Classics Or Duds: The Wedding Present

classic, even before watusi.

i like Watusi. have only heard a few other songs. i think i'll hit slsk and get 'my favorite dress' right now..

so then, more classic than dud.

haha. wish i could recommend somewhere to go for ya, with this band, before watusi. . . in retrospect, they're actually kind of a difficult band. most of their songs and albums, you gotta hear a good few times before you can get anywhere with them. it's not that they're growers or whatever. it's just that, in retrospect, they made plain pop/rock music that had to be made during the late 80s/early 90s. i mean, it takes an appreciation of that idea to get into some of it, or. . . being v. deep into shambling junk.

i just mean, they did what had to be done. if you call it rockism, then you're a rockist (it's not so black and white!).

i can't explain this band. you just gotta hear "everyone thinks he looks daft" and "carolyn" and yeah. piss ya.

gedge is god.

the wedding present RULE.

that is all.

classic, even before watusi.

having lived in leeds during their glory days, i naturally rebelled against the grain, and hated them while my mates saw them live every other week.
je ne regrette rien

Yeah, I can understand that, especially since you would have had the March Violets and Chumbawamba as an alternative ;)

ha. luckily there was The Three Johns, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, and of course Age of Chance to help me through those dark dark days.

them while my mates saw them live every other week

surely "while my mates took turn on bass and drums every other week"?

(actually, the early days were probably the most stable the line-up's ever been. hey ho.)

Is the first ever use of Classic or Dud on ILX?

I thought it was the Beatles one.

IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WEDDING PRESENT.

GEDGE IS GOD.

etc.

Anyone else going to see one of the George Best anniversary gigs?

Watusi is a really good album.

"Classics or Duds"

bit like seeing a picture of The Goons w/ Michael Bentine.

Anyone else going to see one of the George Best anniversary gigs?

i didn't think i'd be able to make the glasgow one, but now it looks like i might. need to actually make a decision.

anyway: when did you drop the "s"?

I never had a 's', it's always been Grout.

IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WEDDING PRESENT.

Not Orange Juice? Blue Boy, Felicity etc are the clear templates for the Weddoes first couple of years. "Tommy" sounds like some kind of grim version of OJ to me.

Josef K another obvious precursor.

Not to mention the Lost Pandas

i wasn't being entirely serious.

(although gedge is god.)

_Seamonsters_ still remains the best through and through thing they ever did, but I'm obsessed enough to get things like the American-only compilation of singles and tracks and things from 1989 to 1991

-- Ned Raggett, Monday, September 4, 2000 12:00 AM (7 years ago) Bookmark Link

yes! the Singles 1989-1991 compilation, especially the first disc, is my favorite Weddoes to play these days, bar none, though i like everything up to (and including) Watusi pretty well.

And lest us not forget : The only band to have 12 brand new hits in one year! Take that, Elvis Presley!

For every Seamonsters there's a Mini; for every 'Fleshworld' there's a dodgy cover-version.

-- alex thomson, Monday, September 4, 2000 12:00 AM (7 years ago) Bookmark Link

you can't be serious! a few of those Hit Parade singles were actually improvements on the originals, and the rest not bad at all -- and Mini is fucking great, too!

(although gedge is god.)

I don't understand the human race sometimes

xpost

"mini" is about the only thing of theirs i don't have. you're right about the covers, certainly: their version of "falling" is absolutely staggering. proto-isis post-metal wonder.

heheheh, though: alext and i listened to a lot of weddoes in the mid to late 1990s.

I think all of Mini is on the second singles comp (1995-1997 or something)

but I'm obsessed enough to get things like the American-only compilation of singles and tracks and things from 1989 to 1991

Oh that was from 7 years ago. Fuck it anyway.

If God is a grim northerner mumbling a monologue through clenched teeth about not getting shagged then please direct me to the Bathory section.

is there any album with a similar lyrical concept as Seamonsters?

could someone point me there? thanks.

Is there going to be a fancy 2-CD anniversary issue of _George Best_?

is there any album with a similar lyrical concept as Seamonsters?

elucidate slightly?

i had a 40-something tech teacher who loved them. which was weird 'cause most of those guys just listened to genesis or whatever.

