I Should Coco
Encyclopedia
I Should Coco is the debut studio album
by English alternative rock
band Supergrass
, released through Parlophone
in May 1995. Supergrass were formed in 1993 by Gaz Coombes
, Mick Quinn
and Danny Goffey
and they released their debut single from the album, "Caught by the Fuzz
", in May 1995 on the small independent local label
Backbeat Records and was re-released with Parlophone. The title of the album is cockney rhyming slang for "I should think so".
I Should Coco was recorded in Cornwall
and produced by Sam Williams, who had been impressed by the band while scouting in Oxford. At the height of the Britpop
era, the album became the band's most successful release when it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart
, and subsequently gained platinum
status for sales of album, which reached over a million copies worldwide and 500,000 in the UK. The most successful single released from I Should Coco is "Alright", it peaked at number-two in the UK Singles Chart
, and gained silver
status.
and consists of Gaz Coombes (lead vocals), Danny Goffey (drums), Mick Quinn
(bass), and Rob Coombes
(keyboards). Gaz Coombes, Goffey, and Quinn had been playing gigs around Oxford when they were spotted by producer
Sam Williams, who said he wanted to work with them. Between the months of May and August, the band recorded a six track demo
at Sawmills Studio and, having signed a deal with Backbeat Records, a limited number of copies of "Caught by the Fuzz
" and "Mansize Rooster
" were released. The demo had also quickly reached EMI
, however, and that led to the group being signed by the Parlophone
label, which would re-release the two songs. Quinn said "it took about three and a half months total recording time and cost less to make than the video for Alright."
A recording made at Carfax Tower
in Oxford provided the bell chimes heard at the end of "Strange Ones". These chimes were only heard on the I Should Coco version, not on Supergrass Is 10
, because on the I Should Coco album the chimes are used as a transition to the next track, "Sitting Up Straight", which was not included in Supergrass Is 10. "Strange Ones" was written about Cowley Road, Oxford
, a place where the band once lived. It was originally intended to be the "throwaway song" on the B-side
to "Caught by the Fuzz". Another song on the album with the same theme, "I'd Like To Know", was inspired by listening to "Strange Ones" played backwards on tape cassette
. Supergrass took this sound, wrote new lyrics for it, and had another song for their album. Gaz Coombes says, "One of the highlights of this album was recording 'Sofa (Of My Lethargy)'. ... I remember everybody got in the live room and had an instrument, including Sam [Williams] on bass, a friend of his on hammond organ
and we played the rest, all live, one take. ... We made I Should Coco so fast because we wanted to catch the energy and excitement of the songs on tape, and do it before the money ran out!" In a 2005 interview with BBC Radio London Quinn remembered "writing that song ['Time'] in my living room on a rainy day and Gaz sort of turned up with this chord sequence and we just went straight through it and just did it on 4 track
".
The album title is Cockney rhyming slang
for "I should think so". The front cover of the album is a painting based on three separate photos of Coombes, Goffey, and Quinn. The portraits of Coombes and Goffey were taken by Quinn in the summer of 1994 when he was experimenting with a macro
lens. The photo of Quinn was taken that same year by a friend, while they were on tour in Wolverhampton
. The painting was then created by the Moody Painters who were based on Oxford's Cowley Road. The white band at the top was inspired by an old Donovan
record that Quinn owned and is an homage to old 1950s and 1960s records, with the stereo
-mono
signs. The photo on the back of the album was taken at a club in London about five minutes after they came off stage. The photo consists of two separate shots grafted together because Quinn was "pulling a disgusting face in the original". All of these elements were then put together by Nick Bax
of The Designers Republic
to create the finished sleeve. The Bonus 7" featured a more kaleidoscope
-style front cover.
, The Jam
, Madness
and The Kinks
. Supergrass took this contemporary music and mixed it with pop-punk's characteristic fast, three-chord, guitar-based, catchy tunes to produce a sound uniquely their own; "we were just the three of us in my bedroom or someone's house, just making ... we played really hard and just made loads of noise. Most of our early songs were just three chord grooves and stuff that was fun to play. So that's why the first album sounded so 'punky', I think ... it's just 'cause we were all used to playing in this small room and it being really loud, so we just made the album sound like that." Songs for Beginners
by Graham Nash
was another possible influence on I Should Coco. Gaz Coombes told The Guardian
in 2003, "We used to listen to it a lot when we lived in Cowley Road in Oxford in 1994, just when the band were getting big."
