The Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT are a British Indie rock group based in Leeds, England which was formed back in 1985 and led by Vocalist and Guitarist DAVID GEDGE who's the band's only constant member. Other original members back then were KEITH GREGORY on Bass, PETER SOLOWKA on Guitar and SHAUN CHARMAN on Drums. The band emerged from the ashes of THE LOST PANDAS which fell apart in 1984 when singer David Gedge's then girlfriend Janet Rigby, the drummer for the band, left him for guitarist Michael Duane. After that heartbreaking incident, Gedge and the Pandas' bass player, Keith Gregory, decided to continue the band, renaming it "The Wedding Present." Gedge had wanted to use this name for some time, but had been afraid of the perceived similarity with the name of one of his favorite bands which was "The Birthday Party". By the time the Lost Pandas broke up, however, The Birthday Party had also split up, and Gedge felt free to name his new band "The Wedding Present".The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock to more varied forms. Throughout their career, there have been a lot of changes in the band's line-up. Personally, I just got to know "The Wedding Present" by the Legendary C-86 compilation which I have also featured here in my little blog before. Well, I must admit that their music cannot be easily appreciated at first but when you got to play their songs all over again you then get the upbeat feeling of liking it already. They have this very unique sound that will classify them in the Indie Route. It's "FAIRY TALE WEDDING FEVER" around the globe because of the Wedding of PRINCE WILLIAM and KATE MIDDLETON that's why I'm featuring "THE WEDDING PRESENT" here in my little blog "The Doctor Is In". YUP!! Since this band came from ENGLAND then It's really timely for the Royal Couple's Wedding. If you love INDIE MUSIC then this band should be one of your list.




THE WEDDING PRESENT's Discography consists of 34 singles, 2 extended plays, 8 studio albums, 5 live albums and 13 compilation albums.At the height of their popularity the band had a run of twelve top-30 singles in twelve months, equaling a record set by Elvis Presley. Wheew!! That's quite a number of songs indeed for an Indie Band which didn't got that necessary exposure here in MANILA back in the 80s.



THE WEDDING PRESENT's debut album "GEORGE BEST" is my one and only music material from this great Indie Band which was released back in October 1987 by their own record company, RECEPTION RECORDS. Although as what I have presented you earlier wherein the band had a lot of music materials I still opted to only buy their debut album in CD format. What I have here is the 23 Track CD Re-release which has 9 Bonus Tracks. The band sought and received permission to name the album after Northern Irish football legend GEORGE BEST. That's George Best on the cover too!! This football legend agreed to appear on promotional shots with the band that's why if you have the album the photo of George Best is all around it. Definitely one great CD for PINOY NEW WAVERS to consider having in their music collection. After self-releasing five singles on Reception Records label, the band turned to recording their first album, continuing their collaboration with producer Chris Allison, who had produced their previous single, "My Favourite Dress" which incidentally is my favorite song from the band. The album's somewhat tinny sound reflects the low recording budget was in making this music score. David Gedge's songwriting chronicles relationships breaking up or never taking off which I think makes this album more interesting. A digression is CD bonus track "All About Eve", which is about apartheid, a subject that Gedge came into contact with during his childhood years back in South Africa. Disagreement on production values with Allison led to the album being remixed by the band and engineer, Steve Lyon. The larger part of these conflicts seemed to lie with the personal and musical incompatibility of Allison and drummer Charman. Well, this always happens if you talk about bands.


The original Reception Records compact disc release added two bonus tracks from the B-side of single "Anyone Can Make a Mistake". All later CD re-releases of George Best, starting with the 1997 re-release by Canadian reissue label Pearls from the Past, added all tracks of 1988 singles "Nobody's Twisting Your Arm" and "Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now?", including a cover of The Beatles' "Getting Better" which I think was a very unique rendition since I'm also a BEATLEMANIA. By the time of the latter single's release, drummer Shaun Charman had been fired and replaced by Simon Smith. In 2007, the band played a 20th anniversary tour of George Best, performing the album in its entirety. I made my CD available for download just in case you're interested to have a copy. I still encourage you guys to buy the original one since this is just for your listening pleasure and I'm also promoting the CD as well. ENJOY THE MUZIC!!



