Essex-born Louise Wener met Jon Stewart at Manchester University in 1987 in a political philosophy class. The couple played in a number of bands at university and moved to London to seek gigs after graduating in 1988.
They advertised for new band members in Melody Maker (“Bass player and drummer wanted. Influences The Pixies and The Partridge Family“) and recruited Diid Osman and (Louise’s future husband) Andy Maclure in 1992. They chose the name “Sleeper” after the 1973 Woody Allen film of that name and in 1993 they signed to Indolent Records, a subsidiary of RCA Records.
They released three EPs and singles and toured as the opening act for Blur before their breakthrough single release, Inbetweener (1995).
The band’s debut album release Smart (1995) was followed by the platinum-selling LP The It Girl which yielded four charting singles – What Do I Do Now?, Nice Guy Eddie, Sale of the Century and Statuesque.
Sleeper recorded a cover of the Blondie song Atomic, which was used in the 1996 film Trainspottingafter Blondie refused to allow the use of the original version. Statuesque also features in the movie and its follow-up soundtrack album.
The band’s third album, Pleased to Meet You (October 1997) was a UK Top 10 hit but the band called it a day in March 1998 after a tour in which venues had to be cancelled or downsized due to lower than expected ticket sales.
Following the band’s demise, frontwoman Louise Wener moved on to a career in writing, publishing four novels and an autobiography covering her time in the band. Having become a dab hand with the pocket rockets, she also began teaching courses in poker.
Sleeper reformed in 2017 to play live alongside other Britpop acts including Space, Dodgy and The Bluetones. These dates saw Wener, Maclure and Stewart joined on bass by new member Kieron Pepper. The band recorded a new album – The Modern Age – in 2019 and compiled unreleased material from previous recording sessions (including a George Michael collaboration) with some new material as the basis for the album This Time Tomorrow, released in December 2020.
Louise Wener
Vocals, guitar Jon Stewart
Guitar Diid Osman
Bass Andy Maclure
Drums
Related Posts
Redd Kross Barely teenagers at the time, Redd Kross was one of the first bands in So Cal to pick up guitars…
Supercharge Founded in 1974 by Liverpudlian tenor-saxophonist Albie Donnelly and drummer Dave Irving, Supercharge soon built up a cult following in…
Stone The Crows Formed around Scottish singer Maggie Bell the band worked initially in clubs and air bases around the UK and Europe before…
Mock Turtles, The Manchester band The Mock Turtles were together for nearly four years before they signed to Siren/Virgin in 1991, releasing two…
Throwing Muses Boston’s Throwing Muses introduced a feminine sensibility that made a mockery of banal notions of 'Women In Rock'. Over abruptly…
Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs Texan quintet Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs had a regional hit in 1965 with a track called Haunted House.…
Singles, The Australian band The Singles were formed late in 1979 by Andrew Campbell and Rod Brunell with Geoff Smith and Tony…
Crazyhead Garage punk band Crazyhead formed in 1986 in Leicester, England, and were almost immediately lumped in under the banner of…
