To something that’s long gone: Wit & Wendy
Electric Pets (UK) guitarist/songwriter/vocalist Phil Wagg recently became an overnight internet sensation for a song he wrote and released a little over 30 years ago as a teenager, while in his first band ‘Iris’.
What’s the story?
In 2007 an ‘off air’ cassette recording of a song that was played on German radio station NDR between 1982 and 1984 went viral on Reddit as online music enthusiasts from all over the world joined forces to identify a song with no title by an unknown European synth rock band. To this day, this ‘Most Mysterious Song On The Internet‘ remains unidentified.
The search for the Most Mysterious Song On The Internet spawned a whole new music genre and a giant online global fan base dedicated to tracking down songs from a pre-digital age. To date, the ‘Lost Wave’ community on Reddit has over thirty thousand members sharing and searching for lost songs. A dedicated website called WatZatSong.com was created. On this website you can upload a music sample you’re unable to identify and community will try to identify. The website has nearly half a million members.
In January of 2014, a user from France posted a one minute clip of an indie pop song they had recorded off French radio in 1993. They gave it the very apt title ‘Something That’s Long Gone’ from a line in the lyrics.
But of course I realise escaping
Only takes me deeper in
To something that’s long gone
And so the search began. It took ten years and over ten thousand contributors hunting high and low. ‘Something That’s Long Gone’ became one of the most sought after songs as the years went on and it remained ever elusive.
Finally, in February of 2024, a YouTuber posted a recording of the full song, along with a photo of the cover of the original 7” EP on YouTube. The song was found! It was called ‘Wit And Wendy’ and it was by a band called Iris. An ardent collector and searcher of Lost Wave songs had recently bought a bunch of obscure indie releases from the early 90s and had hit the jackpot. The song was part of a 7” four track EP titled ‘Appendix’, released by a French label called ‘Alienor’.
A new search began. Who were Iris? Where were they now? What else had they released?
A member of the community noticed that the artwork for the EP uploaded to YouTube contained the names of the members of the band and who played what. He googled the first name in the list ‘Phil Wagg – guitar and vocals’. He was now in a band called ‘Electric Pets’.
“Dude, you’re one of the biggest music mysteries ever. We’ve been looking for you for 10 years.”
After that Phil received a message via Facebook. “Are you the same Phil Wagg that fronted a band called Iris in the 90s?” A bemused Phil responded to this random guy from Peru. “Yep, that’s me. How the hell did you know about Iris, in Peru of all places?” “Dude, you’re one of the biggest music mysteries ever. We’ve been looking for you for 10 years.” He persuaded Phil to join a Discord server, dedicated to ‘Iris’. The welcome and response was overwhelming and the one question that he was asked repeatedly by the community was “Where can we hear the rest of your music?”.
And so here we are, ‘Something That’s Long Gone’ is no longer long gone – it’s back. Due to the overwhelming demand, the band’s entire back catalogue will be re-released, starting with their debut 1993 EP ‘Appendix’.
Release Date: 19 April, 2024 – all digital platforms. Pre-save here.
Genre: Indie pop, dream pop, quiet core.
For Fans Of: Galaxie 500, Heavenly, Talulah Gosh, The Field Mice, C86 and Sarah Records.
