"Thomas' idea behind Weddings Parties Anything was to combine that punk rock inspiration with his original love for the honest storytelling in folk music.

[4] In early 1985 the group's original piano accordion player Wendy Joseph was replaced by Mark Wallace.

Wallace was also listening to rock bands such as The Violent Femmes and like Thomas he was keen to put the accordion into a modern context.

[1] "He'd rung accordion teachers out of the phone book looking for ex-students, he got on to me, and wrote me a letter with a tape with five songs on it.Another inclusion to the line-up was guitarist Dave Steel (Strange Tenants and Fire Down Below).

[5] By the time they released their version of Tex Morton's "Sergeant Small" as a single, the line-up comprised Michael Thomas, Mark Wallace, Dave Steel, bassist Janine Hall (formerly of the band The Saints) and drummer Marcus Schintler returning to work with Thomas, after the two met at an audition as the rhythm section for Melbourne band Little Murders two years earlier.

He also noted in several interviews, at the time of his departure (1988), that he was feeling frustrated not getting a lot of his material on the Weddings Parties Anything albums.

He was replaced by Richard Burgman (The Sunnyboys, The Saints) for the band's 1989 release, The Big Don't Argue, and accompanying tours.

The band resurfaced in 1992 with the release of Difficult Loves and yet another guitarist, Paul Thomas (Huxton Creepers), replacing the departing Richard Burgman.

Schintler went on to pursue a career in government as Chief of Staff to the NSW Minister for Industrial Relations and Aboriginal Affairs.

Peter Lawler left a year later to pursue a solo career (later to work with Jimmy Barnes and Tim Rogers among others).

The band now included Jen Anderson (violins, mandolin; formerly of the band The Black Sorrows), Michael Barclay (drums; Paul Kelly & The Messengers, Little Murders), Stephen O'Prey (bass; formerly of The Badloves), as well as Michael Thomas, Paul Thomas and Mark Wallace.

[citation needed] They did, however, form a fanatical supporter base, known as the "Wedheads", that continued to sustain the band for years.

Thomas has also written or co-written plays, including Over in the West and The Tank, and is an accomplished music producer and engineer.

Jen Anderson composed live music for the black and white silent movie Pandora's Box and to accompany The Sentimental Bloke for the Melbourne International Film Festival.

[12] She has toured with Tiddas, Paul Kelly and Archie Roach, and she composed the soundtracks for Clara Law's film The Goddess of 1967 and the TV mini-series Simone de Beauvoir's Babies.

reformed for the Community Cup Football match in July 2005[14] and also performed at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne as a warm-up show two nights prior.

announced March/April dates for the band's Ten Year Reunion Tour 2008, including an international performance at the Astoria (formerly The Mean Fiddler) in London on 25 April (ANZAC Day).

They sold out four consecutive shows at Melbourne venue The Corner Hotel, adding a fifth to surpass the record previously held by the Hilltop Hoods from 2004.

The shows were intended as a warm-up for the band's scheduled performance at the Byron Bay Bluesfest,[20] which was subsequently cancelled due to COVID-19.

had a handful of live songs that were nearly always guaranteed to push the mosh pit into a frenzy, particularly "A Tale They Won't Believe", the story of Alexander Pearce, a cannibal in the convict days of Tasmania.

[21] Fans would traditionally have coins ready to throw at the band as they sang the chorus of "Ticket in Tatts", while shielding their eyes.

How people cursed that pillar, but it provided a convenient place to hide, to leave your drink or cigarettes, to meet someone.

The audience for the band was close to a mainstream rock crowd, their folk credentials were further evidenced by Celtic influences and an affinity for traditional Australian songs ("Streets of Forbes", "Sergeant Small"), plus original songs by Thomas which drew upon a similar repository of colonial folklore ("A Tale They Won't Believe").

Canadian commentator Jeremy Mouat concluded that their "music is largely concerned with the connections between past and present, whether it be the bond of memory or an identification with tradition".