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
Go Out and Get 'em Boy!
The Wedding Present Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You never even called (I didn't expect you to)
Now, there's such a lot you've done
And you're only twenty-one (yes, you're only twenty-one)
Oh, there's just something; something I noticed
That there's a whole world out there but it's shrinking fast
You want to take it all and make it last forever
Now you've gone to fly the flag
From some pinprick on the map (won't you ever bring it back)
Tonight, when you hold her in your arms
And you prove that you're a man (oh well, I hope she understands)
Oh, there's just something; something I noticed
That there's a whole world out there but it's shrinking fast
You want to take it all and make it last forever
Or maybe just a lifetime, maybe just a lifetime
And some things just don't ever go away
Some things you know are just here to stay
And in a golden field there is a little girl
Left with a union jack
And there's a price to pay, no matter what you say
There is no going back today
And if we're worlds apart, then I've still got a heart
Can you imagine that?
"Another wasted day", yes I can hear you say
But I'm afraid, it means much more to me than that
The Wedding Present's song "Go Out and Get 'em Boy!" details the life of a young man who sets out to conquer the world but ultimately realizes the consequences of his actions. The opening verse describes the main character as a survivor who has accomplished a lot at a young age, and the verses that follow describe his desire to explore the world and make the most of his youth.
The chorus repeats the line "there's a whole world out there but it's shrinking fast," suggesting that the character believes that he needs to act quickly to make the most of his life before it's too late. He wants to "take it all and make it last forever or maybe just a lifetime." However, the song also implies that there are consequences to his actions, as he often leaves behind people or places as he searches for something new.
The final verse of the song takes a melancholic turn, as the main character is unable to return to his former life, represented by the "golden field" and the "little girl" with a union jack. The song suggests that there is a price to pay for pursuing one's dreams, and that some losses are irreversible.
Overall, "Go Out and Get 'em Boy!" is a cautionary tale about the risks and rewards of chasing one's dreams. It encourages the listener to pursue their passions, but also acknowledges that there may be sacrifices and consequences along the way.
Line by Line Meaning
You were a survivor after all
You made it through everything in the end
You never even called (I didn't expect you to)
You didn't reach out (and I was prepared for that)
Now, there's such a lot you've done
You've accomplished so much
And you're only twenty-one (yes, you're only twenty-one)
And you've barely started your life
Oh, there's just something; something I noticed
There's a feeling I can't ignore
That there's a whole world out there but it's shrinking fast
The possibilities are getting fewer
You want to take it all and make it last forever
You want to savor everything
Or maybe just a lifetime
Or at least until your time is up
Now you've gone to fly the flag
Now you've embarked on your journey
From some pinprick on the map (won't you ever bring it back)
From a small corner of the world (will you ever come home)
Tonight, when you hold her in your arms
When you embrace your love interest tonight
And you prove that you're a man (oh well, I hope she understands)
And you show how capable you are (I hope she sees it)
And some things just don't ever go away
Some things are permanent fixtures in life
Some things you know are just here to stay
Some things will never leave you
And in a golden field there is a little girl
In a beautiful landscape there is someone precious
Left with a union jack
Given a symbol of the culture you represent
And there's a price to pay, no matter what you say
There are always consequences, despite what you argue
There is no going back today
You can't change what's already happened
And if we're worlds apart, then I've still got a heart
Even if we're distant, I still have feelings
Can you imagine that?
Can you fathom that idea?
"Another wasted day", yes I can hear you say
I can hear you criticize this as another pointless day
But I'm afraid, it means much more to me than that
But I'm scared it has more significance to me than that
Contributed by Nathan P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.