Sussudio
Encyclopedia
"Sussudio" is a song by Phil Collins
, released as a single in February 1985. The song is also the first track on Collins' third album, No Jacket Required
, released in January of the same year. The song entered frequent rotation on MTV in May, and by 6 July, both the single and the album reached number one on their respective US Billboard charts
. The music video, which was filmed in a pub owned by Richard Branson
, featured Collins playing the song to a crowd that is bored at first, but gets excited and starts dancing when Collins begins performing.
The main lyric came about as Collins was improvising lyrics to a drum machine track he had programmed: "suss-sussudio" was a wording that scanned improperly. After trying to find an alternative word to fit the rhythm, the singer decided to keep "Sussudio" as the song title and lyric. The song is about a normal crush that a schoolboy may have on a girl and that by saying "suss-sussudio" may raise speculations about the boy having a stutter. The song was received mostly positively, and has been mentioned in numerous moments in pop culture.
The Synthesizer,Rhythm and Synthbass arrangement/sounddesign and programming was done by David Frank of the System and the Horn Arrangement was done later based on the motif from the bassline.
The music video for the song was filmed at a pub
owned by Richard Branson
in London. The accompanying music video
features Collins, as well as long-time collaborators Daryl Stuermer
and Chester Thompson
. It begins with an outdoor shot of a pub, then cuts to Collins and his band playing for an uninterested crowd. The crowd slowly migrates toward the band as the song progresses, leaving them cheering at the end. Renowned bass player Lee Sklar
also appears in the video, however neither Sklar nor Thompson played on the actual studio recording.
said that the song was the best track on the album, saying that it's "catchy gibberish". "Even though this song isn't on the Flashdance soundtrack, it makes me want to put on some goofy legwarmers and kick out an aerobics routine. Where the vast majority of artists from this era try out the synthesizer/keyboard/horn section soup and fail miserably, Collins seems to have the recipe down to a science", Hamilton adds. However, Geoff Orens of allmusic believes that the song is "dated". Robert Hilburn of The Los Angeles Times thought the song had a "friskier R&B style" as compared to Collins' other songs, and agreed that it sounded very much like a Prince song.
Michael R. Smith of The Daily Vault believed that "Sussudio" was the best track on the album, calling it a "monster track", also adding that "This is a song that chugs and churns along at a gingerly pace, set to a beat that is sure to get car speakers thumping. At the time, it was like nothing you had ever heard before on the radio. The word "Sussudio" may not have meant anything, but the song itself was pure magic." David Fricke
of Rolling Stone
was not a fan, saying that songs like "Sussudio", with the heavy use of a horn section, were "beginning to wear thin".
It is one of Collins' more famous songs and is referenced in many different media, including books, stand-up comedy acts and television shows. Collins has said that this is the song people most often sing to him when they spot him on the street. The protagonist of the novel and film adaption of American Psycho
, Patrick Bateman
, briefly discusses the song, before engaging in sexual intercourse with two prostitutes while it plays loudly from his CD player in the background, amongst other work by Phil Collins:
It was heavily criticized for sounding too much like Prince's song "1999
", a claim which Collins does not deny, saying that he is a big fan of Prince's work.
"Sussudio" was the first track released as a single in the UK, and the second to be released in the US. In the UK the song reached number 12 on the UK charts. In the US, the song entered frequent rotation on MTV in May, and by 6 July, both the single and the album had reached number one on their respective US Billboard charts
. A remix of the song appeared on Collins' 12"ers album.
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
, released as a single in February 1985. The song is also the first track on Collins' third album, No Jacket Required
No Jacket Required
The album is named after an incident at The Pump Room restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. Collins , was denied admittance because he did not meet the restaurant's dress code of "jacket required" for dinner, while Plant was allowed in. Collins was wearing a jacket, and argued about it. The Maître d'...
, released in January of the same year. The song entered frequent rotation on MTV in May, and by 6 July, both the single and the album reached number one on their respective US Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
. The music video, which was filmed in a pub owned by Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
, featured Collins playing the song to a crowd that is bored at first, but gets excited and starts dancing when Collins begins performing.
The main lyric came about as Collins was improvising lyrics to a drum machine track he had programmed: "suss-sussudio" was a wording that scanned improperly. After trying to find an alternative word to fit the rhythm, the singer decided to keep "Sussudio" as the song title and lyric. The song is about a normal crush that a schoolboy may have on a girl and that by saying "suss-sussudio" may raise speculations about the boy having a stutter. The song was received mostly positively, and has been mentioned in numerous moments in pop culture.
Production
Collins has said that he "improvised" the lyric. Collins was just playing around with a drum machine, and the lyric "sus-sussudio" was what came out of his mouth. "So I kinda knew I had to find something else for that word, then I went back and tried to find another word that scanned as well as "sussudio", and I couldn't find one, so I went back to "sussudio"," Collins said. According to Collins, the lyrics are about a schoolboy crush on a girl at school.The Synthesizer,Rhythm and Synthbass arrangement/sounddesign and programming was done by David Frank of the System and the Horn Arrangement was done later based on the motif from the bassline.
