Suede

This is an old piece I wrote almost 2 years ago, when my obsession with the British band Suede was resurfacing in a big way.

For those of you who don't know who Suede is, then I invite you to read this piece. 

Suede has been one of my favourite bands since I was 10 years old. Sure, the first obvious question would be somewhere along the lines of, "Weren't you a bit too young to like a band like Suede?" or even "How would a little kid appreciate anything other than Teletubbies and The Wiggles?" 

Well, first of all, I liked Power Rangers a whole lot more than Teletubbies. And second of all, it’s really quite the contrary, isn’t it? It should be applauded that Suede introduced me to ‘adult’ music because frankly, there’s no one better to do that than them.

Suede is a British band who first broke out on to the scene with their debut single The Drowners in 1992. Before the single was released, though, they already generated such a buzz with their thundering live performances and a musical style of their own, at one point even gracing the cover of Melody Maker with the headline “The Best New Band in Britain”. Thanks to this, they were one of the bands that pretty much gave birth to the Britpop movement in the 1990s, along with the likes of Blur, Elastica and Pulp.

With five studio albums under their belts, their ever-changing formation was also one of the much talked-about topics during their 14-year career. After initially starting off in 1989 with a certain Justine Frischmann (who at the time dated vocalist Brett Anderson and then later founded the equally fabulous Elastica), Suede enjoyed early success with Brett on vocals, Bernard Butler on lead guitar, Mat Osman on bass guitar and Simon Gilbert as the drummer. They managed to release their first two albums Suede (1993) and Dog Man Star (1994), before Bernard left the band in 1994. He was then replaced by the then 17-year-old Richard Oakes, who seamlessly performed his predecessor’s guitar riffs during the band’s promo tour of the second album and later on becoming so much more than just a replacement. With the band accepting another recruit in keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Neil Codling in 1995, Richard and Neil helped the band create their third – and arguably their most commercially successful – album Coming Up in 1996. This was then followed up by Head Music, released in 1999, and its promotional campaigns saw the last of Neil when he had to bow out of the band in 2001 due to personal illness. Enter Alex Lee, who significantly contributed to Suede's fifth and last studio album A New Morning in 2002, just a year before they disbanded.

Along with The Drowners, the band churned out hits over the years including Animal Nitrate, Metal Mickey, Stay Together, We Are The Pigs, The Wild Ones, Trash, Beautiful Ones, Saturday Night, Electricity, Everything Will Flow and She’s In Fashion. However, this limited selection shouldn’t be the definitive guide to their true legacy, as there are plenty more hidden gems found in all their albums and particularly B-side releases, which were helpfully compiled in their successful B-side album Sci-Fi Lullabies, released in 1997 in between Coming Up and Head Music.

And it’s this kind of legacy that leaves the band – and fans alike – wanting for more, with the band announcing they were playing together again in 2010, continuing on until August of this year with various gigs and events. Definite future plans after that month are yet to be announced by the band.

It's funny that they decided to regroup in the Coming Up-era formation, because that just happens to be my absolute favourite line-up (being a huge Neil fan surely explains why!). I’m hoping for the miracle of all miracles that they will keep this up, just long enough till I can get the chance to finally see them perform live.

For more information visit suede.co.uk

I should add that the band had since announced that they were getting back into the studio to record a new album together. As of 6 October 2012, they have officially finished the album and media and fans alike are awaiting news on an official release date.

(Image courtesy of Q Magazine)