Here They Come With Their MakeUp On: Suede, Coming Up . . . And More Tales From Beyond The Wild Frontiers

by Jane Savidge

"There were only a handful of people in the world who still really believed in Suede at the time, and five of them were in the band." Brett Anderson, Suede "Suede were Marmite at the time, and I was expecting the press to trash them. Every meeting I had with the record company, I was told they were done for." Ed Buller, Coming Up producer "How did they do that? Comeback of the century." Select magazine cover, November 1996
Here They Come with Their Make-Up On examines in exquisite detail how Suede emerged from the chaotic, ruined remnants of their career and somehow managed to conjure up their most joyously evocative and celebrated album to date. Coming Up —the extraordinary record in question—stumped the band’s most ardent critics and hit the jackpot, with sales that eclipsed those of their first two releases combined. As the band’s publicist throughout that period, Jane Savidge is uniquely placed to reveal exactly how they did it. This book is also a personal journey into the heart of an album that Jane loves—if not unconditionally then as a piece of work that has ultimately survived the ravages of time—and the brutish, nasty, and not-so-short nature of the media scrutiny that had threatened to confine the band to the dustbin of history. In addition, it features yet more outlandish tales from Jane’s time with Suede and those around them back then, as well as new interviews with band members Brett Anderson, Richard Oakes, and Neil Codling, and producer Ed Buller.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography

272 pages, Paperback

Published April 12, 2022

Reviews

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

What first got me into the band suede was their album “coming up”. So when i heard about Jane’s book i was very excited. Even though i am a bit late to read it than most suede fans, i still highly recommend it. What i love about Jane’s book is that she starts off talking about Bernard’s Departure of the band and suede’s uncertainty of what to do next, and finally finding both Richard and Neil. She also talks about each song from “Coming up”, each members role and process when making the songs, the background, etc. Also another thing that i love is that she also mentioned other key important books about suede such as David Barnett’s “Love and Poison” and both Brett Anderson’s memoirs “Coal Black Mornings” & “Afternoons with the blinds drawn”. Jane’s Book is an Excellent book to read/ Learn and to know another person’s perspective outside of suede as well on “coming up”I recommend this book for any suede fan, and recommend reading it while listening to “coming up” as you go to get the full effect of what i like to call the suede effect.

[Greg Thorpe]

I simply had to read this because I am a hardcore Suede fan but it was a slog. This sample sentence should explain why:

“No doubt most of you who are reading this book are in an advanced state of denial with regard to whether you were actually alive at any stage of the 1990s, but strangely enough the incident, or series of incidents, I remember most clearly about the Saturday afternoon after The Party The Night Before includes a series of phone calls that Suede manager Charlie Charlton, made to the airline company party he’d booked Brett's journey back to the UK with.”

What on Earth does that mean!? Honest to god it’s like that most of the way through. There’s been no editor which is a shame because there are some good yarns in there if you’ve patience enough to untangle them.

[Jonny Brick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Idiosyncratic account of the first post-Butler Suede album, with historical context and good primary sources. The interlude, where Jane talks about George Michael and a mutual friend of theirs called Brad, is well-told. An editor would have knocked out some of the personality but would have made it zippier. Nobody puts two long footnotes in the opening pages of a 90s music memoir other than a masochist. Good fun all the same!

[Becky D'ugo · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Outrageously good!” I love Jane Savidge’s style, which is somewhat rambling but ever so deliciously detailed. If it is even possible, this book has added to my mounting excitement, as I count down the days to watching the final night of Suede’s current ‘Coming Up’ European Tour in Brussels on 23rd May!

[Matt Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Savidge's style worked better in her previous memoir than it does here but her love of the band and the album come through and give a different perspective than most books that focus on a single work like this.

[Adam Parrilli · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite Suede record and also the one I still listen to most, Coming Up. I love the war stories and reflections from Jane, I just sometimes wish they would’ve stepped out of the picture a bit more. That George Michael diversion should’ve been left on the cutting room floor. VIOLENCE!

[Christopher McQuain · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Very much the work of someone who worked in PR. Smart, juicy, erudite, essential reading for any Suede fan - but at least occasionally fathomless and self-cancelling in a way that's a bit depressing.