''Tommy'' is a compilation by

The Wedding Present The Wedding Present are an English indie rock group originally formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, from the ashes of The Lost Pandas. The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, ...

gathering their first four singles, their B-sides and selected tracks from two early radio sessions. It was released in July 1988 by their own

record company A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, Reception Records.''The Trouser Press record guide'' Ira A. Robbins 0020363613 -- 1991 Page 726 "The archly titled Tommy summarizes the band's first two years, with singles ("This Boy Can Wait," "Once More," .."

Overview

''Tommy'' provides an overview of the band's output before its first album ''

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest p ...

''. The production is relatively low

fidelity Fidelity is the quality of faithfulness or loyalty. Its original meaning regarded duty in a broader sense than the related concept of ''fealty''. Both derive from the Latin word ''fidēlis'', meaning "faithful or loyal". In the City of London fin ...

but the songs are high-energy. All tracks of their first four singles are included except for "You Should Always Keep in Touch with Your Friends", the double A-side with "This Boy Can Wait", as the radio version was deemed superior. Similarly, all tracks of their first John Peel session are included but for the radio version of "This Boy Can Wait", whose single version was considered better. By the time of their fourth single, "My Favourite Dress", the band had started working with

Chris Allison Christopher John Allison (born 1961) is a British record producer and founder/head of Sonic360 Records. His work has been associated with artists such as The Beta Band, Coldplay, Walter Becker, Kinky, Plastilina Mosh, Emmanuel Jal, The Wed ...

, who went on to produce the band's ''George Best'' and ''

Bizarro Bizarro () is a supervillain/anti-hero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp as a "mirror image" of Superman, and first appeared in ''Superboy'' #68 (1958 ...

'' albums. Two of the songs on ''Tommy'' made a reappearance on ''George Best'': "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted?", re-recorded under its new title of "It's What You Want That Matters", and "My Favourite Dress" with an added new coda.

Track listing

All tracks written by David Gedge except for "Felicity"

Side A

#"Go Out and Get 'Em Boy!" – 4:09 #"(The Moment Before) Everything's Spoiled Again" – 3:19 #"Once More" – 3:14 #"At the Edge of the Sea" – 2:39 #"Living and Learning" – 2:53 #"This Boy Can Wait" – 4:01

Side B

#"You Should Always Keep in Touch with Your Friends" – 3:01 #"Felicity" (

James Kirk James Tiberius Kirk is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in ''Star Trek'' serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as captain. Kirk leads ...

) – 2:18 #"What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?" – 3:46 #"Never Said" – 2:37 #"Every Mother's Son" – 1:36 #"My Favourite Dress" – 4:13 Notes * Tracks 1 and 2 were taken from the "Go Out and Get 'Em Boy!" single (1985) * Tracks 3 and 4 were taken from the "Once More" single (1986) * Track 5 was recorded during a BBC Radio 1 Andy Kershaw session * Track 6 was taken from the "You Should Always Keep in Touch with Your Friends" single (1986) * Tracks 7–9 were recorded during a John Peel session * Tracks 10–12 were taken from the "My Favourite Dress" single (1987)

Personnel

;The Wedding Present *

David Gedge David Lewis Gedge (born 23 April 1960, in Bramley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England) is an English musician and songwriter. Early life Gedge grew up in Middleton, Greater Manchester, in the area known as Top of Hebers. He attended Hollin High S ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Peter Solowka – guitar * Keith Gregory –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Shaun Charman – drums (A2-6, B1-6) ;Additional musicians * Julian Sowa – drums (A1) * Mike Stout – guitar (B2) ;Technical staff * Carl Rosamond and The Wedding Present –

producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

(A1-4, A6) * Clive Gregson – producer (A5) * Mike Wilcojc – producer (B1-3) *

and The Wedding Present – producer (B4-6) * Paul Smith –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

(A5) * Mike Robinson – engineer (B1-3)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tommy (1985-1987) The Wedding Present albums 1988 compilation albums