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).
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At the Edge of the Sea
The Wedding Present Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A sunny day, this special place
Tonight the sea is ours
And restless with sand in our shoes
A golden mile, that special smile
Asleep in a lover's arms
And if heaven sent a kiss
Would it soar above the waves?
Is that how a kiss behaves?
Is that how a kiss behaves?
And colours so icy and bright
Are swimming round my head tonight
A clear and sleepy tide
But watch with a heavier heart
As I try to tear it all apart
With a greed that's all my own
And if heaven sent a kiss
Would it be something like this?
Would it soar above the waves?
Is that how a kiss behaves?
Is that how a kiss behaves?
Why don't you tell me?
The Wedding Present's song "At the Edge of the Sea" vividly depicts a pair of lovers basking in the warmth of a beachy sunset, and their striking juxtaposition with the uncertainty of the vast and tumultuous ocean. The lyrics convey a mix of emotions, with the peaceful setting temporarily calming their worries, even as the singer's inner greed and restlessness threaten to disrupt the harmony.
The first verse paints the picture of the lovers being in a state of blissful contentment, lying in a "salty embrace" as they enjoy the beauty of the day and the feeling of being in each other's company. The second verse introduces a sense of unease, as the golden hues of the sunset give way to cooler shades of blue and white in the water. The imagery hints at the volatility of the sea and the unpredictability of life, with the singer acknowledging the fragile nature of their happiness.
The chorus poses a tantalizing hypothetical, asking if a kiss sent from heaven would be as wondrous and transformative as the love that the couple feels for each other. This sets up a contrast between the earthly pleasures of the moment, and the possibility of greater spiritual rewards or dangers beyond their understanding. The final line, "Why don't you tell me?", could be interpreted as an invitation to the listener to join in on this contemplation, and to share their own thoughts on what a heavenly kiss could entail.
Overall, "At the Edge of the Sea" captures the beauty and the fragility of life, as symbolized by the ocean's majestic expanse, and the love that unites us in the face of its vastness.
Line by Line Meaning
We lie in this salty embrace
We are lying close together, surrounded by the salty ocean air, enjoying one another's company.
A sunny day, this special place
The sun is shining, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere at this unique location that's special to us.
Tonight the sea is ours
We feel as though we have a special connection to the sea tonight and it belongs to us alone.
And restless with sand in our shoes
Our excitement and anticipation is palpable, as we feel restless with sandy feet from walking along the beach.
A golden mile, that special smile
We are walking along a long, beautiful stretch of beach and can't help but smile and feel joy in this moment.
Asleep in a lover's arms
We are so comfortable and content in each other's embrace that we feel like we could easily fall asleep there.
And if heaven sent a kiss
If a perfect, heavenly kiss were sent down to us from above,
Would it be something like this?
we wonder if it would be just like the kisses we share in this moment.
Would it soar above the waves?
Would this ultimate kiss feel as though it's soaring above the waves?
Is that how a kiss behaves?
We question if that's how a kiss is supposed to feel or if this is something truly special.
And colours so icy and bright
The colors around us are so stark, icy, and vivid,
Are swimming round my head tonight
that they are swirling around in our head and filling us with a sense of wonder and awe in this moment.
A clear and sleepy tide
The tide is calm and steady, almost like it's in a deep sleep.
But watch with a heavier heart
Despite this peaceful moment, we are weighed down with a sense of sadness.
As I try to tear it all apart
We are struggling with inner demons and trying to ruin this perfect moment.
With a greed that's all my own
Our own selfish desires and greed are threatening to take over and ruin this beautiful moment.
Why don't you tell me?
At the end, the artist seeks the advice of someone else to give them a different perspective and deeper insight about the situation.
Contributed by Hannah I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.