| Suggs |
Suggs
onstage with Madness - Melkweg, Amsterdam, July 19, 2005
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Graham McPherson |
| Born |
January 13, 1961 (1961-01-13) (age 46) |
| Origin |
 Hastings, England |
| Genre(s) |
Ska/Pop |
| Occupation(s) |
Vocalist |
| Instrument(s) |
Vocals |
| Years active |
1978- |
Associated
acts |
Madness |
| Website |
www.madness.co.uk
and www.myspace.com/madnessofficial |
Graham McPherson (born on January
13, 1961 in Hastings),
better known as Suggs, is an English singer, actor,
radio DJ, and TV personality — most famous as the frontman of the band Madness.
|
Contents
- 1 Music
- 1.1 Musical
Collaborations
- 2 Acting
- 3 Radio
- 4 Television
- 5 Personal
life
- 6 2007
Releases
- 7 Solo
Discography
- 8 References
- 9 External
links
|
Music
-
Suggs is best known as the vocalist of the popular 2 Tone ska/pop band, Madness.
After Madness disbanded in 1986, he formed the band The Madness,
releasing a self-titled album in 1988 reaching no. 66 in both the UK
and US charts.
As a solo artist he released two albums The Lone Ranger
and The Three Pyramids Club.
His most successful song was a cover of the Simon
and Garfunkel song "Cecilia" which was produced by Sly
and Robbie and went to no. 4 in UK charts, selling over 500,000 copies.
He also had a top-ten hit with his cover of the
Beatles "I'm Only Sleeping", reaching no. 7
in the UK charts. Other single releases from his first album include
"Camden Town" and "No More Alcohol". From his second album he released
the single "I Am" which featured on the film soundtrack for The
Avengers.
Musical Collaborations
Suggs worked with Morrissey and sang backing
vocals on the track "Picadilly Palare" in 1990. He managed the 1990s
band The Farm, as well as
producing most of their first album Spartacus
which reached #1 in the UK charts and spawned the international hit
"All Together Now." As a songwriter, he has been influenced by Ian
Dury and Ray Davies.
Suggs is a supporter of Chelsea F.C., and in 1997 he recorded a
song called "Blue Day" with Chelsea players. It was the official song
of the team for the FA
Cup, which Chelsea eventually won. The song reached #22 in the UK
charts.
He has collaborated with Jools
Holland twice on his Small World Big Band and
Friends albums — first in 2001 with the song "Oranges and
Lemons Again," and again on 2003's "Jack O the Green". He also
performed with Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra in 2003 for a
television special where he performed the songs "Madness", and "Enjoy
Yourself" with veteran ska singer Prince Buster, who is one of Madness'
great influences.
In July 2005, shortly after the terrorist attacks in London,
Suggs and Chas Smash performed the Bob Marley
song "So Much Trouble in the World" with Billy
Bragg at a concert in London's Brockwell Park in aid of the
victims. Both Suggs and Smash appeared in the video for the Bob Marley
song "One Love".
Also in 2005, Suggs collaborated with electronic group Audio
Bullys on the track "This Road" from their Top 40 album Generation.
In 2006, Suggs performed the Madness classic "My Girl" with The
Ordinary Boys at the Brixton Academy — which was released
as a B-side
on their UK #6 hit single "Nine2five".
Acting
Suggs has acted in films such as The
Tall Guy (1989) and Don't Go Breaking
My Heart (1998). He starred in the Channel 4
drama The Final Frame (1990), in which he played a
pop star named East. He also played a pop star
(called Jason Woods) in the 1990 Press Gang
episode "Friends Like These". He played the part of Joe's dad in the
stage musical Our House,
featuring the songs of Madness, for a limited
period in London's West End in 2003.
Radio
Suggs was a principal and original DJ on the BBC radio station BBC 6
Music when it launched in March 2002.
He also worked with Bob Monkhouse on the BBC
Radio 4 musical sitcom I think I've got a Problem,
which also starred comedian Phil Cornwell.
He became a DJ on Virgin Radio with the show Virgin
Party Classics, and was nominated for a Sony Award in 2005. In
2006, Virgin launched the Party Classics
radio channel, available via digital television. The channel was hosted
by Suggs, but was short-lived, being pulled just four months after it
launched. He regularly features on Virgin Radio competitions where
listeners can win the chance to meet him and have a drink with him.
2007 sees him presenting a new show on the station five days a week
entitled Afternoon Tea with Suggs. Whilst
presenting his radio show, he constantly includes his producer, Mark,
in the show. It lasts 2 hours every weekday between 2-4pm.
Television
Suggs appeared with Madness in an episode of The Young Ones titled
Boring. Madness performed 'House of Fun' and when asked by Rick "Do any
of you know Summer Holiday by Cliff Richard?" Suggs replies "You hum
it, I'll smash your face in".