THE WEDDING PRESENT "GEORGE BEST"
TRACKLIST

1) Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft
2) What Did Your Last Servant Die Of?
3) Don't Be So Hard
4) A Million Miles
5) All This and More
6) Getting Nowhere Fast
7) My Favourite Dress (album version)
8) Shatner
9) Something and Nothing
10)It's What You Want That Matters
11)Give My Love to Kevin
12)Anyone Can Make a Mistake
13)You Can't Moan, Can You?
14)All About Eve
15)Nobody's Twisting Your Arm
16)Nothing Comes Easy
17)Don't Laugh
18)I'm Not Always So Stupid
19)Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now?
20)Not from Where I'm Standing
21)Give My Love to Kevin (acoustic version)
22)Getting Better
23)Pourquoi Es-Tu Devenue Si Raisonnable?


DOWNLOAD MY CD HERE:


PASSWORD: http://docmuzic.blogspot.com/

HERE'S A LIVE VIDEO CLIP OF "My Favourite Dress":



LISTEN TO THEIR BEATLES RENDITION
entitled "GETTING BETTER":




Well, another timely reason for this special blogpost of mine about "THE WEDDING PRESENT" is regarding FOOTBALL. YUP!! The band's album cover was GEORGE BEST who is a Football Legend and here in the Philippines today there is an increase awareness and love for the sport. Never in the entire sport's existence here in my country has this increase popularity of football happened before and thanks to the entire PHILIPPINE FOOTBALL TEAM who are better known as "THE PHILIPPINE AZKALS". The Team is now in a winning form trying their best to represent the entire FILIPINO NATION for the AFC Challenge Cup. Incidentally, there's this Football Tournament called "WORLD CUP PILIPINAS" which starts today APRIL 30, 2011 at the historical LUNETA. It's on their 2nd year and the Philippines won last year 2010. I guess Basketball's popularity here in my country is really going down the drain. Well, It has been for the past decade.

LISTEN TO "NOBODY'S TWISTING YOUR ARM" HERE:


LISTEN TO "ALL ABOUT EVE" HERE:


Well since Prince William and Princess Kate just married yesterday APRIL 29, 2011 and It's their wedding that inspired me to do this blogpost, I included a simple video clip of The Royal Couple's Marriage Vows. That was indeed a MODERN DAY FAIRYTALE!! A Royal Blood and a Commoner tied the knot and getting ready to live happily ever after in a Palace. Wheeew!! I watched it on T.V. and It's definitely one that we read on story books. The Royal Couple looks good together.

WATCH THE ROYAL COUPLE'S MARRIAGE VOWS HERE:



I hope you enjoyed your stay again here in my blog. As usual this is "The Dr. Stirring Rhod Way" of creating a blogpost about "THE WEDDING PRESENT".I'll leave you with the album version of "MY FAVOURITE DRESS" and it's lyrics so that you can sing along with me. I may say that the words of this song is really deep. Hmmmp? I guess The Royal Couple just used their Favourite Dress on their Wedding. THANKS for dropping by!!


LISTEN TO "MY FAVOURITE DRESS" HERE:


Lyrics | Wedding Present lyrics - My Favourite Dress lyrics



THE WEDDING PRESENT
of my blog to the Newly Weds
Royal Couple!!
Best Wishes!!
-DR. STIRRING RHOD

