The Wedding Present
Encyclopedia
The Wedding Present are a British indie rock
group based in Leeds
, England
, formed in 1985 from the ashes of the Lost Pandas. The band's music
has evolved from fast-paced indie rock
in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, Buzzcocks
and Gang of Four
to more varied forms. Throughout their career, they have been led by vocalist and guitarist David Gedge, the band's only constant member.
's then girlfriend Janet Rigby, the drummer for the band, left him for guitarist Michael Duane. Gedge and the Pandas' bass player, Keith Gregory, decided to continue the band, renaming it The Wedding Present. Gedge had wanted to use the name "The Wedding Present" for some time, but had been afraid of the perceived similarity with the name of one of his favourite bands, The Birthday Party
. By the time the Lost Pandas broke up, however, The Birthday Party had also split up, and Gedge felt free to name his new band The Wedding Present.
Gedge and Gregory recruited an old schoolmate of Gedge's, Peter Solowka
, to play guitar and auditioned a string of drummers, including John Ramsden, and Mike Bedford, with whom they recorded a demo tape, before settling on Shaun Charman. The country's clubs and bars were toured as the band prepared for the recording of their first, self-financed single
. "Go Out and Get ’Em, Boy!" was chosen over early favourite "Will You Be Up There?" Charman felt somewhat insecure about his drumming abilities and so the A-side
features drumming by hired hand Julian Sowa (Charman does, however, play drums on its B-side). The single was released on the band's own Reception Records label with distribution through Red Rhino.
Two more singles followed that did well on the independent charts helped by veteran BBC
radio
DJ John Peel
who was one of their first champions. He invited them to do a radio session (three songs from the session are included on the 1988 compilation
Tommy 1985-1987; the entire session had already been released as an EP
in 1986), starting a long collaboration. By the time the band started work on their debut album, a number of independent and major record companies showed interest, but the band declined all offers and decided to keep releasing their material themselves. The album was released in 1987 and titled George Best
after the well-known Northern Irish
football
player
. Disagreement on production values with the record's producer
, Chris Allison
, led to the album being remixed by the band and their engineer, Steve Lyon
.
Upon its release, the album was critically acclaimed and the band were soon classified, with some of their peers, as members of the 'shambling' or C86
scene, a categorisation that they vehemently declined (although they were featured on the original C86 compilation). Musically, the album featured fast-paced rhythm guitar; lyrically, apart from a few excursions into social critique ("All This and More") and politics ("All About Eve"), Gedge's main concerns (which would become his trademark) were love
, lust, heartbreak and revenge. Soon after the release of George Best, the early singles and radio sessions were compiled and released as Tommy (1985-1987)
. When Solowka, who has Ukrainian
roots, started fooling around with a Ukrainian folk tune during one of their Peel sessions, the idea arose to devote some of their radio time to recording their versions of Ukrainian folk songs, encouraged by Peel. To this end, two guest musicians were invited, singer
/violin
player Len Liggins and mandolin
player Roman Remeynes, and three Peel sessions were recorded with Gedge temporarily limiting himself to playing rhythm guitar
and arranging the songs.
Between the recording of the first and the second 'Ukrainian' session, Charman was fired from the band. His replacement was Simon Smith, who remained the band's drummer until 1997 and for a long time was, next to Gedge, the only other stable factor in the shifting line-ups. The band planned on releasing eight cuts from the Ukrainian sessions on a 10" LP and an initial batch was pressed when Red Rhino went into receivership
. Rather than trying to find a new distribution company, the band decided to fold their Reception label altogether and sign with a regular record company: RCA
.
Ukraïnski Vistupi v Ivana Peela appeared on the sleeve's spine only).
The first proper album that The Wedding Present recorded for their new label was released in the same year 1989 and reunited them with Allison. Bizarro
’s lyrical themes were largely the same as before and the songs featured the same three-chord
structures, but its production values had increased due to a larger recording budget. The album's companion single, "Kennedy", provided the band with their first British Top 40 hit. Seeing that they were growing more popular in the American college radio scene, the band turned towards America for their next project. The band decided to re-record Bizarro track "Brassneck" with the former Big Black
frontman Steve Albini
. It was the start of a two-year collaboration: the next single, "Corduroy" and album, Seamonsters
, were also recorded by Albini at Pachyderm Recording Studio
in Cannon Falls, MN.
