He's in fashion (again)

To celebrate the incredible news that Suede will perform their first three albums live in full, and that they are reissuing all of their five studio albums remastered and expanded, I get out Brett's sexiest cover ever.

It was done for London fashion magazine i-D. Photographer was the famous French record cover designer and music video director Jean Baptiste Mondino. He made video's and record covers for the world's most famous and influential stars like Madonna, Prince, Eurythmics or Björk.

On the cover, Brett is co-starring with fashion model Stella Tennant. Brett is wearing a school boy suit by Agnès B. Stylist was Zoe Bedeaux.

In the stunning picture there's a great resemblance between the rock star and the fashion model. The hair is identical, both are naked, Brett is only wearing the jacket, and we only see one eye of both of the models. Stella is looking through Brett's earring. The black & white picture makes the contrasts between their white skin and dark hair perfect.

Inside we find another fabulous picture of Brett alone. One of his nipples is revealed, and his lips are pretty seductive. This time he's wearing a necklace as well.

In the interview he's saying: "All I want to do is create. That's all I want to do and that's what I'm on this planet for and I'll probably die in the process of doing it."

Suede contre le reste du monde

Back in their heyday in 1996, Suede was a true gang, who fought against the rest of the world. A band of outsiders for outsiders. This cover from French mag L'Indie illustrates that very nicely. The gang/band looking deadly serious waiting for their enemy to arrive. Only, they look too delicate to really get into a fight.

Coming Up, that was about to be released, is reviewed. The reviewer sees Coming Up as Suede's last chance. En deça du succès planétaire, le groupe en aura fini de jouer dans la cour des grands. How they grabbed that chance.

Picture by Philippe Mazzoni

La pronunciata frangetta di Brett Anderson

Brett may be a fey, Italian waiter, but luckily one that graced the cover of the Italian magazine Rumore. Interviewer Giorgio Valletta had an intervista with Brett. The article focuses on the meaning behind songs like She's not dead, So young or Animal Nitrate.

Suede didn't play Italy on their latest tour, maybe they will go back one day...

Frangetta, I guess that means Brett's fringe...

This is what I get for being that way

Even after almost 20 years, critics still can't seem to cope with Suede's fey and effeminate image. In one of the reviews of the Brussels gig, Brett is described as an unmanly, Italian waiter, and even Mat seemed to accentuate his gay side, according to the critic… What is it that even journalists on the eve of the year 2011 still can't hide their homophobic views?

Luckily, Suede themselves were never afraid about showing their feminine side, talking about gay people they befriended, or defending gay rights or artists. They even featured on the cover of gay magazine Attitude. You couldn't imagine the likes of Oasis there. In the interview Brett and Simon try to explain all misunderstandings about them just posing as gays to grab more attention.

Brett is posing as James Dean, and Simon never looked more handsome.

Pictures by Brad Branson

I hate it when you become more famous than me

Even when tours were over, and the band was writing their next album, they kept being put on music magazine covers. This comes from a March 1994 issue of Vox. Brett was writing Dog Man Star at the time, and already feeling very confident about it, though he was slagged off be his ex-girlfriend Justine saying "that the media feeding frenzy had made it impossible for Suede to produce a strong second album". How wrong that view proved to be.

Brett isn't short of strong quotes as always. "A nation of fags, aren't we? That's what they think in America."

Picture by Barry Marsden.

Whatever happened to the teenage dream?

Back in early 1993, this was unseen. A band with only two singles, and a debut album still in the recording process, crashed the cover of one of the biggest music magazines. Normally, only established stars like U2, Madonna or Prince were put on the cover of Q.

The article and interview are a classic. The writer hails them like Jezus Christ himself who has landed on planet earth again. "Are they, indeed, the new Smiths that everyone's been frantically looking for since 1987?"

"Yes. Oh, yes. Whatever the question was, yes!", he's giving himself over.

Brett is foretelling the future about song titles of his short reunion with Bernard. "He speaks through his guitar, pretty much. He definitely co-stars with me on the songs."

Also, the past in Haywards Heath is extensively revisited. All the Suede drama is there.

Strange enough the next single Animal Nitrate is announced with B-sides Dolly/Samba. Dolly only emerged on So Young, and whatever happened to Samba?

Photo by Paul Rider

Come back and stay for good

Last week, Suede made their big comeback at the O2 arena in London, their biggest indoor gig of their career. And they look determined to carry on in 2011, who could have imagined that a year ago.

Suede are true comeback kids. They came back to promote Dog Man Star when Bernard left, they came back with their second debut album Coming Up, they came back and flopped with A New Morning, and now they are back, again!

This cover comes from Suede's second glory year 1996 (after 1993). It shows us Brett smoking, one of the few times we catch him with a cigarette. Inside the comeback interview runs over 8 pages.

Pictures by Kevin Cummins

Ich bin in einer Satellitenstadt gross geworden

Germany is often thought of as a country with a notoriously bad taste in music. Nevertheless, Suede is hitting Berlin tonight, one of the coolest cities on European playground.

This is a cover from 1999. Wom (World of music) used to be a chain of music shops across German cities.

