THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Part Sixty-Four)

I started this series on 23 October 2013.  I had no idea how many parts it would entail, as I wasn’t quite sure how to actually define what had been a single.  Would I count EPs? Digital only-releases?  Foreign-language songs recorded for issuing on Record Store Days?  Limited edition releases which had only been available if ordered direct from the band’s website or purchased at gigs during particular tours?  In the end, the answer to all of the above was yes, and I do think I’ve featured everything that could conceivably be considered as a single by The Wedding Present.

I also had no idea that the series would take a welcome break, thanks to strangeways offering to pen a series on all the singles released by Cinerama – and it was his forensic approach to that particular era of the career of David Lewis Gedge which set the standard for how I went about the second half of the TWP series.  Before getting to the final single and it’s b-side, here’s a reminder of what has already featured:-

1. Go Out And Get ‘Em Boy (1985)
2. Once More (1986)
3. You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends (1986)
4. Peel Sessions EP (1986)
5. My Favourite Dress (1987)
6. Anyone Can Make A Mistake (1987)
7. Nobody’s Twisting Your Arm (1988)
8. Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now? (1988)
9. Radio 1 Sessions : The Evening Show (1988)
10. Kennedy (1989)
11. Brassneck (1990)
12. The 3 Songs EP (1990)
13. Dalliance (1991)
14. Lovenest (1991)
15. Blue Eyes (1992)
16. Go-Go Dancer (1992)
17. Three (1992)
18. Silver Shorts (1992)
19. Come Play With Me (1992)
20. California (1992)
21. Flying Saucer (1992)
22. Boing! (1992)
23. Loveslave (1992)
24. Sticky (1992)
25. The Queen of Outer Space (1992)
26. No Christmas (1992)
27. Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah (1994)
28. It’s A Gas (1994)
29. Sucker (1995)
30. The Mini EP (1996)
31. 2, 3, Go!(1996)
32. Montreal (1997)
33. Interstate 5 (2004)
34. I’m From Further North Than You (2005)
35. Ringway to Seatac (2005)
36. The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend (2008)
37. Don’t Take Me Home Until I’m Drunk (2008)
38. Santa Ana Winds (2008)
39. Holly Jolly Hollywood (2008)
40. You Jane (2012)
41. Club 8 aka Metal Men (2012)
42. 4 Chansons EP (2012)
43. Journey Into Space (2012)
44. 4 Lieder EP (2013)
45. Two Bridges (2013)
46. 4 Cân EP (2014)
47. The Home Internationals EP (2017)
48. Huw Stephens Sessions EP (2018)
49. 7777777 (joint release with Cinerama and featuring White Riot) (2018)
50. Davni Chasy (2019)
51. Jump In, The Water’s Fine (2019)
52. Shaun Keaveny Session EP (2020)
53. We Should Be Together (2022)
54. I Am Not Going To Fall In Love With You (2022)
55. Go Go Go (2022)
56. Monochrome (2022)
57. X Marks The Spot (2022)
58. Once Bitten (2022)
59. We Interrupt Our Programme (2022)
60. Each Time You Open Your Eyes (2022)
61. We All Came From The Sea (2022)
62. Astronomic (2022)
63. Science Fiction (2022)

I’ve only just realised, the way I’ve gone about this task means there were 32 singles prior to Cinerama forming and there have been 32 since The Wedding Present reformed, thanks to this being the last in the 24 Songs project, released in December 2022:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – The Loneliest Time Of The Year (7″ version)

It’s a Christmas song.  A proper Christmas song.  Complete with a video. 

You’ll possibly recall that the previous effort to compose and record a Christmas song, Holly Jolly Hollywood, had left me quite cold when it was released at the tail end of 2008.  It doesn’t help that Christmas records, by their very nature, have a ridiculous ability to annoy me to the extent that I have something of a gag reflex with most of them.

But…………..there’s something about The Loneliest Time Of The Year which doesn’t provoke such a reaction.

Sure, it’s got a kind of soap opera feel to the lyric with the protagonist basically saying that his other half shouldn’t leave because not only is it Christmas, but the snow has started falling.  It’s the sort of plea that’s made by someone who really has reached rock bottom, and what’s more, the musicians have come up with a tune that is equally tear-jerking, with Melanie’s choir-like vocal contribution being nigh-on perfect….oh, and let’s not ignore the casual way the sleigh bells close things off (although you don’t get to hear that in the 7″ edited version as it fades out about a minute or so before the end, but watch the video version for the full effect).

It’s something quite different from the norm in terms of what The Wedding Present have long been feted for, and as long as there’s a promise that any new material will revert to the fast and frantic style with which we have all become accustomed, then I’m more than OK with it.

The b-side?

mp3: The Wedding Present – Memento Mori

I’m sure someone once said that all TWP songs sound the same…..but then again, when they’re all this good, why worry?

I think that’s an apt way to close this series off.

A huge thanks to everyone who has dropped by for a browse over the past 15 months, and an extra thanks to those of you who have offered up your views, thoughts and opinions via the comments section along the way.  And an extra special word of thanks to strangeways for providing loads of inspiration.

Oh, and I think it’s now that I can reveal that later this year, all being well, myself and Rachel will be seeing the band outside of the UK for the very first time.  A major tour of North American tour is scheduled from 16 May–7 June, opening in Austin before heading to Dallas, Atlanta, Columbia (South Carolina), Durham (North Carolina), Washington DC, Brooklyn, Cambridge (Massachusetts), Montreal, Toronto, Cleveland, Chicago, Saint Paul, Seattle and San Francisco, before the tour ends in Los Angeles….which is where we will catch them, courtesy of being invited to visit and stay at the home of Jonny the Friendly Lawyer (aka fiktiv) and Goldie the Friendly Therapist.

Can’t wait…….let’s just hope that I don’t suffer another unexpected bout of ill-health at the 11th hour that stops us travelling.

JC