Suddenly It's Tuesday

  Part 12 saw the biggest controversy arise thus far, and I have to confess that I really didn't see it coming... I thought that placing 'Dan Dare' in the top 40 might raise a few eyebrows; I suspected that some would see it as too much of throwaway, insubstantial moment to warrant such a lofty position. But it turned out that its ranking wasn't the problem. This is what I said: I may get some stick for placing this 100-second instrumental b-side (and a cover of one of TWP's own songs to boot) so highly, but 'Dan Dare' is just so joyously infectious and uplifting that I think it warrants its place in the top forty. A lyric-free (although David does contribute some 'aaaaahhhhh's) surf-rock reimagining of 'Dare', it fizzes along with winning exuberance.  What I hadn't banked on was that so many TWP fans had never realised that 'Dan Dare' was an instrumental version of 'Dare'. I had always thought that everyone knew that thi

  Happy new year to you all and best wishes for a much improved 2021! I predicted in the last post that the failure of 'What Have I Said Now?' to make the top 40 would be the most controversial aspect, and so it proved, although it didn't provoke quite the level of vehemence I expected. Trawling back this evening through the responses on here, Facebook and Scopitones, I estimate that the comments have fallen roughly into: 70% 'can't argue with that'; 25% 'I'd have had xxx a bit higher/lower'; 5% 'are you mad and/or deaf?!?' Which is actually rather better than I expected... But more importantly, I've been really impressed with the thoughtful and civil responses, which says I lot, I think, about your average TWP fan. Anyway, onwards into the heady heights of the top 40! YouTube Playlist (223 - 21) Spotify Playlist (21 - 100) 40 Don't Laugh  (B-side of Nobody's Twisting Your Arm, 1988) The typical GB -era guitar blend of frantic-sc

  I hope you all had a great Christmas, or at least as good a one as was possible under the circumstances. This period between Christmas and New Year is always a strange time, a bit dead and in limbo. However, you can perk things up with a journey through the (almost) top echelons of the Wedding Present's back catalogue. So grab a turkey sandwich and settle into the 40s and 50s of the 'Suddenly it's Tuesday' list... YouTube Playlist (223 - 41) Spotify Playlist (41 - 100) 60 Mystery Date (Valentina, 2012) Valentina 's final track is another of David's 'romantic underdog' songs, the  narrator  being  astonished  by a woman giving him her number, which leads him to exclaim repeatedly that 't hings like this do not not happen to me'. A touchingly hesitant opening builds into a strident chorus, regroups briefly then bursts into a clattering, abandoned thrash. The final section is loose and down-tempo, almost jazzy, and features an enigmatic piece of J