Seamonsters has become my favourite Wedding Present album. back in the day i would've said Bizarro no question. i don't think i like Bizarro any less, but i have definitely come to appreciate Seamonsters more. there's a sinister edge to it that doesn't feature on their other records and doesn't really seem appropriate for the band, except that it works so well in practice.

is there any album with a similar lyrical concept as Seamonsters?

Not sure what this means exactly, but, probably because it was released around the same time and all that, I've always thought of Rid of Me being Seamonsters' sister album. Especially as ROM's title track and "Dalliance" pull the same slow-burn/explode trick. Both recorded by Steve Albini, of course, but even so, they seem to have been on the same page, sharing the same intensity.

ooooh i like that comparison, i definitely see the resemblance. hadn't thought of that before!

Damnit why didn't someone TELL me they'd covered Gang of Four's "I Found That Essence Rare"??? Why didn't someone tell me???

Love to see Ewing's explanatory thread start.

Dr C!!

Now this one's a no-brainer. Dud, dud, dud. Hopeless. Why? For a start they released too much stuff and Gedge was clearly too much in love with the idea of making records to bother with the tiresome detail of you know, putting a decent band together, sounding good, or having something to say - all that irksome stuff. He always struck me as the kind of guy who kept press clippings of all their reviews and had a spare room with all 'the Weddoes' back catalogue carefully archived in dust-proof sleeves. Is he really like that? I don't know or care. The fact is that his records conjour up that image and I hate it. No sex, no spontaneity, no rock n'roll. And a tinny half-arsed guitar sound.... and no rhythm.

The words - oh my! If you're a sad inadequate, Gedge, then face up to it with some wit and perspective. Don't just whine. No-one gives a shit. The song titles - northern bluntness? new realism? Wonder where they got that idea eh? Just across the Pennines I reckon. They happened to be around at just the right time to pick up on the Smiths audience after their demise - that is, those Smiths fans who were too stupid to walk away from this crap. The worst gig I ever saw in my life was the Wedding Present/Flatmates/Close Lobsters at Kentish Town in about 1988. All three bands clueless as hell. Clunkers all.
― Dr. C, Wednesday, 20 December 2000

You're a great man, Dr C !!!

And yet, we went to see them just after they'd done their "12 hits in one year" singles box set / club etc.. and they were great.

They came on just as we were discussing their hits total, when my g/f says "They have to start with "Kennedy" though.

Immediately: "dangdangdangd'd'd'dangdangdangd'd'd'CHANGGGGGLost yr love of life?..."

Best start to a gig ever..

I am not convinced that this band ever had any hits.

i am not convinced by anyone who dismisses this band out of hand.

Now this one's a no-brainer. Dud, dud, dud. Hopeless. Why? For a start they released too much stuff and Gedge was clearly too much in love with the idea of making records to bother with the tiresome detail of you know, putting a decent band together, sounding good, or having something to say - all that irksome stuff. He always struck me as the kind of guy who kept press clippings of all their reviews and had a spare room with all 'the Weddoes' back catalogue carefully archived in dust-proof sleeves. Is he really like that? I don't know or care. The fact is that his records conjour up that image and I hate it. No sex, no spontaneity, no rock n'roll. And a tinny half-arsed guitar sound.... and no rhythm.

The words - oh my! If you're a sad inadequate, Gedge, then face up to it with some wit and perspective. Don't just whine. No-one gives a shit. The song titles - northern bluntness? new realism? Wonder where they got that idea eh? Just across the Pennines I reckon. They happened to be around at just the right time to pick up on the Smiths audience after their demise - that is, those Smiths fans who were too stupid to walk away from this crap. The worst gig I ever saw in my life was the Wedding Present/Flatmates/Close Lobsters at Kentish Town in about 1988. All three bands clueless as hell. Clunkers all.
― Dr. C, Wednesday, 20 December 2000

i'm sorry, i genuinely have no idea what point you're trying to prove, other than that you know nothing about this band and have no original thoughts about them. i know what dr c thinks; i also think it's odd to base a dismissal of a band on what they were doing 20 years ago, but hey.

