JOHN Peel once said, “The boy Gedge has written some of the best love songs of the rock’n’roll era. You may dispute this, but I’m right and you’re wrong”.
David Gedge and his re-formed Leeds band The Wedding Present continue to justify the late Peel’s contention, latterly on their box set How The West Was Won, released last autumn on Vibrant Records.
Long recognised as more poet than pop star – “like Byron without the marsh fever” – the 48-year-old Gedge leads The Weddoes in a sold-out gig at Fibbers in York on Thursday, when doors open at 7.30pm.
In the meantime, seek out How The West Was Won, a compilation of four Wedding Present EPs: The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend, comprising four diverse versions of the same song; Don’t Take Me Home Until I’m Drunk, featuring three variations on the same theme; the trend-bucking Santa Ana Winds, with four different songs; and Holly Jolly Hollywood, led off by that festive outpouring times two, followed by wintry covers of White Christmas and Take That’s Back For Good.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here