Description:
"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
"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.
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 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.
"Sussudio" is a pop song by Phil Collins, released as a single in January 1985. The song is also the first track on Collins' third album, No Jacket Required, released in February of the same year. Both the single and the album reached number one on their respective U.S. Billboard charts.
Appearing on VH1 Storytellers, Collins said that "Sussudio" is an imaginary girl's name meant to symbolize any girl. The song is about having a crush on someone when young.
Despite reaching No. 1 on the charts and its continuing popularity on adult contemporary stations, "Sussudio" was ranked number 24 on VH1's "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever."
The song's drum sounds come from a Linn LinnDrum and Roland TR-909. The synth bass is a Minimoog. The Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 leads the song. Like many of Collins' songs, "Sussudio" has a full horn section on it.
The Prophet 5 chords Collins used in "Sussudio" are very similar to Prince's Oberheim synth brass used on his hit "1999". When questioned about this, Collins remarked that he was a major Prince fan.
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Manufacturer: Atlantic Records
Release date: 14 January 1985
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Favorite Pop Songs: 80's: Vol. 2