The music video for the song was filmed at a pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
owned by Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
in London. The accompanying music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
features Collins, as well as long-time collaborators Daryl Stuermer
Daryl Stuermer
Daryl Mark Stuermer is an American musician who plays guitar and bass for Genesis during live shows, and lead guitar for Phil Collins during most of his solo tours and albums.-Biography:...
and Chester Thompson
Chester Thompson
Chester Cortez Thompson is an American drummer and session musician.-Biography:Thompson made his name as a session drummer, going on to play in Frank Zappa's touring band and with Weather Report...
. It begins with an outdoor shot of a pub, then cuts to Collins and his band playing for an uninterested crowd. The crowd slowly migrates toward the band as the song progresses, leaving them cheering at the end. Renowned bass player Lee Sklar
Leland Sklar
Leland "Lee" Bruce Sklar is an American musician, singer-songwriter and film score composer. A prominent bass guitarist, Sklar has contributed to thousands of albums as a session musician...
also appears in the video, however neither Sklar nor Thompson played on the actual studio recording.
Reception
Reception for the song was mostly positive. Keegan Hamilton of the Riverfront TimesRiverfront Times
The Riverfront Times is a weekly newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri that consists of local politics, music, arts and dining news in the print edition and daily updates to blogs and photo galleries on its website...
said that the song was the best track on the album, saying that it's "catchy gibberish". "Even though this song isn't on the Flashdance soundtrack, it makes me want to put on some goofy legwarmers and kick out an aerobics routine. Where the vast majority of artists from this era try out the synthesizer/keyboard/horn section soup and fail miserably, Collins seems to have the recipe down to a science", Hamilton adds. However, Geoff Orens of allmusic believes that the song is "dated". Robert Hilburn of The Los Angeles Times thought the song had a "friskier R&B style" as compared to Collins' other songs, and agreed that it sounded very much like a Prince song.
Michael R. Smith of The Daily Vault believed that "Sussudio" was the best track on the album, calling it a "monster track", also adding that "This is a song that chugs and churns along at a gingerly pace, set to a beat that is sure to get car speakers thumping. At the time, it was like nothing you had ever heard before on the radio. The word "Sussudio" may not have meant anything, but the song itself was pure magic." David Fricke
David Fricke
David Fricke is a senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, where he writes predominantly on rock music. In the 1990s, he was managing editor before stepping down.-Background:David Fricke is a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
was not a fan, saying that songs like "Sussudio", with the heavy use of a horn section, were "beginning to wear thin".
It is one of Collins' more famous songs and is referenced in many different media, including books, stand-up comedy acts and television shows. Collins has said that this is the song people most often sing to him when they spot him on the street. The protagonist of the novel and film adaption of American Psycho
American Psycho
American Psycho is a psychological thriller and satirical novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by the protagonist, serial killer and Manhattan businessman Patrick Bateman. The book's graphic violence and sexual content generated a great deal of...
, Patrick Bateman
Patrick Bateman
Patrick Bateman is a fictional character, the antihero and narrator of the novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, and its film adaptation. He has also briefly appeared in other Ellis novels.-Biography and profile:...
, briefly discusses the song, before engaging in sexual intercourse with two prostitutes while it plays loudly from his CD player in the background, amongst other work by Phil Collins:
"Do you like Phil Collins? I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke. Before that, I really didn't understand any of their work. Too artsy, too intellectual. It was on Duke where Phil Collins' presence became more apparent. I think Invisible Touch was the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time, it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums. Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of every instrument. In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, the sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. Take the lyrics to Land of Confusion. In this song, Phil Collins addresses the problems of abusive political authority. In Too Deep is the most moving pop song of the 1980s, about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I've heard in rock. Phil Collins' solo career seems to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying, in a narrower way. Especially songs like In the Air Tonight and Against All Odds. But I also think Phil Collins works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist. This is Sussudio, a great, great song, a personal favorite."
It was heavily criticized for sounding too much like Prince's song "1999
1999 (song)
"1999" is a song by Prince, the title track from his 1982 album of the same name. The song is one of Prince's best-known, and a defining moment in his rise to superstar status....
", a claim which Collins does not deny, saying that he is a big fan of Prince's work.
"Sussudio" was the first track released as a single in the UK, and the second to be released in the US. In the UK the song reached number 12 on the UK charts. In the US, the song entered frequent rotation on MTV in May, and by 6 July, both the single and the album had reached number one on their respective US Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
. A remix of the song appeared on Collins' 12"ers album.
Charts
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Dutch Singles Chart | 12 |
| German Singles Chart | 17 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
12 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
7 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue... |
10 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
30 |