The Wedding Present were an enigma for me. They had everything I liked; they were gritty northerners with frantic jangly guitars and heartfelt lyrics, but apart from really liking the first couple of singles the rest of their output left me cold. Evlkeith bought me George Best for Christmas and it was all very jolly, but I just didn't get it.
It wasn't until I re-listened to the album about five years ago that everything clicked and I really started to love it. The finger shredding guitar style, the deadpan Yorkshire accent and the sentimental lyrics suddenly appealed to me. I think this goes to show that you have to be in the right mood to enjoy a bit of David Gedge. To be honest he was weird then, but looks even weirder as a middle aged Gedgy.
I originally heard 'Don't Laugh' on an old Peel session I think, and when I saw it included on the bonus tracks of the CD version of George Best, I rubbed my little hands together with glee. It's a kitchen sink drama, set in Huddersfield with a dog and a man with lacerated fingers from strumming his guitar too vigorously. The only question that remains is; why oh why did they call it George Best? They came from Leeds! To complete my enjoyment of the LP I stick a picture of Doncaster Rover's diminutive talisman over the top of Besty's image on the cover and pretend they called it 'James Coppinger'.
Copps had to get in there somewhere, didn't he.
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