Just got home from seeing them play in Vienna..

First time i'd seem them in 15 years and wasn't disppointed.

Played a few handful of songs from the (disappointing) new album, and a whole load of classics from their back catalogue - even playing their cover version of "Going nowhere fast".

The new band sounded every bit as good as I remember the 'old' one.

And they still don't play encores which confused quite a lot of the audience...

Great stuff!

The Peel Session version of "Take Me I'm Yours" gives me chills all over and puts a tear in my eye.

Absolutely classic.

I have not always listened to the Wedding Present all that intensely or often, but each time I have, I've enjoyed it greatly.

A dear friend of mine is their bassist.

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs060.snc3/14766_200805611934_10748026934_3224507_3610603_n.jpg

Go see them this month. Here's the schedule.

April
1 : San Diego CA, USA - Casbah
2 : Los Angeles CA, USA - Troubadour
5 : Austin TX, USA - Emo's
7 : Atlanta GA - Earl with The Jet Age
9 : Washington DC, USA - Black Cat with The Jet Age
10 : Hoboken NJ, USA - Maxwell's with The Jet Age
11 : New York City NY, USA - Bowery Ballroom
12 : Cambridge MA, USA - Middle East Downstairs
14 : Toronto ON, Canada - Horseshoe Tavern
15 : Pontiac MI, USA - The Pike Room at The Crofoot
16 : Chicago IL, USA - Double Door
17 : Minneapolis MN, USA - 400 Bar
20 : Vancouver BC, Canada - To be confirmed
21 : Seattle WA, USA - Crocodile
22 : Portland OR, USA - Doug Fir Lounge
24 : San Francisco CA, USA - Independent

if you like dalliance you will probably like seamonsters in total. an album more or less on par with loveless and bandwagonesque.

They need a definitive compilation really bad

True. In the meantime, there's "Ye Ye: The Best Of The RCA Years" which is a good albeit brief sampler.

There was a bunch of rerelease sets a few years ago of each album, with two extra discs of bsides and live stuff, plus a dvd of vids, TV appearancesand a interview.

I have most of them, Watusi is underrated and excellent.

Can I find Bizarro? Can I trousers.

I was listening to Seamonsters in high school and my mom came in and listened for a bit and said: "They should let the singer stand closer to the microphone."

umm dang I had not heard this band until yesterday but wow Seamonsters is incredible, like, this is music I have heard in my head for years but now it's outside of my head. I don't love the guy's singing but the guitars and the production CH-CH-CH-CH-CH-CH BANG-BANG-BANG like my friends have sometimes tried to push Sarah Records stuff on my & I'm like ok I don't need to hear more stories about your Raggedy Andy lunchpail with polite strumming but this album, sure it is indebted to the Smiths but it is so much direct. I buy Albini's dynamics always & it's perfect here, I can vaguely tell that these are songs of resentments lyrically but the music speaks much more loudly about this. anyway I am in love, I want to join this band (as it was in 1991, I don't think I need to listen any further than that, I can live inside this album alone (Bizarro is good too))

Absolutely, Seamonsters is a monster of guitar distortion. I think it is the little brother of Loveless, not quite as innovative but still really out there.

Huh, I've never thought of it anything like that. I mean, it's loud, but it's just a louder version of the band's usual manic strumming.

Yeah, for me, Bizarro is a better and more singular experience. But I get why Gedge tried to turn more pop after those 2 albums. Did anyone listen to the Going... Going LP? I'm not sure what I think of it.

God, Seamonsters is just the best. The primacy of the lyrics is so earnest and poignant! Never fails to crush me. And idk what it is, but was this album really quiet when it was pressed or something? Whatever medium I've listened on, despite the loudness of the guitar sounds mentioned above, I've always had to max out my headphones/speakers and it feels like straining to hear something deeply personal, compounded by Gedge's mumbled vocals. In many ways it is so understated and washes along, but the cumulative effect is emotional like nothing else. I think I relate to this album in a similar way to how I hear people discussing The Meadowlands.

