It was almost genius. Capitalising on an eccentrically dedicated fan base while exploiting the fragility of the ever dwindling singles market, in 1992 The Wedding Present, hitherto tagged as โ€œshamblingโ€, achieved the momentous feat of 12 consecutive Top 40 hits from January to December, each limited to seven-inch vinyl, each featuring a typically lovelorn original backed with an esoteric cover.

A lone victory for romantic indie-schmindie in the age of Snap and Right Said Fred, it ensured โ€œthe Weddoesโ€ a permanent place in the Guinness Book Of Records, their only Top 10 hit (โ€œCome Play With Meโ€) and David Gedge, patron saint of the recently dumped, on Top Of The Pops practically every other month.

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With a decadeโ€™s hindsight, the music itself as collated on this double CD is a rag-bag, although the highlights are sublime in their three-chord splendour. Of the A-sides, the effervescent โ€œFlying Saucerโ€ and the perv-grunge of โ€œLove Slaveโ€ were both extraordinary chart coups, while Bowieโ€™s โ€œChant Of The Ever Circling Skeletal Familyโ€ (incorporating The Fallโ€™s โ€œBremen Nachtโ€) and a heart-ripping revision of Julee Cruiseโ€™s Twin Peaks theme โ€œFallingโ€ feature the sort of invention that, like the scam itself, is depressingly absent among todayโ€™s white indie guitar hopefuls.