The musical styles and their particular inspirations for the songs on this album were extremely diverse. For example, there is the cheerful, fast, keyboard-augmented "I'd Like To Know", the guitar-driven punk
narrative "Caught by the Fuzz", the mainly piano
-based rhythm of the teen anthem
"Alright", and the country music
-influenced acoustic guitar
in "Time to Go". Even in the varied genre of Britpop, I Should Coco was seen as eclectic. Overall, the album has been described as Britpop, influenced in equal parts by Buzzcocks and The Kinks, with strong hints of Supertramp
in "She's So Loose", "Lose It
" and the intro of "Strange Ones".
In a 1995 interview with the Metro
, Mick Quinn said, "We listen to a lot of different kinds of music. We're not a '60s-revival band! We like things from the '70s and beyond as well; everything from Sly and the Family Stone and Motown to Frank Black and Tricky."
"Strange Ones" and "I'd Like To Know" are both songs about the strange people on Cowley Road, Oxford
. Mick Quinn tried to describe the concept: "There's a few people who are just really out there. There's a lot of people around Oxford who are real spliffheads and that, who go and lie down in Port Meadow, but I'm not really sure about them. I'm not really sure that they're individuals: they're part of a much larger thing." Danny Goffey added, "They're the sort of people who don't fit in anywhere, who don't link up with everyday life at all."
"Caught by the Fuzz" was based on a real-life event: lead singer Gaz Coombes
' arrest and caution for possession of cannabis
at age fifteen. In a 2004 interview, Coombes said "It wasn't trying to be a real statement, but at the time we knew that it was a big deal. Kids all around England were getting nicked for having a bit of hash on them. In Oxford that kind of thing happened quite a lot. It's all true so it was easy to write. It was a funny experience - not too funny at the time 'cause I was only 15 and shitting myself. The song has that disturbing energy. It's comparable to your heart racing. The adrenaline rush you get when your mum walks into the police station is similar to the energy of the song."
"Mansize Rooster
" is said to be about a young boy with a large penis
, although this is not obvious from the lyrics. Gaz Coombes once stated in an interview that "the most embarrassing moment in pop is on our album where it goes: 'Oi Mum! Got any mandies
?'" This was one of the many exclamations made between tracks on I Should Coco in the sped-up voices of the band members. It was said before the song "We're Not Supposed To" began.
status in the UK, and has sold over a million copies worldwide. NME
writer Steve Sutherland gave the album a nine-out-of-ten rating. He wrote, "They play with the skill and assurance of a band who've been going for decades yet they still burn off the buzz of being new to the game." He added, "There's nothing contrived about I Should Coco, nothing added for effect."
Culturally, the album's glorification of teenage freedom made a very big impact on the overall Britpop music scene. The whole genre was seen as the voice of youth, but Supergrass, still teens themselves when the album was made, addressed the subject with more insight than most. The most well-known song from the album, "Alright", is still played regularly in Britain and Ireland, and held up as a musical example of teenage rebellion. Though it is one of their most popular songs, the band rarely play "Alright" in their live sets anymore. In a 1999 interview, Gaz Coombes joked, "We don't play 'Alright' anymore. We should play it in a minor key, and in the past tense." Around the time of its release Coombes said that "it wasn't written as an anthem. It isn't supposed to be a rally cry for our generation. The stuff about We are young/We run green... isn't about being 19 but really 13 or 14 and just discovering girls and drinking. It's meant to be light-hearted and a bit of a laugh, not at all a rebellious call to arms." Danny Goffey
noted, "It certainly wasn't written in a very summery vibe. It was written in a cottage where the heating had packed up and we were trying to build fires to keep warm."
