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
What Did Your Last Servant Die Of
The Wedding Present Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Well I think I'm being used again, let me open it & see
That's not what I wanted to hear
There's a time and place for everything & that time is coming near
Do you have to spend so much time on your hair?
Well couldn't you started earlier? Of course you've got things to wear!
No, I didn't pick up your coat on the way
Some of us have to work you know, have you been sitting there all day?
After all that I have done for you
The Wedding Present's "What Did Your Last Servant Die Of?" is a passionate and melancholic song that speaks to the frustrations and disappointments that come with being in a relationship. From the very first lines, the song communicates a sense of betrayal and suspicion, with the singer questioning whether their partner is hiding something from them. The opening lines, "Is that a letter you're hiding from me? Well I think I'm being used again, let me open it & see" set the tone for the rest of the song, which is filled with accusations, regrets, and frustration.
At its core, "What Did Your Last Servant Die Of?" seems to be about the difficulties of communication and the breakdown of trust in a relationship. The singer feels like they have been wronged or taken advantage of by their partner, and they are struggling to process these feelings. The lines "All that I've done for you, After all that I have done for you" suggest that the singer has been hurt in some way, and they are trying to come to terms with the fact that their efforts have not been reciprocated.
Overall, "What Did Your Last Servant Die Of?" offers a poignant and emotionally resonant look at the complexities of love and relationships. The song's bittersweet lyrics and passionate vocals make it a standout track from The Wedding Present's discography.
Line by Line Meaning
Is that a letter you're hiding from me?
I suspect you are keeping a letter from me. Can you hand it over?
Well I think I'm being used again, let me open it & see
I feel as if you're manipulating me yet again. Can I please look at the letter?
That's not what I wanted to hear
I received some unpleasant news from the letter that I saw.
There's a time and place for everything & that time is coming near
Every action has its appropriate time and place. And it will come soon.
Do you have to spend so much time on your hair?
Do you really need to allocate that much time to your hair?
Well couldn't you started earlier? Of course you've got things to wear!
Perhaps you should have started preparing earlier. And I'm sure you have enough clothes to wear.
No, I didn't pick up your coat on the way
I did not have the opportunity to collect your coat on my way here.
Some of us have to work you know, have you been sitting there all day?
I have a job to do, you ought to know. Have you been sitting around here all day?
All that I've done for you
I've gone above and beyond for you numerous times in the past
After all that I have done for you
Despite all the favors I've done for you, you continue to ask for more.
Lyrics © A SIDE MUSIC LLC D/B/A MODERN WORKS MUSIC PUBLISHING, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: DAVID GEDGE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Luke George
How have one band written so many great riffs?
blackmore4
Oh come on. I'm glad you like them but those riffs aren't exactly genius.
pop
Semi legendary
Peter E
Gedge genius!
Peter E
Gedge genius!
Disco/Secret
Legends
Andy Gregory
Been watching the Weddoes since 1989 and still are !! Top band, and Gedge is a top bloke !!
Peter E
Gedge certainly is. I mailed him that I could not see him in Brighton and he wrote back with a really decent reply. If you know the wedding Present you'll surely know about David and Peter's Ukrainian connections in West Yorkshire.
Long Live Ukraine!
Nobby Nolevel
We used to lie there listening to this (pissed up as students with our massive headphones on in The Halls in the '80s) wondering just exactly what the lyrics were. Not what they were about....just what they were.
Bradley Clarke
And as this beautiful colidascope of guitatrs continues are you ready for more more Wedding Press news? Keep listenin Weds