“Love Is All Around” was originally recorded by The Troggs in 1967.

Not Wet Wet Wet.

The Scottish band made the song enormously famous through the soundtrack to Four Weddings and a Funeral in 1994.

Their version spent fifteen consecutive weeks at No. 1 in Britain.

But the original composition came from Reg Presley, frontman of The Troggs.

That gives one of the biggest British hits of the 1990s a musical history beginning almost thirty years earlier.

Who were The Troggs?

An English rock band formed during the 1960s.

The group became famous through recordings such as:

Wild Thing

With a Girl Like You

Love Is All Around.

Their music frequently combined straightforward guitar arrangements with memorable melodies.

“Wild Thing” gave them a particularly energetic rock identity.

But “Love Is All Around” demonstrated a softer side.

The recording is gentle, melodic and romantic.

Who wrote “Love Is All Around”?

Reg Presley.

He was The Troggs’ lead singer and an important songwriter within the group.

Presley developed the composition during the band’s successful 1960s period.

The melody is relatively simple.

The emotional message is direct.

The narrator sees love everywhere.

That’s part of the song’s strength.

It doesn’t require complicated storytelling.

It communicates one feeling extremely effectively.

When did The Troggs release it?

The original became a significant hit.

It reached No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart.

The recording also achieved success internationally.

That means Wet Wet Wet weren’t rescuing an unknown song that had never connected with audiences.

The composition was already famous.

They simply introduced it to another generation.

Why did Wet Wet Wet cover it?

Because of Four Weddings and a Funeral.

The production team wanted a suitable song for the film’s soundtrack.

Wet Wet Wet were approached about recording a cover.

They reportedly considered several possibilities.

One was Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”.

Another was “Can’t Smile Without You”, associated with Barry Manilow.

The band ultimately chose “Love Is All Around”.

They believed they could create a version suited to their musical identity.

That decision turned out rather well.

Who sings the Wet Wet Wet version?

Marti Pellow.

His vocal became the defining feature of the 1994 recording.

Wet Wet Wet transformed the arrangement into polished pop-soul.

The production is much more expansive than The Troggs’ original.

Strings.

Warm instrumentation.

A more dramatic vocal performance.

The song became perfectly suited to a romantic comedy soundtrack.

Why was Four Weddings and a Funeral so important?

Because the film became an enormous international success.

Released in 1994, it starred Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell.

The story follows a group of friends navigating relationships, weddings and personal change.

The soundtrack became strongly associated with the film’s romantic atmosphere.

“Love Is All Around” provided an ideal musical summary.

The recording sounded warm, reassuring and emotionally direct.

How long was the song No. 1?

Fifteen consecutive weeks.

That’s an extraordinary chart run.

The single dominated British radio during the summer of 1994.

For many people, the recording became almost impossible to escape.

It was played constantly.

In shops.

On radio stations.

At weddings.

Across television.

Its success became one of the defining pop-cultural stories of the year.

Did Wet Wet Wet break a chart record?

Their fifteen-week run was one of the longest consecutive periods at No. 1 in UK chart history.

Bryan Adams had previously spent sixteen consecutive weeks at the top with “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”.

The comparison is particularly interesting because both songs became strongly associated with films.

In 2026, Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s “Rein Me In” surpassed the total number of weeks achieved by Wet Wet Wet, although its weeks at No. 1 were not consecutive.

Did The Troggs benefit from the cover?

Yes.

Reg Presley held songwriting rights in the composition.

A successful cover can generate new income for the original songwriter.

The enormous popularity of Wet Wet Wet’s version helped give the song another commercial life.

Presley became associated with an unusual personal interest as well.

He developed a fascination with crop circles and unexplained phenomena.

That became a surprisingly well-known part of his later life.

Why does the original sound so different?

Because the arrangements belong to different musical eras.

The Troggs:

1960s pop rock.

Relatively restrained production.

A straightforward vocal.

Wet Wet Wet:

1990s pop-soul.

Larger arrangement.

More polished instrumentation.

A much more expansive emotional performance.

The composition remains recognisable.

The personality changes.

Is “Love Is All Around” a Christmas song?

Not originally.

It’s a general romantic song.

But the title’s emotional warmth allows it to appear in seasonal and sentimental contexts.

The same applies to many songs that become associated with particular films or events.

Their cultural identity can expand beyond the original release.

What other famous songs did Wet Wet Wet record?

Their catalogue includes:

Sweet Little Mystery

Angel Eyes (Home and Away)

Goodnight Girl

Wishing I Was Lucky.

Those recordings demonstrate that Wet Wet Wet had an established career before their enormous 1994 success.

“Love Is All Around” became their biggest hit.

But it wasn’t their first.

Songs like “Love Is All Around”

Try:

The Troggs – Love Is All Around

Wet Wet Wet – Goodnight Girl

The Proclaimers – Sunshine on Leith

The Righteous Brothers – Unchained Melody

Bryan Adams – (Everything I Do) I Do It for You

Simply Red – Stars

Take That – Back for Good

Phil Collins – A Groovy Kind of Love

These recordings share different elements of romantic pop and familiar British chart music.

Why do people think Wet Wet Wet wrote it?

Because their version became so commercially dominant.

That happens frequently with covers.

A later recording becomes more culturally recognisable than the original.

Eventually the public begins associating the composition almost exclusively with the later performer.

Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” is another famous example.

The same process happened with “Love Is All Around”.

Who originally sang “Love Is All Around”?

The Troggs.

Reg Presley wrote the composition.

The band released it in 1967.

Wet Wet Wet created their famous cover in 1994 for Four Weddings and a Funeral.

The result spent fifteen consecutive weeks at No. 1.

Two very different recordings.

One incredibly durable love song.