All five singles released in the UK from I Should Coco were well received by the British public. The first single from the album, "Caught by the Fuzz", peaked at number 43 on the UK Singles Chart
. The second single from the album, "Mansize Rooster", was played as Supergrass' first live television
performance on The Word
in 1995, and reached number 20 on the UK Singles Chart. "Lose It
", officially the third single taken from the album, was a vinyl-only US release from Sub Pop
records. "Lenny
" was the fourth single from I Should Coco; it reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, and remained there for three weeks. The final release from the album, "Alright/Time", proved to be their breakthrough single, largely due to the popularity of the song "Alright". Supergrass' highest ranked single to date, along with "Richard III
", "Alright" reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, remained in the top three for a month, and still receives airplay in the UK. I Should Coco was nominated for Best Album at the 1995 Mercury Prize
awards, and the single "Alright" from the album won an Ivor Novello Award
for Best Contemporary Song. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
.
In a 2005 interview with The Times
, Coombes said, "It’s insane that people think we would ever sound like that again ... We’re proud of 'Alright' and how well it did, but we never wanted to find a formula and stick to it. Our aim was always to progress and keep the music interesting, for us and for the fans. So the people who see us in the street and still shout ‘We are young’ may not like the new album, but fans who have grown up with us and know to expect change probably will."
Production
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by English alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Supergrass
Supergrass
Supergrass was an English alternative rock band from Oxford. The band consisted of brothers Gaz and Rob Coombes , Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey ....
, released through Parlophone
Parlophone
Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
in May 1995. Supergrass were formed in 1993 by Gaz Coombes
Gaz Coombes
Gaz Coombes is an English musician and singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the English alternative rock band, Supergrass. He first entered the music scene aged sixteen as the lead singer of the band The Jennifers which featured Supergrass band mate Danny Goffey...
, Mick Quinn
Mick Quinn
Mick Quinn is an English musician and singer-songwriter, best known as founding member of English rock band Supergrass. He formed the DB Band with bassist Paul Wilson, formerly of Shake Appeal in 2010 and released début EP "Stranger In The Alps" on the 17th September 2011...
and Danny Goffey
Danny Goffey
Daniel Robert Goffey Daniel Robert Goffey Daniel Robert Goffey (born 7 February 1974 in Slough, Buckinghamshire (now Berkshire) is an English musician and singer-songwriter best known as the drummer and backing vocalist for the English Britpop band, Supergrass...
and they released their debut single from the album, "Caught by the Fuzz
Caught by the Fuzz
-Background:Supergrass had released "Caught by the Fuzz" and "Mansize Rooster" as singles on Backbeat Records, which sold out quickly and gained the interest of record producer Sam Williams, who then offered to record some demos of the band's other songs at Sawmills Studio...
", in May 1995 on the small independent local label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Backbeat Records and was re-released with Parlophone. The title of the album is cockney rhyming slang for "I should think so".
I Should Coco was recorded in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
and produced by Sam Williams, who had been impressed by the band while scouting in Oxford. At the height of the Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
era, the album became the band's most successful release when it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
, and subsequently gained platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
status for sales of album, which reached over a million copies worldwide and 500,000 in the UK. The most successful single released from I Should Coco is "Alright", it peaked at number-two in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, and gained silver
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
status.
Recording and production
Supergrass formed in 1993 after the breakup of The JennifersThe Jennifers
The Jennifers were a short-lived British rock group formed at Wheatley Park School and featuring vocalist Gaz Coombes, guitarist Nic Goffey, drummer Danny Goffey and bassist Andy Davies...
and consists of Gaz Coombes (lead vocals), Danny Goffey (drums), Mick Quinn
Mick Quinn
Mick Quinn is an English musician and singer-songwriter, best known as founding member of English rock band Supergrass. He formed the DB Band with bassist Paul Wilson, formerly of Shake Appeal in 2010 and released début EP "Stranger In The Alps" on the 17th September 2011...
(bass), and Rob Coombes
Rob Coombes
Rob Coombes was the keyboard player for Supergrass.He is the older brother of Gaz Coombes and was the newest member of Supergrass, officially joining in 2002...
(keyboards). Gaz Coombes, Goffey, and Quinn had been playing gigs around Oxford when they were spotted by producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Sam Williams, who said he wanted to work with them. Between the months of May and August, the band recorded a six track demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
at Sawmills Studio and, having signed a deal with Backbeat Records, a limited number of copies of "Caught by the Fuzz
Caught by the Fuzz
-Background:Supergrass had released "Caught by the Fuzz" and "Mansize Rooster" as singles on Backbeat Records, which sold out quickly and gained the interest of record producer Sam Williams, who then offered to record some demos of the band's other songs at Sawmills Studio...
