Wet Wet Wet

Having needed to make a choice between crime, the dole, football, or music, in 1982 four Clydebank High School attendees met and formed Wet Wet Wet. Drummer Tommy Cunningham and bassist Graeme Clark initially met on the school’s bus and soon became friends, shortly afterwards keyboardist Neil Mitchell joined the group, promising to supply keyboards with the money from his paper rounds. In the midst of his training to be a painter and decorator, lead vocalist Mark McLachlan was invited to join the group, followed a year later by Wet Wet Wet’s honourary fifth member Graeme Duffin.

Following two years of practice sessions and honing their songwriting skills, Wet Wet Wet made their debut performance at Glasgow’s Nightmares club. Around this time singer Mark McLachlan altered his stage name to Marti Pellow and the group inked a record deal with Polygram in 1985. With Polygram man Nick Angel as manager, the group issued their debut single “Wishing I Was Lucky” in 1986, which reached No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart. The full-length “Popped In Souled Out” followed in September 1987, spawning the subsequent hits “Sweet Little Mystery”, “Angel Eyes (Home and Away), and “Temptation”. Narrowing missing out on the UK No. 1 Album spot held by Michael Jackson’s “Bad”, the record introduced Wet Wet Wet’s style of pop, rock and jazz to a national audience.

1988 brought with it the band’s first No. 1 hit with a cover of the famous Beatles single “With a Little Help from My Friends”. Subsequently Wet Wet Wet issued the album “The Memphis Sessions”, a collection of songs recorded during their time in the U.S. The band’s official sophomore album “Holding Back the River” arrived in 1989 marked by greater use of string and classical arrangements. Like its predecessor the record peaked at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart, aided by the hit singles “Sweet Surender”, “Broke Away”, “Hold Back the River”, and “Stay With Me Heartache (Can’t Stand the Night)”.

“High on the Happy Side” appeared in 1992 led by the group’s only self-penned No. 1 single “Goodnight Girl”. The day after the release, under the pseudonym Maggie Pie & The Impostors, the group released the special-edition album “Cloak & Dagger” featuring covers of songs by Elvis Costello, Carole King, Todd Rudgen, and Mose Allison. The greatest hits compilation “End of Part One” was released towards the tail-end of 1993, after which their cover of The Troggs’ single “Love Is All Around” made its way onto the “Four Weddings and a Funeral” soundtrack, greatly exposing the band. The single subsequently maintained its No. 1 Singles position for 15 weeks, paving the way for Wet Wet Wet’s fifth studio album “Picture This” in 1995. Held as one of Britain’s finest soft rock bands, the group released the album “10” in 1997 celebrating their decade atop the charts, followed by “Timeless” in 2007.