Nikki Sudden
Encyclopedia
Nikki Sudden was a prolific English
singer-songwriter
and guitarist
. He co-founded the post-punk
band Swell Maps
with his brother Epic Soundtracks
(born Kevin Paul Godfrey) while attending Solihull School
in Solihull
.
, England
. Main influences on Sudden's music was provided by such artists as T.Rex, The Rolling Stones
, The Faces, Bob Dylan
and Johnny Thunders
. Following the break-up of Swell Maps in 1980, he started a solo career, as well as releasing records with Dave Kusworth as the Jacobites
. Kusworth had been a member of the Dogs D'Amour
and led his own band, The Bounty Hunters.
He collaborated with, among others, Mike Scott
and Anthony Thistlethwaite
of The Waterboys
, Jeff Tweedy
of Wilco
, Mick Taylor
of The Rolling Stones
, Rowland S. Howard
, Metrophase, Ian McLagan
of Small Faces and The Faces, Phil Shoenfelt
, Big Sleep, Al DeLoner of Midnight Choir
, Tom Ashton of The March Violets
, members of R.E.M.
and Sonic Youth
. The Jacobites' tune "Pin Your Heart" was covered
on The Lemonheads
' 1997 single "The Outdoor Type".
Sudden also wrote for a number of music magazine
s, such as Spex
, INTRO, Mojo
, the local Birmingham based fanzine Waxstreet Dive, and Bucketful of Brains. At the time of his unexpected death, he was writing his autobiography, as well as a history of the Wick (an estate in Richmond once owned by Ronnie Wood, currently owned by Pete Townshend
), and was due to perform in London on the 29 March 2006.
Nikki Sudden died suddenly from a heart attack
, at the age of 49, after a concert at the Knitting Factory
in Manhattan, New York
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
. He co-founded the post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
band Swell Maps
Swell Maps
Swell Maps were an experimental English rock group of the 1970s from Birmingham that foreshadowed the birth of post-punk.Influenced by the disparate likes of T.Rex and the German progressive outfit, Can, they created a new soundscape that would be heavily mined by others in the post-punk era...
with his brother Epic Soundtracks
Epic Soundtracks
Epic Soundtracks was the stage name of the British musician Kevin Paul Godfrey . Born in Croydon, Surrey, he was brought up in Solihull, Midlands with his brother Adrian Nicholas, who was known as Nikki Sudden .In 1972 Kevin and Nicholas formed the nucleus of what was to become the post-punk rock...
(born Kevin Paul Godfrey) while attending Solihull School
Solihull School
Solihull School is a British Independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England.2010 saw Solihull School celebrate its 450th anniversary since its foundation in 1560....
in Solihull
Solihull
Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...
.
Career
He was born Adrian Nicholas Godfrey in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Main influences on Sudden's music was provided by such artists as T.Rex, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, The Faces, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr. , was an American protopunk guitarist, singer and songwriter.He came to prominence in the early '70s as a member of the New York Dolls...
. Following the break-up of Swell Maps in 1980, he started a solo career, as well as releasing records with Dave Kusworth as the Jacobites
Jacobites (band)
Jacobites were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1982 by Nikki Sudden and Dave Kusworth, following the breakup of their respective previous bands, the Swell Maps and the Subterranean Hawks.-Career:...
. Kusworth had been a member of the Dogs D'Amour
Dogs D'Amour
The Dogs D'Amour were a rock and roll band formed in 1983 in London, England. Over the years the band has had various line-ups, the only constant being vocalist Tyla....
and led his own band, The Bounty Hunters.
He collaborated with, among others, Mike Scott
Mike Scott (musician)
Michael 'Mike' Scott is the founding member, lead singer and chief songwriter of rock band The Waterboys. He has also produced two solo albums, Bring 'em All In and Still Burning...
and Anthony Thistlethwaite
Anthony Thistlethwaite
Anthony "Anto" Thistlethwaite is a British multi-instrumentalist best known as a founder member of the folk-rock group The Waterboys and later as a long-standing member of Irish rock band The Saw Doctors.After a year busking in Paris, playing tenor saxophone around the streets of the Latin...
of The Waterboys
The Waterboys
The Waterboys are a band formed in 1983 by Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland and England. Edinburgh, London, Dublin, Spiddal, New York, and Findhorn have all served as homes for the group. The band has played in a...
, Jeff Tweedy
Jeff Tweedy
Jeffrey Scot "Jeff" Tweedy is an American songwriter, musician and leader of the band Wilco. Tweedy joined rockabilly band The Plebes with high school friend Jay Farrar in the early 1980s, but Tweedy's musical interests caused one of Farrar's brothers to quit...
of Wilco
Wilco
Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup has changed frequently, with only singer Jeff Tweedy and bassist John...
, Mick Taylor
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones...
of The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Rowland S. Howard
Rowland S. Howard
Rowland Stuart Howard was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, he played electric guitar in the post-punk group The Birthday Party. Howard died of liver cancer in December 2009, aged 50 years....
, Metrophase, Ian McLagan
Ian McLagan
Ian McLagan is an English keyboard instrumentalist, best known as a member of the English rock bands Small Faces and Faces.-Small Faces and Faces:...
of Small Faces and The Faces, Phil Shoenfelt
Phil Shoenfelt
Phil Shoenfelt is an English musician and author who lived for many years in New York and who now lives in Prague, Czech Republic....
, Big Sleep, Al DeLoner of Midnight Choir
Midnight Choir
Midnight Choir was a Norwegian indie/alternative rock band active from 1992 to 2004. Its members were Al DeLoner , Paal Flaata, and Ron Olsen...
