593 Hello The Wedding Present - Nobody's Twisting Your Arm

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Chart entered : 5  March  1988

Chart  peak :  46

Number  of  hits : 25

These  guys  could  have  been  the  next  Smiths  but  chose  to  be  another  Fall  and  did  more  than  most  to  undermine  the  charts  in  the  process. Though  not  the  first  to  make  the  charts , they  are  the  first  of  only  two  bands  featured  on  the  C86  cassette  to  qualify  here.

The  band  was  formed  in  Leeds in  1985  from  the  collapse  of  an  earlier  band, The  Lost  Pandas. Vocalist  David  Gedge  and  bassist  Keith  Gregory  decided  to  continue  working  together  and  formed  The  Wedding  Present, the  name  a  homage  to  Nick  Cave's  Birthday  Party. They  recruited  an  ex-schoolmate  Pete  Solowka  as  guitarist  and    drummer  Shaun  Charman  came  through  auditions.

After  tenacious  gigging  around  Leeds, the band  managed  to  self-finance  their  debut  single  "Go  Out  and  Get  'Em  Boy"  on  City  Slang  Records  in  early  1985. By  the  time  it  had  sold  out  is  initial  pressing  they  had  set  up  their  own  label  Reception  Records  with  distribution  through  Red Rhino. The  single  was  reissued  in  May. It  set  the  template  of  ultra-fast  guitar abuse  by  Pete  against  David'  blunt  and  flat  Yorkshire  vocals. The  song  is  a  reproach  to  a  squaddie . There  are  hints  of  Orange  Juice  and  the  Banshees  in the  musical  mix  but  it  sounds  like  early  Joy  Division  more  than  anyone  else.

The  next  single,  "Once  |More"  the  following  year,  was  better  produced  with  cleaner  guitar  lines, a  bit  like  Altered  Images  but  played  at  breakneck  pace. It sounds  like  a  plea  from  a career  criminal  to  be  allowed  to  continue  his  activities  and  when  you  consider  where  the  band  come  from  it  may  be  they  had  one  notorious  criminal  in  mind. The third  single  "This  Boy  Can  Wait"  moves  further  towards  the  mainstream  with  Keith's  melodic  bass  line although  it's  comparatively  slight  lyrically.

The  band  had  now  come  within  Peel's  radar  and  did  a  session  for  him  which  was  almost  immediately  released  on  vinyl  as  one  of  the  first  issues  on his  new  Strange  Fruit  label  in  1986.

With  their  profile  increasing  the  band  set  to  work  on  their  debut  album , "George  Best"  , a  strange  choice  of  title  for  a  band  from  Leeds, why  not  Billy  Bremner  or  Eddie  Gray  ( managing  Rochdale  at  the time ) ?   I  can  only  give  it  a  qualified  thumb's  up. David  definitely  has  a  good  ear  for  the  idioms  of  proletarian  romance - it's  difficult  to  think  of  anyone  else  who'd  title  a  song  "Give  My  Love  To  Kevin"  for  instance  - but  his  unmelodious   voice   grates  at   not  much  over  a  single's  length. It's  telling  that  the  best  track  "Everyone  Thinks  He's  Looks  Daft" , a  sharply  observed  take  on  futilely  abusing  your  ex's  new  partner, is  the  one  where  he's  accompanied  by  Talula  Gosh  singer,  Amelia  Fletcher.. Similarly,  Pete  is  no  Johnny  Marr  and  although  there's  one  or  two  decent  riffs,  he's  not  got  nearly  enough  ideas  for  a  whole  album. Shaun's  pedestrian  drumming  doesn't  help  either. The  album  contained  their  two  most  recent  singles  "My  Favourite  Dress"  and  "Anyone  Can  Make  A  Mistake"  and  although  neither  troubled  the charts,  the  album  made  a  very  respectable  showing  at  number  47.  Now  the  major  labels  were  interested  in  signing  them  but  the  band  decided  to  remain  independent  for  the  time  being.

"Nobody's  Twisting  Your  Arm" was  their  next  recording. Within  their  particular  sonic  limitations,  it's  a  good  track  with  Keith  providing  some  melodic  bass  work  on  which  to  hang  the  song  and  Pete  placing  a  bright  top  line  riff  over  the  usual  jangle. Dave  comes  up  with  a  good  lyric  from  the  POV  of  a  loyal  boyfriend  fed  up  of  having  his  trust  abused. Fletcher  pops  up  to  again  sugar  the  pill  and  it's  a  shame it  couldn't  quite  get  in  the  Top  40. In  fact  it  set  the  pattern  for  most  of  their  singles   by  dropping  from  its  entry  position  and not  hanging  around.