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
Step into Christmas
The Wedding Present Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We could walk together
We could step into the sun
Shooting stars are multiplying
New worlds have just begun
Yeah, we could take forever
We could step into the sun
And who knows what tomorrow's gonna bring
And our time will surely come
Like fireflies returning
To the star we all came from
Yeah, we could be forever
We could step into the sun
We could step into the sun
We could step into the sun
We could step into the sun
We could step into the sun
The earth is shining blue below us
And two become as one
Yeah, we could live forever
We could step into the sun
And all before ships enter sea
A prize so beautiful
We could step into the sun
We could step into the sun
We could step into the sun
We could step into the sun
We could step into the sun
We could step into the sun
We could step into the sun
We could step into the sun
We could step into the sun
In "Step Into Christmas," The Wedding Present invites the listener to take a step away from everything, to walk together with someone and step into the sun. The song talks about the limitless possibilities that lie ahead, how shooting stars are multiplying, and new worlds have begun. The lyrics suggest that we should soak up every moment, for we don't know what tomorrow will bring. The song also talks about fireflies returning to the star we all came from, suggesting that if we seize the moment, we could be forever, we could step into the sun.
The song could be seen as a call to life, a call to live in the present, and make the most of every single moment. The lyrics suggest that time is fleeting, and it's up to us to make the most of it. The song talks about two people becoming one, of living forever, stepping into the sun, and experiencing all the wonder and beauty that life has to offer.
In summary, "Step into Christmas" is a song about seizing the moment, living life to the fullest, and experiencing all the wonder and beauty that life has to offer. The song is a reminder that time is fleeting and that it's up to us to make the most of it.
Line by Line Meaning
Take one step from everything
Let's leave behind all our worries and troubles and take a step into a new adventure.
We could walk together
We can go through this new journey holding hands and supporting each other.
We could step into the sun
We can step into a brighter future, leaving behind the things that bring darkness into our lives.
Shooting stars are multiplying
Our opportunities and chances are increasing and multiplying, just like the shooting stars in the sky.
New worlds have just begun
We can explore and discover new things, new experiences and new worlds, as our journey has just begun.
Yeah, we could take forever
We can take all the time we need, we can enjoy every moment, and we can spend eternity together.
And who knows what tomorrow's gonna bring
No one knows what the future holds, so we should embrace every opportunity and enjoy each moment as it comes.
Just soak up every minute
We should appreciate and savor every moment, and make the most of our time together.
And our time will surely come
Our time for happiness and success will come, we just need to be patient and keep moving forward.
Like fireflies returning
Just like fireflies return to the place of their origin, we can return to a place where we feel safe, loved and happy.
To the star we all came from
We can return to the place where we belong, to the people who have always been there for us and who love us unconditionally.
The earth is shining blue below us
As we embark on our new journey, we can look down at the beautiful blue Earth shining beneath us.
And two become as one
Together, we are stronger, and we can achieve anything we set our minds to as a united team.
And all before ships enter sea
We can conquer all our challenges and obstacles even before the ships leave the harbor.
A prize so beautiful
The end result, our journey's final destination, will be worth all the effort, and we will be rewarded with something so beautiful.
We could step into the sun
Let's take the risk, take that leap of faith and step into the unknown, into a brighter future, together.
We could step into the sun
We can leave behind our past, our fears, and step into the light of a new beginning.
We could step into the sun
We can embrace and enjoy all the joys that life has to offer, and bask in its warmth and happiness.
We could step into the sun
Together, we can walk into our future, into a place of hope, love and endless possibilities.
We could step into the sun
Let's be bold, let's be adventurous, let's step into the center of the universe, our own personal sun, and shine brightly together.
We could step into the sun
The sun is a symbol of vitality, energy and strength, and we can step into it embodying all of those values and qualities.
We could step into the sun
Let's take that giant step into the path of our future, and we can bask in the warmth of our love and hope forevermore.
Writer(s): Elton John, Bernie Taupin Copyright: Big Pig Music Ltd., Dick James Music Ltd.
Contributed by Kaelyn G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
nogomet66
It's that time of year again...Briliant version of a classic. Dave and th boys are heroes. Happy Christmas. xx
reshaping channel
epic tune
Living Alpujarras
Great never knew they did this
KeithMoonLives4Ever
I have a friend and she's a wonrous friend , she is miraculous and she be cool too , she's the kind of gurl the stones wrote a song about ... gurls like her . she is as they sang : She's a rainbow , coming colours everywhere ... or as mad richard and the wiggans sang also : She's a superstar ... seventh sun ... but to me , she is my xmas ... my merry little reminder ... of all good things around and the fact that the little baby jesus oversees us all . i love you w. merry xmas , j c .
DickThornburg
Gedge = God (Don't tell Hitchens.)
Nigel Langridge
Yes yes yes!
Roy Fearon
Indeed. Lets not get confused. 😇