CASSETTE TAPES Art Exhibit

Last February 11, 2011, a different kind of exhibit was presented at the First Year Anniversary of Vinyl Forever in Makati City. Although I wasn't able to attend the said event on that specific date, the exhibit even extended for a few weeks so when I visited the shop I was lucky to still catch the distinctive art exhibit. YUP!! It was definitely an "out of this world" experience since it was an art extravaganza about CASSETTE TAPES which my generation grew up using as an alternative to Vinyl Records and come to think of it I was only passing by the vicinity. I wonder if the young generation of today still know what a cassette tape is? He He He!! Well, here's my special blogpost about that very interesting art exhibit entitled "KISS MY ANALOG: A Year In Replay". Mind you, they aren't just your ordinary cassettes that we usually play on our tape decks back on those days. These were extraordinary stuffs that even my creative thoughts didn't imagine. Ha Ha Ha!! I can't believe my eyes seeing these cassettes turned into a collective creative art works by different artists. I took some photos of the tape art works for you to enjoy but I wasn't able to note down the specific artists who made them because there were a lot of them and I haven't had enough time listing them for this blogpost. But what's important is that I'm featuring the artists works here on "The Doctor Is In" since I belong to the generation who loves Cassette Tapes. Btw, the Blogpost Header Photo is a sort of Wooden Wall of Colorful Cassette Tapes which I counted as 96 original works of art and I noticed that four cassettes were already missing. Personally, I called it "THE WALL OF CASSETTES". Btw, I just made up the Art Work Titles on each of the photos that I'll show you because I wasn't able to take note of the exact Art Titles and the Artists who created them. If I were to give the Art Titles then these are what I'll name them. I didn't took photos of all the entries, but instead I just chose what I found the most interesting ones. Actually all of them were really original and good but I have to trim it down. This is a Vinyl Record Shop and having a Cassette Tape exhibit made it really fit for a time capsule since both Music Formats (Vinyl Records and Cassettes) are getting extinct nowadays. Maybe the Bieber-Gaga Generation can learn a lot from this. I bought some records on the shop first just before looking at the art works. It's PINOY INGENUITY at It's BEST!! So my dear readers, may I present you a different Analog Experience!! ENJOY VIEWING!!


Here's the Official Event Poster:



THE PULLEY



THE TRANSFORMERS



MONKEY BUSINESS



MONSTER CRUNCHER



GOLD BARS



THE BLACK SKULL RIDER



ANCIENT RELICS



Here are some of the different cassettes on
THE WALL OF CASSETTES:

SPIDERMAN


REAL GENIUS


BLACK EYE PIECE



JEEP JEEP!!



This next artwork would definitely be my favorite among all entries. This is a Photo Portrait that's really quite huge. I mean HUGE in the proper sense!! The interesting part here is that everything you see was made of that cassette tape reels. YUP!! That brown thing that rolls and when at free time you rewind or fast-forward using your ball pen. Remember that method KABAYANS? Ha Ha Ha!! Those were the good ol' days indeed when life was just simple with a clear breath of fresh air.


THE HIP SMOKER



I hope you guys enjoyed another special blogpost of mine regarding that ancient music material called CASSETTE TAPE. This brings back a lot of memories right? I'll leave you with the Music Video from Recent Manila Visitor Half FILIPINO Singer Peter Gene Hernandez aka. BRUNO MARS. This is his #1 Hit "JUST THE WAY YOU ARE". This Video shows the creativity that really worked by using "CASSETTE TAPE" ART. THANKS again for dropping by!!

WATCH THE MTV of "JUST THE WAY YOU ARE" HERE:



KISS MY ANALOG!!
-DR. STIRRING RHOD

John Hughes' Films DVD Boxsets

John Wilden Hughes, Jr. aka. JOHN HUGHES (February 18, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter who directed and scripted some of the most successful films of the 1980s and 1990s. One of my favorite 80s directors of my generation. I already made a tribute about him before here in my blog when he passed away last 2009. Together with that John Hughes blogpost I made was a photo of the Video CDs (VCDs) of his seven films which I bought back in 2008. Last year 2010, these seven Film VCDs were released here in MANILA on two DVD Boxsets to my delight. YUP!! I was glad it became available here in the Philippines at a much affordable price than if you'll purchase each DVDs abroad. Of course I didn't escape such opportunity to buy the John Hughes DVD Boxsets which I'm now featuring here on "The Doctor Is In". A must-have for PINOY NEW WAVERS even though it's not the musical score but the films themselves are all considered classics and they are all much oriented on the musical genre called NEW WAVE. So KABAYANS if you still don't have these great DVDs try to check out the Record and Video Shops and get your copies. It would definitely give you one heck of a NOSTALGIC TRIP!! That I assure you and It's really cool for your collection.



