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Sleeper

Sleeper

Formed:
1993 in London

  • Genre: Rock
  • Active: '90s
  • Major Members: Louise Wener, Jon Stewart, Diid Osman, Andy Maclure

Biography

The band is composed of Louise Wener (vocals, guitar), Jon Stewart (guitar), Andy Maclure (drums), Diid Osman (bass). Wener and Stewart met at while studying politics at school in Manchester, England. Relocating to London, the two recruited Osman and Maclure and began playing Wener's original songs. The group made its debut in 1993, which led to a series of positive reviews in the British music weeklies. By November of 1993, the group had released an independent single ("Alice in Vain"). In February 1994, the band released "Swallow," which charted in the Top 100; the following May, "Delicious" was released and it became a number one independent single. During May, Sleeper supported Blur on the London band's enormously successful Parklife tour. In February 1995, Sleeper released their debut album, Smart, which entered the U.K. album chart at number five and the independent chart at number one; it would be certified a silver album in four months. Smart was released in the U.S. in March to positive reviews, yet it failed to duplicate the band's British commercial success. In the late spring of 1996, Sleeper released their second album, The It Girl. Again, the album was a major hit in the U.K., yet it barely made an impact in the U.S. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Representative Albums:

The It Girl, Smart, Pleased to Meet You

Similar Artists:

Catatonia, Kula Shaker, Super Furry Animals, Salad, Supergrass, Gene, Powder, Travis, Echobelly, Oasis, Elastica, Pulp, Blur

Influences:

The Go-Go's, Pixies, Blondie

Performed Songs By:

Louise Wener, Jon Stewart, Andy Maclure, Stewart
 
 
Wikipedia: Sleeper (band)
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Sleeper
Origin United Kingdom
Genre(s) Indie rock, Britpop
Years active 1993 - 1998
Website Louise Wener.com
Former members
Louise Wener
Jon Stewart
Diid Osman
Andy Maclure

Sleeper were a British Britpop band in the 1990s fronted by Louise Wener. The band had several UK hits.

Career

The band's original name was Surrender Dorothy. They took that name from the smoke trail telling Dorothy to surrender in the Wizard of Oz movie.

Sleeper recorded three studio albums: Smart, The It Girl and Pleased to Meet You. The It Girl was arguably their finest moment with "Lie Detector", "Sale of the Century" and "Statuesque" as the defining tracks. It was produced by Stephen Street then famous for his contributions to The Smiths, Morrissey and Blur.

The band's breakthrough song, "Inbetweener", featured a memorable video with Dale Winton, who was a popular icon among students at the time. The group are closely associated with Britpop; Wener was arguably, along with Elastica's Justine Frischmann, the movement's biggest female star. She was even something of a sex symbol, placing highly in Melody Maker's "Sexiest Woman" polls several years running. By the time Pleased to Meet You was released in 1997, Britpop was fading, as was the band's audience. After their split (on 30 December 1998) Wener went on to have a career as a novelist.

Sleeper recorded a cover of the Blondie song "Atomic", which was used as in the film Trainspotting, after Blondie refused to allow the use of the original version.

"Sleeperbloke"

The band was the inspiration for the phrase "Sleeperbloke", referring to the disparity between the glamorous singer Wener and the other frequently ignored members of the band (who tended to be far more anonymous and stood at the back). The term is still used by music press journalists and musicians, to refer to any person of limited standing within a band or an especially drab and unremarkable individual. Sleeper were said to be amused by the term and even produced an ironic "Sleeperbloke" T-shirt which sold well.

The real-life Sleeperblokes were:

Discography

Albums

  • Smart - Feb 1995, #5
  • The It Girl - May 1996, #5
  • Pleased to Meet You - Oct 1997, #7

Singles

  • "Alice EP" 1993
  • "Swallow"- Jan 1994, #76
  • "Delicious"- May 1994, #75
  • "Inbetweener" - Jan 1995, #16 (UK Chart)
  • "Vegas" - Apr 1995, #33
  • "What Do I Do Now" - Oct 1995, #14
  • "Sale Of The Century" - May 1996, #10
  • "Nice Guy Eddie" - Jul 1996, #10
  • "Statuesque" - Oct 1996, #17
  • "She's A Good Girl" - Oct 1997, #28
  • "Romeo Me" - Dec 1997, #39

References

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

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Artist. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sleeper (band)".  Read more

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