Metal Mickey (song)

"Metal Mickey"
Single by Suede
from the album Suede
B-side
  • "Where the Pigs Don't Fly"
  • "He's Dead"
Released14 September 1992 (1992-09-14)
StudioMaster Rock (London, England)
Genre
Length3:27
LabelNude
Songwriters
ProducerEd Buller
Suede singles chronology
"The Drowners"
(1992) 		"Metal Mickey"
(1992) 		"Animal Nitrate"
(1993)

"Metal Mickey" is the second single released by English rock band Suede, issued on 14 September 1992 on Nude Records. It was included on the band's debut album, Suede, the following year. The song charted at No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart, an improvement on the previous single "The Drowners", which fell short of the top 40.[3]

Background

The song is an up-tempo rock song. Guitarist Bernard Butler has said that its musical inspiration was "The Shoop Shoop Song", famously remade by Cher for the 1990 film Mermaids. The guitar solo, according to Butler was inspired by the Kinks' "You Really Got Me".[4] Other than its nod to the robot from the 80s children's sitcom of the same name, singer Brett Anderson has said the song was inspired by Daisy Chainsaw vocalist KatieJane Garside.[4] Charting in the top-twenty in the UK, the single earned the band their first appearance on Top of the Pops.

Reception

Ian McCann of NME awarded the track the Obligatory Single of the Week, and said that Anderson "churns out a second easy classic". With its "churning guitars," McCann said: "You feel like you've heard [the choruses] a hundred times when it's only been twice."[5] Likewise Sharon O'Connell of Melody Maker also awarded the track as Single of the Week; praising it "for its wit and swagger, cheek and suaveness." She said "'Metal Mickey' lunges wantonly in with a sub-Hendrix crash and the roar of a tinsel-bedecked Concorde on take-off [...] Suede are still deliciously drunk on creative confidence, and this is another hat-trick of alarmingly casual allure."[6]

Europe's radio newsweekly Music & Media wrote: "Good song, good band; sometimes life is too simple. Sounding as if recorded in their own rehearsal room, the spirit of real rock roll is there with plenty of flower power."[7] The song was well received in the US. Billboard wrote: "It's toe-tapping, head-bobbing, club-rocking stuff, reminiscent of British music from the Kinks to Bowie."[8] Linda Ryan of the Gavin Report said: "it's a tough, angst-ridden sound that smacks of frustration, the sexual kind [...] the guitars are loud and tough and guaranteed not to sound like any other guitar-oriented (read: grunge) band on your playlist."[9] Performed by the group on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, it became the only Suede single to crack the US Modern Rock Tracks top 10, peaking at No. 7 on 26 June 1993, nine weeks after first appearing on the chart.[10]

Track listings

All songs were written by Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler.

UK 7-inch and cassette single[11][12]

  1. "Metal Mickey"
  2. "Where the Pigs Don't Fly"

UK 12-inch and CD single[13][14]

  1. "Metal Mickey"
  2. "Where the Pigs Don't Fly"
  3. "He's Dead"

European and Australian CD single; Australian cassette single[15][16][17]

  1. "Metal Mickey"
  2. "The Drowners"
  3. "My Insatiable One"
  4. "To the Birds"

Charts

Chart (1992–1993) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[18] 39
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[19] 68
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 33
UK Singles (OCC)[21] 17
US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)[22] 7

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom 14 September 1992
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 Nude [23]
Europe December 1992 CD [20]
Australia 5 April 1993
  • CD
  • cassette
 [24]

References

  1. ^ Pettigrew, Jason (3 September 2020). "These 10 Britpop tracks from the '90s were the UK antidote for grunge". Alternative Press. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  2. ^ Plagenhoef, Scott (29 March 2012). "Britpop". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Artist Chart History: Suede". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  4. ^ a b Barnett, David (2003). Love and Poison. Carlton Publishing Group. pp. 95–96. ISBN 0-233-00094-1.
  5. ^ McCann, Ian (12 September 1992). "Suede: Metal Mickey (Nude)". NME.
  6. ^ O'Connell, Sharon (19 September 1992). "Suede: Metal Mickey (Nude)". Melody Maker.
  7. ^ "New Releases - Singles". Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 9. 27 February 1993. p. 17.
  8. ^ Flick, Larry (10 April 1993). "Single Reviews". Billboard. p. 72.
  9. ^ Ryan, Linda (26 March 1993). "Alternative New Releases" (PDF). Gavin Report. No. 1947. pp. 65–66. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Billboard Modern Rock Tracks" (PDF). Billboard. 26 June 1993. p. 82. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  11. ^ Metal Mickey (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Nude Records. 1992. NUD 3S.
  12. ^ Metal Mickey (UK cassette single sleeve). Nude Records. 1992. NUD 3MC.
  13. ^ Metal Mickey (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Nude Records. 1992. NUD 3T.
  14. ^ Metal Mickey (UK CD single liner notes). Nude Records. 1992. NUD 3CD.
  15. ^ Metal Mickey (European CD single liner notes). Nude Records. 1992. NUD 658817 2, 658817 2.
  16. ^ Metal Mickey (Australian CD single liner notes). Nude Records. 1993. NUD 658817 2, 658817 2.
  17. ^ Metal Mickey (Australian cassette single sleeve). Nude Records. 1993. 658817 4.
  18. ^ "Suede – Metal Mickey". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  19. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 41. 10 October 1992. p. 39. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  20. ^ a b "Suede – Metal Mickey". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  21. ^ "Official Singles Chart on 26/9/1992 – Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  22. ^ "Alternative Airplay". Billboard. 26 June 1993. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  23. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 12 September 1992. p. 19. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  24. ^ "New Release Summary – Product Available from : 05/04/93: Singles". The ARIA Report. No. 165. 4 April 1993. p. 19.
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