In sepia and grey

Last night, Suede played the famous Paradiso club in Amsterdam. To my knowledge, Suede never graced the cover of a music magazine in Holland. Of course, the market is much smaller than in France or England, but even longtime running magazine Oor never really put them on the cover, except as second headline with a small picture.

Instead I chose this great picture from magazine Watt. This was a monthly about independent music. This interview was done in a London hotel. The photographer asked if the band could pose outside, but they refused, as their faces were too famous.

Another hilarious quote is that Brett is claiming they are living a simple life. "Take Simon, he's wanking all day."

Rest of the interview is not so funny, but tales about suburban loneliness.

Picture by Ron Kruit

Am I suspended in Gaffa?

Surely, of all the Scandinavian countries Suede were most popular in Denmark. Strangely, they are not playing Copenhagen on this tour.

This is a cover of Danish free magazine Gaffa. The interview was done shortly after the release of A New Morning. The album is reviewed by Brett song by song.

The cover shows us Brett seated in some Danish designer seat.

Picture by Casper Helmer

Am I suspended in Gaffa? That's a line from a great Kate Bush song.

Scandinavia is our playground

So from France and Spain we're heading to the north. Suede will hit Stockholm tomorrow night. Suede were insanely popular in the Scandinavian countries. And every tour will bring them to Denmark, Sweden, Norway or Finland.

This is a cover from Swedish music magazine stereo. The interview was done early 1997, when Coming Up was still running high in the charts. The interviewer is asking them if they are rich now, after selling 800.000 copies. The album reached platinum status in Sweden. I don't speak Swedish but I guess the headline here is saying something like Brett is a megastar.

Picture by Torbjörn Gustafsson

Sexo, drogas y rock & roll

Now that sounds like a headline. "Sexo, drogas y rock&roll para los nuevos reyes de Inglaterra" claims Spanish lifestyle magazine Vanidad (Vanity) quite appropriately. We see Brett in full Coming Up mood. The interview runs over 8 pages. With some of the coolest pictures ever taken of the band. No wonder they ended up in lifestyle magazines.

As far as my knowledge of Spanish reaches, the article says that Suede had much in common with the dandy of glam David Bowie. His studied ambiguity was readapted to perfection by Brett.

Picture by Wolfgang Mustain

Paris and Spain and Vietnam

Tonight, Suede are playing the first gig of their European reunion tour in Barcelona, Spain. Spain featured in quite a few lyrics of Brett, like Europe is our playground, or Simon.

This is a Spanish biography, published in 1996 in the series Imagenes de Rock, making it number 68 of the series. It's telling the whole Suede story, and showing many rare pics, like a very young Richard, Brett with Jane Birkin of Chrissie Hynde, or even the American singer Suede of the same name. In the middle we even find a poster. To end, the three albums up till Coming Up are reviewed.

Donnez-moi la puissance

It seems impossible now, but in November 1996, now 14 years ago, Suede did a tour of France running over seven nights. They played towns like Strasbourg or Bordeaux. This issue of music magazine Magic! had Suede all over it. First we have the beautiful cover with two blue eyes staring at you. Page 2 is a full page ad for the French tour. The interview with Brett is done around themes like "Peter Saville", "USA" or "Image sophistiquée". Furthermore, there's a contest to win 20 vynil singles of Trash, and finally Coming Up is reviewed. The reviewer is comparing Suede to a cat with seven lifes.

Picture by Philippe Lévy

So young and so gone

This must be one of the purest and strongest covers Brett ever graced, looking very young. Les Inrockuptibles is one of the more serious music and film magazines of France, and it's still around. The issue is odd, because it had two different covers: the one with Brett and another one with Luke Haines of The Auteurs. They are both portrayed as being part of a nouvelle vague in 1993.

Funnily, on page 3 of this issue we find a small picture of Brett as a kid in the local football team. The 6 page interview is treating all the classic Suede themes. There's also an ad for the debut album, announcing you get the infamous French He's dead promo, together with the album.

Picture by Renaud Monfourny

Here comes His Lordship

Yes, it's true, Suede is playing Paris next Sunday. What seemed impossible a year ago, is becoming reality. Suede will play Europe again. Particularly in France Suede got a devoted fan base. Numerous cover stories are proof of this. And the French do it in style, of course. This is the October 1994 cover of Best. The pics inside are even better. Brett posing in a black suit, stretched across luxurious carpets, chaises longues and designer chairs.

In the article, Dog Man Star is proclaimed to have all the qualities to become another classic.

Strangely, Brett is foretelling the future, as he's saying he wants to engage extra musicians, maybe for keyboards…

Picture by Renan M.

Back to the future

This is a cover of Irish magazine Hot Press with the headline: "Is this the future of rock 'n' roll?" The article celebrated the release of the first album. The band made a trip to Ireland. Brett and Mat were interviewed, talking about how they wrote Breakdown or The Next Life, and contemplating on the heavy press coverage that was too much about 'Suede the phenomenon' instead of 'Suede the music'. Happily for us, we still can enjoy the many images and interviews of Suede.

The article ends with Brett getting impatient to go out shopping in the surrounding second-hand clothes shops.

Picture by Michael Quinn.

