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).
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Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
The Wedding Present Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've tried and tried and tried to think it through
Oh, I heard what you said, I'm just not answering
I guess I'm scared of what I'll have to do
Because you know that I'll come running to you, when you call
You know I'll come whatever you've got planned
You know you mix me up, I can't think straight at all
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
You've hypnotised me with those crazy eyes of yours
You've cracked me open like a coconut
You've got me crawlin' round and round you on all fours
My head tells me I shouldn't be here but my heart says "yeah!"
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
I want you now, let's just take it all the way
I don't care how, I'll do anything you say
I want you now, let's just take it all the way
I don't care how, I'll do anything you say
And how on earth did I get myself into this?
And how much stranger is it going to get?
And how do you hold me prisoner with just a kiss?
My head tells me I shouldn't be here yet my heart says "yeah!"
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
My heart says "yeah!"
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yes yes yes yes yes
The Wedding Present's song Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah is a powerful and charged song that explores the conflict between the heart and the head when it comes to making decisions about love. The singer seems to have fallen under the spell of someone who has brought out a raw and inexplicable desire in them. They are caught between their instincts and their intellect and can't seem to make a clear-headed decision about whether to pursue this person or not. The lyrics convey a sense of frustration as the singer struggles with their own emotions, flipping back and forth between "yeah!" and "my head tells me I shouldn't be here."
The song opens with the singer expressing disbelief at the situation they find themselves in, suggesting that they have been caught off guard and are surprised by the force of their feelings. They acknowledge that they have tried to think things through logically, but find themselves unable to resist this person's pull. The repetition of "yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah" throughout the song emphasizes the singer's confusion and inner turmoil, as they struggle to come to terms with their own desires.
The second verse further emphasizes the singer's disorientation, as they describe feeling hypnotized and helpless in the face of this person's power over them. They feel exposed and vulnerable, crawling on all fours and letting this person lead them wherever they want to go. The bridge then brings the singer's dilemma into sharp focus, as they ask themselves how they got into this situation and how much stranger things will get. The power of physical attraction is highlighted as the singer admits to being held prisoner by just a kiss.
Overall, Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah is a song that explores the intense emotions and competing impulses that come with falling in love. It captures the tension between our instincts and our rational minds, and how difficult it can be to reconcile the two. Through its powerful repetition and charged lyrics, the song conveys the raw and chaotic nature of desire, and the way it can throw our lives into turmoil.
Line by Line Meaning
I really don't believe that this is happening
I can't believe this is actually happening
I've tried and tried and tried to think it through
I've thought about it a lot but haven't come up with an answer
Oh, I heard what you said, I'm just not answering
I heard you but I'm not responding
I guess I'm scared of what I'll have to do
I'm afraid of what I'll have to face
Because you know that I'll come running to you, when you call
I always come to you when you need me
You know I'll come whatever you've got planned
I'll be there no matter what you have in mind
You know you mix me up, I can't think straight at all
You confuse me and I can't think clearly
My head tells me I shouldn't be here and my heart says "yeah!"
I know I shouldn't be here, but I can't help but feel excited about it
You've hypnotised me with those crazy eyes of yours
Your eyes are so captivating that I feel hypnotized
You've cracked me open like a coconut
You've broken down my defenses
You've got me crawlin' round and round you on all fours
You have me wrapped around your finger
I want you now, let's just take it all the way
I want to be with you completely
I don't care how, I'll do anything you say
I'll do whatever it takes to be with you
And how on earth did I get myself into this?
How did I end up in this situation?
And how much stranger is it going to get?
How much weirder will things become?
And how do you hold me prisoner with just a kiss?
How can a kiss have so much power over me?
My heart says "yeah!"
I'm drawn to you even though it may not be the best decision
Yes yes yes yes yes
I'm fully committed to being with you
Contributed by Landon W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Craig Lammes
I remember I bought this CD, flopped down on a couch and listened to it over and over for hours (remember when we used to do that?) The whole album is mesmerizing.
Lindsey McKirdy
Unfortunately I’m a vinyl dinosaur so I can only lay my lazy carcass on the sofa for about 20 mins until I need to flip the disc
Al least it relieves my pressure areas .....I suppose
Chuck Abbate
Yes it is. I remember them performing this on Conan Obrien!
Craig Sangster
Indie at it’s best, remember first hearing JohnPeel raving about them and been hooked every since. Gedge and the lads should be recognised as indie pioneers.
Cristian Murati
Very cool song. 👍🏻
Uncool Dispatch
i love this song
Edward Bartlett
Never seen this before, it's ace!
Jfergs.
Great song, and a top vid. Loved the Man from Uncle when i was a kid. And the merch, the triangly badge, gun, an everything :)
Chuck Abbate
A season of romantic treachery in my life and this was the fucking soundtrack.
Megan Louise
Gedge looks so young! Wow. Probably their most commercial song, but I love pop so it's cool with me.