  <Kevin_Behrens/ATLANTA/PART/CSC.CSC@cscmail.csc.com>
Subject: FAQ: The Wedding Present
Supersedes: <music/wedding-present-faq_817311719@rtfm.mit.edu>
Date: 25 Jan 1996 09:09:11 GMT
Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked
        Questions (and their answers) about the British
        rock band The Wedding Present.  It was created from
        questions originally asked on the Wedding Present
        mailing list.
X-Last-Updated: 1996/01/23

Archive-name: music/wedding-present-faq
Posting-Frequency: bimonthly
Last-modified: 1996/01/15
Version: 2.5

THE WEDDING PRESENT 
Frequently Asked Questions
version 2.5
Last modified: January 15, 1996
Changes: 
       v2.5
         A1/WWW, A2.
       v2.4
         BAND SHAKEUP!  See Q29, Q30.
         Renumbered some questions.  Modified A2.
       v2.3
         NEW POLL!  Modified A9.
         Added info on live tapes to A7.
       v2.2
         Modified A2.
         Rephrased Q14, changed A14.


The Wedding Present are a rock band from Leeds, England.  
They have been in existence since 1985.  

Presently, the band is comprised of David Gedge (singer, guitar 
player), Simon Smith (drummer, replaced Shaun Charman in 1988), 
Darren Belk (guitar player, bass player, replaced Keith 
Gregory in 1993), Jayne Lockey (bass player, took over for Darren
in 1995), and Hugh Kelly (drummer, keyboardist, joined in 1995).
Paul Dorrington (guitar player, replaced Peter Solowka in 1991) 
left the group in April 1995.


RECENT NEWS:

"Mini", a six-song mini-LP, will be released by Cooking Vinyl
on January 23.  The track listing: Drive, Go Man Go, Love 
Machine, Convertible, Sports Car, Mercury.

The band will play their first ever live British in-store performances 
at the Virgin Megastores on January 24th in London and 25th in 
Manchester.  They will be performing a short set, starting at 
about 1pm. 


____________________________________________________________________


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q1.   Where can I get TWP information on the net?
Q2.   Are TWP coming to my hometown in the near future?
Q3.   How can I get a copy of ___________?
Q4.   What is the band's relationship with their record company,
      Island Records?
Q5.   Reissue, repackage, repackage.  What are the versions of each 
      of the CD's that are currently being reissued by whoever?
Q6.   Does TWP have videos for sale?
Q7.   Why do they release their own live tapes?
Q8.   Is there a book about TWP?
Q9.   What are everyone's fave albums?  What are everyone's fave 
      songs?
Q10.  Why doesn't the band play everyone's favorite songs at concerts?
Q11.  What is the extent of the contributions of the other members of 
      the band?
Q12.  What is the origin of the name of the band?
Q13.  Does anyone know of any covers of Wedding Present songs?
Q14.  What's the deal with "Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah"?
Q15.  Who sings "Shake It"?
Q16.  Did Courtney Love really slap David backstage at this year's 
      Reading Festival?
Q17.  What is HP3 (Hit Parade 3)?
Q18.  Did the Hit Parade singles break some kind of record?
Q19.  What's the deal with the samples from "Close Encounters" and 
      "UFO"?
Q20.  Why was the third LP called "Seamonsters?"
Q21.  What is "Dalliance" about?
Q22.  Why do the US versions of Bizarro and Seamonsters have extra 
      songs?
Q23.  Did TWP cover a Pavement song?  Where can I find the original?
Q24.  Which songs did Amelia Fletcher of Heavenly sing on which 
      Wedding Present albums?  
Q25.  Why is "Felicity" a "William Shatner number"?
Q26.  Who are the Ukrainians? 
Q27.  Who is Cha Cha Cohen?
Q28.  Who is Ash?
Q29.  Why did Paul leave the group?
Q30.  Why does TWP use two drummers now?
Q31.  Have TWP ever played a wedding?

____________________________________________________________________


Q1.   Where can I get TWP information on the net?

