It’s still 1986, and we’ve reached the release of the third single, one which came out on 7″ and 12″ on Reception Records. Let’s deal with the 7″ first of all:-
mp3: The Wedding Present – You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends
mp3: The Wedding Present – This Boy Can Wait
There’s no indication on the sleeve or labels as to which of the two songs is the A-side. The Scopitones website, which really is the go-to place for all things related in any shape or form to The Wedding Present and Cinerama, lists ‘Friends’ as the lead track.
But, the recently published book, All The Songs Sound The Same, contains this contemporary review:-
The Wedding Present – This Boy Can Wait (Reception)
A frenzied guitar ushers in a breathless vocal and neither goes away throughout this prime slice of Leeds indie pop, free at last from the Gang Of Four hangover that has dogged so many of that city’s favourite sons, and now veering more towards a deranged folkies-on-speed extravaganza that overstays its welcome by just about the right amount.
The B-side is called ‘You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends’ which is sound advice and again it’s like some sort of folk music gone mad with lots of room for the omnipresent guitar to clang about in. If I had enough to drink I think I would probably die watching this band play live.
The there’s the 12″, with the slightly different coloured sleeve:-
It has This Boy Can Wait on one side, with two tracks, one of which is ‘Friends’ on the other, which would naturally make anyone think there was a clear A-side in terms of the 7″. But it doesn’t matter as both have proven to be timeless and part of the set lists all these decades later.
Here’s the other track on the 12″:-
mp3: The Wedding Present – Living and Learning
Just under three minutes of something which is fast, frantic and, if danced to, would leave even the fittest of persons gasping for breath. An excellent song by any stretch of the imagination, but not one that many fans would have high up on their lists of favourites, such has been the quality over the years.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
*NERD ALERT* Unless I’m very much mistaken, the 12″ version of This Boy Can Wait is a tad longer than the 7″. I think it was on the C86 comp listed as This Boy Can Wait (A Bit Longer), but the same version on Tommy omitted the bracketed title.
Yes, the 7″ version has never been released digitally. Apparently, David didn’t think anyone would be bothered whether it was or not.
For velocity and drama, you can’t beat the Weddoes at this point. It was ace when Tommy was released and you could get your hands on these early tracks. Fine, and welcome, nerding from Robster too.
Strangeways
The first song I ever heard by the Weddoes was “This Boy Can Wait”. And I decided they weren’t really for me! I’ve made bigger mistakes in life, but rarely been as wrong about music. What was I thinking? It too repeated listens on the C86 cassette (couldn’t be bothered to FFW) to recognise the error of my ways. Interesting nerdism from Robster. Especially given that the Edsel Tommy collection has TWO alternate versions each of “Living and Learning” and “You Should Always Keep in Touch With Your Friends”. Remarkable lack of fan-awareness by Mr Gedge! (Although I must applaud his unwillingnes to fleece fans for every belch and bum-note demo possible).
DAM
In terms of mountaineering, “This Boy Can Wait” is an eight-thousander.
[silly kisser]
“For velocity and drama.” Very well said, Strangeways!
this is the song that made me a fan. still sounds great after all these years.
Yup – the C86 track with the brackets was my first experience and it remains my favourite thirty seven years on. The speed of the guitar strumming was just mind-blowing.