The First DVD Boxset was entitled "I LOVE 80s MOVIES" which included Four John Hughes Films namely PRETTY IN PINK, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF, SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL, and SHE'S HAVING A BABY.



The Second DVD Boxset was entitled "THREE 80s CLASSICS" which included Three John Hughes Films namely THE BREAKFAST CLUB. SIXTEEN CANDLES, and WEIRD SCIENCE.


DVD Back Covers

These are Two Great DVD Boxsets to remember JOHN HUGHES who was popular with my generation. Well, I'm not going to the details of each films because I'll feature all of them here on my blog so just stay tune for that.



JOHN HUGHES quit Hollywood back in 1994, but was said to have left behind some boxes of notebooks and computer files containing film ideas and screenplays after his death last 2009. One of John Hughes' lost movies is reportedly set for a posthumous release. The Big Bosses at Paramount Pictures have purchased the rights to Hughes' unfilmed script entitled "Grisby's Go Broke" which was about a dysfunctional Chicago family who lose all their money when the economy slumps. This is considered as one of John Hughes' lost movies which is reportedly set for a posthumous release.


Last year March 7, 2010 at the 82nd ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS there was a tribute to John Hughes' life and works. YUP!! It's the OSCARS giving the tribute to the man himself. This was a retrospective of clips from his classic films which was followed by cast members including Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick, Macaulay Culkin, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall and Jon Cryer. A great tribute I may say for the man which made a mark in 80s teen movies!! A wonderful gathering on stage to commemorate the man and his contributions to the film industry.

Here's a film clip of that great tribute at the OSCARS which I divided into two parts:

PART ONE:


PART TWO:



CHECK OUT my special JOHN HUGHES blogpost way back 2009
by clicking my VCDs photo:



I hope you guys enjoyed another trip down memory lane on another exclusive JOHN HUGHES Tribute. THANKS for dropping by!!


This is how Huge
JOHN HUGHES was!!
-DR. STIRRING RHOD

SNEAK ATTACK

SNEAK ATTACK was the Legendary WXB 102 Party which made a mark back in the 80s for PINOY NEW WAVERS/PUNKS. YUP!! It was one of those "102 Parties" that was very memorable back on those days. It was so successful that a sequel was made so It was "SNEAK ATTACK" and "SNEAK ATTACK 2". I was only able to attend the Part Two which was held at the ATRIUM in MAKATI. Last month March 2011, I passed by THE ATRIUM in MAKATI and instantly remembered this Legendary 102 Party and it just popped up my mind that I'll create a special blogpost about it. The "ATRIUM" is very different right now compared to 24 years ago when the party was held there. Since there's no known "Sneak Attack" article yet in the world wide web so I decided to make a special blogpost about this Legendary 102 party. YUP!! It's"The Dr. Stirring Rhod Way" of remembering "SNEAK ATTACK" and it's exclusively here on "The Doctor Is In" so I hope you'll enjoy another trip down memory lane.


"SNEAK ATTACK" was first held at "RIZAL THEATER MAKATI" back in MAY 7, 1986 Wednesday Evening. The guest bands then were "CHARLOTTE RUSSE", "IDENTITY CRISIS", "SAKE", and "THE DAWN". Dance Mobile Production by THE PREPPIES and WXB 102 with guest Music Mobiles HARMONIC TREND, EYEBALL DUB, and MODE ZERO.





"SNEAK ATTACK 2" was the followup to the successful 102 Party "SNEAK ATTACK" and that's exactly after a year. This time it was held at "THE ATRIUM MAKATI" back in May 6, 1987. YUP!! It was again held on a Wednesday Evening and a month before WXB 102 had their final broadcast. All four bands who were present on the first party were again present in this sequel namely "CHARLOTTE RUSSE", "SAKE", "THE DAWN", and "IDENTITY CRISIS" with two additional guest bands and they were "VIOLENT PLAYGROUND" and "KHUMB MELA". Dance Mobile Productions by JESCAM and WXB 102 with the return of the three original Music Mobiles EYEBALL DUB. HARMONIC TREND, and MODE ZERO but this time two additional mobiles were included namely WAVE and ZOU.