I have recently played GEORGE BEST for the first time.

re: opening track 'everyone thinks he looks daft' - can anyone explain the lyrics?

Most of the lines make sense individually but I am not sure how to string them together.

No idea, maybe the documentary can shed some light on the lyrics?
https://scopitones.co.uk/archives/7135

Oh why do you catch my eye, then turn away?
I thought we said all the things we had to say
Shaun said he saw you holding hands with your new friend
How does it feel to know you've just won again?
Don't give me that! Because you were seen!
Everyone thinks he looks daft but you can have your dream
Can I keep that book of yours and maybe this one too?
Oh sure, I'll bring them round tomorrow if that will do
Was it really full? They must have queued there since half past three
Oh I didn't go, was it a good film? Well that's just me!
Don't give me that! Because you were seen!
Everyone thinks he looks daft but you can have your dream
Guess who I saw by your old house just the other day
That kid we used to think was mad, but now he looks okay
I think someone's here, look out the window, I can't make out who
Oh I'd love to stay but I've really got so many things to do
Don't give me that! Because you were seen!
Everyone thinks he looks daft but you can have your dream

What are you looking for? It sounds like it's based on a real event. Wasn't Shaun the drummer at the time?

iirc every single song gedge has ever written is about failing/failed relationships, quite often due to his own jealousy

(apart from a few where things are good and the sex is hot but there are inevitably clouds on the horizon)

All About Eve being a rare exception

I don't really understand what the song is saying.

Maybe there is another voice, a woman's, that we don't hear, and it would be clearer if we did.

This, for instance, doesn't add up to me:

Can I keep that book of yours and maybe this one too?
Oh sure, I'll bring them round tomorrow if that will do
Was it really full? They must have queued there since half past three
Oh I didn't go, was it a good film? Well that's just me!
Don't give me that! Because you were seen!

How on earth did I never weigh in on this?

imo the narrator is a stalker who is obsessed with his female friend (or maybe they actually had a romantic relationship, but i think not). shaun saw her holding hands, with a guy the narrator insists everyone scorns, outside the movie theater. narrator is pissed and being passive aggressive about the books he'd borrowed from her; he wants them, and her, out of his life -- well, except for one or two, and also he won't actually give up his obsession with her either

The verses are awkward/bland conversations with his ex. The choruses are jealous outbursts about her new relationship.

I always thought it was quite amusing to hear him get shot down over keeping the books

Thanks for these comments.

The comment by poster everything is useful to me - so the verses and choruses are distinct, not really part of the same conversation, as they don't follow from the verses.

I still don't think I understand the books verse. Does it contain the words of one speaker and not the other? And what does 'Well that's just me' mean in 'Oh I didn't go, was it a good film? Well that's just me!' ?

I don't, on the whole, find this lyric clear at all, but I've appreciated people's responses here.

It's one side of a conversation, either in person or (as I sometimes imagine) on the phone. You get to hear what he's saying, but not her so you have to fill that in. Ultimately you get enough to make a judgement, is he a twat or is his whinging justified?

i always thought the implication of "everyone thinks he looks daft" was that this isn't true, but the object of jealousy is in some way trendier or less real than honest salt of the earth narrator.

it's essentially "Gordon is a Moron" played without laughs

I tend to read Wedding Present lyrics with a lot of self-mockery/irony which may or may not be intended, I'm not really sure sometimes, but it works for me

Gerald's post is quite helpful clarification to me.

Guess who I saw by your old house just the other day
That kid we used to think was mad, but now he looks okay

-- is this 'kid' meant to be the one who 'looks daft', or another person?

I think someone's here, look out the window, I can't make out who

-- does this go with the telephone theory?

Oh I'd love to stay but I've really got so many things to do

-- This seems not to go with the telephone idea - suggests that the speaker is at the place of the interlocutor, which we are saying is the ex-gf.

The choruses don't seem to follow directly from the verses, unless each time, the ex-gf says something, after each verse, which logically prompts 'don't give me that' by implying that she is not dating the other person.

too much apple pie

oh that was just embarrassing, at times I say the most stupid things

lol

relatable