Melody Maker
likened listening to the record to sandpapering your ears. End of year readers polls, however, showed the opening track and lead single of the album, "Dalliance", amongst the top of the favourites list. Almost directly after recording the album, the band announced that they had sacked Solowka. His replacement was Paul Dorrington
of local band, Tse Tse Fly
(also formerly of A.C. Temple
). Solowka teamed up again with Liggins and Remeynes to form The Ukrainians
, and continued to blend post-punk with traditional Ukrainian music.
The next year saw the band release twelve 7" singles in one year. Each single had a limited pressing of 10,000 copies which all reached the Top 30 in the U.K. chart, equalling Elvis Presley
's record for the most U.K. Top 30 hits in one year. To economise on songwriting, the B-sides consisted of cover versions of songs including Julee Cruise
's "Falling" (the theme tune from Twin Peaks
). The singles and their B-sides, produced by various producers such as Ian Broudie
(Lightning Seeds
) and Jimmy Miller
(The Rolling Stones
) were collected on two albums, Hit Parade 1
and Hit Parade 2
.
Seamonsters
, Hit Parade 1
and Hit Parade 2
were released in the United States
in 1991 and 1992 by New York based pseudo-indie label First Warning Records. Shortly after the 1992 singles scheme had ended, the band announced they were leaving RCA.
. When they re-emerged in early 1994 with the news that they had signed to Island Records
, it was quickly followed by the announcement that Gregory had left the band, due to lack of enthusiasm, and was replaced by Darren Belk
. For their next album, The Wedding Present again left for the States and enlisted Steve Fisk
(Screaming Trees
, Nirvana
). The result was Watusi
. The album's songs ranged from warm lo-fi pop ("Gazebo", "Big Rat") to semi-psychedelic
, Velvets-like workouts ("Click Click", "Catwoman").
No further albums were recorded for Island, and the best part of 1995 was spent the same way as 1993: touring, writing new material, no recording. Paul Dorrington decided to quit the band; no replacement was made as Belk doubled on bass and guitar. In the autumn of 1995, The Wedding Present released "Sucker", a self-financed single that was sold at their gigs only (it has since been included on compilation albums). Shortly after, the band signed with independent label Cooking Vinyl
.
The band still had material from their sabbatical year and went into the studio again to record Saturnalia. This proved to be the last new material by The Wedding Present for a long time. After playing a number of gigs to support the album, the last one in Liverpool
on 18 January 1997, the band took a long sabbatical.
band name with his girlfriend, Sally Murrell, and some session musicians. The project became a full-time band.
Following Gedge's split from Murrell in 2003, and with the increasing inclusion on Wedding Present songs in Cinerama's live sets ( in previous years Gedge has good-naturedly refused calls from the audience to play Wedding Present songs, frequently replying "that's another band" or "you're at the wrong gig" ), Gedge effectively renamed Cinerama in 2004, keeping the line up, reflecting the change in sound over the years to the more familiar territory of The Wedding Present.
", was issued on 15 November 2004, to lead off the new album, Take Fountain
, which was released on 14 February 2005. A second single, "I'm From Further North Than You
", was released on 11 April 2005. Third and final single "Ringway to SeaTac
" was released on 24 October 2005.
All singles, their B-sides and acoustic versions from this period were compiled on the 2006 compilation Search for Paradise: Singles 2004-5
. The release came with a bonus DVD compiling the videos for "Don't Touch That Dial" (a Cinerama single re-recorded for Take Fountain
), "Interstate 5", "I'm From Further North Than You", "Ringway to SeaTac" and others.
The Wedding Present toured Europe
and North America
in the Spring of 2005 (with John Maiden on drums) and again in Europe towards the end of 2005 (this time, with Simon Pearson on drums). During Christmas 2006, guitarist Simon Cleave left the group and was replaced by the group's sound engineer Chris McConville - who played on the 2006 tours of North America (with Charlie Layton on drums) and Europe (with Graeme Ramsay on drums).
