The Smiths

Very interesting listen when Johnny Marr joined Jo Whiley on her BBC Radio 2 show (02/11/23) , lots of brilliant stories / anecdotes & tunes.


I hadn’t heard about the smiths cover of the elvis song fool such as I
(58mins in the recording)

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Transcript excerpt:

Jo Whiley: Pete from Colchester ... Like The Beatles today, are there any uncovered Smiths tracks in the closet?
There's one, there's one song that no one's heard but it's not a Smiths song, it's an Elvis Presley song that we did right at the end. It wasn't a particularly good time so I've never really wanted to go back and revisit. I've got a tape of it somewhere. It's under a dog bed or something.

Under a pedal...
That's probably true. I haven't even seen it for about thirty odd years.

But would you be prepared to go back to it and let people hear it?
...The honest answer is no, I...

Also check out my 90s based CMJ college radio playlists

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Related item:

• Indiewire: "Why David Fincher Chose The Smiths for Michael Fassbender’s Zen ‘Meditation’ Soundtrack in ‘The Killer’" (September 3, 2023)

From Twitter:

The Smiths at The Haigh Building in Liverpool, 40 year ago today. My 3rd roll of 35mm film & my 1st attempt at colour, unfortunately the lighting was shocking for my 2nd attempt at live music Photography. #thesmiths #1983 22.10.1983.

The trusted site Official Charts lists Hatful of Hollow as an album that charted for four weeks in 1995 reaching a peak position of 26.

In 1984 Hatful of Hollow reached number 7, charting for 46 weeks with Platinum sales.

I have acquired this recently, and some of you have seen this from Omega. I have also started to digitize this (as seen on the link).

I think the story from the person who owned this (which I interviewed after I got this tape) is quite delightful.



From my post:

This came from Steve Clarke, who co-ran Drone Studios (along with Paul Roberts), where The Smiths recorded this single. Steve was also the engineer during the production of this song. This was the first tape that came out of that session, which was used for further mastering to the final product.

The sound is definitely a lot rougher than the released version(s), and has an extra round of instrumentals near the end which was cut in the final mix (making this have a length of 3:23 instead of 3:15).

According to Steve regarding this tape:

“In early summer 1985 I got a call from Paul Roberts who told me that The Smiths were in the studio, they'd been in for about three days...

For people who are interested, the game is now available.
The game is available in English, Spanish & Catalan and it can be played with a Commodore 64 or an emulator and you have all the information in this links:
English: https://commodore-plus.itch.io/the-smiths-are-dead-en-c64-oric
Spanish: https://commodore-plus.itch.io/los-smiths-estn-muertos-es-c64-oric
Catalan: https://commodore-plus.itch.io/los-smiths-estn-muertos-cat-c64-oric

The game is a text adventure in which you put yourself in the skin of Morrissey and covers the period between the separation of The Smiths and the release of Viva Hate.
The plot: You are Morrissey and Gail, your manager, has lost the Suedehead sheet music which is divided into 4 pieces. You must travel and gather them to be able to record your first single.

You can download the game completely free of charge



[ATTACH...

Morrissey/Johnny/Andy references in an interview with Rick Astley, in the Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2...-yet-interview?CMP=twt_a-culture_b-gdnculture

Excerpt:
People have been surprised that a pop star like you loved the Smiths.
My big brother Mike introduced me to them, and I went a bit nuts about them. The fact they were from my nearby city, where I’d go and buy records, blew my mind – a friend and I stalked [bassist] Andy Rourke around town once, amazed he was real. They still sound so unique, with this very English way of singing that only a few other bands, like Pulp, do well. I couldn’t sing about love in anything but a mid-Atlantic twang.

Johnny Marr tweeted criticism of your original Smiths covers shows with Blossoms in 2021. He’s since made up with them in person. Have you ever met?
No. We both played Electric Picnic recently and I watched his show – his style of...

Excerpt:

Eighties-loving misanthropes will find comfort in David Fincher’s “The Killer” knowing that the assassin revenge thriller is almost exclusively soundtracked by The Smiths — when it’s not thrumming with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ ominous score.

Michael Fassbender plays a near-sociopathic contract killer, unencumbered by conscience or any moral scruples, whose carefully composed world starts to spin off its axis when he accidentally kills the wrong person on a hit job in Paris. He’s a yoga-doing, almost Zen-like murderer for hire whose unreliable perspective the movie situates us directly within — and that includes The Killer’s love of English rock band The Smiths. Hits like “How Soon Is Now?” and “Bigmouth Strikes Again” are often...