WARNING : TODAY’S POST IS VIDEO HEAVY!
The excellent guest posting on The Wedding Present/The Ukrainians last week by Strangeways made passing reference to 1992 being the year that The Weddoes, via the single-a-month Hit Parade project, enjoyed twelve calendar-year top 40 hits to equal the record of one-time label-mate Elvis Presley.
Some of you might be aware that the band is doing a similar thing in 2022, albeit without expecting to be in a position to enjoy chart domination in the way they did thirty years ago.
The project, which was announced last October, is called 24 Songs, which will be released, two-at-a-time in the middle of each month, on 7″ vinyl. It’s not quite identical to Hit Parade as the b-side to the January single was a Wedding Present original, whereas the 1992 project had covers as b-sides all the way through. Having said that, the February single does have a cover on its b-side…which I’ll come to in a bit.
I don’t think you’ll be surprised to learn that I’ve subscribed to ensure that I get all the singles delivered safe and sound to Villain Towers, complete with the specially designed collector’s box to store them in.
The January single was We Should Be Together, a duet with Louise Wener of Sleeper that was originally included on the excellent and worthy Locked Down and Stripped Back album, released in February 2021. Its b-side was ridiculously good, demonstrating that the band can still rock out all these years later:-
The February single sort of continues along a similar theme:-
And there’s a brave stab at a new wave classic for its b-side:-
If you’ve had your fancy tickled by all of the above, then it’s not too late to get on board and pick up the vinyl, either individually or as part of the subscription. Click here for more details.
In the meantime, here’s a throwback to March 1992, and the third single released by the band that year.
mp3: The Wedding Present – Three
mp3: The Wedding Present – Think That It Might
The b-side cover on that occasion was one of the more obscure ones chosen for the Hit Parade project, being a really alternative take on an Altered Images song, originally released in 1982 on the album Pinky Blue.
mp3: Altered Images – Think That It Might
Three entered the UK singles chart at #14 on 8 March 1992. And for the purposes of showing how much David Gedge (like all of us) has changed in thirty years, here’s the Top of the Pops appearance to round things off.
Oh, and both Weddoes mps3 are ripped from the original vinyl from all those years ago.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
The phrase that caught my eye was “… in the way they did thirty years ago.” That made me feel simultaneously young and older, so much older.
Over the years I’ve learned to bow to Strangeways’ all but encyclopedic knowledge of TWP.
I do like ideas like 12 or 24 releases but do wish all of the material was entirely compiled of new recordings (including covers).
I’ve said this before but… TWP really does know how to make a cover version their own.
The band continues to deliver the goods all these years on. A thumbs up for the Magazine cover too.
Blimey. I really want David’s Fantastic 4 shirt.
Thirty years. Yikes. The TOTP repeats on BBC4 are at around
about this era at the moment. As said above, the band’s covers
are always worth a go.
The Magazine cover is awesome.
Like you, I signed up for the series and am eagerly awaiting record number 3. I have to say I’m not overly struck on Don’t Give Up Without A Fight – definitely a b-side. Single no. 2 on the other hand was a corker – a brilliant new original (written by current guitarist Jon Stewart who was heavily influenced by Bizarro), and the Magazine cover is superb.
I still have issues with Grey Gedge though. He must have run out of Just For Men during lockdown…