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London Suede Information
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'Suede' were one of the most popular and important bands from the UK in the 90s, and helped start the Britpop movement of the decade. Through their several incarnations, they were able to consistently put out albums that charted well, while still holding the respect of critics. Though they never achieved great success in North America, they were arguably as big in the UK in the 90s as The Smiths in the 80s, or Roxy Music in the 70s.
History
Early history
'Suede' were formed in London in 1989 by bassist Mat Osman, singer Brett Anderson and his then girlfriend, Justine Frischmann, on rhythm guitar. They soon added guitarist Bernard Butler - who was recruited through an advertisement in the NME. Along with a drum machine as percussion, Suede were signed to RML Records, a label from Brighton. Famous comedian Ricky Gervais (of The Office fame) managed the band for a brief period before they were signed to a record label.
With Mike Joyce (formerly of The Smiths) famously filling in as drummer, Suede's first record "Be My God"/"Art", was printed but never released due to a dispute with the label. The few surviving records out of a batch of 2000 are considered amongst the rarest of Suede collectibles. Simon Gilbert soon replaced the drum machine and Suede signed to Nude Records (sans Frischmann, who left over distress at the fact that the band would not play her songs, and the ended relationship with Anderson and subsequent dating of Damon Albarn, of Blur).
The band's first single "The Drowners" was released amid an alternative media frenzy that began before Suede had released any actual note of music. In fact, the band was on the cover of Melody Maker, which proclaimed them as "the best new band in Britain" prior to any official release.
The debut single created an enormous amount of excitement because of its sharp contrast to the dying Madchester scene and the grunge sound of the time. In addition, Anderson's flamboyant looks and noticeably unique vocals combined with Butler's furiously melodic guitar playing made the band stick out like a sore thumb.
The two b-sides from the single, "My Insatiable One" and "To The Birds" were stunning, album quality songs that could have been singles on their own. In doing this, the band followed the precedent set by earlier pop bands such as The Jam who did the very same. Surprisingly, "The Drowners" was only a moderate hit, though it was later surpassed by the highly successful singles "Metal Mickey" and "Animal Nitrate" a few months later.
Their first album Suede became the fastest selling debut since Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Welcome To the Pleasuredome" and was catapulted onto the charts after Suede's ferocious breakthrough performance on the 1993 Brit Awards. The album showed influences from The Smiths, David Bowie, and many other glam rockers, but it managed to filter and blend them together, creating its own trademark sound. The band won the Mercury Prize for best album of the year and had an enormous level of popularity. However, that amount of fan hysteria that surrounded Suede in Britain would be short lived and never duplicated by the American public.
Their American success was limited, even though they were touring with the Cranberries, who had support from MTV. Moreover, a lounge singer's lawsuit forced the band to stop using the trademarked American name "Suede" (a fate also suffered by fellow UK band The Charlatans/The Charlatans UK) and to record all of their future U.S. albums under the moniker 'The London Suede'.
Some possible factors for the band's lack of U.S. success is their quasi-androgynous look and distinct British sound which might have alienated North American audiences. Despite this, the band retained a cult following in cities on both coasts of the U.S. Following the release of their debut album, the band began prepping their highly anticipated followup single and album in late 1993 and much of 1994. The hectic schedule the band was facing hinted the problems that were soon to come.
Middle history
In February of 1994, the band released the single Stay Together, which became their highest charting at the time, reaching number three. Despite their growing profile, tensions within the band mounted as they began working on the second album. Anderson and Butler fought constantly; a major issue was the production of the album, which was done by the previous album producer, Ed Buller. Butler quit the band in the middle of the recording sessions, and left behind his tapes which contained his ideas for the songs that had been written. The remainder of the guitar work on the album was reputedly completed, depending on the source, by studio musicians or Brett Anderson himself.
Dog Man Star (1994) was released to mixed reviews and though sales were sluggish, the album was generally critically acclaimed. The album was vastly different sounding than the band's debut, and offered a challenging view of the band's new style. The music featured a large sound, backed by strings and a horn section in much of it. The year that Blur's Parklife and Oasis' Definitely Maybe were fighting for pop supremacy, Suede discovered darker territory with Dog Man Star. Their image, however, was tainted by the departure of Butler, as they searched for someone to fill his undeniably large shoes.
Butler was soon replaced infamously by 17 year-old Richard Oakes (initially nick-named by the UK music press as "Little Dickie") before an international tour to promote the album. Many critics and fans alike had their doubts about the ability of the band to move on without Bernard Butler, who was an integral part of the band's songwriting. However, the band broadened their sound when they were joined by keyboardist and backing vocalist Neil Codling in the making of the album that gained the group's most mainstream success, Coming Up (1996). The first single from the album, Trash was immensely popular and tied with Stay Together as the group's highest charting.