" and "Mansize Rooster
Mansize Rooster
"Mansize Rooster" is a song by Supergrass, released as the second single from their debut album I Should Coco. It reached #20 in the UK Singles Chart, remaining on the chart for three weeks...
" were released. The demo had also quickly reached EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, however, and that led to the group being signed by the Parlophone
Parlophone
Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
label, which would re-release the two songs. Quinn said "it took about three and a half months total recording time and cost less to make than the video for Alright."
A recording made at Carfax Tower
Carfax, Oxford
Carfax is located at the conjunction of St Aldate's , Cornmarket Street , Queen Street and the High Street in Oxford, England. It is considered to be the centre of the city, and is at...
in Oxford provided the bell chimes heard at the end of "Strange Ones". These chimes were only heard on the I Should Coco version, not on Supergrass Is 10
Supergrass Is 10
Supergrass Is 10 is a compilation album celebrating the first 10 years of the band Supergrass. It includes singles from their first release, "Caught by the Fuzz" , to their then latest release, "Kiss of Life" ....
, because on the I Should Coco album the chimes are used as a transition to the next track, "Sitting Up Straight", which was not included in Supergrass Is 10. "Strange Ones" was written about Cowley Road, Oxford
Cowley Road, Oxford
Cowley Road is an arterial road in the city of Oxford, England, following a southeasterly route from the city centre at The Plain roundabout near Magdalen Bridge, through the inner city area of East Oxford, and into the industrial suburb of Cowley...
, a place where the band once lived. It was originally intended to be the "throwaway song" on the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
to "Caught by the Fuzz". Another song on the album with the same theme, "I'd Like To Know", was inspired by listening to "Strange Ones" played backwards on tape cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
. Supergrass took this sound, wrote new lyrics for it, and had another song for their album. Gaz Coombes says, "One of the highlights of this album was recording 'Sofa (Of My Lethargy)'. ... I remember everybody got in the live room and had an instrument, including Sam [Williams] on bass, a friend of his on hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
and we played the rest, all live, one take. ... We made I Should Coco so fast because we wanted to catch the energy and excitement of the songs on tape, and do it before the money ran out!" In a 2005 interview with BBC Radio London Quinn remembered "writing that song ['Time'] in my living room on a rainy day and Gaz sort of turned up with this chord sequence and we just went straight through it and just did it on 4 track
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
".
Cover art and title
Cockney rhyming slang
Rhyming slang is a form of phrase construction in the English language and is especially prevalent in dialectal British English from the East End of London; hence the alternative name, Cockney rhyming slang...
for "I should think so". The front cover of the album is a painting based on three separate photos of Coombes, Goffey, and Quinn. The portraits of Coombes and Goffey were taken by Quinn in the summer of 1994 when he was experimenting with a macro
Macro photography
Macrophotography is close-up photography, usually of very small subjects. Classically a macrophotograph is one in which the size of the subject on the negative is greater than life size. However in modern use it refers to a finished photograph of a subject at greater than life size...
lens. The photo of Quinn was taken that same year by a friend, while they were on tour in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
. The painting was then created by the Moody Painters who were based on Oxford's Cowley Road. The white band at the top was inspired by an old Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
record that Quinn owned and is an homage to old 1950s and 1960s records, with the stereo
STEREO
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
-mono
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
signs. The photo on the back of the album was taken at a club in London about five minutes after they came off stage. The photo consists of two separate shots grafted together because Quinn was "pulling a disgusting face in the original". All of these elements were then put together by Nick Bax
Nick Bax
Nick Bax is a British designer whose twenty year practice spans the fields of graphics, creative direction and art.- Early life :Nick Bax was born in Huddersfield, England in 1970...
of The Designers Republic
The Designers Republic
The Designers Republic was a graphic design studio, founded on 14 July 1986 by Ian Anderson, and based in Sheffield, England. It was known for its anti-establishment aesthetics, while simultaneously embracing brash consumerism and the uniform style of corporate brands, such as Orange and Coca-Cola...
to create the finished sleeve. The Bonus 7" featured a more kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope
A kaleidoscope is a circle of mirrors containing loose, colored objects such as beads or pebbles and bits of glass. As the viewer looks into one end, light entering the other end creates a colorful pattern, due to the reflection off the mirrors...
