Suede

Suede biography

Suede are an English alternative rock band from London, formed in 1989. The group's most prominent early line-up featured singer Brett Anderson, guitarist Bernard Butler, bass player Mat Osman and drummer Simon Gilbert. By 1992, Suede were hailed as "The Best New Band in Britain", and attracted much attention from the British music press. The following year their glam rock-inspired debut album, Suede, went to the top of the charts, became the fastest-selling debut album in almost ten years and won the Mercury Music Prize, helping kick-start the Britpop movement. However, the band's lush follow-up, Dog Man Star (1994), saw Suede distance themselves from their Britpop peers. Although it is often regarded as the band's masterpiece, the recording sessions for Dog Man Star were fraught with difficulty, and ended with Butler departing the band after heated arguments with Anderson.

In 1996 following the recruitment of Richard Oakes and later keyboardist Neil Codling, Suede went on to greater commercial success with Coming Up. The album charted at number one in the UK, producing five top ten singles and became their biggest-selling album worldwide. In 1997, Anderson became addicted to crack and heroin. Despite problems within the band, Suede's fourth album Head Music (1999) was a British chart-topper. Suede's final album, A New Morning (2002), their first after the collapse of Nude Records, was a commercial disappointment, and the group disbanded the following year. After much speculation Suede reformed in 2010 for a series of concerts.

History

Formation and early years: 1989-1991

Brett Anderson and Justine Frischmann met in 1989 while studying at University College London and became a couple soon afterwards. 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. 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. The group settled on the name Suede; lacking a drummer, the band initially used a drum machine. Despite Frischmann's efforts as the group's de facto manager, the group primarily scored small-scale gigs around London's Camden Town area.

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. The song featured on a cassette compilation in April 1990 representing Suede's first official release. 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. 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. Joyce reluctantly turned down the role of drummer as he felt Suede still had to forge their own identity. He felt that by being in a band that had similarities to the Smiths, he would have done them more harm than good. Joyce stayed long enough to record 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. 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.

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