Desert Island Drowners

[dotinthesky]

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It would have to be Suede's first album. This was the album that changed my entire taste in music when I was 17 years old. Up until that point I was happy to hop around from one genre to the next - one day listening to The Clash, the next happily spinning around to Madonna's Immaculate Collection. But nothing ever meant anything to me, or who I wanted to be, as much as Suede. They were the ones responsible for plunging me head first into indie music, in particular Britpop.

I was still in the closet at this stage, living in Singapore with my family. "Animal Nitrate", the third single from the album, was a big hit - perhaps because it hinted at gay life in a country where homosexuality was illegal, where young Singaporeans had to create codes in order to show each other they were "that way". When "So Young", the fourth single, was released I went to a CD store on Orchard Road and bought the album.

In life, I'm a fairly laid back, slightly melancholic character. It takes extra energy for me to get excited about things, and perhaps that matches perfectly the mood of the album. A few songs stomp their boots, like "The Drowners" and "Metal Mickey", but the whole affair is in general a very dreamy, romantic haze - my ideal state of being. It was thanks to Suede that I discovered Morrissey (they named their band after his single "Suedehead"). I investigated this character called Morrissey, who had inspired such a great album, and discovered that one of my childhood songs "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" was by his band The Smiths. Cupid had added extra poison to his arrows that day; I was a step away from an obsession.

Comments

[kixie.livejournal.com]

Oh GOD, I'd forgotten how HOT Bernard Butler was back then. *drool*

I adored that album too. Still do. Have most of it on my mp3 player. I was at their Roundhouse gig and my GOD that was awesome.

You know, I'd never have called Suede or Pulp BritPop - they were about the same time, but they don't fit the category very well. They were so much MORE than that, whereas Blur and Oasis were fairly two dimensional (Oasis especially).

[suede.livejournal.com]

this question box is driving me mad :D

Dog man star for me sir, but i hope our islands were close to each other to swap the cds now and then, because I would miss lots of songs from yours... in fact i would miss songs by any other bands so much that (quoting more or less eduardo mendoza) i'd probably drown myself in the ocean before I ever reached that island, if I knew I was going to be stuck there with just one album.

[foucaultonacid.livejournal.com]

angel, don't take that sleeping pilllllll....

and then the b sides - Where is this life of fun that you promised me?
Nothing here works but your works and I mean it
I have to leave
But oh what will you do alone?
'Cos I have to go.

If I was the wife of an acrobat would I look like the living dead boy?
You're on the wire and can't get back, let's talk about the living dead
Could have had a car, could have had it all,
Could have walked in the sky but we stare at the wall.

I know where the money's gone--
I know what you do
'Cos I've seen the hole in your arm and
The needle's a much better screw
But oh, what will you do alone?
'Cos I have to go.

[knacker-prince.livejournal.com]

Suede really turned me on to music for the first time too.
I fell in love with Suede and then Dog Man Star,
but I'd still choose Coming Up as my favourite though ;)

[miss-mcq.livejournal.com]

Ah. Good choice of album. I was well into Suede back in the day. Strangely enough, I recently discovered that Mr Butler lives on the same road as me...

[atomic-joe2.livejournal.com]

Their performance at the Brit Awards in the early 1990s was majestic beyond words.

They stirred it up and scared the suits shitless!!

[kevyn-kronycles.livejournal.com]

Not to be too gay, but since it recently came into my mind, I'd have to say Madonna's Ray of Light album, since it had a profound influence in my life and has an eclectic mix of songs.

[istoletheteevee.livejournal.com]

morrissey is amazing. i spent almost a year listening to everything i could find, plus his music has led me to some great books.

im downloading suede right now. anything to do with morrissey is gold. thanks for the rec.

and yeah, i am too lucky :)