Until August 2010 the line-up remained stable with Gedge, De Castro, McConville, and Ramsay co-writing. They recorded 17 songs with Steve Albini
in January 2008, some of which have been played live at gigs in recent years. Titles include "I've Lost the Monkey", "Soup", "Drink You Eat You", "Model, Actress, Whatever...", "The Thing I Like Most About Him Is His Girlfriend", "Twenty Jackies", "Swingers", "Peek-a-boo", "Hulk Loves Betty", "Boo Boo", "Palisades", "Santa Ana Winds", "Pinch Pull Twist Release", "The Trouble With Men", "Don't Take Me Home Until I'm Drunk" and "Spider-Man in Hollywood".
The band's new album El Rey
was released on 20 May 2008 in North America
and 26 May 2008 in Europe
, accompanied by the digital download
-only single "The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend". A compilation of singles and remixes How The West Was Won was released towards the end of 2008 and accompanied by a single "Holly Jolly Hollywood". The Wedding Present also covered The Cure
's "High" for American Laundromat Records
tribute "Just Like Heaven - a tribute to The Cure".
Some months before a short tour of the UK and Japan in March 2009, Chris McConville left the band and was replaced by former guitarist Simon Cleave.
In 2009 two The Wedding Present songs, "I'm From Further North Than You
", and "Ringway to SeaTac
" appeared in the award winning Monty Miranda
directed independent film Skills Like This
. The director was praised for his use of music in an integrated soundtrack.
In August 2010 it was announced that De Castro would not be touring with The Wedding Present for the Autumn 21st anniversary tour of 'Bizarro', and that her last gig would be at the 28 August 2010 at Gedge's mini festival "At the Edge of the Sea" in Brighton. This marked the end of a 12 year association with Gedge, stretching back to when Cinerama was formed. She was replaced by Pepe le Moko.
Keith Gregory: bass (1985–1993)
Peter Solowka: guitar (1985–1991)
Shaun Charman: drums, vocals (1985–1988)
Simon Smith: drums (1988–1997)
Paul Dorrington: guitar (1991–1995)
Darren Belk: bass, vocals (1993–1995), guitar (1995–1996)
Jayne Lockey: bass, vocals (1995–1997)
Simon Cleave: guitar (1996–2006, 2009)
Terry de Castro: bass, vocals (2004–2010)
Kari Paavola: drums (2004–2005)
Graeme Ramsay: drums, guitar (2006–present)
Christopher McConville: guitar (2006–2009)
Pepe le Moko: bass guitar (2010–present)
Charlie Layton: drums
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
group based in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, formed in 1985 from the ashes of the Lost Pandas. The band's music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
has evolved from fast-paced indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks
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...
and Gang of Four
Gang of Four (band)
Gang of Four are an English post-punk group from Leeds. Original personnel were singer Jon King, guitarist Andy Gill, bass guitarist Dave Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham. They were fully active from 1977 to 1984, and then re-emerged twice in the 1990s with King and Gill...
to more varied forms. Throughout their career, they have been led by vocalist and guitarist David Gedge, the band's only constant member.
Early stages and the Reception era (1985-1989)
The Lost Pandas fell apart in 1984 when singer David GedgeDavid Gedge
David Gedge is an English musician and songwriter. He is the main songwriter and vocalist in the bands The Wedding Present and Cinerama...
's then girlfriend Janet Rigby, the drummer for the band, left him for guitarist Michael Duane. Gedge and the Pandas' bass player, Keith Gregory, decided to continue the band, renaming it The Wedding Present. Gedge had wanted to use the name "The Wedding Present" for some time, but had been afraid of the perceived similarity with the name of one of his favourite bands, The Birthday Party
The Birthday Party (band)
The Birthday Party were an Australian rock band, active from 1973 to 1983.Despite being championed by John Peel, The Birthday Party found little commercial success during their career...
. By the time the Lost Pandas broke up, however, The Birthday Party had also split up, and Gedge felt free to name his new band The Wedding Present.
Gedge and Gregory recruited an old schoolmate of Gedge's, Peter Solowka
Peter Solowka
Peter Solowka born in Leeds of Ukrainian and Irish descent was guitarist with the Wedding Present from its inception until 1991 after the recording of the Seamonsters album...