A1.   MAILING LIST
      ============

      Join The Wedding Present internet mailing list, for up-to-
      the-minute news and commentary.  To subscribe, send mail to 

         majordomo@westnet.com 

      with the body of your mail message (not the subject) reading

         subscribe twp <your mail address>

      You can also get a copy of all Wedding Present lyrics, as 
      well as a current copy of this FAQ and other list from 
      majordomo.  Send mail to majordomo@nemesis.berkeley.edu with
      your message reading 'index twp'.  This will give you a
      list of all available Wedding Present files.  Then mail the
      command 'get twp [filename]' to majordomo.  For instance,
      if you want the lyrics to Watusi, you would send the message
      'get twp watusi'.

      The list is comprised mainly of citizens of the United States 
      and the United Kingdom, mainly from universities (which explains 
      why membership drops off in the summer). However, there are 
      folks from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Belgium,
      France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands, 
      as well as from business and government sites.

      The list was formerly located at weddoes@stolaf.edu.  It 
      was transferred to Berkeley on September 6, 1994.  The alias 
      at St. Olaf was shut down on November 11, 1994.  On January
      22, 1996, the list moved to Westnet.


      WWW (World Wide Web)
      ===

      http://www.westnet.com/weddoes

           This is official unofficial Wedding Present home page.
           It features lyrics, discography, and articles, as well
           as this FAQ.


      FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
      ===

      ftp.uwp.edu 

      Some lyrics can be found in the
      /pub/music/lyrics/w/wedding.present directory.  

      ftp.sunet.se has some lyrics as well.  


      Usenet
      ======

      There is no newsgroup devoted solely to the Weddoes, but eagle-
      eyed readers of alt.music.alternative will find a question or
      comment regarding the band occasionally. 

      Also, this document is posted to the *.answers newsgroups.


Q2.   Are TWP coming to my hometown in the near future?

A2.   That is a distinct possibility.  The band may get around to
      points all over the globe by the time the year is out.  Right
      now, plans are for a British tour in February:

     British Tour
     February 1996

     16 & 17       Glasgow New Cathouse          0141 248 6606
     19 & 20       Manchester Roadhouse          0161 237 9789
     21       London Garage            0171 607 1818
     22       Cardiff Gassy Jacks      01222 239 388
     25 & 26       Birmingham Foundry       0121 643 6843
     27       Nottingham Clinton Rooms 0115 941 7709
     28       London Mean Fiddler      0181 961 5490

     Also, a tour is being put together for North America in March.


Q3.   How can I get a copy of ___________?

A3.   It's difficult to find some things, since TWP have been on about
      47 record companies.  The best thing to do, after you've 
      exhausted all the cool record shops, is to write to Sally at
      the band's address: The Wedding Present, PO Box HP25, Leeds, 
      England, LS6 1RU.


Q4.   What record company is the band's on NOW?

A4.   Cooking Vinyl.

      They left Island.

      They parted company with RCA in 1993 by mutual consent
      after being unable to agree to terms for extending their 
      contract.


Q5.   Reissue, repackage, repackage.  What are the versions of each 
      of the CD's that are currently being reissued by whoever?

A5.   TOMMY
         Reception (UK)
         Pearls from the Past (CA), same as UK version 

      GEORGE BEST
         Reception (UK)
         Pearls from the Past (CA), actually titled "George Best + 9" 
            and includes the songs from the Nobody's Twisting Your 
            Arm and Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now? EPs

      BIZARRO
         RCA (UK)
         RCA (US), includes the 4 songs from the Brassneck single
         **coming soon** Bizarre/Planet (US), same as UK version 

      SEAMONSTERS
         RCA (UK)
         First Warning (US), includes 3 songs from the Dalliance and 
            Lovenest singles, namely Niagara, Dan Dare, and Fleshworld
         Bizarre/Planet (US), same as original UK version

      HIT PARADE 1
         RCA (UK)
         First Warning (US)
         Bizarre/Planet (US)

      HIT PARADE 2
         RCA (UK)
         RCA (UK) includes a second disc of the 12 Peel Session tracks
         Bizarre/Planet (US)

      WATUSI
         Island (UK)
         Island (US)


Q6.   Does TWP have videos for sale?

A6.   Yes, two, officially.  "Spunk (*punk)", featuring promos and live 
      stuff (pre-1990 material), and "Dick York's Wardrobe" containing 
      videos for the twelve Hit Parade singles.

      There's also a vid for "Dalliance", which you may have seen on 
      TV, but...

      David Gedge: "Unfortunately, Dalliance was a bit late for 'Spunk' 
      and a bit inappropriate for "Dick York".

