Now here’s something a little bit different! On Friday 28th April, The Wedding Present’ frontman, David Gedge, will be launching his brand new book, titled ‘All The Songs Sound The Same – The Wedding Present’. It is a celebration of songs by The Wedding Present and Cinerama in the words of fans, friends and celebrities.
On that very day, Gedge will be celebrating the release of the fully illustrated 336 page hardback book that is published by Spenwood Books, with a special launch show from 6pm at Resident in Kensington Gardens, Brighton. This will consist of a live acoustic set from Gedge to accompany his book launch, after which he will be available to sign purchased copies of ‘All The Songs Sound The Same – The Wedding Present’ for those folks that have attended.
‘All The Songs Sound The Same – The Wedding Present’ was co-edited by Gedge and music writer Richard Houghton, It brings together over 300 stories from fans, friends and current and former members of The Wedding Present, who each write about their favourite song by The Wedding Present or David’s other band, Cinerama.
The book contains more than 450 colour and black and white photos, including many previously unpublished images from Gedge’s personal archive.
Altogether more than 100 different Wedding Present and Cinerama songs are dissected and then championed as the best of David’s songwriting, with contributors including: Sir Keir Starmer KCB KC MP, Stella Creasy MP, folk singer Amelia Coburn, the Legendary Len Liggins (The Ukrainians), music writer Mark Beaumont, writer and broadcaster Andrew Collins and current or former Wedding Present members. In fact, hundreds of fans have contributed stories to the book, setting out why particular songs by the ‘semi-legendary’ Indie band from Leeds mean so much to them.
Gedge said:
‘When I’m asked to choose my favourite of the songs I’ve written, I never know what to say. It’s like asking who your favourite child is! How could I pick just one? However, I did think it would be interesting to see which songs fans would select, and why. There’s quite a few from which to choose; The Wedding Present – together with my other band, Cinerama – have recorded over 300 tracks. When an audience member requests one of the 280-plus songs that we haven’t rehearsed for that particular evening’s set I usually sympathise with them by saying, “I know, I know… there are just too many classics, aren’t there?!”’
Copies of ‘All The Songs Sound The Same – The Wedding Present’ can be pre-ordered in advance from Resident HERE and collected on the day of its release – Friday 28th April 2023, where fans will also be able to get their pristine copy signed by Gedge.
Further information:
David Lewis Gedge lives in Brighton and is the founding member, lead singer and guitarist for the semi-legendary indie band The Wedding Present, who were founded in 1985, and his ‘other’ band, Cinerama. He is also the author of several books, including two volumes (so far) of his illustrated autobiography, Tales from the Wedding Present.
Richard Houghton lives in Manchester and is the author of 20 music books, including authorised titles on The Wedding Present, The Stranglers, Simple Minds, OMD, Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention. His People’s History series of music books is published by Spenwood Books.
In 2017, David and Richard co-wrote the Wedding Present ‘fanthology’ ‘Sometimes These Words Just Don’t Have To Be Said’.