, to play guitar and auditioned a string of drummers, including John Ramsden, and Mike Bedford, with whom they recorded a demo tape, before settling on Shaun Charman. The country's clubs and bars were toured as the band prepared for the recording of their first, self-financed single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
. "Go Out and Get ’Em, Boy!" was chosen over early favourite "Will You Be Up There?" Charman felt somewhat insecure about his drumming abilities and so the A-side
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
features drumming by hired hand Julian Sowa (Charman does, however, play drums on its B-side). The single was released on the band's own Reception Records label with distribution through Red Rhino.
Two more singles followed that did well on the independent charts helped by veteran BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
DJ John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
who was one of their first champions. He invited them to do a radio session (three songs from the session are included on the 1988 compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
Tommy 1985-1987; the entire session had already been released as an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
in 1986), starting a long collaboration. By the time the band started work on their debut album, a number of independent and major record companies showed interest, but the band declined all offers and decided to keep releasing their material themselves. The album was released in 1987 and titled George Best
George Best (album)
George Best is the debut album by The Wedding Present. It was released in October 1987 by their own record company, Reception Records.After self-releasing five singles on Reception Records label, the band turned to recording their first album, continuing their collaboration with producer Chris...
after the well-known Northern Irish
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player
George Best
George Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...
. Disagreement on production values with the record's 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...
, Chris Allison
Chris Allison
Chris Allison is a British record producer and founder/head of Sonic360 Records.He is primarily known for his work with The Wedding Present; however, he has also produced for Coldplay, The Beta Band and Plastilina Mosh....
, led to the album being remixed by the band and their engineer, Steve Lyon
Steve Lyon
Steve Lyon is a professional ice hockey player who played three games in the National Hockey League. He played with the Pittsburgh Penguins.- References :...
.
Upon its release, the album was critically acclaimed and the band were soon classified, with some of their peers, as members of the 'shambling' or C86
C86 (music)
C86 is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine NME in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from independent labels of the time. As a phrase, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based musical genre characterised by "jangly" guitars and fey melodies, although other...
scene, a categorisation that they vehemently declined (although they were featured on the original C86 compilation). Musically, the album featured fast-paced rhythm guitar; lyrically, apart from a few excursions into social critique ("All This and More") and politics ("All About Eve"), Gedge's main concerns (which would become his trademark) were love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
, lust, heartbreak and revenge. Soon after the release of George Best, the early singles and radio sessions were compiled and released as Tommy (1985-1987)
Tommy (1985-1987)
Tommy is a compilation by The Wedding Present gathering their first four singles, their B-sides and selected tracks from two early radio sessions. It was released in July 1988 by their own record company, Reception Records.-About the album:...
. When Solowka, who has Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
roots, started fooling around with a Ukrainian folk tune during one of their Peel sessions, the idea arose to devote some of their radio time to recording their versions of Ukrainian folk songs, encouraged by Peel. To this end, two guest musicians were invited, singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
/violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
player Len Liggins and mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
player Roman Remeynes, and three Peel sessions were recorded with Gedge temporarily limiting himself to playing rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
and arranging the songs.
Between the recording of the first and the second 'Ukrainian' session, Charman was fired from the band. His replacement was Simon Smith, who remained the band's drummer until 1997 and for a long time was, next to Gedge, the only other stable factor in the shifting line-ups. The band planned on releasing eight cuts from the Ukrainian sessions on a 10" LP and an initial batch was pressed when Red Rhino went into receivership
Receivership
In law, receivership is the situation in which an institution or enterprise is being held by a receiver, a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights." The receivership remedy is an equitable remedy that emerged in...
. Rather than trying to find a new distribution company, the band decided to fold their Reception label altogether and sign with a regular record company: RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
.
The RCA era (1989-1993)
Although the band were criticized by some quarters for 'selling out', under the terms of their contract they were allowed their own choice of producer and singles. They also had the option of releasing any singles rejected by the label independently without breach of contract. The band's new record company bought the initial Reception stock of the Ukrainian record from the band, pressed another batch, and released the record in April 1989 under the name of Українські Виступи в Івана Піла (meaning 'Ukrainian John Peel Sessions'; the Latin transliterationTransliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
Ukraïnski Vistupi v Ivana Peela appeared on the sleeve's spine only).
