Wet Wet Wet - Goodnight Girl b/w Ambrose Wykes (1992)
UK chart peak - Number 1
OH DEAR. And it was all going so well with several bangers in a row.
I'll be fair here to the Wets - I do really like their 1987 debut single, "Wishing I Was Lucky", a belting tune full of dramatic keyboard stabs that's also a diatribe against unemployment & the policies of Thatcher (they'd seen the decline of the shipping industry firsthand being from Clydebank & ALL). Unfortunately, a lot of the stuff that followed up was sub-Simply Red white soul GUFF. I remember reading somewhere that Marti Pellow's voice was a soulful BELCH & I've always considered that an ENTIRELY ACCURATE description ("Angel Eyes" is a particular OFFENDER). Also his smug perma-grin always made me think he was a RIGHT TWAT who needed a good SMACK IN THE CHOPS. Looking down the long list of singles that followed the debut, only "Put The Light On", "Shed A Tear" & "Lip Service" struck me as being particularly BEARABLE. Those of us that lived through "Love Is All Around" & its LUDICROUS 15 week stint at number 1 in the summer of 1994 probably still feel a SHIVER OF REVULSION when we hear its OPENING CHORDS.
Before THAT SONG though, the Wets had a 4 week stay atop the HIT PARADE in January 1992 with this self penned acoustic ballad. It's a bit DRIPPY & ALL, but catchy enough that you can see why it became a hit. I blame Extreme for it, with hindsight - I've never been a fan of "More Than Words" but it reaching Number 2 in summer 1991 clearly left the public wanting SIMILAR & this song came the closest. It's also a measure of how STAGNANT the charts were in 1992 that it managed 4 weeks on top - I can understand a top 10 placing, but musical tastes had become very FRAGMENTED (rave, grunge, etc), songs that TRANSCENDED GENRES were fewer, & songs that reached the top stayed there. I also distinctly remember purchasing it not because I had any REAL LOVE for it, but I had enough cash left for one more single & this was number 1 & there wasn’t much else (after CeCe & Paula) that CAUGHT THE EYE.
B side "Ambrose Wykes" is also an ACOUSTIC NUMBER, but considerably better - spare, haunting & sounds like it should be the theme to an early 90s detective show or something. It's one of the best things the band ever did & although clearly NOT a single, I can't believe they wasted it on a flip side, it definitely should have made the cut for the album. This is also the only single I can recall that has a HIDDEN TRACK - a LIVE IN THE STUDIO version of "Put The Light On" plays afterwards, so FAIR PLAY LADS for providing VALUE FOR MONEY. It's one of their best singles but was a complete flop - it had only peaked at #56 before this single was released. The first verse was also ripped off WHOLESALE by fellow Scot & "Fame Academy" winner David Sneddon on his 2002 number 1, "Stop Living The Lie", FACT FANS.
The success of this single after several prior flops was the first example of how RESISTANT Wet Wet Wet were to the DUMPER. Singles began missing the top 20 again in late 1993, before THAT SONG saw them rise from the ashes again. They parlayed that massive success into numerous top 10 singles & a hit album, but as recent viewings of old TOTP reruns from 1997 have recently shown, their next & final album showed a tired band out of ideas & going through the motions. Marti developed a bad SKAG HABIT (I can't really blame him after performing THAT SONG 533375456 times), & the group imploded when drummer Tommy Cunningham left after the band decided to no longer give him a cut of the royalties from songwriting due to his MINIMAL contribution to the process. The public perceived this as a greedy & out of touch band screwing over their mate & forgetting their roots - a long way removed from singing about LIFE ON THE DOLE - & this time there was no CHART RESURRECTION for the Wets. I also noted that their guitarist has never been considered a full member of the band, which is also an ODD STATE OF AFFAIRS.
They reformed later & even hit the top 10 again with a song I've no memory of & continue to tour, although Marti left in 2017 to concentrate on his SOLO ENDEAVOURS (
) & former Liberty X member Kevin Simm, of all people, took over from him. I briefly wondered what the likes of "Goodnight Girl" sounded like with him singing before realising life was TOO SHORT to PUT MYSELF THROUGH IT.
There's a few early 90s singles before it's back to 80s stuff (I assume. I don't know what's in this pile myself after the first few). So hopefully not too many spoilers.