The album was a hit throughout Europe, Asia and Canada, but still not in the U.S. It did, however, silence all those doubting whether Anderson and company could produce another hit without Butler. They again changed sounds drastically, using glam tinted pop/rock on the album as opposed to the dark elements that the previous album consisted of.
The band was finally getting the mass video and radio play that they lacked during the Dog Man Star period and in many ways fulfilling the hype that characterized much of the early part of their career. The album brought the band five straight top 10 singles, a remarkable feat by any standards.
What followed was a collection of b-sides and rarities entitled Sci-Fi Lullabies, which charted fairly well for a compilation. The band were well respected for their b-sides, which were often close to or equal to the quality of the a-sides they backed. But by the time the retrospective had been released in 1997, the Britpop movement had slowly been waning in popularity, and the band had decided to split with long-time producer Ed Buller for their diverse followup to Coming Up.
Despite being backed by the popular lead single "Electricity", their next album, Head Music (1999) was generally considered a critical disappointment, though it did reach number one on the album charts. It was an electronic infused album that focused less on guitar riffs and more on synths. It was produced by Steve Osborne, who had worked with Happy Mondays and New Order. Many felt the cocaine-fuelled sound was too shallow and lacking in substance, while others thought the album was the group again taking a different direction and charting new territory. Regardless, the album was the band's most mixed received up until that point.
The next three singles released from the album failed to crack the top 10, which the band hadn't done since 1995's New Generation. The b-sides for the singles were arguably not up to par with their usual standard, which hinted at the drying up of the creative well. Anderson also began being criticized more by fans for his often use of redundant vocabulary and limited lyrical themes. Even with the drop in mainstream popularity, the band still maintained a large core group of fans.
Late history and "The End"
After Head Music, Suede decided to part company with Nude Records, signing instead to Sony to record their fifth album, A New Morning (2002). This album saw keyboardist Neil Codling leave the band, citing chronic fatigue syndrome, to be replaced by long-time band associate Alex Lee.
In concerts, Lee played second guitar, as well as keyboards, backing vocals and, at one point, harmonica. The album title, according to Anderson, refered 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 and failed to crack the top 20. It was produced by famed Britpop producers John Leckie (Radiohead and Muse) and Stephen Street (Blur and The Smiths). It is considered a solid outing among fans of the band, but public interest just wasn't there for the aging group. Only two singles, Positivity and Obsessions, were released off the album. That being the least amount of singles previously released on any of the band's albums and both did not chart well in comparison to earlier hits. It began to seem that artistically, the band was running close to empty.
In Autumn 2003, after issuing a large retrospective of their work, they played five nights at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts, playing an entire album a night - with B-sides and rarities as encores - in chronological order (a mammoth rehearsal task for any band). After the release of their Singles album and final single "Attitude", the band announced there would be no more projects under the Suede name for the foreseeable future - effectively announcing the end of the band.
Their last concert at London's Astoria on December 13, 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 annoucement that "there will be another Suede album" to everyone's delight, but added "...but not yet". "See you in the Next Life" was their closing remark. In May 2004 Anderson confirmed rumours that he and original Suede guitarist Bernard Butler were working together again - they had written 15 songs and were putting together a band. The name was undecided, but would be neither "Anderson and Butler", nor "Suede".
Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler are now at work with their new band, The Tears, and have released their debut album. There is currently no talk in regards to whether Suede will ever reform.
Discography
All the chart positions are for the UK, Suede has never charted in the US Top 40.
Studio albums
Suede (1993) - #1
Dog Man Star (1994) - #3
Coming Up (1996) - #1
Head Music (1999) - #1
A New Morning (2002) - #24
Video Releases
*1993 Love and Poison (live footage)
*1995 Introducing the Band (live footage)
*2001 Lost in TV (video compilation)
Singles
* from Suede
** 1992 "The Drowners" #49
** 1992 "Metal Mickey" #17
** 1993 "Animal Nitrate" #7
** 1993 "So Young" #22
* non-album single
** 1994 "Stay Together" #3
* from Dog Man Star
** 1994 "We are the Pigs" #18
** 1994 "The Wild Ones" #18
** 1995 "New Generation" #21
* from Coming Up
** 1996 "Trash" #3
** 1996 "Beautiful Ones" #8
** 1997 "Saturday Night" #6
** 1997 "Lazy" #9
** 1997 "Filmstar" #9
* from Head Music
** 1999 "Electricity" #5
** 1999 "She's in Fashion" #13
** 1999 "Everything Will Flow" #24
** 1999 "Can't Get Enough" #23
* from A New Morning
** 2002 "Positivity" #16
** 2002 "Obsessions" #29
* from Singles
** 2003 "Attitude" #14
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