, Tom Ashton of The March Violets
The March Violets
The March Violets are an English goth rock band of the 1980s, incorporating singers of both sexes, drum machine rhythms and echo laden electric guitar, much in the way of scene mates The Sisters of Mercy, who also originated from the city of Leeds...
, members of R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
and Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
. The Jacobites' tune "Pin Your Heart" was covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
on The Lemonheads
The Lemonheads
The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band first formed in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member....
' 1997 single "The Outdoor Type".
Sudden also wrote for a number of music magazine
Music magazine
A music magazine is a magazine dedicated to music and music culture. Such magazines typically include music news, interviews, photo shoots, essays, record reviews, concert reviews and occasionally have a covermount with recorded music.-Notable music magazines:...
s, such as Spex
Spex (magazine)
Spex is a prominent German rock and pop culture magazine located in Berlin, Germany. Besides music news, Spex also covers literature, cinema, fashion and contemporary social trends...
, INTRO, Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
, the local Birmingham based fanzine Waxstreet Dive, and Bucketful of Brains. At the time of his unexpected death, he was writing his autobiography, as well as a history of the Wick (an estate in Richmond once owned by Ronnie Wood, currently owned by Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
), and was due to perform in London on the 29 March 2006.
Nikki Sudden died suddenly from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, at the age of 49, after a concert at the Knitting Factory
Knitting Factory
The Knitting Factory is a music venue and concert house with locations in Brooklyn, Boise, Reno, and Spokane. The club originally specialized in jazz and experimental music and has expanded to showcasing all genres of music, performing arts and comedy....
in Manhattan, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Swell Maps
- A Trip to MarinevilleA Trip to MarinevilleA Trip to Marineville is the first full-length album by British post-punk group Swell Maps originally issued in July 1979.-Track listing:#"H.S...
(1979) - Jane From Occupied EuropeJane from Occupied EuropeJane From Occupied Europe is the second album by British post-punk group Swell Maps. The original 1980 issue of the album contained the first fourteen tracks, and the reissue in 1989 by Mute Records added eight bonus tracks.-Original Album:...
(1980) - Whatever Happens Next (1981)
- Collision Time Revisited (1982)
- International Rescue (1999)
- Sweep the Desert (2001)
The Jacobites
- The Jacobites (1984)
- Robespierre's Velvet Basement (1985)
- Lost in a Sea of Scarves (1985)
- The Ragged School (1986)
- Fortune of Fame (1988)
- Howling Good Times (1994)
- Heart of Hearts (1995)
- Old Scarlett (1995)
- Kiss of Life (1996)
- Hawks Get Religion (1996)
- God Save Us Poor Sinners (1998)
Solo
- Waiting on Egypt (1982)
- The Bible Belt (1983)
- Texas (1986)
- Kiss You Kidnapped Charabanc (with Rowland S. Howard) (1987)
- Dead Men Tell No Tales (1988)
- Crown of Thorns (1988)
- Groove (1989)
- Back to the Coast (1990)
- The Jewel Thief (with R.E.M.) (1991)
- Seven Lives Later (1996)
- From the Warwick Road to the Banks of the Nile (1997)
- Egyptian Roads (1997)
- Red Brocade (with The Chamberstrings) (1999)
- Liquor, Guns and Ammo (with R.E.M.) (2000) re-release of The Jewel Thief (1991)
- The Last Bandit (2000)
- The Nikki Sudden Compendium (2001)
- Treasure Island (2004)
- The Truth Doesn't Matter (2006)
- Golden Vanity (2009, with Phil ShoenfeltPhil ShoenfeltPhil Shoenfelt is an English musician and author who lived for many years in New York and who now lives in Prague, Czech Republic....
, original recording from 1998) - Tel Aviv Blues (2011, original recording from 2002)
- Playing With Fire (2011, Outtakes from "Treasure Island" & "The Truth Doesn´t Matter")
Singles
- "Back To The Start" (1981) from Out Of Egypt
- "Channel Steamer" (1981) from Out Of Egypt
- "This Is Still England" (1986)
- "Christmas Morning" (1986)
- "Jangle Town" (1987) from Texas
- "Wedding Hotel" (1987) from Kiss You Kidnapped Charabanc
- "The Angels Are Calling" (1989)
- "The Sun Is Shining" (1990)
- "I Belong to YouI Belong to You (Nikki Sudden song)"I Belong to You" is a 1991 song by Nikki Sudden from the album The Jewel Thief. The song was later collected on the 2000 compilation The Last Bandit: The Best of Nikki Sudden. The songs were recorded during a brief period when Sudden lived at R.E.M...
" (1991) from The Jewel Thief - "Buick MacKane" (1991)
- "Whiskey Priest" (1992)
- "Bourgeois Blues" (1992)
- "So Many Girls" (1999) from Red Brocade
- "Hanoi Jane" (2005)
- "Barroom Blues" (2006)
External links
- Nikki Sudden homepage
- Nikki on myspace
- Nikki Sudden performs live on WFMU
- PUNKCAST#940 Live video from Cake Shop NYCCake Shop NYCCake Shop is a New York City bar, venue, and cafe in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is located at 152 Ludlow Streetbetween Stanton Street & Rivington Street. Cake Shop offers a variety of baked goods, coffee, and tea, and hosts live musical, theatrical, and literary events in their venue that...
on Mar 24 2006 - Biographical obituary that was first report of Sudden's death from NewYorkNightTrain.com