556 Hello Wet Wet Wet - Wishing I Was Lucky

Chart  entered : 11  April  1987

Chart  peak : 6

Number  of  hits : 29

This  lot  got  a  lot  of  stick - some  of  it  deserved -  but  were  one  of  the  few  acts  to  emerge in  this  period  who  had  real  staying  power.

The  band  were  formed  at  Clydebank  High  School  by  bassist  Graeme  Clark  and  drummer  Tommy  Cunningham  in  1982. A  mutual  friend  Neil  Mitchell   was  invited  to  join  on  keyboards  then  Graeme   approached  a  decorator's  apprentice  Mark  McLachlan   who  was  known  to  be  a  good  singer.  The  following  year  they  invited  in  an  older   guitarist  Graeme  Duffin.  Graeme  D  had  been  playing  with  a  Glasgow  folk  band  New  Celeste  who  had  become  popular  in  Europe  and  released  a  couple  of  albums  there  but  he  had  left  by  1981. At  first  the  group  did  punk  covers  under  the  name  Musical  Vortex  but  soon  started  work  on  their  own  material. In  1984  they  acquired  a  manager  Elliott  Davis  and  changed  their  name  to  Wet  Wet  Wet   from  a  line  in  a  Scritti  Politti  song.   Mark  adopted  the  stage  name  of  "Marti  Pellow".

In  1985  they  signed  to  Phonogram   with  their  own off-shoot, the  Precious  Organisation  inspired  by  Dexy's  Midnight  Runners. It  was  around  this  time  that  a  decision  was  taken  that , as  far  as  the  public  were  concerned , Graeme  D  was  not  an official  member  of  the  group  and  wouldn't  appear  in  group  photographs  or  do  interviews. It's been  widely  assumed  that  Graeme   suffered  the  same  fate  as  Rolling  Stones  keyboard  player Ian  Stewart ;  at  thirty, and  a  ginger  to  boot,  he  wouldn't  be  an  asset  in   the  pages  of  Smash  Hits. However  Graeme  also  had  a  bad  stammer  and  the  decision  has  been  presented  as  a  compassionate  move  to  spare  him  the  trauma  of  being  interviewed.

Wet  Wet  Wet  were  leaning  in  the  direction  of  soul  so  the  record  label  arranged  for  them  to  go  to  Memphis  and  record  with  Al  Green  producer  Willie  Mitchell. They  recorded  eight  songs  with  him  but  Phonogram  didn't  think  the  results  were  commercial  enough  and  shelved  plans  for  their  release. They  were  eventually  released  as  "The  Memphis  Sessions"  in  1988  after  their  success  with  "Popped  In  Souled  Out"  (which  contained  re-workings  of  some  of  the  same  songs ). It  got  to  number  3  in  the  UK  but  no  singles  were  issued  from  it.

"Wishing  I  Was  Lucky"  was  not  one  of  the  songs  recorded  in  Memphis  and  is  atypical  in  having  a  vaguely  political  content. The  lyric  is  not  particularly  coherent  but  seems  to  be  about  a  man  seeking  work  and  getting  a  tip  off  but  there  seems  to  be  some  sort  of  catch, the  employer  being  an  unsavoury  character  in  a  way  that's  never  clearly  defined. That doesn't  matter  so  much  because  the  band  invest  enough  energy  and  passion  to  compensate  for  any  lyrical  vagueness. The  dullness  of  much  of  their  subsequent  output   has  clouded  memories  of  how  good  this  debut  single  is. The  first  half  is  built  around  Graeme  C's  springy  bass  line  with  splashes  of  synth  and  striking  piano  chords  from  Neil. Marti  demonstrates  his  range  with  a  powerful  white  soul  vocal; why  he  chose  to  present  himself  with  that  stupid  rictus  grin  when  they  did  Top  of  the  Pops  will  always  be  a  mystery. As  the  record  progresses,  the  harmonies  become  increasingly  complex  and   Graeme  D's  guitar  gets  more  and  more  prominent  until  he   really  lets  rip  on  the  howling  coda. I  must  admit  I  can't  recall  all  their  hits  but  I'd  be  very  surprised  if  this  wasn't  their  best  by  a  long  way.