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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Let Him Have It
The Wedding Present Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Give it to him
Give it to him
Give it to him
I don't want it
I don't need it
I don't really care enough about it
I don't need it
I don't really care enough about it
The light is getting dim
Give it to him
Give it to him
Give it to him
Give it to him
You don't want me
You don't need me
You don't really care enough about me
You don't want me
You don't need me
You don't really care enough about me
The light is getting dim
Give it to him
Give it to him
Give it to him
Give it to him
I don't want it
I don't need it
I don't really care enough about it
I don't want it
I don't need it
I don't really care enough about it
The light is getting dim, give it to him
The light is getting dim
Give it to him
Give it to him
Give it to him
Give it to him
The lyrics of The Wedding Present's song "Let Him Have It" seem to be about a situation where someone is giving up on something they previously cared about. The repeated phrase "give it to him" could be interpreted as a metaphor for handing over control or ownership of this thing to someone else, essentially saying "I don't want it, you take it." The lyrics also mention the "light getting dim," which could be a metaphor for a loss of passion or inspiration. The repetition of the phrases "I don't want it/I don't need it/I don't really care enough about it" emphasizes this sense of apathy or detachment.
The song's tone is somewhat melancholic, which gives the impression that this decision to give up on something may not be a happy one. However, the repetition of the phrase "give it to him" also gives a sense of resolution or acceptance, as though the singer has made peace with their decision and is ready to move on.
One interesting interpretation of the song is that it could be about the end of a romantic relationship, with "him" representing the singer's partner. The repeated phrases "you don't want me/you don't need me/you don't really care enough about me" could reflect feelings of rejection or isolation. Alternatively, the song could be about a creative pursuit or personal project that the singer has lost interest in.
Overall, "Let Him Have It" is a somber yet subtle song that explores themes of apathy, loss, and surrender. The repeated refrain and minimalistic instrumentation give the lyrics room to breathe and allow the listener to immerse themselves in the song's reflective, introspective mood.
Line by Line Meaning
Give it to him
The singer urges someone to give something to another person. It is left unclear what exactly it is that should be given.
I don't want it
The singer claims not to want something, which may be the thing that they urge to be given away later in the song.
I don't need it
The singer claims not to need the thing in question. This repetition emphasizes that the singer truly has no use for it.
I don't really care enough about it
The artist explains that the reason they don't want or need the thing is because they don't care about it very much. It doesn't hold any importance or value to them.
You don't want me
The artist calls out someone else for not wanting them, which could suggest a romantic relationship that has soured or a general feeling of being unwanted and unappreciated.
You don't need me
The singer feels unwanted and unneeded by someone else. It reinforces the idea that the singer doesn't see the value in themselves or the thing they're giving away.
You don't really care enough about me
The singer thinks the other person in question doesn't care about them very much, which could be a source of pain and hurt for the singer.
The light is getting dim
This line acts as a metaphor for the end of something or the fading away of something important. It could refer to a relationship, a life, or a personal sense of purpose.
Contributed by Mateo H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.