The Lost Pandas fell apart in 1984 when guitarist Michael Duane (later of dustDevils) was sacked, and Panda's drummer Jaz Rigby followed in protest. Gedge and the Pandas' bass player, Keith Gregory, decided to continue the band, renaming it The Wedding Present.
Gedge wanted to use the name "The Wedding Present" in honour of one of his favourite bands,The Birthday Party.
Gedge and Gregory recruited an old schoolmate of Gedge's, Peter Solowka, to play guitar and auditioned a string of drummers, including 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.
After some consideration, "Go Out and Get 'Em, Boy!" was chosen over early favourite "Will You Be Up There?". The A-side features drumming by hired hand Julian Sowa with Charman on its B-side. The single was released on the band's own Reception Records label with distribution through Red Rhino. Although Reception was only intended to be a vehicle for the release of their own material, it also released a number of singles by This Poison! and Cud.
Two more singles followed that did well on the independent charts and the band was spotted by veteran BBC radio DJ John Peel, who immediately started championing them and invited them to do a radio session, 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 product being remixed by the band and their engineer, Steve Lyon. The larger part of these conflicts seemed to lie with the personal and musical incompatibility of Allison and Charman.
Upon its release, the album was critically acclaimed and the band were soon lumped in with some of their peers as the 'shambling' or C86 scene, a categorization that they vehemently declined (although they were featured on the original C86 compilation). Musically, the album featured fast-paced rhythm guitar attacks; lyrically, apart from a few tentative 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).
With the departure of Charman very early on in 1988, Simon Smith took up the drum stool and follow up album, 1989's Bizarro was again popular with the music weeklies.
When Solowka, who has Ukrainian roots, started fooling around with a Ukrainian folk tune during one of their many Peel sessions, the idea arose to devote some of their radio time to recording their versions of Ukrainian and Russian folk song, 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.
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. Solowka, Liggins, and Remeynes later split from the band to concentrate on the Ukrainian material as the band The Ukrainians.
Seamonsters is the third studio album by English rock band The Wedding Present. It was recorded in ten days in 1991 by American producer Steve Albini at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Albini had previously recorded two EPs with the group, Brassneck and 3 Songs and, like those records, Seamonsters has a rougher, harsher overall sound than the group's earlier two albums.
Solowka was replaced by Paul Dorrington and the band in 1992 released a single every month, and each of these songs charted before being released as compilations of both the A and B-sides. Each of these 12 singles hit the UK Top 40 and the band tied Elvis Presley's record of most Top 40 singles in the span of a year.
Following a quiet 1993 in which Gregory left and was replaced by Darren Belk, they followed up their record-breaking 1992 year with a new LP in 1994 called "Watusi". Following this, Dorrington left, Belk moved to guitar and they temporarily became a 3-piece before Jayne Lockey arrived. A mini LP, helpfully called "Mini" drove up early '96 shortly before "Saturnalia" zoomed in Summer '96 (along with the addition of new guitarist Simon Cleave after Belk's depature).
Following a gig in January 1997, Gedge decided to rest the Wedding Present name and started performing as Cinerama however while recording a new Cinerama album in 2004 he decided to resurrect the name the Wedding Present.
The first Wedding Present single in 7 years was released in November 2004 followed by an album in February 2005. This line-up was Gedge, Cleave, bassist Terry de Castro and drummer Kari Paavola. Paavola declined to tour and subsequently left replaced by Simon Pearson and then Graeme Ramsey. Simon Cleave left early 2006 but rejoined in 2009. His 3 year void was filled by guitarist Christopher McConville.
In more musical chairs, guitarist Cleave departed again later in 2009 due to ill health. The vacant guitar position was actually snabbed by the drummer, Ramsay, who was replaced on the drum stool by Charlie Layton (who had previously served for a very short time in 2006). Following this in Summer 2010, long-serving bassist, Terry de Castro, also vacated to be replaced by Pepe le Moko. A year later, in late 2011, after the recording of the band's 8th studio album, Valentina, Ramsay departed to be replaced by (ex-The Young Playthings and The Pipettes), Patrick Alexander.
The band emerged in February 2013 with yet another new line-up after the sacking of le Moko and Alexander - bassist Jen Schwartz (from Me of a Kind) and guitarist Geoff Maddock (from Goldenhorse).
