THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

244-Suede-Trash.

1996-Number 3 single.

Best Bit-At 0.47. Trash talking, from a class act.

‘Trash’ was probably the make or break song for Suede, (see also best songs 695) or as they are known in America, ‘The London Suede,’ so as to not get them confused with another artist using the same name. Bernard Butler the bands guitarist, and co-songwriter with Brett Anderson of Suede’s first two critically acclaimed Albums had left the group in 1994, and ‘Trash’ was the first new music written without him. Anderson now had a new songwriting partner, the 17 year old Richard Oakes, who had applied to be Butler’s replacement through the bands official fan club. The response on hearing ‘Trash’ and it’s parent Album ‘Coming Up’ was received positively by music critics, with some even saying it was their best work to date. Oakes and Anderson would continue as the bands main songwriting team for all of their next six studio Albums.

The discography of Suede includes nine studio Albums released between 1993-2022, and 35 singles released 1992-2022, there are also five box sets, six official compilation Albums, and five live Albums available. In the UK, all of their studio Albums have reached the top 40, with three of them making the Number 1 position, while 19 of their singles have reached the UK top 40, with ‘Stay Together,’ (1994) and ‘Trash,’ (1996) both peaking the highest at Number 3, although ‘Trash’ is their best selling single. Perhaps Suede are a little too ‘English’ for the American market, as they still await their first hit on the Billboard 200 Album chart, or the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Suede were initially active between 1989-2003, they then reformed in 2010, and at the time of writing they remain active, in total there have been nine different band members come and go, with Brett Anderson, and Mat Osman being the only two constants. Mat Osman was born Mathew David Osman on October 9th, 1967, in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, and is the bass guitar player with Suede. Matt Osman first met Brett Anderson in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, where they played together in early ‘Garage Rock’ bands. Osman is also a writer, and his work has been published in British magazines and newspapers. He has also published two novels, ‘The Ruins,’ in 2020, and ‘The Ghost Theatre,’ in 2023.

‘Trash’ was the first of five singles released from Suede’s third studio Album ‘Coming Up,’ from September 1996, the song was co-written by Brett Anderson and Richard Oakes, with the production being by Ed Buller (see also best songs 695 and 605.) Brett Anderson wanted ‘Coming Up’ to be an easier listen than the two previous Suede Albums, he was looking for a more commercial sound, with straightforward choruses. He has said that prior to writing the Album he was listening to the two Marc Bolan (1947-1977) (see also best songs 790-386 and 67) Albums, ‘The Slider’ (1972) and it’s follow up ‘Tanx’ (1973.) Ed Buller has explained how the recording process worked, ‘Basically, what we did, is that every track started with acoustic guitar, bongos, tambourine and Brett, so it all started life pretty much the same way that Marc Bolan recorded all of his stuff originally.’

Richard Oakes was born Richard John Oakes on October 1st, 1976, in Perivale, West London, England, he is a songwriter, and is the guitarist with Suede, he also plays piano, and provides backing vocals. His early influences included the Clash, (see also best songs 867 and 294) and prior to joining Suede in 1994 he cut his teeth playing in a band called ‘TED,’ with his friends. Oakes was a fan of Suede, and upon hearing that guitarist Bernard Butler had left the band, and that the band were auditioning for a replacement, he recorded versions of Suede songs and some of his own material on a 4 track recorder, which he sent to the band’s fan club along with a note that read ‘Take me or leave me.’ When Suede’s drummer Simon Gilbert heard Brett Anderson playing back the tape whilst going through audition tapes, he mistakenly believed it to be an early Suede demo. After the second audition Oakes was invited to join the band. At the age of 17, and after beating approximately 500 candidates, Richard Oakes officially joined Suede on September 17th, 1994, which was 2 weeks before his 18th birthday. Away from Suede, Richard Oakes has performed and recorded with the English music producer and singer Sean McGhee as the duo ‘Artmagic,’ releasing two studio Albums in 2012, and 2018.

‘Trash’ is a celebration about being different, knowing you don’t conform, and being proud of that. Brett Anderson has said, ‘It’s a song that’s kind of about being in the band and, by extension, it’s a song about the fans, and the whole kind of ethos of being a Suede… person. I actually wrote it about the band Suede. It’s a celebration of the band, but by extension, it’s a celebration of the fans as well, and it was a kind of a song written about us, as a gang, it was written about the values we stood for. And even though it sounds like a love song, it was actually about the idea of the identity of the band, and what they stood for.’

‘Oh maybe, maybe it’s the clothes we wear, the tasteless bracelets and the dye in our hair, maybe it’s our kookiness. Or maybe, maybe it’s our nowhere towns, our nothing places and our cellophane sounds, maybe it’s our looseness.’