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
Convertible
The Wedding Present Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You know that I could make you very happy
And I warn you now that he won't call
Sure, he said he'd try but he talks so much crap
He never means what he says at all
Oh, yes her, I'm still with her
But, I guess, I'm always convertible
Just flick the switch and I'm yours
I just want to go back home with you
I won't pretend because I'm more than ready,
Oh please say you feel it too
Oh, yes her, I'm still with her
But, I guess, I'm always convertible
Just flick the switch and I'm yours
Yours
Just flick the switch and I'm yours
Yours
Just flick the switch and I'm yours
Hers
But you're still with her
But you're still with her
But you're still with her
But you're still with her
Oh, yes I hear what you're saying
But I'm afraid you're not staying
Because I'm not as naive as you believe
Oh, yes I hear what you're saying
But I'm afraid you're not staying
Because I'm not as naive as you believe
Oh, yes I hear what you're saying
But I'm afraid you're not staying
Because I'm not as naive as you believe
The Wedding Present's song "Convertible" is a story of a man and a woman who are interested in each other romantically. The man is trying to communicate to the woman that he can make her happy, and that the woman's current partner is unreliable and won't call. He also tells the woman that he is still with someone else but is always "convertible" and will switch immediately back to the woman if she expresses interest. He says that he doesn't need a friend because he has enough friends and that he just wants to go home with her. He prompts the woman to admit that she feels the same way, and that she wants to be with him.
The woman, however, is not convinced. She acknowledges that she hears what he is saying, but suspects that he won't stay with her once he's won her over. She repeats this several times to emphasize her point. The woman is not naive and understands the man's nature, and even though she seems to have feelings for him, she is pragmatic and knows better than to fall for his promises.
The song speaks to the impulsivity of some romantic relationships, where one person may be willing to leave their current partner without much thought or consideration. The woman reminds the man that he's been in a relationship and that it's not that simple. The story told in the song is common and relatable, and may bring up thoughts of past relationships in the listener.
Line by Line Meaning
His
The singer warns the person he's interested in that her current partner is not reliable, and he can make her happy.
You know that I could make you very happy
The singer believes he can provide the person he's interested in with better happiness than her current partner.
And I warn you now that he won't call
The singer believes that the person's current partner doesn't care enough to follow up or keep in touch.
Sure, he said he'd try but he talks so much crap
The singer believes the current partner is insincere and doesn't keep their word.
He never means what he says at all
The current partner's promises are empty and never fulfilled.
Oh, yes her, I'm still with her
The singer admits he's seeing someone else but is still interested in the person he's addressing.
But, I guess, I'm always convertible
The singer is stating that he's not committed to the person he's seeing and can easily switch his focus and affection.
Just flick the switch and I'm yours
The singer is suggesting that if the person he's addressing shows interest, he's ready to switch his affections to her.
I don't want a friend because I've got friends already
The singer doesn't want to be just friends; he's looking for a romantic relationship.
I just want to go back home with you
The singer desires to be intimate with the person he's addressing in a private setting.
I won't pretend because I'm more than ready
The singer is done pretending and is ready to make a commitment.
Oh please say you feel it too
The singer is appealing to the person he's addressing to reciprocate his feelings.
Yours
The singer is declaring his affection and availability for the person he's addressing.
Hers
The reply from the person the singer is addressing.
But you're still with her
The person the singer is addressing points out that he's still seeing someone else.
Oh, yes I hear what you're saying
The person the singer is addressing is listening to what he's saying.
But I'm afraid you're not staying
The person the singer is addressing doesn't think the singer will stick around.
Because I'm not as naive as you believe
The person the singer is addressing believes the singer is underestimating her ability to see through his intentions.
Contributed by Allison K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.