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
No
The Wedding Present Lyrics
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Oh I know that you're at home
I'm really past caring how you think
I just want to know about him
And you're so right, they don't miss a thing round here
And how do you think I feel?
Oh you can try but you're not getting out that way
You're just as much to blame
And you've told him to go
And if you're as sorry as you say
Why didn't you just say no?
It's strange that this room's so different now
Oh I didn't come to row
It's just this razor, he's left it on your shelf
I'll throw it out myself
And if it didn't mean a thing
And you've told him to go
And if you're as sorry as you say
Why didn't you just say no?
The Wedding Present's "No" is a song that speaks about a person who is frustrated and hurt by their partner's infidelity. The song begins with the persona wondering why their partner refuses to answer the telephone despite being aware that they are at home. The persona is then uninterested in how their partner perceives them; all they want to know is the truth about their infidelity. The persona also acknowledges the small size of their community, noting that everyone knows what is happening, but nobody is talking about it. The persona then wonders how their partner thinks they feel about the situation.
The chorus of the song is an admonishment of sorts, asking why their partner didn't just say "no" to the advances of the person they cheated with. The persona notes that if it had not meant anything, their partner would have sent the other person away, and if they were indeed sorry, they should have said no. The song's bridge is a moment of realization. The singer notes that the room they are in is different now, possibly because of the infidelity, but they did not come to argue. Instead, they notice that the other person's razor is on the shelf and decides to throw it out.
The song's depiction of infidelity is an emotional journey that makes it relatable to anyone who has been through a similar situation. The song represents the feeling of betrayal that arises from being cheated on, the confusion that comes with trying to understand what happened, and the anger that arises when one realizes that their partner could have said "no" but didn't. It is also a reminder that relationships are not just about the two individuals involved, but the larger community surrounding them.
Line by Line Meaning
Why can't you pick up the telephone?
Why aren't you answering my calls?
Oh I know that you're at home
I'm aware that you're present, but you're avoiding me.
I'm really past caring how you think
I no longer care about your opinion or feelings.
I just want to know about him
I want information about the person you're involved with.
And you're so right, they don't miss a thing round here
You're correct, people around here are observant and nosy.
And how do you think I feel?
Do you have any idea how hurt and betrayed I am?
Oh you can try but you're not getting out that way
You can attempt to avoid my questions, but it won't work.
You're just as much to blame
You're equally responsible for this situation.
And if it didn't mean a thing
If your relationship with him didn't hold any significance,
And you've told him to go
And you've put an end to your relationship with him,
And if you're as sorry as you say
And if you truly regret what happened,
Why didn't you just say no?
Why didn't you reject his advances in the first place?
It's strange that this room's so different now
It's odd how the atmosphere of this room has changed.
Oh I didn't come to row
I didn't come here to argue or fight.
It's just this razor, he's left it on your shelf
I noticed the razor he left on your shelf.
I'll throw it out myself
I'll dispose of it on my own.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: LOUDON WAINWRIGHT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind