The Genius Of... David Gedge #10

#10: Kennedy by The Wedding Present

This will be the last of this series for the time being. It hasn't been as popular as I'd hoped so I'm calling time on the regular postings, though I may well sporadically post additional articles when the mood takes me. There will be one more Tim Smith post and one more Jack White post, but it's most likely the Tim Smith series will be revived at some point as it was by far the most popular.

So to finish the Gedge installment, an absolute classic, not just in terms of Gedge's output but in the entire output of the indie music genre. A big claim yes, but I defy anyone to argue the point. Kennedy was the Wedding Present's first single on a major label and their first UK Top 40 hit. It featured on their second album 'Bizarro' in 1989, but I first heard it the previous year when they played it at my first ever gig.

There was no new sound to accompany the major label deal, just classic jangly Weddoes. Lyrically it's one of Gedge's simplest - a single repeated verse referring to JFK and the so-called American dream. If you ever hear the Wedding Present on the radio, it's most likely Kennedy that's being played. It's a song that still gets me going all these years later, and a fine way to wrap this series up.