I was a kid who favored albums over singles, operating with a snobbish certainty that the truest test of an artist’s mettle was whether or not they could come up with two long vinyl sides of new music on a fairly regular basis. That was somewhat of a reflection of the time as 45s were increasingly difficult to come by except for those prone to combing the teeny, isolated part of the record store devoted to underground punk. Even though the Billboard Top 40 had an indisputable cachet, albums were the consensus measure of which performers were truly important. Sure, U2 had hit songs, but the fact that The Joshua Tree was considered a masterpiece is what made them a superstar band.

At least that was the case on this side of the Atlantic. Across the big pond, the U.K. music scene operated under different principles which was both fascinating and perplexing to me. Over there, singles were king. Moody stateside kids might have clung in happy moroseness to their copy of Meat in Murder, but over in the Smiths’ homeland, having a complete collection of singles was the proper way to demonstrate devoted fandom. At least that’s the sense that I got, and I’ll admit that I somewhat envied the recurring thrill of new music dispensed in smaller doses, with more frequency.

The U.K. methodology was also far more conducive to intriguing little experiments like that undertaken by the Wedding Present in 1992. David Gedge’s band followed up their fairly successful Seamonsters LP by releasing a new single every month. Every A-side was a fresh original and the B-side was a cover with an impressively wide array drawn from over the course of the year (any band that does a Close Lobsters cover is okay in my book). I would have loved to get these in the station on a monthly basis, but we needed to settle for the eventual arrival of the compilations that pulled the different releases together. I remember buying Hit Parade 1 as soon as I could. Enjoyable as it was, I knew it didn’t have the same effect. I was deeply jealous of those record buyers who got to experience this the right way.

The Wedding Present went on for a couple more years (and then the name was of course revived several years later when Wedge’s follow-up projects didn’t exactly take off), but some of the energy seemed lacking after this endeavor was complete. After pulling of a new single every month, going back their old model had to seem sort of drab and that came through a little bit in the music. Listening to every track of the yearlong singles project is different. The songs hint at a band fueled by forced inspiration, urgency and, yes, even a little desperation. And let’s face it, what qualities could be better if you’re going to cover the Monkees?

The Wedding Present, “Pleasant Valley Sunday”

(Disclaimer: It looks to me like the Hit Parade compilations are out of print, although I’ll admit that I didn’t exactly track meticulously through every entry in the band’s catalog to see if the songs from the singles project were collected elsewhere. I’m posting this with the belief that you can’t just stride into your favorite local, independently-owned record store and acquire this music in a manner that duly compensates both the proprietor of that establishment, the artist and, in this instance I suppose, Gerry Goffin and Carole King. There’s no shortage of ways to fiscally support those last two if you want. Regardless, if anyone with due authority to request or demand the removal of this track contacts me flexing that authority, I will gladly and promptly comply.)