Built around
David Gedge's insistent voice and earnestly lovelorn lyrics,
the Wedding Present are one of the founders and driving forces of indie rock in the U.K. Though the cast revolves around him,
Gedge's devotion to quickly strummed guitars, lively tempos, and sharp hooks has stayed the same since their first single in 1985. The band started off awkward and energetic on those initial singles and 1987's George Best album, but as their confidence and instrumental prowess grew their sound became richer and more powerful, as on 1991's noisy masterpiece
Seamonsters, happily grungy as on 1994's
Watusi or light and fizzy (1996's Mini EP.) After splitting up the band in the late '90s to start the more orchestral pop-influenced
Cinerama,
Gedge re-formed
the Wedding Present in 2004 and issued the bracing Take Fountain album. The years that followed saw the band alternating between doing anniversary tours to celebrate early albums and releasing records, like 2016's expansive Going, Going..., that continued to chart the course of
Gedge's romantic travails.
The band were formed in 1985 from the ashes of the short-lived Lost Pandas, with guitarist
Peter Solowka, bassist
Keith Gregory, and drummer
Shaun Charman joining
Gedge. They became the darlings of the British press overnight, winning acclaim for their distinct guitar pop frenzy as well as
Gedge's idiosyncratic vocal style and wittily conversational lyrics. Their early singles, like 1985's "Go Out and Get 'Em Boy" and 1986's "You Should Always Keep in Touch with Your Friends" found favor with influential DJ
John Peel, for whom they cut their first radio session in February 1986. They also landed on the NME's landmark C-86 cassette compilation.
Named in honor of the popular soccer star George Best,
the Wedding Present's remarkable debut LP appeared on their own Reception label in 1987. After the album established their foothold on the U.K. indie charts, Tommy -- a quickly compiled overview of early singles and radio broadcasts -- followed in 1988.
The Wedding Present's next effort came completely out of left field: titled Ukrainski Vistupi V Johna Peel, a compilation of three
Peel sessions where the band played traditional Ukrainian folk tunes inspired by
Solowka's father. Additionally, it marked the recording debut of new drummer Simon Smith, recruited after
Charman exited to form
the Popguns. After reaching the U.K. Top 40 with the 1989 single "Kennedy," the band returned in 1989 with the jangling, energetic
Bizarro, their first album to be released as part of their deal with RCA. The album did well in America and the band decided to head there to record an EP, working with engineer
Steve Albini on the decidedly heavier Brassneck EP. The experience and results were so positive that they recorded their next album with
Albini as well. The dark and powerful
Seamonsters was the result. After its 1991 release,
Solowka, left the band to play full-time in
the Ukrainians; guitarist
Paul Dorrington was tapped as his replacement.
Instead of recording a new studio LP,
the Wedding Present spent the entirety of 1992 issuing a single on the first Monday of each month. Later compiled as the two-volume Hit Parade set, the singles featured original material on their A-sides and cover songs on the flipsides, among them interpretations of
the Monkees' "Pleasant Valley Sunday,"
Neil Young's "Don't Cry No Tears,"
Isaac Hayes' "Theme from Shaft," and
Julee Cruise's "Falling" (better known as the theme to Twin Peaks).
The departure of
Gregory (to found
Cha Cha Cohen) left
Gedge the group's last original member, and
the Weddoes resurfaced with new bassist
Darren Belk for 1994's
Watusi, a nod toward producer
Steve Fisk, complete with vocal assistance from
Beat Happening's
Heather Lewis. Following a rather uneventful 1995, the group returned in 1996 with a flurry of new material; first up was the auto-obsessed Mini EP, later reissued with bonus tracks as Mini Plus. The full-length
Saturnalia appeared at the end of the year, followed early in 1997 by the single "Montreal."
Gedge then put the band on hold and formed the less guitar-oriented band
Cinerama. They issued three albums and numerous singles between 1998 and 2003 that featured
Gedge's girlfriend
Sally Murrell. By the end of their run, the band began to sound increasingly
Weddoes-like as guitars became more prominent once again.
After
Gedge spilt with
Murrell in 2002, he moved to Seattle and began writing songs for a new album. He decided to revive the
Wedding Present name, roped in his
Cinerama bandmates (including bassist
Terry DeCastro) to record, and the band released Take Fountain in early 2005. After a long spell of touring that saw the group spanning the globe and playing to scores of fans who were thrilled to have their heroes back, the group hit the studio again with
Steve Albini and the resulting album,
El Rey, was released in 2008. The new edition of the band went through many lineup changes, the most dramatic being the 2010 split with longtime bassist
DeCastro. She was replaced by
Pepe Le Moko for the recording of their next album,
Valentina. Produced by
Andrew Scheps (
U2,
Adele), it was released by
Gedge's Scopitones label in 2012.
The band soon parted ways with guitarist Graeme Ramsay, replacing him with Patrick Alexander and headed out on the road. During 2012, they played a series of shows where they tackled
Seamonsters in its entirety to celebrate the album's 21st anniversary. Later that year they released a download-only EP of four songs recorded at the
Valentina sessions, which could be bought in tandem with Valentina: The Story of a Wedding Present, a book detailing the album's creation. After some lineup shuffling that saw
Le Moko and Alexander departing,
Gedge and longtime drummer Charles Layton added guitarist Samuel Beer-Pearce and bassist Katharine Wallinger. The new version of the band hit the road in 2013, playing the complete George Best and Hit Parade albums to herald their respective 25th and 21st anniversaries.
Once off the road, they focused on their next studio projects,
Cinerama's opulent 2015 reworking of
Valentina and
the Wedding Present's ninth album. Released in 2016 after a successful crowdfunding effort, Going, Going... was a collection of 20 songs ranging from string-laden soundscapes to raging punk rock, each with an accompanying film shot during a road trip across the U.S. by
Gedge and photographer Jessica McMillan. The following year, they released the four-song
Home Internationals E.P., which found
Gedge further exploring his love of instrumental music. Included was the track "Wales" (from Going, Going...), along with three newly penned compositions including "England," which featured novelist Simon Armitage reading his poem of the same name. That EP featured new bassist Danielle Wadey; she shifted over to guitar when the band went out on tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Tommy collection. Former member
Terry de Castro also joined on bass. After the tour, the group headed into the studio to re-record the album's song in a modern, heavier style. It was released in mid-2019 under the title
Tommy 30, just after they issued the "Jump In, The Water's Fine" single. The song was co-written by Wadey and featured the band's new bassist Melanie Howard. More lineup changes followed as former
Sleeper guitarist
Jon Stewart and drummer Chris Hardwick of My Life Story joined in time for a late 2019 tour. This band was set to play at
David Gedge's annual At the Edge of the Sea Festival in Brighton, but when plans were derailed by COVID-19, the band decided to record a set from their respective homes. The resulting concert was issued in early 2021 under the title Locked Down & Stripped Back and featured a duet with
Sleeper's
Louise Wener. ~ Jason Ankeny & Tim Sendra