Suggs has hosted a celebrity karaoke game show on the UK TV channel Five called Night Fever,
which was one of the channel's highest rated programmes.
He was a team captain in the BBC music trivia game show A Question of
Pop, hosted by Jamie
Theakston, opposite Noddy Holder. Suggs is a frequent guest
on BBC2 show
Never Mind The Buzzcocks.
He has hosted a series of hour-long programmes called Salvage
Squad, in which a group of engineers restored
rare old machinery. Some of the items restored included a steamroller,
a ploughing engine called "Margaret",
a Blackpool "Coronation" tram, a Scammell
Mechanical
Horse, a Revopak
dustcart, various boats, World
War II tanks, early C20 motor launches, railway locomotives and vintage
cars.
In 2005 he filmed a series called Disappearing
London for ITV in the London area, in which he investigates
architectural and other curiosities that are vanishing. The series won
3 Royal Television Society awards with Suggs collecting a gong in the
'Presenter of the Year' category. A second series was filmed in 2006
for transmission in early 2007. In 2005 he filmed a similar one-off
programme for the BBC
entitled A Picture Of London by Suggs, which
featured the newly penned song "Cracks In the Pavement". Suggs has
twice been a guest presenter on the BBC's long-running chart show Top
Of The Pops; once in 1995 and another time in 2005.
As of October 2006, Suggs was the main presenter of the BBC London
series Inside Out, a weekly programme for Londoners
looking at surprising stories in the capital. He was part of Declan
Donnelly's Boy Band on Ant &
Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway in October 2006,
and performed "It Only Takes a Minute" by Take
That.
Personal life
Suggs is married to singer Bette Bright, who was the vocalist of
the 1970s British band Deaf School. He has two
daughters, named Scarlet and Viva. He lives in North London with his
family. Suggs is a patron of the charity Children
In Need, and has frequently appeared on the annual television
fundraiser; performing various Madness tracks with other celebrities.
Suggs is a member of the Useless Information
Society (founded 1995)
a society
of journalists, writers and entertainers which focuses around useless
esoteric information and has released books such as the
Book of Useless Information. Other members include Keith
Waterhouse, Richard Littlejohn, Noel Botham, Ken Stott
and Brian Hitchen.
2007 Releases
Suggs- The Platinum Collection is due to be released on July
30th 2007 on Warner records and has a selection of his best tracks from
his two solo albums, 'Blue Day' and a remixed version of 'Cecilia'.
Solo Discography
- For Suggs' albums and singles with Madness, The
Madness and The Fink Brothers see Madness
discography.
Albums
- The Lone Ranger
UK #14 (Oct 1995)
- The Three Pyramids Club
UK #82 (Aug 1998)
Singles
- "I'm Only Sleeping"/"Off On
Holiday" UK #7 (Aug 1995)
- "Camden Town" UK #14 (Oct 1995)
- "The Tune" UK #33 (Dec 1995)
- "Cecilia" UK #4 (Apr 1996)
- "No More Alcohol" UK #24 (Sep 1996)
- "Blue Day" UK #22 (May 1997)
- "I Am" UK #38 (Sep 1998)
References
-
Suggs page at BBC 6 Music in 2002
External links
| v • d • e Madness |
|
Suggs • Mike
Barson • Lee
Thompson • Chris
Foreman • Mark
Bedford • Daniel
Woodgate • Chas
Smash
|
| Discography |
| Studio Albums |
|
One
Step Beyond... • Absolutely
• 7
• The
Rise & Fall • Keep
Moving • Mad Not
Mad • Wonderful
• The Dangermen Sessions
Vol. 1
|
| Compilation Albums |
|
Complete
Madness • Madness
• Utter
Madness • It's...
Madness • It's...
Madness Too • Divine Madness
• The
Business • Total
Madness • Our House
|
| Live Albums |
|
Madstock!
• Universal
Madness
|
| Singles |
|
"The
Prince" • "One Step Beyond" •
"My Girl" •
"Work
Rest and Play EP" • "Baggy
Trousers" • "Embarrassment"
• "The Return of the Los
Palmas 7" • "Grey Day" • "Shut Up" •
"It
Must Be Love" • "Cardiac
Arrest" • "House
of Fun" • "Driving
in My Car" • "Our House" •
"Tomorrow's (Just
Another Day)" / "Madness (Is All in the
Mind)" • "Wings
of a Dove" • "The
Sun and the Rain" • "Michael
Caine" • "One
Better Day" • "Yesterday's
Men" • "Uncle
Sam" • "Sweetest
Girl" • "(Waiting For) The
Ghost Train" • "Night
Boat to Cairo" • "Lovestruck"
• "Johnny
The Horse" • "Drip
Fed Fred" • "Shame
& Scandal" • "Girl
Why Don't You" • "Sorry"
|
| Associated Articles |
|
Our
House the Musical • 2 Tone • Zarjazz
Records • Starvation/Tam
Tam Pour L'Ethiopie
|
