Monday, October 22, 2007


Wonder Stuff falls into the gap between high school and college for me; I should have heard them in high school, but didn't hear them until I got to college. Well, I suppose that all that matters is that I heard them. They are an interesting case study in how one's greatest strength can also be one's greatest weakness; the thing that makes them so remarkable is what may have kept them from greater success.

Despite the fact that it was only a minor hit for them, 'A wish away' from debut album The Eight Legged Groove Machine is Wonder Stuff's definitive track. And I couldn't have realized it then, but that single track is for all intents and purposes a capsule history of rock music from the original British invasion through punk, post-punk, Britpop and beyond. It's a little hard to figure out how they did it; the only problem is, they seem to have done it at the wrong time.

Start with the spirit of an old time pop soul stomper. Without a brass section and without someone like Dusty Springfield fronting the track, it's not immediately obvious, but it's there in the rhythm section. Pick up the nothing-up-my sleeve arrangement style of Beatles and Kinks, and bring the electric guitar sound forward with more effects. Take a cue from punk and feel free to build a song more or less around a single phrase; the concession to glam and new wave is that a strong melody line is preserved. Beat most of the brit poppers to the punch by getting the song out in 1988, a few years before Stone Roses, Suede, and Blur would capitalize on virtually the same sound. Wonder Stuff enjoyed their share of success in the UK, more so with their second and third albums, but seemed to lose steam as the rest of the brit pop movement was gaining momentum, which is a shame, because they had the right formula.

It's remarkable what a chameleon 'A wish away is'; pair it with Bowie's 'The jean genie' and the glam sensibility jumps out. Play it after Buzzcocks' 'Noise annoys' and it holds its own in dance punk. Following Siouxsie & The Banshees 'Party's fall' it shows its allegiance to post punk. Elastica's 'Hold me now' might be 'A wish away' at half speed. And of course these days the bands referencing all these sources all over again are legion; My Favorite's 'The happiest days of my life' builds a more delicate castle on top of the framework that is essentially 'A wish away'.

Maybe that worked against Wonder Stuff, in the end. Rather then being all things to everyone, in 1988 they may have been not quite enough of any one thing for anyone. They even had the remarkably arrogant front man in Miles Hunt, though; the entire blueprint for Oasis is there...

The amusing thing about the flimsy lyrics to 'A wish away' is that they do nothing to arouse sympathy for Mr. Hunt. 'I remember a time when I was feeling down / and I never ever wished you were here... / But now I need a hug, and now I need a love... / I wish you were here / now that you've gone.' What kind of a plea is that? But lyrics aren't really the point here; this is a song that hopes you'll jump around to it the first time you hear it, plain and simple. On those terms, it succeeds quite well.
Wonder Stuff official website