with Will Foster, Makoto Sakamoto and Nathan Fisher and released their debut album Here Come The Tears, which was met with mixed critical and popular reactions. It was produced by Bernard Butler and largely recorded at home, and featured the singles "Refugees" and "Lovers".
In May 2006, Anderson announced details of a solo album consisting of 11 tracks, which was released on 26 March 2007. He told NME that the title would be Brett Anderson since "...that's my name, you see." The accompanying video for Anderson's first single "Love Is Dead" debuted on UK television in February 2007, quickly finding its way to YouTube. "Love Is Dead" made its debut at #42 in the UK singles chart, and the album went to #54 the following week. The keyboardist-producer on his album is Fred Ball, and former Suede bass player Mat Osman joined the live band on tour. In May 2008 it was announced that Anderson's second album was to be premiered on 7 July in a special concert at London's mermaid theatre. A free copy of the album, entitled Wilderness, was given to all ticket buyers, in the form of a USB stick. The album was recorded in only seven days, with most tracks recorded as live takes. Anderson's third album, Slow Attack was co-written with Leo Abrahams.
Matt Osman plays on Brett Anderson's solo tours, while Simon Gilbert is in the international band Futon.
Richard Oakes is working with writer and producer Sean McGhee on new material.
Bernard Butler is working as a producer and session musician for number of acts including Aimee Mann, Edwyn Collins, Neneh Cherry, Tim Booth (of James), Duffy, Eddi Reader, Hopper, Roy Orbison, Bert Jansch, The Libertines, Heather Nova, Mark Owen, The Veils, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, The Cribs, Pretenders, The On-Off's, 1990s, The Mescalitas, Cut Off Your Hands, Cajun Dance Party, The View, Arkitekt, Sons and Daughters, Black Kids, Tricky and Sharleen Spiteri.
In late 2009 there was more speculation than before of a Suede reunion. The press appeared to be calling for the band to reform, one journalist even finished his review of Anderson's third solo album Slow Attack with "Roll on a Suede reunion".[60] Anderson insists that he still stays in contact with his former band-mates and has not ruled out a reunion. Performing at the Jack Daniel's birthday JD set at London's Village Underground venue, Anderson admitted "I'd quite like to make a band record again, my last few have just been me in the studio with a piano. I can't say whether I'd get back with Suede or not."[55]
Following persistent rumours, the boss of the band's former label, Nude Records' Saul Galpern, told the NME that Suede would be playing together again. "It's [for] a one-off gig," he explained of the show, which will feature the band's second incarnation. The band will play London's Royal Albert Hall as part of the forthcoming 2010 Teenage Cancer Trust shows on 24th March 2010.[61] Despite the gig initially being billed as a "one night only" reformation, when questioned on German radio station MotorFM, Anderson refused to confirm that the band wouldn't continue.[62]
Anderson and Butler briefly reunited in 2004, after a ten year hiatus, and resurfaced with a project named The Tears. Their debut album Here Come the Tears received favourable reviews, however, failed to generate popular interest beyond the duo's hardcore fanbase and one review remarked that the record wasn't "far from the records Suede made without their errant guitarist"[63]. The band have been on indefinite hiatus since 2006. Anderson has released three solo albums. Butler has been working as a producer, collaborating with artists such as 1990s, Black Kids, Sons and Daughters and Welsh singer Duffy. He is currently working with Kate Jackson and Kate Nash, who are both writing material for forthcoming releases.
Suede's legacy is largely in inspiring the Britpop scene which eventually overshadowed the band's own achievements. Alexis Petridis wrote in 2005, "These days, rock historians tend to depict Suede's success as a kind of amuse bouche before the earth-shattering arrival of Britpop's main course".[44] In an article about the British music press' "ferocious one-upmanship campaign" of the mid-1990s, Caroline Sullivan, writing for The Guardian in February 1996, noted Suede's appearance as an unsigned band on the cover of Melody Maker as a pivotal moment in the history of Britpop:
Suede appeared on Melody Maker's cover before they had a record out... The exposure got them a record deal, brought a bunch of like-minded acts to the public's attention, and helped create Britpop. It was the best thing to happen to music in years, and it mightn't have happened without that Suede cover.[64]
The year following the Melody Maker cover saw Suede captivate a pop phenomenon that had not been seen since The Smiths in the early eighties.[17] Suede's androgynous style and ambiguous lyrics set them apart from the British music scene returning some of the creative impetus to electric guitar music in a scene increasingly dominated by techno.[28] A March 1993 article in The Independent wrote that "Suede have had more hype than anybody since the Smiths, or possibly even the Sex Pistols. The reviews are florid, poetic, half-crazed; they express the almost lascivious delight of journalists hungry for something to pin their hopes on."[17]
Suede's laurels would remain intact through their early career until Butler's departure, which the press signalled as the end of Suede. As new rock groups were arriving on the scene, British pop culture was in the midst of a shift towards masculinity and the same critics who championed Suede were now plotting to extinguish them.[28] An article on the eve of the release of Coming Up wrote the following: "Cast in the classic mould of the androgynous rock star, Anderson appears curiously anachronistic in a British rock scene polarised between the laddishness of Oasis and the suburbiana of Blur and Pulp."[28] In a 2007 article in The Daily Telegraph, Bernadette McNulty wrote that while the frontmen of those bands "are all being bestowed with reverential status, Brett Anderson has become the lost boy of Britpop".[65] Since the Britpop movement ceased to exist, like many bands associated with it, Suede's popularity sharply declined. As one writer put it at the end of Suede's career, "Suede slid from zeitgeist into a smaller, pocket-sized cult band."[30] In the same article, Anderson spoke about their legacy:
"It's not in my nature to be bitter... We may have been overlooked somewhat, but all you need to do is listen to the music. Our legacy speaks for itself."[30]
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