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Wet Wet Wet are a successful Scottish pop band of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. They scored a number of hits in the British charts and around the world. The band comprises Marti Pellow (vocals), Tommy Cunningham (drums, vocals), Graeme Clark (bass, vocals) and Neil Mitchell (keyboards, vocals). A fifth, unofficial member, Graeme Duffin (lead guitar, vocals), has been with them from the beginning.

1980s

The quartet formed at Clydebank High School in Clydebank, Scotland, in 1982, under the name Vortex Motion.^[1] "It was either crime, the dole, football, or music - and we chose music," said Cunningham.^[2] 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 1986, the band had contributed a track ("Home and Away", which would later be reworked into "Angel Eyes") to a compilation cassette entitled Honey at the Core, featuring then up-and-coming Glasgow bands, including Deacon Blue and Hue and Cry.

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.

1990s

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, , 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.^[4]

New millennium

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^[5] in order to work on an eighth album. A single entitled "All I Want" was released in November 2004 from the band's second , 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, Graeme 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.^[6] They performed thirteen songs in an hour-long set.^[7]

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.^[8]

A single release, "Too Many People", on November 5, 2007, and album, Timeless, on November 12, precede the tour, a taste of which was given at their Newmarket concert in August.

Discography

For a detailed discography, see Wet Wet Wet discography.

Studio albums

1. Popped In Souled Out - (1987) #1 UK
2. The Memphis Sessions - (1988)
3. Holding Back the River - (1989)
4. High on the Happy Side - (1992) #1 UK
5. Cloak & Dagger - (1992)
6. Picture This - (1995) #1 UK
7. 10 - (1997) #1 UK, #13 US
8. Timeless - (2007)

Trivia

• The Wets were formerly the shirt sponsors of their hometown football club, Clydebank.^[9]

References

External links

Official:

• WetWetWet.co.uk

Fansites:

• Splash
• Temptation

Wet Wet Wet

Marti Pellow   Tommy Cunningham   Graeme Clark   Neil Mitchell

Other musicians: Graeme Duffin

Discography

Studio albums: Popped In Souled Out   The Memphis Sessions   Holding Back the River   High on the Happy Side Cloak & Dagger   Picture This   10

Singles: Wishing I Was Lucky   Sweet Little Mystery   Angel Eyes   Temptation   With a Little Help from My Friends   Sweet Surrender   Broke Away   Hold Back the River   Stay With Me Heartache   Make It Tonight   Put The Light On   Goodnight Girl   More than Love   Lip Service   Blue for You (live)/This Time (live)   Shed a Tear   Cold Cold Heart   Love Is All Around   Julia Says   Don't Want to Forgive Me Now   Somewhere Somehow   She's All on My Mind   Morning   If I Never See You Again   Strange   Yesterday/Maybe I'm In Love   All I Want

Live albums:

Compilations:

Videos: Video Singles   Live Glasgow Green Free Concert   High on the Happy Side   The Wets at the Castle      Picture This - All Around and in the Crowd   Playing Away at Home

10 (Wet Wet Wet album) 1994 in British music Blue for You (live)/This Time (live) If I Never See You Again Love Is All Around

Marti Pellow Sings the Hits of Wet Wet Wet & Smile Wet Wet Wet discography Wet!Wet!Wet!/Keith N' Me (Princess Superstar single) Yesterday/Maybe I'm In Love