Their breakthrough song, Inbetweener, featured a memorable video with Dale Winton, who was a popular icon among students at the time. The group is closely associated with Britpop; frontwoman Louise Wener was arguably, along with Elastica’s Justine Frischmann, the movement’s biggest female star. She was even something of a sex symbol. By the time Pleased To Meet You was released in 1997, Britpop was fading, as was the band’s audience. After their split (on 30 December 1998) Louise Wener went on to have a successful career as a novelist. Sleeper also recorded a cover version of the Blondie song Atomic, which was used as a track in the film trainspotting. Their version was quite well-received and the only criticism is that it was too similar to the original. The It Girl was arguably their finest moment with Lie Detector, Sale of the Century and Statuesque as the defining tracks. It was produced by Stephen Street then famous for his contributions to The Smiths, Morrissey and Blur. It captured the imagination of the Britpop era. Wener admits that they were basically hanging onto the coattails of the bigger bands including the likes of Blur and Oasis. The original band name for the band was Surrender Dorothy. They took that name from the smoke trail telling Dorothy to surrender in the Wizard of Oz movie. The band was the inspiration for the phrase “Sleeperbloke”, referring to the disparity between the glamorous singer Wener and the other frequently ignored members of the band (who tended to be far more anonymous and stood at the back). The term is still used by music press journalists and musicians, to refer to any person of limited standing within a band or an especially drab and unremarkable individual. Sleeper were said to be amused by the term and even produced an ironic “Sleeperbloke” T-shirt which sold well. The real-life Sleeperblokes were: Jon Stewart (born Jonathan David Stewart, 12 September 1967 in Sheffield) — (guitarist) |Diid Osman (b. Kenadiid Osman, 10 April 1968 in Woking) — (bassist) |Andy McClure (b. 4 July 1970 in Liverpool) — (drummer) |Discography|Albums|Smart - Feb 1995, #5 |The It Girl - May 1996, #5 |Pleased To Meet You - Oct 1997, #7 |Singles|Swallow- Jan 1994 |Delicious- May 1994 |Inbetweener - Jan 1995, #16 (UK Chart) |Vegas - Apr 1995, #33 |What Do I Do Now - Oct 1995, #14 |Sale of the Century - May 1996, #10 |Nice Guy Eddie - Jul 1996, #10 |Statuesque - Oct 1996, #17 |She’s a Good Girl - Oct 1997, #28 |Romeo Me - Dec 1997, #39 [2] “Sleeper is a auteur of claustrophobic, sample-based hip-hop production. His work, both as an accomplished musician, and as a respected tattoo and visual artist balances a breadth of spirit with worldly, emotional depth. Finding influence and community in the worlds of classic hip-hop and artistic, experimental rock, Sleeper fills his tracks with sound, leaving an MC with just enough room to create or with the luxury of saying more by saying less. His music is lo-fi with purpose: grainy sounds are used to lend atmosphere to larger, modern electronic sound collages, grimy drums sound out familiar hip-hop patterns beneath thick layers of sound. Sleeper is a craftsman in the truest sense of the word.” [3] Sleeper is a raucous punk trio from Oklahoma, formed in the latter half of 2008. They have released a single tape to date, on their own Excitable Boy tape label. |
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