We’ve now reached 1987, the year in which The Wedding Present would break out of cult status and take firm grip of the indie-scene in the UK. It all began with the release of a new song in February, one which was given the accolade of ‘Single Of The Week’ in the NME:-
mp3: The Wedding Present – My Favourite Dress
There can’t be too many of us who haven’t been on the bad end of a painful break-up at some point in time. The luckier ones are those who never see the previous other half ever again, but such instances are very rare. It is an inevitability that paths will cross in the most difficult and agonising circumstances. Plenty of poems, prose and songs throughout history have touched on the theme, but there can’t be many better that have captured the gut-wrenching feeling of having it confirmed with your own eyes that it really is all over.
“A stranger’s hand on my favourite dress. That was my favourite dress you know.”
It was released on 7″ and 12″ on Reception Records.
As with previous singles, the b-sides proved to be worthy of attention.
mp3: The Wedding Present – Every Mother’s Son
mp3: The Wedding Present – Never Said
The former is a ridiculous burst of energy that is done and dusted in just over 90 seconds with Pete Solowka playing his guitar at a speed very few of us can comprehend, while the latter is another example of what has turned out to be the many hundreds of Gedge songs dealing with break-ups – in this instance the protagonist is seeking an explanation of what went wrong. But at least it seems he was spared seeing a stranger’s hand on his previously favourite dress.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
still my favourite dress . about this time managed to have a few games of football with some of the band on Hyde park ( Leeds not London ) some of the early gigs were a bit of a risk for as a student , they had a bit of a football following in the days when this was not necessarily a good thing . friend of Rachel worth
suddenly i am 16 again, and every time I see the band play this song, or even hear it the vulnerabilities and teenage insecurities re-emerge…. Masterful song writing
A theme I’ll repeat in this series… I absolutely loved to dance to this – the favourite part being that wonderfully long outro. Joy.
Flimflamfan
Still a magnificent highlight of their live set and any mixtape (playlist?) I put together.
This was, is and ever shall be boss-level indie jangle genius. Should Lauren Laverne and Radio 4 ever come calling, this would probably be one of my desert island discs.
Love this song.
A milestone song and single. If overfamiliarity – a la This Charming Man – sees it taken for granted that’s all my own fault. B-sides are corkers too. Thanks for this post, JC.
Strangeways
“Slowly your beauty is eaten away, by the scent of someone else in the blanket where we lay”
As perfect a summation of that feeling of betrayal and loss as was ever written. Keep Shakespeare, we’ve got David Lewis Gedge!
DAM
“My Favorite Dress” is one of two Wedding Present songs that reside in the “best ever” folder on my PC. From there it looks down on the songs in the other folders with wisdom and generosity.
[silly kisser]
This is as good a time as any to thank Friend of Rachel Worth and his old blog for getting me into the Wedding Present beyond their appearance on C86 and the few other comps I had in my collection. I consider myself a fanatic now, and today’s offering is probably my favorite single. – Brian
There’s nothing like being at a Weddoes gig and hearing that iconic opening riff. Good times.
For me, I prefer the version they put on George Best with the massive guitar outtro but either way what a cracking tune.