| Wet Wet Wet |
The
Wets on the cover of their debut album, 1987's
Popped In Souled Out.
From left: Tommy Cunningham, Marti
Pellow, Graeme Clark, Neil Mitchell
|
| Background information |
| Origin |
Glasgow, Scotland |
| Genre(s) |
Pop music
Soul
music |
| Years active |
1982-present |
| Label(s) |
PolyGram |
| Website |
WetWetWet.co.uk |
| Members |
Marti
Pellow
Tommy Cunningham
Graeme Clark
Neil
Mitchell |
Wet Wet Wet are a successful Scottish pop
band of the 1980s,
1990s
and 2000s.
They scored a number of hits in the British
charts and around the world. The band comprises Marti
Pellow (vocals), Tommy Cunningham (drums, vocals), Graeme Clark (bass, vocals)
and Neil Mitchell (keyboards,
vocals). A fifth, unofficial member, Graeme
Duffin (lead guitar, vocals), has been with them from the beginning.
|
Contents
- 1 1980s
- 2 1990s
- 3 New
millennium
- 4 Discography
- 5 Trivia
- 6 References
- 7 External
links
|
1980s
The quartet formed at Clydebank High School in Clydebank, Scotland, in 1982, under the name
Vortex Motion.
"It was either crime,
the dole, football,
or music -
and we chose music," said Cunningham.
They later changed their name to Wet Wet Wet, a title they took from
the Scritti Politti song, "Gettin,
havin' and holdin'".
After obtaining a record deal with PolyGram in 1985, the band scored
their first hit two years later with their debut single "Wishing
I Was Lucky", which reached number six in the UK
singles chart. "I was in a queue in a chip shop in Glasgow when it came
on Radio
Clyde," Cunningham remembers. "I felt like shouting to everybody,
'That's me and my mates!' It was an incredible feeling I've not
forgotten."
The parent album, Popped
In Souled Out, also became a hit and produced
three more hit singles, namely "Sweet
Little Mystery", "Temptation", and "Angel Eyes". They also
supported Lionel Richie on his UK
tour.
In 1986, the band had contributed a track ("Home and Away",
which would later be reworked into "Angel Eyes") to a
compilation cassette entitled Honey
at the Core, featuring then up-and-coming
Glasgow bands, including Deacon Blue and Hue
and Cry.
In 1988,
the Wets scored their first Number 1 hit with a cover version of the Beatles'
"With a Little
Help from My Friends", recorded for the charity ChildLine.
Another Beatles song, "She's Leaving Home", was equally-billed
on the flip side, performed by Billy Bragg. In the same year,
an album - entitled The
Memphis Sessions - was released from their
spell in the USA
prior to hitting the big time.
The following year the band released their third album, Holding Back the River,
which was also a success and produced the hit single "Sweet
Surrender". The album was well-received, relying more on strings and
other classical arrangements. At the end of 1989, Pellow appeared on the Band
Aid II charity single.
1990s
In 1992,
the band released a fourth studio album, entitled High on the Happy Side,
which spawned the Number 1 hit single "Goodnight
Girl" - the only self-penned chart-topping single they have had to
date. The song proved something of a saviour, as the previous two
releases from the album had failed in the singles charts, although the
album sold well. In total, five singles were released from it. The
following day saw the release of a special-edition album, Cloak &
Dagger.
The band's first greatest-hits package, End of Part One,
was released towards the end of 1993. The eighteen-song selection
included "Shed
a Tear" and "Cold Cold Heart",
which were recorded especially for the album and released as singles.
In 1994,
Wet Wet Wet had their biggest hit, a cover version of the Troggs
single "Love Is All Around", which was a
huge international success and spent fifteen weeks atop the British
charts. Only Pellow's insistence on its deletion (he was bored of its
chart domination and overheard people complaining about it) prevented
the song from possibly equalling and breaking the record for the
longest-standing Number 1 single, held by Bryan
Adams' "(Everything I Do)
I Do It For You". "Love Is All Around" was used on the soundtrack to
the film Four Weddings and a
Funeral. In the official UK
best-selling singles list issued in 2002, it was placed 12th. The song also
featured on the 1995
album Picture This,
their sixth, which also spawned the hit single "Julia
Says". The album, although well-received by critics, would ultimately
live in the shadow of "Love Is All Around".
