Brett Anderson and Mat Osman, childhood friends, formed a band in 1981 and
called themselves Geoff. In 1983 they changed the name to Suave and Elegant.
In 1986 Brett Anderson moved to London and started studying architecture after
having met Justine Frischmann. They became an item and she started playing the
rhythm guitar.
In October 1989, Brett and Mat put an advert in a music magazine where they
seeked a young guitar player. Influences: Bowie, Smiths, Commotions, PSB.
Bernard Butler joined the band.
In December they picked the name Suede because the "aesthetics of the actual
letters make it into a graphic symbol". Their first gigs were horrible and the press
said that Brett "looks like Andy Crane" while the band "look like John Craven".
They were very experimental and were backed by a drum machine. In October
1990 they started looking for a drummer. One of the first to answer was Mike
Joyce, ex-Smith drummer. He plays on their first (unreleased) single.
Suede got their first record deal in November 1990. They agreed to release 'Be
My God' and a seven-album deal was produced. But the band declined and the
single wasn't released.
Simon Gilbert joined Suede in June 1991. At the same time, Justine left the
band. The success now began.
10 March 1992 Suede signed to newly formed Nude records for a two-single deal,
and on 25 April they got dubbed 'The Best New Band In Britain' by Melody
Maker without having released one single record(!)
11 May 1992 'The Drowners' was released.
14 September 1992 'Metal Mickey' was released.
22 February 1993 'Animal Nitrate' was released and went to the top ten. The
video got banned from The Chart Show because it shows two men kissing.
On 29 March 1993, debut album 'Suede' was released and sold 100,000 copies in
six days.
17 April 'So Young' was released and entered the charts at No. 6.
In the beginning of 1994 they started working on their second album. Working
titles were 'National Anthems' and 'Sci Fi Lullabies'. The title was later announced
as 'Dog Man Star', which Brett has said is about 'lying in the gutter looking up at
the stars'. The album was released on 10 October 1994 and went straight to No 1.
Now I know that Suede were actually quite big back then, but I had a hard time
finding people who knew that suede could be something else than "soft leather
made from the skin of goats". Something I appreciate a lot, though, is that him
and Brett wrote the songs for 'Dog Man Star' while he was still there. You can't
take away from him that he is a great guitarist and songwriter.
Their debut album is very strong for being a first album,
with excellent songs like 'So Young', 'Animal Nitrate',
'Pantomime Horse' and 'Breakdown' and a couple of
songs that are not so good, like 'Moving' and 'Animal
Lover'. I still think it's a good thing that Bernard left the
band (I'll probably get harassed by a number of people
for saying that...). I'm not saying that he's a bad person (I
don't know the guy), but he obviously didn't get along
well enough with the others.
To say something about that grand piece of work (DMS), I can mention that it got
a lot of criticism, both good and bad. Some (especially Brett) say that it's too
personal and hard to understand but he should be, and I think he is, proud of it. In
my mind it's one of the best albums the world has ever seen. It's just so beautiful,
especially the songs 'Still Life' (I'm still shivering), 'The Wild Ones' (absolutely
beautiful), 'The 2 of Us', and 'Black or Blue' (what a chorus!). There are tons of
good b-sides as well, but you probably already know that.
Suede is a different band today. The new album, with the suitable name 'Coming
Up', is doing a lot better than its precedents, but just like DMS, it has received a
lot of criticism. I have only one thing to say about it: it's a great pop-album! And
as always with Suede, the quality of the b-sides is excellent. And the tour is
exceptionally good, with a lot more energy in it than the DMS-tour. Not so new
member Neil Codling proves to be a really nice addition to the new Suede.
