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
Soup
The Wedding Present Lyrics
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He can't believe that they've just wasted another hour talking
He pours more wine into her cup and together they watch the sun come up
And then he says: "I'll love you if you'll let me"
And she says: "But, baby, you've only just met me!"
Touching, laughing, flirting, dreaming
But, inside, there's a voice that's screaming
No soup for you, no soup for you
No soup for you, no soup for you
No soup for you, no soup for you
No soup for you, no soup for you
He says: "Don't wake up, but I have to be somewhere else today"
And, still wearing make-up, she watches as he walks away
And, although he's managed to enthral her, she already knows that he will never call her
No soup for you, no soup for you
No soup for you, no soup for you
No soup for you, no soup for you
No soup for you, no soup for you
The Wedding Present's "Soup" is a bittersweet tune that tells the story of two people who meet and share an evening of wine and conversation, but, ultimately, will never see each other again. The opening lines paint a picture of a couple drinking late into the night, with the man pouring another glass of wine for the woman. Despite their obvious attraction and chemistry, the woman is wary of the man's quick confessions of love, noting that they have only just met. They spend the rest of the evening flirting and laughing, but the song's chorus, "No soup for you," suggests that their relationship is destined to end before it can begin.
But what does the phrase "no soup for you" mean in this context? The phrase is a reference to a famous episode of the television show Seinfeld, in which a gruff soup vendor refuses to serve the main character, played by Jerry Seinfeld, with the now-iconic phrase "no soup for you!" In the context of "Soup," the repeated chorus echoes the sense of disappointment and frustration that the two characters feel, knowing that they will never be able to have a full, satisfying relationship with each other.
The song's final verse reveals that the man is leaving the woman to pursue other obligations. Even though the woman is still hopeful that he will call her, the song's title and chorus suggest that this too will be a disappointment. Ultimately, "Soup" is a melancholy lament for missed chances and unfulfilled romantic potential.
Line by Line Meaning
She can't believe that's the fourth bottle he's uncorking
The woman is shocked that the man has opened four bottles of wine already.
He can't believe that they've just wasted another hour talking
The man is frustrated that they've spent so much time talking without any progress.
He pours more wine into her cup and together they watch the sun come up
He refills the woman's cup with wine as they sit and watch the sun rise together.
And then he says: "I'll love you if you'll let me"
The man expresses his love for the woman, but with a condition.
And she says: "But, baby, you've only just met me!"
The woman is surprised that the man has declared his love so soon.
Touching, laughing, flirting, dreaming
They are physically and emotionally engaged with each other.
But, inside, there's a voice that's screaming
However, deep down, they both have doubts and fears about the relationship.
No soup for you, no soup for you
This phrase is repeated as a metaphor for the relationship – they won't be getting what they want out of it.
He says: "Don't wake up, but I have to be somewhere else today"
The man has to leave without waking the woman.
And, still wearing make-up, she watches as he walks away
The woman is left behind, still wearing the makeup from the night before.
And, although he's managed to enthral her, she already knows that he will never call her
Despite being charmed by him, the woman knows that he will not follow through with any promises.
Contributed by Riley T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.