For more information please visit www.scopitones.co.uk
Brassneck
The Wedding Present Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
really no in between? And I still don't feel better I just wondered if it
could be like before And I think you just made me sure! But then that's
typically you And I might have been a bit rude But I wrote it in a bad mood
I'm not being funny with you But it's hard to be engaging When the things you
love keep changing Brassneck, Brassneck I just decided I don't trust you
anymore I just decided I don't trust you anymore First time you came over
Do you remember saying then you'd stay for good? No I didn't think you would
Well we couldn't've been closer But it was different then and that's all in
the past There I've said it now at last! You grew up quicker than me I kept
so many old things I never stopped quite hoping I think I know what it means
It means I've got to grow up It means y Brassneck, Brassneck I just decided
I don't trust you anymore I just decided I don't trust you anymore I just
know, you weren't listening were you? Oh please go, whenever you prefer to I
said it means a lot, when you use an old phrase But then so what? We can't
have it both ways I know, you're not bothered are you Even so, I'm not going
to argue He won't object! Keep writing to me Just don't forget you ever knew
me
The Wedding Present's song Brassneck is a melancholic reflection on a relationship that has gone sour. The lyrics convey a sense of bitterness and disappointment as the singer questions whether the end was worth the means and whether there was really no in-between. The chorus contains the repeated declaration "Brassneck, Brassneck" which can be interpreted as a reference to the stubbornness of both parties in the relationship. The singer confesses that he doesn't trust his partner anymore and feels frustrated by the constant changes in their love. He longs for the stability of the past when they couldn't have been closer.
The second verse reminisces on the first time the couple met and how they promised to stay together for good. However, as time went on, they grew apart and the singer realizes that his partner has grown up quicker than he did. He kept on hoping things would stay the same, but he now realizes that he has to grow up and accept that change is inevitable. The final stanza contains a plea for the partner to keep writing to the singer, but not to forget that they ever knew each other.
Overall, Brassneck is a song filled with longing and regret. The singer questions whether their relationship was worth it and feels betrayed by the constant changes. However, despite these feelings, the singer is still holding on to the hope that the relationship can be saved.
Line by Line Meaning
No, I sent you that letter
I wrote you a letter to ask you about the outcome of our relationship
To ask you if the end was worth the means
I wanted to know if our breakup was worth going through all of the ups and downs of the relationship
Was there really no in between?
Did our relationship really have to be all or nothing? Was there no middle ground?
And I still don't feel better
Despite reaching out to you, I still don't feel any better about our breakup
I just wondered if it could be like before
I was hoping that we could rekindle our relationship and make things like they were in the past
And I think you just made me sure!
Your response to my letter has confirmed my suspicions that our relationship can't be salvaged
But then that's typically you
Your reaction to my letter is not surprising given your usual behavior
And I might have been a bit rude
I'm aware that my tone in the letter may have come off as rude
But I wrote it in a bad mood
I wrote the letter out of frustration and anger, which may have come through in my wording
I'm not being funny with you
I'm not trying to be sarcastic or humorous with what I wrote in the letter
But it's hard to be engaging
It's difficult to have a friendly conversation with you given our history
When the things you love keep changing
It's hard to maintain a connection when your interests and preferences always seem to be shifting
Brassneck, Brassneck
Repeating the chorus to emphasize the idea of distrust and disappointment
I just decided I don't trust you anymore
I've come to the conclusion that I can no longer trust you in this relationship
First time you came over
Recalling the early days of our courtship
Do you remember saying then you'd stay for good?
Reminiscing about when you made promises about the longevity of our relationship
No I didn't think you would
Realizing that your promise didn't mean anything in the end
Well we couldn't've been closer
We were very close at that time in our relationship
But it was different then and that's all in the past
Acknowledging that things were different back then and that we can't go back to that time
There I've said it now at last!
Finally admitting out loud that our past relationship is over
You grew up quicker than me
Recognizing that you matured faster than I did
I kept so many old things
Holding onto the past and not letting go of old memories
I never stopped quite hoping
Still having some hope that our relationship could be revived
I think I know what it means
Understanding what I need to do in order to move on from this relationship
It means I've got to grow up
Realizing that I need to mature and let go of the past in order to move forward
It means y
The ending of this line is hard to interpret, but it may simply be a continuation of the previous thought about growth and maturity
I just know, you weren't listening were you?
Feeling like you weren't really listening or understanding what I was trying to say in my letter
Oh please go, whenever you prefer to
Asking you to leave or end the conversation whenever you're ready
I said it means a lot, when you use an old phrase
Noticing that it's important to me when you use old phrases or recall past memories
But then so what?
Even though those memories are important, they don't change our current situation
We can't have it both ways
We can't have a romantic relationship based on past memories without actually working on our current issues
I know, you're not bothered are you
Feeling like you don't really care or are not invested in fixing our relationship
Even so, I'm not going to argue
Deciding not to argue or fight anymore over our relationship's problems
He won't object!
Referring to a third person who won't object to our breakup or the end of our relationship
Keep writing to me
Asking you to continue writing to me, regardless of the status of our relationship
Just don't forget you ever knew me
Asking you to remember the good times in our relationship, but realizing that our time together has ended
Lyrics © Sentric Music
Written by: DAVID GEDGE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind