It started with a funeral. Well, technically it started with a 1960s garage rock band called The Troggs, but for anyone who lived through the mid-90s, the story of Wet Wet Wet Love Is All Around begins with a floppy-haired Hugh Grant and a rainy cemetery. You couldn't escape it. Seriously. If you turned on the radio in 1994, it was there. If you went to a wedding, it was there. If you stood in line for a coffee, Marti Pellow was probably crooning about feeling it in his fingers and his toes over the PA system.
It was a phenomenon.
But it was also a bit of a hostage situation. The song spent fifteen consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart. It was a run so dominant, so utterly pervasive, that the band eventually had to delete the record from sale themselves. They just wanted it to stop. People were starting to get annoyed. It’s a weird legacy for a love song, isn’t it? To be so successful that you actually have to pull the plug on your own hit just to keep your dignity intact.
The Four Weddings Effect
Richard Curtis, the writer of Four Weddings and a Funeral, needed a song. He actually gave the band a choice. They could cover "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley, or the Troggs' classic. Now, honestly, can you imagine Marti Pellow doing "I Will Survive"? It would’ve been a disaster. Probably. The band chose the Troggs track because they knew they could make it their own. They didn't just cover it; they smoothed out all the 1967 garage-rock grit and replaced it with a lush, soulful, gospel-adjacent pop sound that felt like a warm hug. Or a very soft sweater.
The movie became a massive, unexpected juggernaut. It cost next to nothing to make and earned hundreds of millions. Naturally, the song hitched a ride on that rocket ship.
It’s easy to forget how much the music video helped. It was simple. Just the band in the studio, Marti Pellow looking directly into the camera with that grin, and some footage from the film. It felt intimate. It felt real. In an era where music videos were becoming increasingly expensive and abstract—think Michael Jackson’s "Scream"—the simplicity of Wet Wet Wet Love Is All Around felt refreshing. For the first few weeks, anyway.
The 15-Week Reign of Terror (and Joy)
Let’s look at the numbers because they are genuinely insane. The song hit number one in May 1994. It stayed there through June. It stayed there through July. It stayed there through most of August.
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It was the summer of Love Is All Around.
- Week one: Number one.
- Week five: Still number one.
- Week ten: Everyone is still singing it.
- Week fifteen: The band starts to panic.
The only thing that stopped them from breaking the all-time record held by Bryan Adams (who spent 16 weeks at the top with "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You") was the band’s own decision to withdraw the single. They saw the backlash coming. They could hear the collective groan every time that opening drum fill started. By the time Whigfield’s "Saturday Night" finally knocked them off the top spot, the song had already become a permanent part of the cultural furniture. It was no longer a song; it was an era.
Why the Song Actually Works (Technically Speaking)
Strip away the overexposure and you’re left with a masterclass in pop arrangement. The song is actually quite clever. The Troggs’ original version is much more primal—it’s got this weird, vibrating bassline and a heavy, thumping beat. Wet Wet Wet took that skeleton and dressed it in silk.
The introduction is iconic. That little keyboard riff and the shaker? You know exactly what it is within two seconds. That’s the hallmark of a hit. Then there’s Marti Pellow’s vocal delivery. He has this way of sliding into notes that feels incredibly effortless. He’s not shouting. He’s not trying to prove he’s a diva. He’s just telling you a secret.
- "I see your face before me as I lay on my bed."
- "I kind of get to thinking of all the things you said."
The lyrics are simple, almost nursery-rhyme simple. Reg Presley, the lead singer of The Troggs who wrote the track, said he wrote it in about ten minutes after seeing a brass band play on television. He wanted something that felt universal. He succeeded. Wet Wet Wet Love Is All Around works because it doesn't try too hard. It’s a song about a feeling that everyone wants to believe in, especially when they’re sitting in a dark cinema watching Andie MacDowell tell Hugh Grant it’s raining when it’s clearly a downpour.
The Royalties That Kept on Giving
Here’s a fun fact: Reg Presley used the royalties from the Wet Wet Wet version to fund his obsession with crop circles and UFOs. No, really. He spent a fortune researching paranormal activity. Every time you bought that CD single or played it on the radio, you were essentially funding a search for extraterrestrial life. If that doesn't make you appreciate the song more, I don't know what will.
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But for Wet Wet Wet, the song was a double-edged sword. On one hand, it made them incredibly wealthy and famous on a global scale. On the other, it sort of pigeonholed them. Before the cover, they were a pretty cool blue-eyed soul band from Clydebank with hits like "Wishing I Was Lucky" and "Sweet Little Mystery." They had a bit of an edge. After Wet Wet Wet Love Is All Around, they were the "wedding band."
It’s a tough transition to make. Marti Pellow eventually left the band, went through some well-documented personal struggles, and then reinvented himself as a West End star. It makes sense. His voice was always theatrical.
Misconceptions and the "Love Actually" Connection
A lot of people think the song was written for a movie. It wasn't. It was 27 years old by the time Richard Curtis got his hands on it.
Then there’s the Love Actually thing. Bill Nighy’s character, Billy Mack, records a "festering turd of a record" called "Christmas Is All Around." It’s a direct parody of the Wet Wet Wet version. Richard Curtis was essentially poking fun at his own success. The joke worked because the Wet Wet Wet version was so polished and sincere that seeing a washed-up rock star turn it into a cynical holiday cash-grab was hilarious.
Interestingly, Billy Mack’s version actually highlights how good the melody is. Even when you replace the word "love" with "Christmas" and add some cheesy bells, the song still sticks in your head like glue. It’s an indestructible hook.
Why We Still Care
Music is a time machine. For a huge segment of the population, hearing those first few bars of Wet Wet Wet Love Is All Around immediately triggers a memory. Maybe it’s a school disco. Maybe it’s a first car. Maybe it’s just the smell of 1994.
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It’s also one of the last great "universal" hits. Today, music is fragmented. We have our Spotify bubbles and our TikTok niches. It’s very rare for one song to capture the entire world’s attention for four months straight. We don't really have "the song of the summer" in the same way we used to. In 1994, we had no choice. We were all in it together.
The song isn't perfect. It’s sugary. It’s a bit sentimental. But in a world that feels increasingly cynical, there’s something nice about a song that just unabashedly says love is everywhere. Even if it took a 15-week chart run to prove it.
How to Appreciate the Song Today
If you want to revisit this era without getting "Love Is All Around" fatigue again, try these steps:
- Listen to the original Troggs version first. It’ll give you a whole new appreciation for the "bones" of the song. It’s grittier and darker than you remember.
- Watch the "Four Weddings" scene. Context is everything. The song was designed to elevate that specific cinematic moment, and it does it perfectly.
- Check out Wet Wet Wet’s "Popped In Souled Out" album. This was their debut. It’s full of great, soulful pop that has nothing to do with movie soundtracks. It shows the band's range before they became "the guys who sang that one song."
- Pay attention to the bassline. Seriously. Most people focus on Marti’s voice, but the bass playing on the track is actually incredibly melodic and drives the whole thing forward.
The legacy of the track isn't just its chart success. It’s a reminder of a time when a simple melody could stop the world for a few months. Whether you love it or you're still tired of it thirty years later, you have to respect the hustle. It’s a pop masterpiece that did exactly what it set out to do: it got under everyone's skin.
Now, go find the Troggs version and see how different it feels. It’s a trip.