The first proper album that The Wedding Present recorded for their new label was released in the same year 1989 and reunited them with Allison. Bizarro
Bizarro (album)
Bizarro is the second studio album by The Wedding Present. It was released in October 1989 by their record label, RCA.- About the album :...
’s lyrical themes were largely the same as before and the songs featured the same three-chord
Three-chord song
A three-chord song is a song whose music is built around three chords that are played in a certain sequence. Perhaps the most prevalent type of three-chord song is the simple twelve bar blues used in blues and rock and roll....
structures, but its production values had increased due to a larger recording budget. The album's companion single, "Kennedy", provided the band with their first British Top 40 hit. Seeing that they were growing more popular in the American college radio scene, the band turned towards America for their next project. The band decided to re-record Bizarro track "Brassneck" with the former Big Black
Big Black
Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Naked Raygun...
frontman Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
. It was the start of a two-year collaboration: the next single, "Corduroy" and album, Seamonsters
Seamonsters
Seamonsters is the third studio album by English indie band The Wedding Present. It was recorded in ten days in 1991 by American producer Steve Albini at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota...
, were also recorded by Albini at Pachyderm Recording Studio
Pachyderm Studio
Pachyderm Recording Studio is a residential recording studio located in rural Cannon Falls, Minnesota, United States, 35.8 mi southeast of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. It is located in a secluded old-growth forest with a vibrant trout stream. The studio was founded in 1988...
in Cannon Falls, MN.
Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
likened listening to the record to sandpapering your ears. End of year readers polls, however, showed the opening track and lead single of the album, "Dalliance", amongst the top of the favourites list. Almost directly after recording the album, the band announced that they had sacked Solowka. His replacement was Paul Dorrington
Paul Dorrington
Paul Dorrington is an English guitarist and bassist best known for his 1991-1995 tenure in The Wedding Present.Dorrington joined Sheffield group AC Temple in 1985, and recorded Rorschach Blot Test, a live compilation album featuring The Dustdevils and Kilgore Trout...
of local band, Tse Tse Fly
Tse Tse Fly (band)
Tse Tse Fly were an alternative rock group from Leeds, England, formed in 1988 by former A.C. Temple guitarist Paul Dorrington, along with Jayne Lockey and Simon Cleave. They released several EPs and an album before splitting up in 1994...
(also formerly of A.C. Temple
A.C. Temple
A.C. Temple were an alternative rock band from Sheffield, England, formed in 1985. They released four albums before splitting up in 1991.-History:...
). Solowka teamed up again with Liggins and Remeynes to form The Ukrainians
The Ukrainians
The Ukrainians are a British band, which plays traditional Ukrainian music, heavily influenced by western post-punk.-Career:The Ukrainians were formed in 1990 by Wedding Present guitarist Peter Solowka, with singer/violinist Len Liggins and mandolin player Roman Remeynes, after all three had played...
, and continued to blend post-punk with traditional Ukrainian music.
The next year saw the band release twelve 7" singles in one year. Each single had a limited pressing of 10,000 copies which all reached the Top 30 in the U.K. chart, equalling Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's record for the most U.K. Top 30 hits in one year. To economise on songwriting, the B-sides consisted of cover versions of songs including Julee Cruise
Julee Cruise
Julee Cruise is an American singer, and actress.With a distinctive, airy voice, Cruise has recorded three albums, but is probably best known for the lead vocal on "Falling," the theme song for the cult U.S. television series Twin Peaks...
's "Falling" (the theme tune from Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
). The singles and their B-sides, produced by various producers such as Ian Broudie
Ian Broudie
Ian Broudie is a British singer-songwriter, musician and record producer from Liverpool, England. After emerging from the post punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to form the short-lived groups Original Mirrors and Care in the early 1980s as well...
(Lightning Seeds
Lightning Seeds
The Lightning Seeds are an English alternative rock and pop band from Liverpool, England formed in 1989 by Ian Broudie , formerly of the Big in Japan band....
) and Jimmy Miller
Jimmy Miller (producer)
James "Jimmy" Miller was a Brooklyn, New York-born record producer and musician who produced dozens of albums between the mid-1960s and early 1990s, including landmark recordings for Blind Faith, Traffic, the Plasmatics, Motorhead, The World Bank and Primal Scream...