-style front cover.
Music
The group's primary musical influences came from bands such as BuzzcocksBuzzcocks
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton in 1976, led by singer–songwriter–guitarist Pete Shelley.They are regarded as an important influence on the Manchester music scene, the independent record label movement, punk rock, power pop, pop punk and indie rock. They achieved commercial...
, The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
, Madness
Madness (band)
In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...
and The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
. Supergrass took this contemporary music and mixed it with pop-punk's characteristic fast, three-chord, guitar-based, catchy tunes to produce a sound uniquely their own; "we were just the three of us in my bedroom or someone's house, just making ... we played really hard and just made loads of noise. Most of our early songs were just three chord grooves and stuff that was fun to play. So that's why the first album sounded so 'punky', I think ... it's just 'cause we were all used to playing in this small room and it being really loud, so we just made the album sound like that." Songs for Beginners
Songs for Beginners
Songs for Beginners is Graham Nash's first solo album, released in May 1971, and one of four high-profile albums released by each partner of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the wake of their chart-topping Déjà Vu album of 1970...
by Graham Nash
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash, OBE is an English singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and for his songwriting contributions with the British pop group The Hollies, and with the folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer...
was another possible influence on I Should Coco. Gaz Coombes told The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in 2003, "We used to listen to it a lot when we lived in Cowley Road in Oxford in 1994, just when the band were getting big."
The musical styles and their particular inspirations for the songs on this album were extremely diverse. For example, there is the cheerful, fast, keyboard-augmented "I'd Like To Know", the guitar-driven punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
narrative "Caught by the Fuzz", the mainly piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
-based rhythm of the teen anthem
Anthem
The term anthem means either a specific form of Anglican church music , or more generally, a song of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a distinct group of people, as in the term "national anthem" or "sports anthem".-Etymology:The word is derived from the Greek via Old English , a word...
"Alright", and the country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
-influenced acoustic guitar
Steel-string acoustic guitar
A steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
in "Time to Go". Even in the varied genre of Britpop, I Should Coco was seen as eclectic. Overall, the album has been described as Britpop, influenced in equal parts by Buzzcocks and The Kinks, with strong hints of Supertramp
Supertramp
Supertramp are a British rock band formed in 1969 under the name Daddy before renaming to Supertramp in early 1970. Though their music was initially categorised as progressive rock, they have since incorporated a combination of traditional rock and art rock into their music...
in "She's So Loose", "Lose It
Lose It
"Lose It" is a song by Britpop band Supergrass. It was released as a single from their debut album I Should Coco. Officially, it is the third single taken from the album, however, it was a vinyl-only US release on Sub Pop Records...
" and the intro of "Strange Ones".
In a 1995 interview with the Metro
Metro (Associated Metro Limited)
Metro is a free daily newspaper in the United Kingdom published by Associated Newspapers Ltd . It is available from Monday to Friday each week on many public transport services across the United Kingdom.-History:The paper was launched in London in 1999, and can now be found in 14 UK urban centres...
, Mick Quinn said, "We listen to a lot of different kinds of music. We're not a '60s-revival band! We like things from the '70s and beyond as well; everything from Sly and the Family Stone and Motown to Frank Black and Tricky."
"Strange Ones" and "I'd Like To Know" are both songs about the strange people on Cowley Road, Oxford
Cowley Road, Oxford
Cowley Road is an arterial road in the city of Oxford, England, following a southeasterly route from the city centre at The Plain roundabout near Magdalen Bridge, through the inner city area of East Oxford, and into the industrial suburb of Cowley...
. Mick Quinn tried to describe the concept: "There's a few people who are just really out there. There's a lot of people around Oxford who are real spliffheads and that, who go and lie down in Port Meadow, but I'm not really sure about them. I'm not really sure that they're individuals: they're part of a much larger thing." Danny Goffey added, "They're the sort of people who don't fit in anywhere, who don't link up with everyday life at all."
