Tommy 30

Description

April, 1985. At the very moment when the first few notes of Go Out And Get Em, Boy! twinkle out of BBC Radio 1s John Peel show to herald the birth of The Wedding Present, David Gedge is listening intently at home along with the population of late teens that would become his ardent fans. In the beginning, The Wedding Present were resolutely not an album band. In fact, David had often been quoted as saying that they would never release an LP. Pleased to have recorded and released that debut single they just started on the next one. This continued for a couple of years, while the band went from organising their own concerts in pubs around Leeds to playing at Glastonbury Festival. That all changed, of course, when George Best became The Wedding Presents first album in 1988. But Tommy released one year later was made up of the early songs from the singles and radio sessions that had catapulted them from being bedsit musicians into indie darlings: Go Out And Get Em, Boy! with its purposefully super fast guitars, You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends an anthem for those long time Wedding Present fans, My Favourite Dress the only single in the collection that ended up on George Best the classic, fraught tale of loosing ones first love that perfectly played on the heart strings and began David Gedges legacy of understanding everyones heartbreak. Tommy 30 a brand new re-recording of Tommy did not come about simply as a follow on to George Best 30. The band felt during a Tommy 30th anniversary concert tour that the songs had grown and evolved. Enter a more confident vocalist an altogether growlier guitar. A bigger sound. The urgency of a 25 year old Gedge is replaced with a charming vocalist with years of experience. Everythings warmer and, maybe, gentler but in a satisfying way. Its like your old friends have come home to see you. Youve all changed, youve all had broken hearts but youre all still friends and you still enjoy each others company after all these years. The boy Gedge has written some of the best love songs of the Rock n Roll era. You may dispute this but Im right and youre wrong! John Peel