      And most recently, the band shot a video for "Yeah Yeah Yeah
      Yeah Yeah."


Q7.   Why do they release their own live tapes?

A7.   David Gedge: "I think it was originally Shaun Charman's idea.  
      We got sick of people having to shell out lots of money for badly
      recorded tapes and decided to offer an alternative."

      The only live tapes still available are Wakefield (8/91), 
      Uppsala (11/91), Den Haag (10/92) and Windsor (10/93), and 
      Strousburg (12/94) will be available in about a month.  The songs 
      are:

      WAKEFIELD:                                
      Lovenest, Dalliance, Blue Eyes, Suck, Kennedy, Blonde, Crawl, 
      Come Play With Me, Corduroy, Dare, Carolyn, California, Heather.
               
      UPPSALA:
      Dalliance, Go-Go Dancer, Corduroy, Crawl, Heather, Rotterdam,
      Brassneck, Come Play With Me, Blonde, Everyone Thinks He Looks 
      Daft, Silver Shorts, Kennedy, Suck, Lovenest, Blue Eyes, Dare, 
      Octopussy.

      DEN HAAG:
      Boing!, Go-Go Dancer, Lovenest, Three, Blue Eyes, Blonde, 
      Kennedy, Suck, Loveslave, Silver Shorts, The Queen of Outer 
      Space, Bewitched, Crawl, Heather, Sticky, Come Play With Me, 
      Brassneck, Corduroy, Dare, Dalliance, Flying Saucer.

      (Thanks to Rick Hawkins (rlhawk@well.com), who believes Uppsala 
      is his favorite.)

      WINDSOR:
      Let Him Have It, Blue Eyes, Go-Go Dancer, Dalliance, Dare,
      Catwoman, The Queen of Outer Space, Sticky, Silver Shorts,
      Kennedy, Loveslave, Crawl, Come Play With Me, Corduroy,
      Flying Saucer, So Long Baby

      STRASBOURG:
      So Long Baby, Blue Eyes, It's A Gas, Flying Saucer, Let Him 
      Have It, Dalliance, Click Click, The Queen of Outer Space,
      Spangle, Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah, Loveslave, Silver Shorts,
      Suck, Come Play With Me, Crawl, Gazebo, Catwoman


      Tapes cost #3.50 plus 50p postage for the first and .30p for
      each additional.  DOUBLE postal rates for Continental Europe 
      and Eire and QUADRUPLE for the rest of the world.  Ensure all 
      cheques and money orders are in British pounds stirling and
      payable to 'The Wedding Present'.  Please write your name and 
      address on the back of the cheque.  Send it sealed with a kiss
      to The Wedding Present, PO Box HP25, Leeds, England, LS6 1RU.

      (Tapes also cost $5 plus $3 postage for the first, $1.75 for 
      each additional, plus $5 currency exchange fee for the whole 
      order.)  


Q8.   Is there a book about TWP?

A8.   Yes.  It's called "Thank Yer, Very Glad", by Mark Hadkinson, 
      published by Omnibus Press in Britain

      David Gedge:  "The biography of the band is unauthorised and 
      not very good, so I hesitate before drawing people's attention 
      to it.  

      "I would not advise anybody to buy this biography because the 
      writing is very poor.  Go and buy yourself a cake instead."

      There is also a songbook for Bizarro, which was published by 
      EMI Music in 1990, and distributed in the UK by IMP.  


Q9.   What are everyone's favorite songs?

A9.   This is a question that generally comes up when posting to the 
      list is at an all-time low.  It seems to perk things up a bit. 
      The last survey was conducted in May 1995.  Here are those 
      results, compiled by Mike Field (field@cae.wisc.edu):

 1) Dalliance                  119(1)
 2) Brassneck                   89(3)
 3) Kennedy                     66(1)
 4) My Favorite Dress           65(1)
 5) Corduroy                    64(2)
 6) Take Me!                    62(3)
 7) Come play With Me           57(1)
 8) Spangle                     48
 9) I'm Not Always So Stupid    46(1)
10) Dare                        43(1)
11) Silver Shorts               43(1)
12) A Million Miles             41(2)
13) Heather                     39
14) Crawl                       38(1)
15) Suck                        35
16) Octopussy                   32(1)
17) Bewitched                   31(1)
18) Blonde                      29(1)
19) Rotterdam                   28(1)
20) California                  28
21) Nobody's Twisting Your Arm  25(1)
22) Flying Saucer               25
23) No                          25
24) Why...So Reasonable Now?    21
25) So Long, Baby               20

