It’s December 31, 2006, at Aberdeen’s Castlegate.
Wet Wet Wet are set to headline the city’s free street party that year, but as torrential rain lashes down and Hogmanay celebrations across Scotland are called off, there’s a chance the event could be cancelled altogether.
But we’re talking about hardy Scots here – is a little rain going to stop the Wets from ringing in the bells in the Granite City? Absolutely not.
“There was no force of nature that could stop us that night,” the band said at the time.
Wet Wet Wet weathered storm of line-up change
More than 16,000 fans defied the stormy weather to celebrate with the resilient Clydebank musicians that unforgettable night.
And fast forward to 2024, where Wet Wet Wet stands strong, having weathered several turbulent times—including the most dramatic moment in 2017 when frontman Marti Pellow’s sudden departure stunned the band.
“Marti doesn’t want to do it anymore. He’s leaving,” Marti’s manager informed his bandmates at the time.
It was a painful moment for the founding members, who had been playing together since the early ’80s, sold over 15 million albums, and spent more than 500 weeks in the UK charts, boosted by the success of the iconic ‘Love Is All Around’ from Four Weddings And A Funeral.
At the time of his departure, a friend of mine remarked, “There’s no party without Marti,” and as a lifelong fan, I feared she might be right.
But I can vouch for the reincarnation of Wet Wet Wet, who have returned to their roots and stripped everything back to the music that made them beloved during their 80s and 90s heyday.
‘Music – and the band – are everything to me’
Bassist Graeme Clark – the last man standing of the original Wet Wet Wet line-up – spoke to The Press and Journal ahead of the band’s next visit to the Granite City in 2025, where they will perform at P&J Live on February 8.
He is a passionate musician who fiercely loves the legacy he helped create.
He doesn’t deny that there’s been hard times over the years, and admits they all wanted to pack it in at some point as relationships drifted.
“It’s hard to sustain especially when you grow up the way we grew up,” he explained.
“When I hear that people are still friends with the people they went to school with, that shakes me up a wee bit. I think it’s a difficult thing to be friendly with the people you went to school with, as we all grow up and we all grow apart.
“The common thread we had was that we all played in a band.”
Finding the right person
The pivotal moment came when Marti said he would be leaving.
He said: “People were looking at me saying ‘have I got a job? Do I need to go and find something else to do?’ It was a no brainer at first, like back in the day when your youthful arrogance takes over and you think we’ve got a good chance of making it.”
But Graeme admitted that he had to stop himself and think “is this too big a train to try put back on the tracks?”
“If I let this go, I’d be letting a huge part of myself go,” he recalled. “That’s how emotional music is for me.
“But I felt that if we got the right person to sing our songs (this would work).”
A new chapter for Wet Wet Wet
So, the search for a new lead singer began.
“Lots of guys were like the previous incarnation – a cheeky chappie, big charismatic personality. It never really run true for me – I couldn’t see us going down that route,” Graham explained.
“The difficulty was trying to find someone who could sing these songs in a way that would sound as if they meant it, the way it had been before. Kevin was the only guy that gave us that space and creativity and that textural voice.”
Kevin is Kevin Simm, former Liberty X band member and The Voice winner 2016, who wowed judges with a spectacular version of Sia’s ‘Chandelier’.
‘Kevin never missed a note’
Graeme knew there was still life in the band the moment he heard his soon-to-be new frontman belt out a haunting version of the band’s classic ‘Goodnight Girl’ in his London home.
“He’s completely different and that to me was the selling point. For me, it was like we’re not replacing – we’re finding someone who’s going to take us through,” he said.
“He was a real breath of fresh of air.”
The band’s first gig was St Luke’s in Glasgow, their home city, in November 2018.
“There was a lot of pressure on that gig, but Kevin never missed a note for nine songs. I just thought – to use a bad analogy – it’s like watching Messi, and they play a different game from everybody else.”
He added: “I knew he was good. I just didn’t realise how good.”
I attended that gig, and it was a make-or-break moment for my love of the band.
Midway through ‘Temptation’, as Kevin hit notes I didn’t even know were possible, my jaw dropped and it was an unforgettable and unbelievable moment.
Even my partner, who wasn’t a fan at the time, turned to me and said, “Wow, that man can sing.”
Marti brought the swagger and cheeky charm that defined Wet Wet Wet’s early years.
But now, with Kevin leading the charge, the band’s energy has shifted to something just as special.
Wet Wet Wet to return to P&J Live next year
The band will be back in Aberdeen next year, joined by 90s legend Heather Small.
Sadly, two band members have since left – drummer Tommy Cunningham and keyboard player Neil Mitchell – but fresh new talent takes their place to ensure the legacy lives on.
Graeme fondly recalls old performances in the north of Scotland over the years, with one particularly memorable gig in Macduff’s Tarlair in 1994.
A crowd of more than 7,000 turned out to see the band, fresh off their 15-week marathon chart success with their Troggs cover.
“For me, playing gigs in lovely theatres is fantastic. But when you play somewhere which is unusual, these give you stand out memories,” said Graeme.
“We’ve done a lot over the years, and there’s still a real excitement about going on stage and taking this thing that we created back in the day and putting it on stage. So when you play somewhere out of context that’s usually the ones that stand out for me.”
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