Of course the Legendary WXB 102 DJs:

Here's my exclusive DIY Vintage Collage Photos of the XB DJs circa 80s:

George Frederick
Julius Caesar
The Ghost
Morning Man
Allan K.
Mickey The Clown

Cool Carla was present with the IDENTITY CRISIS:

IDENTITY CRISIS at SNEAK ATTACK 2
(Photo Courtesy of Nilo X)



Well, this would never happen without WXB 102 Station Manager back then none other than the Legend himself Mr. Jessie Gonzales.


Well, I took two photos of my visit to THE ATRIUM recently so that you'll see what It looks like nowadays.

I hope you guys enjoyed my special "SNEAK ATTACK" blogpost. Btw, the XB Radio Ad of both "SNEAK ATTACK" and "SNEAK ATTACK 2" are also classics. If anyone of you KABAYANS have a Vintage Audio Clip of it then it would be nice to share it to everyone. "SNEAK ATTACK 2" was one great party even though my friends and I arrived late and missed out some highlights. He He He!! I'm just glad to be there !! One of those occasions I got the chance to attend a 102 Party. THANKS for the memories DWXB 102.7 FM broadcasting on the bay area!! The Station The Dares To Be Different!! THANKS again guys for dropping by my little blog!!


Special THANKS also to MORNING MAN and ALDRIN of HARMONIC TREND for the pictures and posters I used which I manipulated to spice up my blogpost. Btw, I have already featured both these guys here in my blog before just check out my archives.


It's a
SNEAK ATTACK!!
-DR. STIRRING RHOD

EGG RECORDS "An Introduction To 1988-1991"

EGG RECORDS is an Independent Record Label based in Glasgow, Scotland. The record label initially released 8 records between 1988 and 1991 and after a long hiatus these long deleted Vinyl Records were restored and remastered digitally back in 2003. Since It's EASTER SUNDAY 2011 here in the Philippines then I'll be featuring EASTER EGGS. Oooops!! I mean EGG RECORDS' first digital compilation which was released back in JULY 2003. This CD was my first time to hear all the bands of the record label and definitely the title bears it as an introduction. YUP!! It was my first Introduction to the Record Label called "EGG RECORDS" and not to be mistaken to the Record Shop by the same name which is based in Australia. The CD compilation that I'm talking about is "EGG RECORDS: An Introduction to 1988-1991" which is a compilation of the bands with various bonus 'basement tape' numbers. Egg Records was short-lived, but the label contributed to the late 80s/early 90s post-c86 UK pop scene. They released singles from The Prayers, The Bachelor Pad and Change Of Seasons, as well as the classic "Lighthouse In A Desert" compilation 12" with the former two bands, Remember Fun and the Church Grims. This Glasgow-based record label officially started back in 1988 and It released materials from local bands such as THE BACHELOR PAD, THE PRAYERS, and REMEMBER FUN and not to forget Paisley's THE CHURCH GRIMS. It also expanded their horizon by signing bands from beyond Scottish borders such as CHANGE OF SEASONS who hailed from Toronto, Canada.


Of course EASTER SUNDAY reminds us of The Resurrection of JESUS CHRIST. Aside from that we also know the usual EASTER BUNNY and EASTER EGGS. That's why I'm bringing you the sound of EGG RECORDS. What do you want? Scramble Eggs, Omelet, or Sunny Side Up? "EGG" in Pilipino is "ITLOG". So here in the Philippines we have the usual Meals that we call "TAPSILOG" , "LONGSILOG" and other combination with eggs. KABAYANS, don't be hungry okay. Wouldn't it be nice to have "ITLOG RECORDS" here in MANILA? What do you think? He He He!! So here's the meal for today's blogpost which is the insight on this record label called "EGG RECORDS".


