WET WET WET (Pop-Rock)

Origin: Glasgow, Scotland
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Years active: 1982-present
Label(s): PolyGram
Website: http://www.wetwetwet.co.uk/

Members:
Marti Pellow
Tommy Cunningham
Graeme Clark
Neil Mitchell

Undoubtedly a musical phenomenon, Wet Wet Wet have remained a relevant institution in British culture from the time they formed in 1982 up until present day. Following their reunion in 2004, the much loved Scottish boys embraced the future and revived their already fruitful career by selling out a UK-wide arena tour and achieving UK top 20 chart success with their second greatest hits album The Greatest Hits.

With an incredible back catalogue of songs including three U.K. No. 1's, the guys have been making an impact with their music for 24 years now and what have become the familiar ingredients to the Wet Wet Wet sound - cascading instrumentals, killer hooks and that stunning voice - have made them one of the most successful bands in British pop history.

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."[3]

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 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.

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. 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, Gtaeme 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.

A single, "Too Many People", was released on November 5, 2007, and its parent album, Timeless, on November 12. These preceded a tour, a taste of which was given at their Newmarket concert in August. In preparation for the tour, the band also announced that they will be playing two intimate dates at zavvi stores in Glasgow and London in November.
"Weightless", the second single from the album, was released on February 4 and charted at No.10, giving them their first top-ten hit in eleven years.

DISCOGRAPHY:

STUDIO ALBUMS:
> Popped In Souled Out (September 28, 1987) #1 UK

> The Memphis Sessions (November 9, 1988)

> Holding Back the River (October 30, 1989)

> High on the Happy Side (January 27, 1992) #1 UK

> Cloak & Dagger (January 28, 1992)

> Picture This (April 10, 1995) #1 UK

> 10 (March 3, 1997) #2 UK; #13 US

> Timeless (November 12, 2007) - #41 UK


LIVE ALBUMS:
> Wet Wet Wet: Live (December 1, 1990)

> Live at the Royal Albert Hall (May 17, 1993) - #10 UK



COMPILATIONS:

> End of Part One: Their Greatest Hits (November 8, 1993) #1 UK

> Part One (July 26, 1994) [US-only release] - #24 US Heatseekers Chart
> The Greatest Hits(November 8, 2004)- #13 UK



SINGLES:

From Popped In Souled Out
* "Wishing I Was Lucky" (1987) - #6 UK, #58 US
* "Sweet Little Mystery" (1987) - #5 UK
* "Angel Eyes (Home and Away)" (1987) - #5 UK
* "Temptation" (1988) - #12 UK

Standalone single
* "With a Little Help from My Friends/She's Leaving Home" (1988) - #1 UK

From Holding Back the River
* "Sweet Surrender" (1989) - #6 UK
* "Broke Away" (1989) - #19 UK
* "Hold Back the River" (1990) - #31 UK
* "Stay With Me Heartache (Can't Stand the Night)" (1990) - #30 UK

From High on the Happy Side
* "Make It Tonight" (1991) - #37 UK
* "Put The Light On" (1991) - #56 UK
* "Goodnight Girl" (1991) - #1 UK
* "More than Love" (1992) - #19 UK
* "Lip Service" (1992) - #15 UK

From Live at the Royal Albert Hall
* "Blue for You/This Time" (1993) - #38 UK

From End of Part One: Their Greatest Hits
* "Shed a Tear" (1993) - #22 UK
* "Cold Cold Heart" (1993) - #20 UK

From Picture This
* "Love Is All Around" (1994) - #1 UK, #41 US, #1 AUS
* "Julia Says" (1995) - #3 UK
* "Don't Want to Forgive Me Now" (1995) - #7 UK
* "Somewhere Somehow" (1995) - #7 UK
* "She's All on My Mind" (1995) - #17 UK
* "Morning" (1996) - #16 UK

From 10
* "If I Never See You Again" (1997) - #3 UK
* "Strange" (1997) - #13 UK
* "Yesterday/Maybe I'm In Love" (1997) - #4 UK

From The Greatest Hits
* "All I Want" (2004) - #14 UK

From Timeless
* "Too Many People" (2007) - #46 UK
* "Weightless" (2008) - #10 UK

VIDEOS & DVDs:

* Video Singles (1987)
* Live Glasgow Green Free Concert (1990)
* High on the Happy Side (1992)
* Wets at the Castle (1993)
* Live at the Royal Albert Hall (1993)
* End of Part One (1993)
* Picture This - All Around and in the Crowd (1995)
* Playing Away at Home (1997)
* Wet Wet Wet: The Greatest Hits and More (2004)