Richard III
by Supergrass
While not entirely shedding their cheeky-chappies image, the ’Grass head somewhere darker: “It’s a really heavy riff”
MARTYNGOODACRE/GETTYIMAGES;TOMOXLEY
B
ETWEEN starting and finishing “Richard III”, Supergrass enjoyed a close encounter with Steven Spielberg. The director had plans to make a TV show with the band, envisioning the Oxford trio as ’90s version of The Monkees. By the time the interested parties met in Hollywood, however, Supergrass had already begun writing a fresh narrative for themselves. Even in its embryonic state, “Richard III” was dark, intense and abrasive. “I think there might have been a bit of, ‘We ain’t no Monkees! We ain’t no silly little pop band! Check this out!’” says singer and guitarist Gaz Coombes. “‘We’ve got more than that, and we’re heading in different directions.’” Released three weeks before the second, superlative Supergrass album, In It For The Money, “Richard III” evolved
into a blistering statement of intent. Thunderous and vaguely malevolent, blending punk, garage rock, Zeppelin and post-grunge scuzz, its creation is a layered tale involving not just Spielberg but a burgundy Ford Escort, Scooby-Doo theremin, mohawks, Mexican standoffs and, in the words of bassist Mick Quinn, the “devil’s chord”. Following the success of debut album I Should Coco, the band (augmented by Coombes’ brother Rob on keyboards) were intent on taking greater control. Producing themselves alongside Coco engineer John Cornfield, they returned to Sawmills, a remote Cornish residential studio on the banks of the River Fowey. Recording on and off for several months, “Richard III” was the first track they tackled. It started life as a four-track cassette demo, written by Coombes in his bedroom.
“It’s a democratic band!”: Supergrass in 1997 – (l-r) Danny Goffey, Gaz Coombes and Mick Quinn 70 • UNCUT • OCTOBER 2021
“I found this bassline and put it to this beat, in this Stoogesy kind of way, and it sounded really cool,” he recalls. “At one point I was going from A to E, playing with a two-chord thing throughout the verse. The head space I was in, I was enjoying finding a chord progression that was really nice, and then slipping one chord down a semitone, just to make it a bit weirder. I remember slipping that second chord a semitone and it worked: A major to E flat.” “It’s a bit wrong,” says drummer Danny Goffey, “But it makes sense.” Released on the last day of March 1997, more than a year after the previous Supergrass single, “Going Out”, “Richard III” reached No 2 in the UK charts. It was both a triumphant comeback and a new beginning. “Great chords, great hardedged track,” says Rob Coombes. “It was rock’n’roll!” The king is dead. Long live the king. GRAEME THOMSON GAZCOOMBES: I did the demo on my little cassette four-track in my bedroom in Cowley Road. I was living with about eight people: Danny was in there, I was with my girlfriend. I was listening to a lot of Iggy Pop, a lot of Zeppelin, rock’n’roll records. It was written on bass, the guitar came later. For an evening, it was drum machine, the bassline and this weird organ thing. MICK QUINN: It had the verse and chorus, and the feel of “Something’s Gone Wrong Again” by Buzzcocks, with a driving keyboard sound in the background. GAZCOOMBES: I remember going to this rehearsal room, opening up the boot of the car, and saying to the boys, “Come and listen to this!” I put it on the cassette player in my dodgy burgundy Ford Escort and let them hear it. Then it was, “Let’s go inside and play it.” We brought it together in rehearsal, there and then. QUINN:We had a week’s rehearsals before we went into the studio and I added the middle eight section. I did this reverse
KEY PLAYERS
Gaz Coombes Vocals, guitar, co-writer, co-producer
Mick Quinn Bass, co-writer, co-producer
Danny Goffey Drums, co-writer, co-producer
Rob Coombes Keyboards, co-writer
Nic Goffey Video director; Danny’s younger brother
Dominic Hawley Video director
