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
Granadaland
The Wedding Present Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh I think I'd be more angry
If your answers weren't so daft!
Oh you know I could
But do you really think I would?
When you go up to Granadaland on Sundays
Sally told me that you're practically kissing his feet
Oh, but he hasn't got a car
And a friend in need
Is a pest indeed
When she uses everybody in the way that you do
You know you're breaking my heart
I can't bear the thought of us being apart
You know you're breaking my heart
I can't bear the thought of us being apart
Maybe I'll see you tomorrow if you can spare me the time
Oh no, of course I didn't mean it
I still keep hoping you'll be changing your mind
Okay your choice is clear
But, please, anywhere but here
And stop trying to tell me that you know how I feel
You know you're breaking my heart
I can't bear the thought of us being apart
You know you're breaking my heart
I can't bear the thought of us being apart
In this song, "Granadaland," The Wedding Present sings about a relationship that is falling apart due to the girl's manipulative and self-serving behavior. The singer is frustrated and hurt by the way his partner uses everyone around her, including him, in order to get what she wants. He can see right through her lies and excuses, and knows that she is not being honest about her feelings or intentions.
The reference to "Granadaland" is a nod to the Granada Television studios in Manchester where many TV shows were filmed including Coronation Street, but also serves as a metaphor for the girl's desire for fame and success. She will do whatever it takes to get ahead, even if it means using and hurting the people she claims to care about.
The singer pleads with her to be honest about her intentions and to stop stringing him along. He knows that their relationship is doomed, but he still loves her and can't bear the thought of being apart from her. The lyrics are full of heartbreak and frustration, but also reveal the singer's deep love and devotion to the girl, even though she doesn't deserve it.
Line by Line Meaning
Can't you come up with something better than that?
I'm disappointed with your lack of effort and creativity.
Oh I think I'd be more angry
I'm actually more hurt than angry with you.
If your answers weren't so daft!
Your responses are so foolish that they're almost comical.
Oh you know I could
I have the ability to come up with something better than that.
But do you really think I would?
However, I'm not willing to waste my time on you anymore.
When you go up to Granadaland on Sundays
On Sundays, when you go to Granadaland,
Sally told me that you're practically kissing his feet
Sally informed me that you are highly praising and flattering him.
Oh, but he hasn't got a car
Even though he doesn't have a car.
And so your list of names brought you to me
You turned to me because I was the next person on your list to use for your own benefit.
And a friend in need
You only consider me a friend when you need something from me.
Is a pest indeed
Your constant demands and requests are becoming irritating and bothersome.
When she uses everybody in the way that you do
You take advantage of and manipulate everyone around you.
You know you're breaking my heart
Your actions are causing me emotional pain and distress.
I can't bear the thought of us being apart
The idea of losing our relationship is unbearable to me.
Maybe I'll see you tomorrow if you can spare me the time
If you're willing to make the effort, I might be willing to see you again tomorrow.
Oh no, of course I didn't mean it
I'm not actually interested in seeing you tomorrow.
I still keep hoping you'll be changing your mind
I'm still holding onto the hope that you will change your ways and treat me better.
Okay your choice is clear
The decision is up to you, and it's clear what you've chosen.
But, please, anywhere but here
I don't want to be involved in your manipulative games anymore, so please go elsewhere.
And stop trying to tell me that you know how I feel
You can't possibly know how I feel, so stop pretending like you do.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: DAVID GEDGE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Peter Gisbey
Another classic song from a classic album by a classic band - shine on forever, Wedding Presnt!
Amy Lou
Epic. And from blokes from Yorkshire to praise Lancashire well...
Ulises Avath
THE WEDDING PRESENT :) Program Radio in Mexico city El Arte de los Ruidos
Jorge De Bracamonte
Los últimos dos minutos de este track me dejan sin aliento
Ulises Mendoza
si on