30 January 1992
For the good of my health I’ve checked ahead, and the more notorious Wet Wet Wet hit doesn’t get to number one in Ireland. (It happened to coincide with a homegrown event release and months-long chart-topper.) Still, though, any ’90s Wet Wet Wet single is reliably dreadful. In the ’80s this band were poppy, gauche and slightly charming, but the turn of the decade brought maturity, ‘soulfulness’ and long hair: always bad signs.
So, ‘Goodnight Girl’ begins with jazzy guitar chords and close harmonies, and has that moderately catchy “Caught up in your wishing well” chorus hook, but otherwise this is spirit-crushingly bland. At least that blandness spares us from the worst of Marti Pellow’s pseudo-soul vocal contortions. Did you know that Marti Pellow’s real name is Mark McLachlan? That’s the only thing of interest I can come up with here.
