"Sussudio" is a song by English singer-songwriter
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
, released as a single in January 1985. The song is the first track on Collins' third solo studio album, ''
No Jacket Required
''No Jacket Required'' is the third solo studio album by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was originally released on 25 January 1985 or 18 February 1985 on Virgin (UK and Ireland), Atlantic (US and Canada) and WEA (rest o ...
'', released in February of the same year. The song entered frequent rotation on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
in May; by 6 July both single and album reached No. 1 on their respective US
''Billboard'' charts.
The song peaked at No. 12 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
Production and recording
Collins has said that he "
improvised
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
" the lyric.
Collins was just playing around with a
drum machine, and the lyric "su-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 synth bass arrangement, sound design, and programming was done by
David Frank of
The System, and the horn arrangements were done later based on the motif from the bassline.
Music video
The music video for the song was filmed at a
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
owned at the time by
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
(The
Princess Victoria in
Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Although primarily residential in character, i ...
) in London.
The accompanying
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
features Collins, as well as long-time collaborators
Daryl Stuermer
Daryl Mark Stuermer (born November 27, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, and producer best known for playing the guitar and bass for Genesis during live shows, and lead guitar for Phil Collins during most solo tours and albums. He has ...
and
Chester Thompson
Chester Cortez Thompson (born December 11, 1948) is an American drummer best known for his tenures with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Weather Report, Santana, the progressive rock band Genesis and Phil Collins as a solo artist. Thomp ...
.
The video begins with a man telling his family he is taking his dog for a walk, with them ignoring him while watching TV (which happens to be playing the music video for Phil Collins' debut solo single "
In the Air Tonight
"In the Air Tonight" is the debut solo single by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins's debut solo album, '' Face Value'', in January 1981.
Collins co-produced "In the Air Tonight" ...
"). He passes outside a pub, with live music being played. It then cuts to Collins and his band inside playing for an uninterested crowd.
The crowd slowly migrates toward the band as the song progresses, leaving them cheering at the end.
Bass player
Lee Sklar
Leland Bruce Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American bassist and session musician. Sklar rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coaleced into a group in its own right, The Section. This group of musicians so fre ...
also appears in the video; however, neither Sklar nor Thompson played on the studio recording.
Critical reception
Some music critics have suggested that the song sounds very similar to "
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
" by
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
. Collins does not deny the similarity between the two songs; he stated that he is a fan of Prince's work
and remembers listening to "1999" frequently while he was on tour with
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
. Tom Breihan of ''
Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.
''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...
'' commented in 2020 that "in making funky dance-pop, Collins committed the same sin as almost everyone else who made funky dance-pop in the mid-'80s: he bit Prince." According to Breihan, "if something like that happened today, Collins would've at least had to give Prince a songwriting credit." However, he acknowledged that "even if one groove is a distinct copy of another, everything else is different."
Keegan Hamilton of ''
The Riverfront Times
The ''Riverfront Times'' (''RFT'') is a free progressive weekly newspaper in St. Louis, in the U.S. state of Missouri, that consists of local politics, music, arts, and dining news in the print edition, and daily updates to blogs and photo galler ...
'' 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
''Flashdance'' is a 1983 American romantic drama dance film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer who aspires to become a professional ballerina (Alex), alongside Michael Nouri playing her boyfriend an ...
'' 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.
Robert Hilburn of ''
The Los Angeles Times
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' thought the song had a "friskier R&B style" as compared to Collins' other songs, and agreed that it sounded very much like the Prince song.
Michael R. Smith of ''The Daily Vault'' believed that "Sussudio" was the best track on the album, calling it a "monster track"; he also added that:
Other reviewers have criticised the song.
David Fricke
David Fricke is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 years. I ...
of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' said that songs like "Sussudio", with the heavy use of a horn section, were "beginning to wear thin."
In 2001, the chief rock and pop critic of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'',
Alexis Petridis
Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...
, called the song a "vapid
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
workout".
In 2013,
Tom Service
Tom Service (born 8 March 1976) is a British writer, music journalist and television and radio presenter, who has written regularly for ''The Guardian'' since 1999 and presented on BBC Radio 3 since 2001. He is a regular presenter of The Proms f ...
, also of ''The Guardian'', wrote: "Sussudio brings me out in a cold sweat; the production, the drum machine, the inane sincerity of the lyrics; there's no colder or more superficial sound in popular music, precisely because it takes itself so seriously."
"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. In the US, the song entered frequent rotation on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
in May and, by 6 July, both the single and the album had reached No. 1 on their respective US ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' charts.
A remix of the song appeared on Collins' ''
12"ers'' album.
Track listings
7-inch: Virgin / VS736 (UK)
# "Sussudio"
# "
The Man with the Horn
''The Man with the Horn'' is an album released by Miles Davis in 1981. This was Davis's first new studio album since 1972’s ''On the Corner'', his first recordings of any kind since 1975 and his first activity following a six-year retirement. T ...
"
7-inch: Atlantic / 7-89560 (US)
# "Sussudio"
# "I Like the Way"
12-inch: Virgin / VS736-12 (UK)
# "Sussudio" (extended remix)
# "Sussudio"
# "The Man with the Horn"
CD: WEA International / WPCR 2065 (Japan)
# "Sussudio"
# "Sussudio" (extended mix)
Personnel
*
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
– vocals,
Roland TR-909
The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a drum machine introduced by Roland Corporation in 1983, succeeding the TR-808. It was the first Roland drum machine to use samples for some sounds, and the first with MIDI functionality, allowing it to sy ...
drum machine
*
David Frank –
Oberheim OB-8
The Oberheim OB-8 is a subtractive analog synthesizer launched by Oberheim in early 1983 and discontinued in 1985. As the fourth product in the OB-series of polyphonic compact synthesizers, the OB-8 was the successor to the OB-Xa. The number of ...
synthesizers,
Minimoog bass,
Oberheim DMX
The DMX is a programmable digital drum machine manufactured by Oberheim. It was introduced in 1980 at a list price of and remained in the company's product line until the mid-1980s.
The Oberheim DMX was the second digital drum machine ever to b ...
*
Daryl Stuermer
Daryl Mark Stuermer (born November 27, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, and producer best known for playing the guitar and bass for Genesis during live shows, and lead guitar for Phil Collins during most solo tours and albums. He has ...
– guitars
*
The Phenix Horns
, originally known as the EWF Horns, were the main horn section for the band Earth, Wind & Fire. The horn section were composed of Don Myrick on saxophone, Louis "Lui Lui" Satterfield on trombone, Rahmlee Michael Davis on trumpet, and Michael ...
**
Don Myrick
Donald Myrick (April 6, 1940 – July 30, 1993) was an American saxophonist. A member of The Phenix Horns, he is best known for his work with Earth, Wind & Fire and Phil Collins.
He played alto, tenor, and soprano sax as a member of Earth, Wind ...
– saxophone
**
Louis Satterfield
Louis Edward Satterfield (April 3, 1937 – September 27, 2004) was an American bassist and trombonist. Satterfield was a member of both The Pharaohs and the Phenix Horns. He also collaborated with prominent artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire, ...
– trombone
**
Michael Harris – trumpet
** Rahmlee Michael Davis – trumpet
*Arranged by Tom Tom 84
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
External links
Sussudio video
{{Authority control
1985 singles
1985 songs
Atlantic Records singles
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Cashbox number-one singles
Funk songs
Phil Collins songs
Song recordings produced by Hugh Padgham
Song recordings produced by Phil Collins
Songs written by Phil Collins
Torch songs
Virgin Records singles