And now unweighted votes, simply by number of ballot appearences:
1) Dalliance                  20
2) Brassneck                  13
3) Take me!                   12
4) Kennedy                    11
   My Favorite Dress          11
6) Spangle                    10
7) Come play with me           9
   Corduroy                    9
9) Silver Shorts               8
   Heather                     8
11) Bewitched                  7
    Dare                       7
    I'm Not Always so Stupid   7
14) So long, baby              6
    A Million miles            6
    Flying Saucer              6
    Crawl                      6
18) California                 5
    Rotterdam                  5
    Octopussy                  5
    Suck                       5
    No                         5
23) Blonde                     4
    Nobody's Twisting Your Arm 4
    Why... So Reasonable Now?  4
    Every Thinks He Looks Daft 4
    Click Click                4


Q10.  Why doesn't the band play everyone's favorite songs at concerts?

A10.  David Gedge: "We agonize over the set list!  But when you've got 
      over 80 songs to choose from (and it's no secret that I think at 
      least 50% of the performance should be new stuff), it's 
      impossible to please everybody."


Q11.  What is the extent of the contributions of the other members of 
      the band?

A11.  David Gedge: "Although each incarnation of the group has 
      operated in different ways to the others, The Wedding Present 
      has always been a democratic organization, with everyone having 
      an equal say on all aspects of our work.  Confusion about 
      songwriting, for instance, might have arisen because all along 
      I've done the singing tunes and lyrics, and these are the two 
      elements that a large number of people are thinking of when they
      talk about a "song".  With the exception of maybe Peter, 
      everyone in the group has usually written their own guitar, 
      bass, drums, whatever...parts and been involved with all 
      the arranging."


Q12.  What is the origin of the name of the band?

A12.  David Gedge: "I've always thought that The Wedding Present was 
      an inappropriate name for a pop group--more like a poem, or a 
      book or something--and therefore quite attractive (to me!).  
      I've also always been fascinated by Weddings...those surreal 
      performances where the audience plays an integral part--the joy,
      the sadness, the passion...all unfolding firstly in a house 
      where God is served and ultimately in a house where beer is 
      served...the knife inserted ritually into the virginal white 
      cake to reveal the dark fruity interior...that ugly pagan 
      concept of the father handing over his daughter to her new 
      master...the mothers crying because they're losing a daughter, 
      the page boys crying because they have to wear such stupid 
      clothes...those embarrassing speeches and drunken uncles on the 
      dance floor...I could go on and on!

      "I used to be a huge Birthday Party fan and although I'd thought
      of 'The Wedding Present' about ten or eleven years ago, I
      decided it was a bit too similar and hence called the band I was
      in THE LOST PANDAS. By the time our first single came out in 
      1985, TBP were dead and gone so I felt more comfortable 
      reverting to my original idea."


Q13.  Does anyone know of any covers of Wedding Present songs?

A13.  Confetti recorded "Corduroy"/"Once More"/"Anyone Can Make A 
      Mistake" on Rollercaster Records (PO Box 1161, Brighton, Sussex,
      BN2 2TD, UK, but they might not exist anymore).

      The band Thatcher on Acid did a cover of "My Favourite Dress" 
      retitled "My Favorite Mess" (!) on the LP "Yurp Thing" on Allied
      Recordings.  The contact address for the band is PO Box 357,  
      London, SE19 1AD, UK.

      Kerbdog has covered "Kennedy" on their "Dummy Crusher" single
      on Polydor Records.  Also on the disk is the Pixies' "Debaser".


Q14.  What's the deal with the "Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah" single?
      i) Why are there two CDs sold separately?
      ii) What am I supposed to do with the Freepost card?
      iii) Why isn't "Flame On" the a-side?

