We'll pop on two brand new albums we love {the yet-to-be-released Darren Hanlon and brand new Menomena albums} and wield a pair knitting needles or a hot glue gun at our monthly Imaginary Crafty Listening Party.
You know those bands that always seem to be there for you when your heart gets mangled? The band that gets your groove back in gear? For me, that's the Wedding Present.
The wonderful thing I've come to learn over the years? The Wedding Present is *that* band for a bunch of you too!
It's a strange and glorious fact that Bizarro, the Wedding Present's classic second studio album and the one that includes our favorites like "Brassneck" and "Kennedy" (to name a couple), will turn 21 years old this year. To celebrate, Gedge and company will be playing the album live, in its entirety, at concerts across North America, Japan and Europe (full tour shed-jule below). Obviously, those of us in Seattle are counting the days until April 21 when the Wedding Present is set to play the Crocodile.
We here at Three Imaginary Girls, especially me, want to mark the occasion here as well! Let's gather forces and geek out all Bizarro stylee!
Here's the idea: Send me a few sentences, a paragraph, or a story about a favorite song from the Bizarro album. Tell us all about why the song (or songs - feel free to take on more than one!) rules or how it has affected you. It can be short, long, quirky, solemn, desirous, uplifting or clinical (i.e why the particular chord progression is magical).
Then, leading up to the Seattle show, we'll publish "The Bizarro Series" to share the stand-out posts on Three Imaginary Girls. I'm particularly excited because it could turn into a week's worth (or longer) of geek out Wedding Present bliss... or, if none of you are into this idea, it could end up being me transcribing diary entries from the mid-90s detailing some dark days ("Oh you know I'm crushed inside..."). It's your choice...
Send your entries, however long or short about one or more Bizarro songs, to me at tig @ threeimaginarygirls . com with the subject line of Bizarro: SONG TITLE before March 19, 2010 and we'll start posting them in April.
In case you don't have your vinyl version of the album on your person, here's the original LP tracklist:
Side A: 1. Brassneck – 4:51 2. Crushed – 2:32 3. No – 4:11 4. Thanks – 2:22 5. Kennedy – 4:20 6. What Have I Said Now? – 5:18
Side B: 7. Granadaland – 4:50 8. Bewitched – 6:42 9. Take Me! – 9:15 10. Be Honest – 2:37
It would be great to hear your Bizarro story... but regardless if you partake in storytime, I'll see you at the Crocodile on April 21!
Will shorts be worn this time? {I love the moment at 1.20 in this song}
i always prefered seamonsters and the gig when they play that in its entirity may well be the greatest day of my life!
it is true to say, that the wedding present have made me who i am (to an extent). they have been there throughout the last 25 years from when i first heard them (in a bunkbed in an army camp in cornwall) at the age of 16, right through relationships, marriages, divorces, pain, joy, the lot!
and if i ever need to feel like i'm sixteen again, i can just put on the old albums, turn up the volume and lose myself in the glorious noise
Ian -- I agree totally! I think "Snake Eyes" on Saturnalia really taught me how to embrace heartache and anger whereas "Bewitched" on Bizarro helped me move on.
Hey!!! Wow Bizarro turn 21!!! I guess that means the album can can enter a 21 and over venue. It is so hard to chose just one song on this album as the entire album was such a turning point in my life. I remember searching all over LA to find it and was torn between buying it on vinyl or CD as I just purchased my first CD player for $200. OK enough about the album and more about my fav song. I would have to say that Kennedy is the winner. The words "hit me" to somethings that were going on in my life and the the way that David Gedge just played his guitar as hard as he could and build up to something great is unexplainable. Wow I just had a flashback to see them for the first time in the early nineties. I seen them many times since and can't wait to check them out at the Croc on the 21st.
Way back in the early 90's I was dee-jaying at my university's radio station and "No" from the Bizarro LP was in the WGMU library. Whoever on the staff was responsible for putting that track onto a "cart" was spot on as, not only is it a standout album track, it's one of the band's greatest achievements. "No' took those elements that had already made TWP such a force to be reckoned with prior to Bizarro and raised them to another, almost insurmountable, level. Hardly ever played live, it will be a treat to hear it performed after all these years!
But will they play Brassneck a second time along with Box Elder, etc? Seriously, The Weddoes are the soundtrack to me and my girlfriend (now wife) covering every record store in the greater DC area looking for weird singles and B-sides.
Favorite song? Crushed. What a rush.
When I was in the UK a few years back, I heard Kennedy on TV, and saw that it was being used as the teaser for some kind of Shark Attack nature program. That was strange.
I first heard The Wedding Present on good old 120 minutes. The song was "Kennedy" and I was immediately blown away-it was so different at that time from most of the current music out there and I had always been a huge fan of The Fall. The next day I immediately went out and bought Bizzaro. "Brassneck" and "Take Me" became my immediate favorites. I was graduating from high school and falling in love for the first time and the album became the soundtrack of my summer. Six months later when I was dumped by said girl the album again fit the circumstances of my life. Still to this day the immediate guitar intro just tugs at my heart strings. Later, after I took said girl back, "Sea Monsters" would be the 2nd best soundtrack when she dumped me yet again for my friend.
Reviews
You know those bands that always seem to be there for you when your heart gets mangled? The band that gets your groove back in gear? For me, that's the Wedding Present.
1 weddoes fan said on March 9, 2010
2 Seamonster said on March 9, 2010
3 ian said on March 9, 2010
4 imaginary liz said on March 9, 2010
weddoes fan - um, yes!
5 Flibidydibidydob said on March 9, 2010
6 Tom said on March 9, 2010
7 Michael said on March 30, 2010
8 Eric said on April 2, 2010
9 Jay said on April 19, 2010
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