4October
Sleeper was Louise Wener (vocals, pouting in tight t-shirts), Jon Stewart (guitar), Andy Maclure (drums), and Diid Osman (bass, slightly silly name). Wener and Stewart started the band while studying politics at Manchester Uni, and recruited the other two (as opposed to The Other Two) when they returned to London. The band's first gig was in summer 1993, under the moniker of Surrender Dorothy. Diid's idea, surely.
Changing their name to their favourite part of a railway line - and let's be glad they didn't call themselves Frozen Points - Sleeper released their first singles. Alice in vain
(Nov 1993) tickled the underbelly of the Indie 30, but Swallow
(Feb 94) had the misfortune of peaking at position 76, missing the top 75 by just a Mariah Carey. May's Delicious
peaked one place higher, but then they went on tour as the support act for Blur, and Great Success - though not Great things
, for that was someone else's song - was just around the corner.
The end of 1994 was taken up recording their debut album Smart
(Mar 95), presaged by single Inbetweener
(Jan 95). Radio 1 had been waiting for some female talent to counterbalance the oh-so-slightly blokeish tendencies of 1994's Britpop stars, and while they waited for Elastica, and couldn't quite get the point of Echobelly, they could always play the ever-so-commercial Sleeper. The video, featuring Supermarket Sweep
host Dale Winton, went down as a classic. It was a good song at a good time, peaking at 16 in a very busy month. Vegas
(33 in Apr 95) was the album's final single.
The group spent most of 1995 on the road, stopping to record What do I do now?
(14 in Oct 95). This would be the group's biggest hit at radio, a bright and perky number that was the shine to Garbage's dark side. Second album The It Girl
(May 96) was full of life's little vignettes, three-minute psychodramas like the over-optimistic lover in Sale of the century
(Apr 96) and the stalker of Nice guy Eddie
(Jun 96). Both of these singles made the UK top 10, and Statuesque
(Oct 96) continued the run of top 20 hits. The group toured with Elvis Costello in summer 1996, and spent the early part of 1997 trying to crack America, but the insular people there preferred the nonsense of their home-grown lack-of-talent. Hootie and the Blowfish ahead of Sleeper? [taps side of head.]
Back home, the Britpop bubble reached its peak with the Trainspotting
soundtrack, to which Sleeper contributed a rather poor cover of Atomic
. Though third album Pleased To Meet You
(Oct 97) was a clear progression both musically and lyrically, radio and fashion were moving on to other thrills. Girl power had come along, and all the female-led Britpop bands looked decidedly old hat. Even Shampoo, and they invented the concept. Sleeper had always traded on Wener's good looks and tomboy-next-door style; the talents of Stewart, Maclure, and Osman were covered under the generic name "Sleeperblokes". She's a good girl
(Sep 97) could only make 28, and Romeo me
(Nov 97) barely made the top 40. The group toured to diminishing returns in 1998, and split at the end of the year.
In the years since, Louise Wener has written two novels. Maclure and Osman became generic backing musicians for other groups, but the group's guitarist has found the greatest fame, as the host of a regular news parody show, and inspiration for this piece.
