THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Parts Twenty-One and Twenty-Two)

Mention was made previously that the 1992 run of singles were recorded in batches of three, as can be evidenced by Chris Nagle being in the producer’s chair for #1-3 and Iain Broudie doing a similar job on #4-6.

But here’s where it becomes a bit of a head-scratcher.   The next three singles, including the b-sides, should have been handled by the veteran American-born producer, Jimmy Miller whose name had recently become fashionable again from working with Primal Scream.   I have no idea what went wrong, Miller was the producer for the next two singles, after which the duties were taken over by another American, Brian Paulson, who ended up doing the final four 45s

And to complicate things further, one of the two A-sides produced by Miller wasn’t included in later releases of Hit Parade 2 which brought together all the 12 tracks on the singles issued between July and December 92, with a different version, produced by Paulson replacing it.

All of the above only became known in the weeks and months afterwards.  On the surface things seemed to be going really well, with single #7, released on Monday 6 July, proving to be a good, if not brilliant, one:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – Flying Saucer

Despite only entering the charts at #22, which was quite a few places below any of the most recent five singles, an invite came up for a fourth Top of The Pops appearance in 1992:-

It has to be said that this was the most surreal and funniest of the appearances.  It was also strange that the performance was restricted, being some two minutes shorter than the length of the actual single…..and the final two minutes in which there is a guitar outro that’s not too far from the Bizarro days is the best thing about the 45.

There was nothing to be gained from the group being on the Top of The Pops….anyone who tuned in and thought they liked it so much that they should rush out and buy the single the next day would be wasting their time, given it had already been deleted!  No invites were extended for any of the remaining five singles.

If you’re perhaps pondering where the idea was hatched for the outfits on Top of The Pops, then check out the promo video, directed by Jenny Aleksandrowicz:-

The b-side has its own outer space theme, which is probably why it was selected.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Rocket

The original dates from 1974 and was recorded by Mud, a sort of glam-rock/strange pop combo who were stupidly popular in the UK that year, with #1 hits in Tiger Feet and Lonely This Christmas and a #2 hit in Dyna- Mite (all of which drilled their way into my 10/11 year-old memory bank, never to vacate their place) and a #6 hit in Rocket, which I cannot for the life of me recall.  Anyways, this version is not The Weddoes finest moment (and that’s me being kind and polite).

Fast-forward four weeks to Monday 3 August.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Boing!

This is another of the singles that I never quite took to…..and yet it was one of the three that I picked up during the calendar year.  It starts out promisingly enough as a potential classic Weddoes break-up slow song, but then it seems to go all over the place with a really dreadful chorus. 

Here’s the video, as included on the compilation Dick York’s Wardrobe, a VHS collection that was released in early 1993 (with the voice-over being from none other than Alan ‘Fluff’ Freeman).

There’s another video kicking around on t’internet.  It’s for a version of Boing! that’s about two minutes longer….and where the original take on things was quite moody with its black and white and serious looking group performance, this one has a more literal interpretation:-

This is the one which appears on The Weddoes official channel.    I have no idea what’s going on!!!

The b-side to Boing! was audacious. 

mp3: The Wedding Present – Theme From Shaft

The original dates for 1971, written, recorded and sung by Isaac Hayes. 

The wah-wah pedals had never been so heavily utilised before, or indeed since.  And just have a listen to the backing vocals.  A total one-off.

Today, I think it works……..but I reserve the right to change my mind if I’m feeling a bit more grumpy about life.

JC