A14.  David Gedge: "The single came in 4 formats...the 12", Cassette 
      and CD1 all featured 4 songs recorded in Seattle with Steve 
      Fisk--pretty straightforward.  A week later we brought out a 
      second CD which was essentially the title track and three 
      recordings from our John Peel session of earlier this year.  I 
      imagined that this would be fine because it was essentially 
      similar to the Strange Fruit things we used to bring out.  There
      *was* a fourth Peel Session track--Him Or Me (What's It Gonna 
      Be?) but since we already had a superior version (Fisk-produced,
      on CD1) we felt that duplication would be unnecessary.  Also, 
      Spangle and Gazebo are completely different from the Watusi 
      versions.  

      "However, there has been some annoyance that the Peel Session 
      stuff wasn't available on good ol' vinyl, and I'm sorry about 
      that.  We'll think twice about repeating the idea!  The version 
      of Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah on the first week's releases had the 
      false starts edited off but we decided to leave them on CD2 to 
      make it a bit different! The voice you can hear is that of the 
      very handsome engineer John Goodmanson and not Steve Fisk. 

      "I'm glad "Flame On" is highly thought of...it kind of continues
      our history of "quality" B-sides, but I must take issue with the
      person who criticized the lyrics of Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah for
      their banality...that was the plan!!  Incidentally, Island have 
      *not* released this single outside of the United Kingdom.

      "The reply paid coupon thing that came with the 1st single was 
      indeed only meant for the British fans requiring information 
      (...you could try sending one from the States but I don't know 
      how the U.S. Mail would react!)  The slightly different address 
      is because of the nature of the FREEPOST system.  Anybody 
      requiring information who's based outside of The United Kingdom 
      should write to PO Box HP25, Leeds, LS6 1RU, as usual, and that 
      includes those people who are still looking for Kennedy CDs, 
      Brassneck 7" singles, compilation LPs, etc.  As I always say--
      contact us before paying inflated collectors' prices."


Q15.  Who sings "Shake It"?

A15.  Darren Belk.


Q16.  Did Courtney Love really slap David backstage at last year's 
      Reading Festival?

A16.  Apparently.

      David Gedge: "I was a bit shocked when it happened.  But I 
      think she was a bit inebriated, and it was more playful than 
      malicious.  I was actually quite impressed that she knew my 
      name.  A faint flicker of recognition came across her eyes when
      we met, and then I found out that she only knew my name because
      she wanted to batter me.  She said, 'Steve Albini! Are you a 
      friend of Steve Albini?'  I said, 'Well, he worked for me on 
      one album.'  And then she tried to slap me across the face a 
      few times.  It was quite... surprising.  But I imagine she 
      forgot all about it five seconds, and went on to the next 
      thing." (Melody Maker, 10Oct94)


Q17.  What is HP3 (Hit Parade 3)?

A17.  David Gedge:  "I don't know how many times I've apologized for 
      this  so far, but I won't stop now because I truly regret that 
      this project ever saw the light of day.  Basically RCA France 
      wanted to build on the success of the first two HP CDs (the 
      first of our records to not completely flop over there!) by 
      releasing a mini-LP of stuff which wasn't available locally.  A 
      collection of covers only previously for sale in the United 
      Kingdom seemed a worthwhile option, but I underestimated...

      1.  The ineptitude of the RCA people in France who managed to 
          get the tracks mixed up and replace Box Elder with, ahem, 
          Brassneck
      2.  Just *how* available it was going to be outside the region 
          it was solely intended for &
      3.  The demand from people, especially in the USA, to hear Box 
          Elder by TWP.

      "As you may know, Keith returned from a holiday in America in 
      1989 with a cassette of the Pavement song which we all liked and
      decided to cover on the Brassneck E.P.  Incidentally, Pavement 
      *were* credited, but when the four EP tracks were added to the 
      American version of Bizarro they were ignored (this time the 
      ineptitude was in the *American* office of RCA).  I've written 
      to ask them to rectify the mistake on repressings.

      "When the mistake was discovered RCA France offered to make 
      refunds to anybody purchasing the faulty disc.  Obviously this 
      doesn't help you if you're in Hawaii, or something!  I was a bit
      confused by the message from the person who thinks it's been 
      recut with Box Elder now in its rightful place.  We left BMG 
      (and hence BMG France) just after HPIII came out and I'm 99% 
      sure they wouldnt've bothered going to the expense of repressing
      the CD of a band they didn't actually have anymore.  Having said
      that, I'll make enquiries."


Q18.  Did the Hit Parade singles break some kind of record?

