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
Spider-Man On Hollywood
The Wedding Present Lyrics
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I thought I saw a supermodel but she had hair where I don't think she should
Yes, things can be a parody of what they first appear to be
I thought I saw a flying saucer last night but of course it was just an aeroplane
I thought I saw Winona Ryder but my eyes were playing tricks again
Some things look wonderful but then they're different when you look again
You've looked like my girl for so long that I thought you would always be beside me
But I'd be the first to admit I was wrong
I thought I saw a shooting star but it was just another satellite
I thought I knew exactly who you are but I didn't even get that right
And now that you're about to leave I'm feeling quite naive
And that's what's so funny, honey
You've looked like my girl for so long that I thought you would always be beside me
But I'd be the first to admit I was wrong
And that's what's so funny, honey
You've looked like my girl for so long that I thought you would always be beside me
But I'd be the first to admit (I know when I should quit!) I am wrong
The Wedding Present's "Spider-Man on Hollywood" is a song about the deceptive nature of appearances. The lyrics provide a series of examples where things are not what they seem, such as mistaking Spider-Man for a superhero or thinking an airplane is a flying saucer. The chorus is a reflection on the singer's relationship, where his perception of his partner was distorted by his own beliefs and assumptions.
The first two verses set up the theme of the song, which is that appearances can be deceiving. The singer thinks he sees a superhero and a supermodel, but in reality, they are just Spider-Man and a woman with hair in an unconventional place. The second two verses apply this idea to the singer's own life, as he realizes that he didn't know his partner as well as he thought he did.
The chorus repeats the idea that the singer's perception of his partner was wrong all along. He thought he knew her well, but in reality, he was mistaken. The final line, "I know when I should quit!", suggests that the singer has learned his lesson and won't make the same mistake again.
Overall, "Spider-Man on Hollywood" is a commentary on the fallibility of human perception and the dangers of assuming too much. It's a reminder that things are not always what they seem and that it's important to approach life and relationships with an open mind.
Line by Line Meaning
I thought I saw a superhero but it was just Spider-Man on Hollywood
Things can often look like something they're not at first glance
I thought I saw a supermodel but she had hair where I don't think she should
Appearances can be deceiving, and things that look perfect may not be what they seem
Yes, things can be a parody of what they first appear to be
The world can seem like a twisted, exaggerated version of what we think it is
I thought I saw a flying saucer last night but of course it was just an aeroplane
Sometimes we mistake one thing for another, only to realize our mistake later
I thought I saw Winona Ryder but my eyes were playing tricks again
Illusions and trickery can often make us believe something false
Some things look wonderful but then they're different when you look again
Initial beauty can fade away with time or a closer inspection
And that's what's so funny, honey / You've looked like my girl for so long that I thought you would always be beside me / But I'd be the first to admit I was wrong
The irony of the situation is not lost on me - you seemed like the perfect fit, but it turns out I was mistaken
I thought I saw a shooting star but it was just another satellite
Our expectations can get the best of us - sometimes what we hope for doesn't come true
I thought I knew exactly who you are but I didn't even get that right
People can surprise us and be different from what we expected
And now that you're about to leave I'm feeling quite naive
Realizing your assumptions were wrong can make you feel foolish and inexperienced
But I'd be the first to admit (I know when I should quit!) I am wrong
Admitting when you're wrong takes strength and maturity
Contributed by Alyssa N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.