(The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
) were collected on two albums, Hit Parade 1
Hit Parade 1
In 1992, The Wedding Present decided to release a limited edition single every month, each featuring an original track on the A side and a cover on the B side...
and Hit Parade 2
Hit Parade 2
Hit Parade 2 is a compilation album by The Wedding Present released in January 1993. Having decided to release a limited edition single every month for all of 1992 the group subsequently compiled the songs as two LPs called Hit Parade 1 and Hit Parade 2...
.
Seamonsters
Seamonsters
Seamonsters is the third studio album by English indie band The Wedding Present. It was recorded in ten days in 1991 by American producer Steve Albini at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota...
, Hit Parade 1
Hit Parade 1
In 1992, The Wedding Present decided to release a limited edition single every month, each featuring an original track on the A side and a cover on the B side...
and Hit Parade 2
Hit Parade 2
Hit Parade 2 is a compilation album by The Wedding Present released in January 1993. Having decided to release a limited edition single every month for all of 1992 the group subsequently compiled the songs as two LPs called Hit Parade 1 and Hit Parade 2...
were released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1991 and 1992 by New York based pseudo-indie label First Warning Records. Shortly after the 1992 singles scheme had ended, the band announced they were leaving RCA.
The Island era (1994-1995)
The band spent most of 1993 taking time off, occasionally playing gigs. A stopgap compilation of three more archive radio sessions, Peel Sessions 1987-1990, was released by Strange FruitStrange Fruit Records
Strange Fruit Records was an independent record label in the United Kingdom.The label, established by Clive Selwood and John Peel in 1986, was the primary distributor of BBC recordings, including Peel Sessions....
. When they re-emerged in early 1994 with the news that they had signed to Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
, it was quickly followed by the announcement that Gregory had left the band, due to lack of enthusiasm, and was replaced by Darren Belk
Darren Belk
Darren Belk is an English songwriter, bassist and guitarist best known for his tenures in the bands Beachbuggy and The Wedding Present.Belk was roadie for the bands Cud and The Wedding Present whilst playing guitar and writing songs for his own band Bungalow in the late 1980s/early 1990s...
. For their next album, The Wedding Present again left for the States and enlisted Steve Fisk
Steve Fisk
Steve Fisk is a Washington-based audio engineer, record producer and musician.Fisk joined the instrumental rock band Pell Mell in 1982. With vocalist Shawn Smith, he formed Pigeonhed, which released its first album in 1993....
(Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period...
, Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
). The result was Watusi
Watusi (album)
Watusi was the fourth studio album released by The Wedding Present. It was released in 1994 in the U.K on Island Records. The album reached number 47 on the U.K album chart. During 1994 two singles were released from "Watusi" in the U.K. "Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah" went to number 51 and "It's a...
. The album's songs ranged from warm lo-fi pop ("Gazebo", "Big Rat") to semi-psychedelic
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
, Velvets-like workouts ("Click Click", "Catwoman").
No further albums were recorded for Island, and the best part of 1995 was spent the same way as 1993: touring, writing new material, no recording. Paul Dorrington decided to quit the band; no replacement was made as Belk doubled on bass and guitar. In the autumn of 1995, The Wedding Present released "Sucker", a self-financed single that was sold at their gigs only (it has since been included on compilation albums). Shortly after, the band signed with independent label Cooking Vinyl
Cooking Vinyl
Cooking Vinyl is a UK-based independent record company, founded in 1986. Its original orientation was toward contemporary folk music—notably Billy Bragg, and Michelle Shocked's Texas Campfire Tapes, recorded on a Sony Walkman, one of its first releases...
.
The Cooking Vinyl era (1995-1997/99)
The band, still a three-piece, recorded their newly written material and issued the car-themed six-track mini-album, Mini. Belk played both guitar and bass on the songs but struggled at the lead instrument. Shortly after releasing the album, Jayne Lockey, who had already sung backing vocals on Mini, was announced as the band's new bass player. Belk decided to quit the band and was replaced by Simon Cleave. Both Lockey and Cleave were former members of Tse Tse Fly, along with Paul Dorrington and Mark Goodham.The band still had material from their sabbatical year and went into the studio again to record Saturnalia. This proved to be the last new material by The Wedding Present for a long time. After playing a number of gigs to support the album, the last one in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
on 18 January 1997, the band took a long sabbatical.
