Suede in session – BBC Radio 1 – April 3, 1992 – BBC Radio 1 –
Suede for mid-week. One of the premier bands of the early 90s and one of the primary bands in the Britpop movement. Formed in London in 1989. The band was composed of singer Brett Anderson, guitarist Richard Oakes, bass player Mat Osman, drummer Simon Gilbert and keyboardist/rhythm guitarist Neil Codling.
In 1992, Suede were dubbed by Melody Maker as “The Best New Band in Britain”, and attracted much attention from the British music press. The following year their debut album went to the top of the UK Albums Chart, becoming the fastest-selling debut album in almost ten years. It won the Mercury Music Prize and helped foster Britpop as a musical genre. However, the band’s follow-up, Dog Man Star (1994), showed Suede distancing themselves from their Britpop peers. The recording sessions for Dog Man Star were fraught with difficulty, and ended with original guitarist Bernard Butler departing the band after confrontations with the other members. The album was completed without Butler, and the band toured the record with replacement Richard Oakes. Although a commercial disappointment at the time, the album was met with a generally enthusiastic reception on release and has, over time been lauded with universal acclaim from critics. In 1994, Suede would become a component of the Britpop “big four”, along with Oasis, Blur and Pulp.
After seeing the band perform at an NME show in January 1992, Saul Galpern approached them about signing to his independent record label Nude Records. Suede eventually signed a two single deal to Nude in February 1992 for the sum of £3,132. Following Nude’s offer, Suede attracted further interest from Island Records and East West Records, who were keen to sign the band long term. Suede were being hailed as “the next big thing” and, before the release of the band’s first single, Melody Maker featured the band on the cover on 25 April, with the headline “Suede: The Best New Band in Britain”. The band was then approached by Geffen Records and, although the Geffen deal was very attractive (Galpern described it as “insane”), the band still had other offers to consider. In September 1992, they released a second single, “Metal Mickey”, which reached number 17 in the charts. It was the only single to enter the US Modern Rock top 10, peaking at number 7. Shortly after the release of “Metal Mickey”, Suede signed to Nude/Sony. Galpern was determined to sign the band in the long term and struck a deal with Sony – making them a tiny independent label with major company backing. The contract gave Suede creative controls such as the artwork on their releases.
This session, recorded on April 3, 1992 features the band just a few weeks before the release of their debut single, The Drowners which placed at number 49 in the British singles, chart. It wasn’t a huge hit for the band, but it went on to become one of the band’s definitive singles and was considered by many to be the first Britpop single.
Crank it up and enjoy.