"EGG RECORDS: An Introduction to 1988-1991" is a CD compilation which I bought because I was very interested to know the music of EGG RECORDS. None of the bands had the radio exposure here in MANILA back in the late 80s and early 90s and so definitely this CD for me was a fresh insight on the record label and their talents. It was EGG RECORDS' very first digitized released that compiled tracks from all eight of the label's releases which were mostly the A-sides and all four tracks from the compilation 12 inch. The CD even added three previously unreleased songs from Remember Fun, Church Grims and Change Of Seasons which made it very special. Five singles, a tiny compilation entitled A Lighthouse In The Desert, a live EP, a studio EP which is eight releases in total. This is a compilation of 14 songs restored from the original vinyl plus 3 unreleased songs from the archives. That was Egg Records' output during its initial three years of existence which was stated on the title itself "1988-1991". A very comprehensive release indeed that was added to my modest music collection from the label's Five Bands. There will also be some CD re-issues of Egg's original bands and its restoration program will include those late 80s and early 90s independent artists of the non-Egg variety many of whom represent the Oceanic music scene like Australia's The Palisades and Let's Go Naked, and New Zealand's The Bats. This is something to look forward to if you ask me. I made available my CD for download since it's Out Of Print already and this is just FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY. This blog of mine still encourages everyone to get the original music materials. Btw, there's no such thing as "RARE mp3s". YUP!! It's just a figure of imagination because the term "RARE" should be use for the REAL and PHYSICAL FORMATS such as Vinyl Records and CDs. If you have only the mp3s but not the real materials then it's very different than having both the real materials and the mp3s backing it up if you got my drift. So don't be fooled by the so-called "Collectors" who have only the so-called "MP3 Collections". SUPPORT THE ORIGINAL MUSIC MATERIALS!! This is indeed a great compilation!! EGG RECORDS certainly had an impact on the indie scene during the post-C86 days and it's making even more noise on music collectors like me nowadays. ENJOY THE MUZIC!!


Ladies and Gentlemen may I present you
THE BANDS OF "EGG RECORDS"!!


THE BACHELOR PAD



THE CHURCH GRIMS



THE PRAYERS



REMEMBER FUN



CHANGE OF SEASONS



EGG RECORDS
(An Introduction To 1988-1991)
TRACKLIST

1) Sister Goodbye- THE PRAYERS
2) Cold Inside- REMEMBER FUN
3) Silly Girl- THE BACHELOR PAD
4) Mr. Watt Said- THE CHURCH GRIMS
5) Puppet Clouds- THE PRAYERS
6) Mirror Boy, Mirror Girl (Live)- THE BACHELOR PAD
7) You Again- CHANGE OF SEASONS
8) Smoothie- THE BACHELOR PAD
9) Soft Spoken- CHANGE OF SEASONS
10) Meet The Lovely Jenny Brown- THE BACHELOR PAD
11) Apple Of My Eye- REMEMBER FUN
12) Seen It All- THE CHURCH GRIMS
13) Fingerdips- THE PRAYERS
14) Wish I Had- CHANGE OF SEASONS

DOWNLOAD MY CD HERE:


PASSWORD: http://docmuzic.blogspot.com/

I uploaded four songs from each band namely THE PRAYERS, THE CHURCH GRIMS, CHANGE OF SEASONS, and REMEMBER FUN. I included one music video from THE BACHELOR PAD entitled "Meet The Lovely Jenny Brown" which was part of a five-song EP released by the band back in May of 1991. It was also the seventh of Egg's initial eight releases. I hope you enjoyed your stay here on "The Doctor Is In". This is just "The Dr. Stirring Rhod Way" of paying tribute to EGG RECORDS. THANKS for dropping by again!!

LISTEN TO "SISTER GOODBYE" BY "THE PRAYERS" HERE:



LISTEN TO "MR. WATT SAID" BY "THE CHURCH GRIMS" HERE:



LISTEN TO "YOU AGAIN" BY "CHANGE OF SEASONS" HERE:



LISTEN TO "APPLE OF MY EYE" BY "REMEMBER FUN" HERE:


WATCH the MTV of "MEET THE LOVELY JENNY BROWN"
by THE BACHELOR PAD here:





EGG RECORDS!!
...It's EGG-citing!!
-DR. STIRRING RHOD