Contractual obligations and Cinerama (1997-2004)
To fulfill contractual obligations, two more compilations were released by Cooking Vinyl: another Peel sessions volume, John Peel Sessions 1992-1995 (1998), and Singles 1995-1997 (1999). Additionally, Strange Fruit offered another radio sessions compilation, Evening Sessions 1986-1994 (1997), and the band's American label released Singles 1989-1991 (1999), a 2CD package which added rarities and live tracks. Gedge recorded an album, Va Va Voom, in 1998 under the CineramaCinerama (band)
Cinerama were a UK indie pop band, headed up by David Gedge, the frontman for The Wedding Present.-Career:Originally formed in 1998 while on a break from The Wedding Present, Cinerama started as a duo of Gedge and his then-girlfriend Sally Murrell...
band name with his girlfriend, Sally Murrell, and some session musicians. The project became a full-time band.
Following Gedge's split from Murrell in 2003, and with the increasing inclusion on Wedding Present songs in Cinerama's live sets ( in previous years Gedge has good-naturedly refused calls from the audience to play Wedding Present songs, frequently replying "that's another band" or "you're at the wrong gig" ), Gedge effectively renamed Cinerama in 2004, keeping the line up, reflecting the change in sound over the years to the more familiar territory of The Wedding Present.
Reformation (2004-present)
News came in early September 2004 that Cinerama would be rebranded as The Wedding Present. The line-up was to be the same as the last line-up of Cinerama, which included Simon Cleave. The first new single, "Interstate 5Interstate 5 (The Wedding Present song)
"Interstate 5" is a song by The Wedding Present. It was released as the first single from the album Take Fountain. The single was released on November 15, 2004 on CD. Two versions of the song were initially released: the "original version" , which runs 6:07 in time, and the "extended version" ,...
", was issued on 15 November 2004, to lead off the new album, Take Fountain
Take Fountain
Take Fountain is the seventh studio album by The Wedding Present. It was released in the UK on February 14, 2005, through Scopitones Records, and a day later in the US through Manifesto Records....
, which was released on 14 February 2005. A second single, "I'm From Further North Than You
I'm From Further North Than You
"I'm From Further North Than You" is a song by The Wedding Present. It was released as the second single from the album Take Fountain. The single was released on January 31, 2005 on CD and 7" vinyl. This was the only single from the album to be released on two formats...
", was released on 11 April 2005. Third and final single "Ringway to SeaTac
Ringway to SeaTac
"Ringway to SeaTac" is a song by The Wedding Present. It was released as the third and last single from the album Take Fountain. The single was released on October 24, 2005 on CD. A music video was produced for the song, featuring the band performing the song on a completely white stage...
" was released on 24 October 2005.
All singles, their B-sides and acoustic versions from this period were compiled on the 2006 compilation Search for Paradise: Singles 2004-5
Search for Paradise: Singles 2004-5
Search for Paradise: Singles 2004–5 is a compilation album by The Wedding Present, collecting the single A-sides and B-sides from the band's album Take Fountain. It was released in the US on May 16, 2006, through Manifesto Records and on May 29, 2006, in the UK through Scopitones Records...
. The release came with a bonus DVD compiling the videos for "Don't Touch That Dial" (a Cinerama single re-recorded for Take Fountain
Take Fountain
Take Fountain is the seventh studio album by The Wedding Present. It was released in the UK on February 14, 2005, through Scopitones Records, and a day later in the US through Manifesto Records....
), "Interstate 5", "I'm From Further North Than You", "Ringway to SeaTac" and others.
The Wedding Present toured Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in the Spring of 2005 (with John Maiden on drums) and again in Europe towards the end of 2005 (this time, with Simon Pearson on drums). During Christmas 2006, guitarist Simon Cleave left the group and was replaced by the group's sound engineer Chris McConville - who played on the 2006 tours of North America (with Charlie Layton on drums) and Europe (with Graeme Ramsay on drums).