"Caught by the Fuzz" was based on a real-life event: lead singer Gaz Coombes
Gaz Coombes
Gaz Coombes is an English musician and singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the English alternative rock band, Supergrass. He first entered the music scene aged sixteen as the lead singer of the band The Jennifers which featured Supergrass band mate Danny Goffey...
' arrest and caution for possession of cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
at age fifteen. In a 2004 interview, Coombes said "It wasn't trying to be a real statement, but at the time we knew that it was a big deal. Kids all around England were getting nicked for having a bit of hash on them. In Oxford that kind of thing happened quite a lot. It's all true so it was easy to write. It was a funny experience - not too funny at the time 'cause I was only 15 and shitting myself. The song has that disturbing energy. It's comparable to your heart racing. The adrenaline rush you get when your mum walks into the police station is similar to the energy of the song."
"Mansize Rooster
Mansize Rooster
"Mansize Rooster" is a song by Supergrass, released as the second single from their debut album I Should Coco. It reached #20 in the UK Singles Chart, remaining on the chart for three weeks...
" is said to be about a young boy with a large penis
Penis
The penis is a biological feature of male animals including both vertebrates and invertebrates...
, although this is not obvious from the lyrics. Gaz Coombes once stated in an interview that "the most embarrassing moment in pop is on our album where it goes: 'Oi Mum! Got any mandies
Methaqualone
Methaqualone is a sedative-hypnotic drug that is similar in effect to barbiturates, a general central nervous system depressant. The sedative-hypnotic activity was first noted by Indian researchers in the 1950s and in 1962 methaqualone itself was patented in the US by Wallace and Tiernan...
?'" This was one of the many exclamations made between tracks on I Should Coco in the sped-up voices of the band members. It was said before the song "We're Not Supposed To" began.
Release and reception
I Should Coco reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, stayed there for three weeks, and still remains the only number-one album Supergrass has ever achieved. It sold 500,000 copies domestically, earning PlatinumMusic recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
status in the UK, and has sold over a million copies worldwide. NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
writer Steve Sutherland gave the album a nine-out-of-ten rating. He wrote, "They play with the skill and assurance of a band who've been going for decades yet they still burn off the buzz of being new to the game." He added, "There's nothing contrived about I Should Coco, nothing added for effect."
Culturally, the album's glorification of teenage freedom made a very big impact on the overall Britpop music scene. The whole genre was seen as the voice of youth, but Supergrass, still teens themselves when the album was made, addressed the subject with more insight than most. The most well-known song from the album, "Alright", is still played regularly in Britain and Ireland, and held up as a musical example of teenage rebellion. Though it is one of their most popular songs, the band rarely play "Alright" in their live sets anymore. In a 1999 interview, Gaz Coombes joked, "We don't play 'Alright' anymore. We should play it in a minor key, and in the past tense." Around the time of its release Coombes said that "it wasn't written as an anthem. It isn't supposed to be a rally cry for our generation. The stuff about We are young/We run green... isn't about being 19 but really 13 or 14 and just discovering girls and drinking. It's meant to be light-hearted and a bit of a laugh, not at all a rebellious call to arms." Danny Goffey
Danny Goffey
Daniel Robert Goffey Daniel Robert Goffey Daniel Robert Goffey (born 7 February 1974 in Slough, Buckinghamshire (now Berkshire) is an English musician and singer-songwriter best known as the drummer and backing vocalist for the English Britpop band, Supergrass...
noted, "It certainly wasn't written in a very summery vibe. It was written in a cottage where the heating had packed up and we were trying to build fires to keep warm."
All five singles released in the UK from I Should Coco were well received by the British public. The first single from the album, "Caught by the Fuzz", peaked at number 43 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. The second single from the album, "Mansize Rooster", was played as Supergrass' first live television
Live television
Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...
performance on The Word
The Word (TV series)
The Word was a 1990s Channel 4 television programme in the United Kingdom.-Format:Its presenters included Mancunian radio presenter Terry Christian, comedian Mark Lamarr, Dani Behr, Katie Puckrik, Jasmine Dotiwala, Alan Connor, Amanda de Cadenet and "Huffty"...
in 1995, and reached number 20 on the UK Singles Chart. "Lose It
Lose It
"Lose It" is a song by Britpop band Supergrass. It was released as a single from their debut album I Should Coco. Officially, it is the third single taken from the album, however, it was a vinyl-only US release on Sub Pop Records...