A18.  David Gedge:  "Yes, indeed -- although we became only the second
      artist to have twelve Top 30 UK hits in one year -- Elvis being 
      the other --  ours were all *new* releases [I think some of his 
      were re-releases...I'm not completely sure about this!!].  We've
      subsequently achieved the, erm, honour of a mention in the 
      (British edition of) 'The Guiness Book of World Records'.  
      Hooray!"

      Neil Morgenstern (N.Morgenstern@cs.ucl.ac.uk): "The highest 
      position is #10 for 'Come Play With Me'. This single spent 2
      weeks in the Top 75, the other week being at #65. 'Silver 
      Shorts' spent one week in the top 75 at #14. This single holds 
      the record for the highest placing in the Top 75 by a single 
      that was only in there for 1 week. 'Three' also peaked at #14 
      but managed a second week at #73.

      "Other positions reached were as follows:

      'California' - 16
      'Love Slave' - 17
      'Sticky'  - 17
      'Boing' - 19
      'Go-Go Dancer' - 20
      'Flying Saucer' - 22
      'Queen Of Outer Space' - 23
      'No Christmas' - 25
      'Blue Eyes' - 26

      "'Blue Eyes' spent a second week in the top 75 at #53. The 
      highest placing for the second week even though it had the 
      lowest placing for the first week. Apart from those already 
      mentioned, none of the others managed a second week in the 
      top 75."


Q19.  What's the deal with the samples from "Close Encounters" and 
      "UFO"?

A19.  David Gedge: "Yes, we did steal the flying saucer noise from 
      "U.F.O.", yes we did put the "Close Encounters" theme on the 
      beginning of the seventh seven inch of 1992 and yes those acts 
      are probably both illegal if anyone in the big world of 
      corporate legaldom notices.  We took the harmonics off "Flying 
      Saucer" when we were assembling the LP because we thought that 
      it might've become annoying after repeated plays while not 
      causing the same problem on the single itself."


Q20.  Why was the third LP called "Seamonsters?"

A20.  David Gedge: "I guess I was captivated by this cartoon-like 
      image of some gigantic mass -- all teeth and scales -- slowly 
      appearing from beneath the waves.  It kind of went with the 
      songs, too."


Q21.  What is "Dalliance" about?

A21.  Dalliance was based on the sad story of Sara Johnson, the 
      mistress of the husband of famous English "authoress" Jilly 
      Cooper.


Q22.  Why do the US versions of Bizarro and Seamonsters have extra 
      songs?

A22.  Since both we're released months after their UK counterparts
      (Bizarro by RCA, Seamonsters by First Warning), extra tracks
      (actually b-sides of singles) were added to compensate.


Q23.  Did TWP cover a Pavement song?  Where can I find the original?

A23.  They recorded "Box Elder", which can be found on the Brassneck 
      EP, as well as the American version of Bizarro.  The original 
      version by Pavement can be found on the Slay Tracks record, as 
      well as their Westing (By Musket & Sextant) compilation.  This 
      question comes up because Pavement were not credited on the US 
      version, though they were on the UK version.  Also the copyright
      date on Westing is later than that of Bizarro, leading people to
      believe that Pavement covered TWP.


Q24.  Which songs did Amelia Fletcher of Heavenly sing on which 
      Wedding Present albums?  

A24.  David Gedge: "Amelia only sang on two LP's, namely George Best 
      and Bizarro --but she also appeared on Nobody's twisting Your 
      Arm & Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now? E.P.'s [Currently on 
      "George Best + 9" -- the N. America release from Pearls From 
      The Past]

      Songs she sang on are (I think): 

      Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft
      Something And Nothing
      Anyone Can Make A Mistake
      You Can't Moan Can You?
      Nobody's Twisting Your Arm
      Don't Laugh
      Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now?
      Getting Better
      Pourquoi Es Tu Devenue Si Raisonnable?
      Crushed

      But any other girly singing from 1987 to 1988 is her!"

      PGreen: "Recently [Amelia] was asked if she was gonna sing 
      with them again and she said that she was in the studio and 
      they asked her to try to sing like Kim Deal and she couldn't 
      so there are no more future plans.........."

      David Gedge: "This story is, naturally, completely untrue!  
      We asked her to sing like Ozzy Osbourne."


Q25.  Why is "Felicity" a "William Shatner number"?

