A member of a chart-topping band has admitted that he did not think they were the best group in Glasgow when they rose to fame in the 80s.

Graeme Clark, from the original line-up of Wet Wet Wet, said: “We weren’t even the best band in Glasgow, we were fairly average. But we got signed and managed to hang in there with determination, arrogance, and youth and it turned out okay for us eventually.

“Bands like The Simple Minds and Orange Juice made the journey easier for guys like us because we came up in this perfect time when record companies would come up to Scotland and sign all the Glasgow bands.”

Despite Clark’s beliefs though, the band – who formed in 1982 in Clydebank – became best known for their 1994 cover of The Troggs' Love Is All Around and were an international success, spending 15 weeks at the top of the British charts. 

(Image: Images supplied to Glasgow Times)

But the first time the group felt like they made it was when they played their first gig at the famous Barrowlands in 1985.

Clark said: “That was a big deal. At that time, we were true amateur professionals.

“I remember Reporting Scotland came down and we were told to speak to them, but we couldn’t even speak to ourselves, let alone a big interviewer.

“We thought we had arrived at that point, but little did we know we hadn’t arrived yet.”

(Image: Images supplied to Glasgow Times)

The group signed their first deal in the same year and took two years to make their debut studio album, Popped In Souled Out.

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Wet Wet Wet went on to make seven studio albums and work with top producers like Willie Nelson, who worked with AL Green, and the incredible Nile Rodgers.

But Clark said working with Rodgers was both the best and worst decision they made.

He explained: “We had self-produced our albums at that point, so I knew how I wanted us to sound but when you work with someone else, they’re pulling the music one way and you another, and it just makes for a difficult process.

“But I’ve got the utmost respect for Nile because when we did the playback with an American record company, the guy from the company said he would love to hear Boys To Men sing on this, but to Nile’s credit, he turned around and said, ‘Well, I kind of f***ing dig what theses guys are doing. I don't think we need Boys To Men in there."

“It was like your big brother sticking up for you at school and I’ll always be grateful for that.

“Whenever we bump into each other I always say thank you very much because that was in 1992 and it still lives with me.”

(Image: Images supplied to Glasgow Times)

The group now consists of Clark (bass), as well as Graeme Duffin (Guitar) and Kevin Simm of Liberty X (vocals), after changing their line-up following the departure of previous members and Marti Pellow in 2018.

Clark was widely reported in the media last year after saying he and former members only spoke though lawyers.

When asked by the Glasgow Times, Clark said: “I regret laying all that out in the public domain. I got caught in the moment and I didn’t know how to get out of it.

“I don’t want to say anything that is going to take away from what we have achieved and that goes to the current guys as well as the ones who used to be in the group – it’s their legacy too and they were part of making this ship.”

(Image: Images supplied to Glasgow Times)

The renewed Wet Wet Wet will be joined by their touring band as they head to the Royal Concert Hall in the city centre on October 10, 2025.

Speaking on returning to the city, Clark said: “It’s always great to play in your home time and it’s always nice to be back.  You’re speaking to your people, who speak your language and your accent.

“It’s my spiritual home and it always will be. I miss Glasgow and I always talk about it.”

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And when it comes to growing up in the city, we got a very fun fact from Clark – which relates to our very own newspaper.

He explained: “I used to be a paper boy for the Evening Times. I loved it. It got me a few bob back then, it was great.”

He joked: “I did it for about two years. It got passed down to me through my two older brothers and I ran it into the ground.”

Tickets for the Glasgow show are now on sale and can be found HERE