", officially the third single taken from the album, was a vinyl-only US release from Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
records. "Lenny
Lenny (Supergrass song)
"Lenny" is a song by Supergrass, released as the fourth single from their debut album I Should Coco. It reached #10 in the UK Singles Chart, remaining on the chart for three weeks.-Formats and track listings:CD CDR6410# "Lenny"...
" was the fourth single from I Should Coco; it reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, and remained there for three weeks. The final release from the album, "Alright/Time", proved to be their breakthrough single, largely due to the popularity of the song "Alright". Supergrass' highest ranked single to date, along with "Richard III
Richard III (song)
"Richard III" is a song by the band Supergrass. It was the second single to be released from In It for the Money, the band's second album. The single was preceded by "Going Out", which was released over a year before...
", "Alright" reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, remained in the top three for a month, and still receives airplay in the UK. I Should Coco was nominated for Best Album at the 1995 Mercury Prize
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established by the British Phonographic Industry and British...
awards, and the single "Alright" from the album won an Ivor Novello Award
Ivor Novello Awards
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Cardiff born entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They are presented annually in London by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and were first introduced in 1955.Nicknamed The Ivors, the awards take place...
for Best Contemporary Song. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited by Robert Dimery, first published in 2005. The most recent edition consists of a list of albums released between 1955 and 2010, part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd...
.
In a 2005 interview with The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, Coombes said, "It’s insane that people think we would ever sound like that again ... We’re proud of 'Alright' and how well it did, but we never wanted to find a formula and stick to it. Our aim was always to progress and keep the music interesting, for us and for the fans. So the people who see us in the street and still shout ‘We are young’ may not like the new album, but fans who have grown up with us and know to expect change probably will."
Track listing
Personnel
Supergrass- Gaz CoombesGaz CoombesGaz Coombes is an English musician and singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the English alternative rock band, Supergrass. He first entered the music scene aged sixteen as the lead singer of the band The Jennifers which featured Supergrass band mate Danny Goffey...
– vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Danny GoffeyDanny GoffeyDaniel Robert Goffey Daniel Robert Goffey Daniel Robert Goffey (born 7 February 1974 in Slough, Buckinghamshire (now Berkshire) is an English musician and singer-songwriter best known as the drummer and backing vocalist for the English Britpop band, Supergrass...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocals - Mick QuinnMick QuinnMick Quinn is an English musician and singer-songwriter, best known as founding member of English rock band Supergrass. He formed the DB Band with bassist Paul Wilson, formerly of Shake Appeal in 2010 and released début EP "Stranger In The Alps" on the 17th September 2011...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - Rob CoombesRob CoombesRob Coombes was the keyboard player for Supergrass.He is the older brother of Gaz Coombes and was the newest member of Supergrass, officially joining in 2002...
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
Production
- Sam Williams – record producer
- John CornfieldJohn CornfieldJohn Cornfield is a British record producer and sound engineer. He has been working from Sawmills Studios in Cornwall since 1982. As the chief engineer he has assisted some highly respected and regarded producers, including John Leckie and Tom Dowd, and has worked with a vast selection of artists...
– engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including... - The Moody Painters – cover designCover artCover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
(illustrationIllustrationAn illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
) - The Designer's Republic – cover design (sleeveRecord sleeveA record sleeve is the outer covering of a vinyl recording. The sleeve is technically the paper covering that is closest in contact to the surface of the recording, as in "dust sleeve", "liner" and "album liner". The term has come to be synonymous with "record jacket" and "album jacket", which is...
) - Paul Stanley – photography
Awards
| Year | Ceremony | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Ivor Novello Awards Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Cardiff born entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They are presented annually in London by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and were first introduced in 1955.Nicknamed The Ivors, the awards take place... |
Best Contemporary Song ("Alright") | Won |
| 1995 | Mercury Prize Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established by the British Phonographic Industry and British... |
Best Album | Nominated |
External links
- I Should Coco at Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
- I Should Coco at The Strange Ones
- I Should Coco Artwork