A25.  Because the guy who wrote the song is named James Kirk, of the 
      band Orange Juice.  TWP covered this song, and it can be found 
      on Tommy.


Q26.  Who are the Ukrainians? 

A26.  The Ukrainians feature Peter Solowka, guitar player for TWP 
      until 1991, and Len Liggins and Roman Remeynes, who were 
      featured on the Wedding Present album known as "Ukrainski 
      Vistupi V Johna Peela," an collection of Ukrainian folk songs.
      They have released two LPs, as well as an EP of Smiths covers 
      sung in Ukrainian.


Q27.  Who is Cha Cha Cohen?

A27.  Cha Cha Cohen is the latest project from Keith Gregory, bass
      player for The Wedding Present until 1993.  The band features
      Keith, Simon Smith, Paul Dorrington, Ian Johnson (a friend of
      Keith's), and Jackie from the Dust Devils.  They have released
      a single in the UK on Hemiola Records.


Q28.  Who is Ash?

A28.  Ash is a new band from England, whose first record was produced 
      by David Gedge.  He was asked to produce by his friend, the head 
      of Ash's record label, Infectious Records.

      Ash could be the NextBigThing, as they were asked to support
      some big-name band on a U.S. tour.  They couldn't go though, 
      since some of the members of the band had exams to take.  Their 
      average age is about 17.


Q29.  Why did Paul leave the group?
 
A29.  David Gedge: "I think he just got bored of it, to be honest.  
      I think one thing that people don't realize when they join any
      group, as well as The Wedding Present, is that it does take up 
      a lot of and you're away from home for a lot of the time.  And 
      last year especially was a particularly... well, a bad one I
      suppose.  And I say it's bad, but I mean it's not bad for me, 
      I enjoy being away from home.  I enjoy traveling and getting
      around.  But because we recorded in America, we were away for 
      four or five weeks then, and then we did the [US] tour and then 
      the European tour and the British tour, and I think he was just
      sick of not seeing his friends, to be honest.  

      "When you join a group, you think, "Oh yeah, great, I'll join a 
      pop group and write songs and make records," and you do that of
      course, but also it means you're actually on a bus or plane or 
      a train for a lot of your life.  He sort of hinted earlier that 
      he wasn't completely happy with the group, and I think it just 
      came to a head really, and his final tour was that French one. 
      And it was very sad to see him go cause he was a nice bloke.  
      But I'm getting used to this, to be honest!  People seem to 
      stay there for a few years... It's quite good in a way, it's
      exactly what I said last time when Keith left.  It was very sad
      when Keith left as well, but it does rejuvanate the group.  I'm
      happy with this group at the moment because we've got quite a 
      few new songs which I'm really pleased with and it's the most
      excited I've been for quite a while actually.

      I think the songwriting style has changed as well, which is 
      good.  It is still the *honeymoon period*, but it seems to be 
      going really well.  It's actually quicker I think, it's because
      it's just the three of us now.  So we've been all writing the 
      parts together, and becuase there's three people arguing
      instead of four people arguing, it decreases the time wasted 
      by 25 percent."


Q30.  Why does TWP use two drummers now?

A30.  David Gedge: "It's something I've always wanted to do for years
      and years.  It's like The Fall or Gary Glitter's band.  It's 
      something I've always dreamt of doing but I secretly thought 
      that it's impossible to do, it must be so hard.  But the 
      drummer (Hugh Kelly), he's a massive Wedding Present fan, so 
      he knows all the songs really well, and when he was at practice
      it sounded *absolutely brilliant*, a really big sound, really 
      tight and powerful.  The weird thing was that he such a massive 
      fan he was playing exactly the same as Simon.  And not only 
      that, in time and everything.  Every beat was in the right 
      place."  


Q31.  Have TWP ever played a wedding?

A31.  David Gedge: "Err...no!  I don't mind pop music when it's tacky 
      -- but that's probably going too far!"
  
_____________________________________________________________________

All suggestions for additions, modifications or deletions should be 
directed to Kevin Behrens (kbehrens@cscmail.csc.com).

This information n(c)! 1995 by Kevin Behrens.

The compilation of this information may be published
in any form whatsoever without the permission of the author.

This information may be freely distributed electronically and otherwise.
End WeddoesFAQv2.5