During the rest of the 1990s the band maintained a strong UK
following, although success in the singles charts became more sporadic.
Their seventh studio album, 1997's 10,
celebrated the group's decade at the top.
After the tour in support of 10, things
turned sour over a dispute about royalty-sharing. Revenue from the
group's songwriting had been a four-way equal split. Cunningham turned
up for what he thought was a routine band meeting, only to discover the
real reason was that the other three members wanted to revise the
policy, paying the drummer a lesser amount. Cunningham quit the group,
later forming The Sleeping Giants.
In 1999
Pellow also quit, and went into rehab to battle a debilitating heroin addiction.
New millennium
Pellow succeeded in kicking his habit, and returned to the
public eye in 2001
with his debut solo album, Smile.
In March 2004,
the band cautiously reformed
in order to work on an eighth album. A single entitled "All I Want" was
released in November 2004 from the band's second Greatest Hits,
released a week later. They undertook a successful tour of the UK the
following month.
In July 2005,
Wet Wet Wet played at the Summer Weekender festival in England, and
were one of the headline acts at Live 8 Edinburgh.
In October 2006,
Graeme Clark posted on the band's website that the album that
was rumoured to be released in 2004 is due out at the end of 2006 or
early in 2007.
On December 31, 2006, Wet Wet Wet were the headline act for Aberdeen's Hogmanay
celebrations.
They performed thirteen songs in an hour-long set.
In the new year of 2007, the band announced that they would be
touring the UK in December, in support of the album to which they were
putting the finishing touches.
Discography
- For a detailed discography, see Wet Wet Wet discography.
Studio albums
- Popped
In Souled Out - (1987) #1
UK
- The
Memphis Sessions - (1988)
- Holding Back the River
- (1989)
- High on the Happy Side
- (1992) #1
UK
- Cloak &
Dagger - (1992)
- Picture This
- (1995) #1
UK
- 10
- (1997) #1
UK, #13 US
Trivia
- The Wets were formerly the shirt sponsors of their hometown
football club, Clydebank.
References
External links
Official:
Fansites:
| Wet Wet Wet |
| Marti
Pellow ·
Tommy Cunningham ·
Graeme Clark ·
Neil Mitchell |
| Other musicians: Graeme
Duffin |
| Discography |
Studio albums:
Popped In Souled Out ·
The Memphis Sessions ·
Holding Back the River ·
High on the Happy Side
Cloak &
Dagger ·
Picture This ·
10 |
| Singles:
Wishing I Was Lucky ·
Sweet Little Mystery ·
Angel Eyes ·
Temptation ·
With a Little
Help from My Friends ·
Sweet Surrender ·
Broke
Away ·
Hold Back the River ·
Stay
With Me Heartache ·
Make It Tonight ·
Put The Light On ·
Goodnight Girl ·
More than Love ·
Lip Service ·
Blue for You
(live)/This Time (live) ·
Shed
a Tear ·
Cold Cold
Heart ·
Love Is All Around ·
Julia
Says ·
Don't Want to Forgive
Me Now ·
Somewhere Somehow ·
She's All on My Mind ·
Morning ·
If I Never See You
Again ·
Strange ·
Yesterday/Maybe I'm In
Love ·
All I Want |
| Live albums:
Wet Wet Wet: Live ·
Live at
the Royal Albert Hall |
| Compilations:
End of Part One ·
The Greatest Hits |
Videos:
Video Singles ·
Live Glasgow Green
Free Concert ·
High on the Happy Side ·
The Wets at the Castle ·
Live
at the Royal Albert Hall
End of
Part One ·
Picture
This - All Around and in the Crowd ·
Playing Away at Home ·
The Greatest
Hits and More |
