1987: What a year eh? I met Lady Blagg, bought my first Wedding Present album and saw the band live for the first time. And if you think it's an odd thing to mention the two events in the same sentence, it's because I owe frontman David Gedge a debt for something he wrote in 1989 that ensured the two events continued as they did, and they will always be inextricably linked in my mind.
The Wedding Present and I are still locked in a continuing love story and I've seen the band at least once a year since '87 - usually more - and have most of whatever they've produced on vinyl, CD or download. I'm rarely disappointed.
This time last year the band announced a project called '24 Songs' effectively an A and B side - ask yer Granny! - for every month of the year and it was obvious if December's was seasonal it was going to find its way onto this year's calendar.
So here it is. It's a Christmas song, of course, but because David Gedge wrote it, it's about heartbreak, desire, infidelity, frustration and hurt. It starts with waves crashing, a slow build and a gorgeous piano refrain as we learn she's leaving and Gedge suggesting it be better if she stayed what with the snow falling and everything, but we all know she'll be gone by Christmas Eve. Then at 3' 30" the trademark guitars kick in and we're back in familiar lost love and desolation territory.
It's beautiful and haunting but still, if nothing else, we'll always have 1987.