Until August 2010 the line-up remained stable with Gedge, De Castro, McConville, and Ramsay co-writing. They recorded 17 songs with Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
in January 2008, some of which have been played live at gigs in recent years. Titles include "I've Lost the Monkey", "Soup", "Drink You Eat You", "Model, Actress, Whatever...", "The Thing I Like Most About Him Is His Girlfriend", "Twenty Jackies", "Swingers", "Peek-a-boo", "Hulk Loves Betty", "Boo Boo", "Palisades", "Santa Ana Winds", "Pinch Pull Twist Release", "The Trouble With Men", "Don't Take Me Home Until I'm Drunk" and "Spider-Man in Hollywood".
The band's new album El Rey
El Rey (The Wedding Present album)
El Rey is the eighth studio album by The Wedding Present. It was released in the US on May 20, 2008, by Manifesto Records, and on May 26, 2008, in the UK by Vibrant Records/Pinnacle Records. The album is the band's first album since 2005's Take Fountain...
was released on 20 May 2008 in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and 26 May 2008 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, accompanied by the digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
-only single "The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend". A compilation of singles and remixes How The West Was Won was released towards the end of 2008 and accompanied by a single "Holly Jolly Hollywood". The Wedding Present also covered The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
's "High" for American Laundromat Records
American Laundromat Records
American Laundromat Records is an indie label based in Mystic, CT.The label has produced several tribute albums, including Dig For Fire - a tribute to PIXIES, Cinnamon Girl - Women Artists Cover Neil Young, and High School Reunion - A Tribute to Those Great 80's Films...
tribute "Just Like Heaven - a tribute to The Cure".
Some months before a short tour of the UK and Japan in March 2009, Chris McConville left the band and was replaced by former guitarist Simon Cleave.
In 2009 two The Wedding Present songs, "I'm From Further North Than You
I'm From Further North Than You
"I'm From Further North Than You" is a song by The Wedding Present. It was released as the second single from the album Take Fountain. The single was released on January 31, 2005 on CD and 7" vinyl. This was the only single from the album to be released on two formats...
", and "Ringway to SeaTac
Ringway to SeaTac
"Ringway to SeaTac" is a song by The Wedding Present. It was released as the third and last single from the album Take Fountain. The single was released on October 24, 2005 on CD. A music video was produced for the song, featuring the band performing the song on a completely white stage...
" appeared in the award winning Monty Miranda
Monty Miranda
Monty Miranda is an American film director. His first feature film, Skills Like This, won the Best Narrative Feature Audience Award at the SXSW Film Festival...
directed independent film Skills Like This
Skills Like This
Skills Like This is a 2009 comedy film distributed by Shadow Distribution released theatrically on March 20, 2009. The DVD released on November 17, 2009 and the Premium Cable premiere on Starz and Starz On Demand 1.1. 2010. It was directed by Monty Miranda, written by Spencer Berger, and stars...
. The director was praised for his use of music in an integrated soundtrack.
In August 2010 it was announced that De Castro would not be touring with The Wedding Present for the Autumn 21st anniversary tour of 'Bizarro', and that her last gig would be at the 28 August 2010 at Gedge's mini festival "At the Edge of the Sea" in Brighton. This marked the end of a 12 year association with Gedge, stretching back to when Cinerama was formed. She was replaced by Pepe le Moko.
Personnel
David Gedge: vocals, guitar (1985–present)Keith Gregory: bass (1985–1993)
Peter Solowka: guitar (1985–1991)
Shaun Charman: drums, vocals (1985–1988)
Simon Smith: drums (1988–1997)
Paul Dorrington: guitar (1991–1995)
Darren Belk: bass, vocals (1993–1995), guitar (1995–1996)
Jayne Lockey: bass, vocals (1995–1997)
Simon Cleave: guitar (1996–2006, 2009)
Terry de Castro: bass, vocals (2004–2010)
Kari Paavola: drums (2004–2005)
Graeme Ramsay: drums, guitar (2006–present)
Christopher McConville: guitar (2006–2009)
Pepe le Moko: bass guitar (2010–present)
Charlie Layton: drums
External links
- Scopitones The official home of The Wedding Present and Cinerama
- The Wedding Present Peel Sessions The official page for the Sanctuary 2007 release of the complete John Peel sessions.
- Lost Pandas Unofficial forum
- The Wedding Present Fan page
- Something And Nothing A site started in 2005 to bring together Wedding Present memorabilia and related news and stories. Contains interviews with ex band members
- TWP-CINERAMA Japanese fan site
- Trouser Press entry