Dog Man Harp

This page is taken from the November 1994 issue of Japanese magazine Rockin' On, at the time Dog Man Star was just released. The photograph session was done for a cover feature in the 3 September 1994 issue of NME. This picture was not used in NME, but was luckily reproduced by Rockin' On. It goes well together with the Japanese writing.

Picture taken by Derek Ridgers.

The article from NME was reused as well. What is funny about it, is that is must be one of the only interviews where Suede are questioned as a three-piece, as Richard would be presented as the new guitarist only shortly later. He's mentioned in the interview as "one kid particularly impressed them; knew how to play old Suede songs better than they did."

Birth of Britpop ?

According to legend, Suede kicked of the so-called Britpop movement. Question is what this huge revival of British guitar music was all about. Looking back Suede indeed infused British pop with great guitars and a glam image. But in the top years of Britpop they had not much to do with the beer drinking lads looking like the boys next door. So no, Suede was miles away from Oasis, Shed Seven, Cast, The Bluetones, Ocean Colour Scene or whoever.

Probably, Pulp is the only band they can be compared to: 2 or 3 essential albums, and slowly fading out. Only it took Pulp many more years to be successful, and Suede probably grabbed more attention of the media.

This Select cover is supposed to be one of the triggers to start Britpop: pin-up Brett posing in front of a union jack. New bands like Suede or Saint-Etienne are seen as weapons against American grunge. Other names like Denim have now been long forgotten. Ironically in the intro of the article the auteur is saying a question like "Can I get a beer?" should never be asked again. Unluckily, only the following year the Gallagher brothers would do with a couple of boozes again…

The Suede article is portraying the band like the saviours of pop. And Brett is feeling invincible.

Picture by Neil Cooper.

Ritchie's a guitar god

So this is one of the guitar magazines that featured Richard on the cover. Inside we find a nice pic of him. Pictures taken by Andy Lane. The interview was done at the time of the release of Coming Up. Richard is talking about his influences and gear. He's saying he doesn't really like solo guitarists. Mmmm wondering if he also had Bernard in mind.

Mat Osman also has a short side article.

The shape of a cigarette

There are only a few music magazine covers that don't have Brett as the leading star. Of course, there are guitar magazines that put Richard or Bernard on the cover. This must be the only cover with Bernard while he was still in the band. Rockin'on is a Japanese magazine, that had several Suede covers. This issue shows us how skinny Bernard was! As the 10 page article is all in Japanese, I can't tell what World exclusive!! is about. Maybe he was announcing the split here, and that news only got through to Europe 2 months later. It is more probable that he's talking about the new album Dog Man Star that was recorded in Spring 1994.

The article has several other great portraits of Bernard, taken by photographer Richard Weedon.

These are the sad songs

The most serious publication about Suede up till now must be The Armchair Guide to Suede by Dave Thompson. It has remained unpublished until last year. It's a melange of the Suede story, all important gigs, performances and releases. It also analyses the influences on all the songs, and the creative process behind them. It's very well written and documented, and a must-read for every devoted fan.

Also it probably is the only Suede book that has not one picture of the band, not even on the cover! The original cover had a pic of Brett, but the final product shows us all Suede albums, and latter projects of band members on what looks like a floor carpet! That means the reader can concentrate on the content, which still is the unbelievable story of the band.

Dave Thompson wrote numerous book, especially on glam rock and big indie bands like The Cure, The Peppers or The Fall.

Japanese whispers

So this must be one of my favourite magazine covers. Like said, the Japanese were obsessed with Suede and that shows in their music magazines. This one, Music Life, has not only a Suede cover, but also an inside article running over 16 (!), yes sixteen, pages.

I'd call it one of the best portraits ever made of Brett. Photographer was Tom Sheenan, a rock music photographer.

The inside article has more portraits, studio and live pictures. The articles have probably been taken from English magazines. The last pages even feature Suede associates like Saul Galpern from Nude. The Japanese tour and discography are announced, and there are T-shirts to win.

Teenage idols

This cover comes from the Israeli magazine MAARIV FOR YOUTH, out back in April 1999. It features one of the promo pics for the Head Music campaign. Unfortunately, it looks like their heads have been squeezed a bit.

Insides, there's a 2 page article, all in Hebrew. Looks like Suede were teenage idols in Israel. The rest of the magazine is all about teenage stuff, unlike many other music magazines. Amidst loads of ads and love stories, Suede find themselves as teenage stars among the likes of Britney Spears and Geri Halliwell.

Suede went to play the country several times. Having played communist country China as well, they never took the easy way.

The last cover

Numerous have been the magazine covers Suede had. This must be one of the last ones, if not the last, unless NME is putting them on the cover soon.

Bullit Magazine had only a few issues, as the market for music magazines was dwindling down. One wonders if Q or NME can survive much longer in print.

The headline "The last Suede interview" is misleading in a way, as the interview was done just days before the shock announcement of the split, on November 6, now 7 years ago. In the interview Brett is talking about media as a necessary evil. The author, Jeremy Allen, is a fan when he concludes "Ironically, British music could use a band like Suede again." Anybody heard them? Or are they still the best band in Britain?