Thanks, I guess that clears up the remaster aspect of things:
"Initially, SDE emails to Warners went unanswered, but persistence has paid off and I can confirm that producer and audio engineer Bill Inglot has created the ‘2017 Master’ of the 1986 album and will have mastered the unreleased live and demo material too.
Bill is a veteran in the industry, and has compiled, curated and remastering archival projects for decades (he worked for Warners for 25 years). He’s not new to The Smiths back catalogue either, having remastered the audio for the 2001 compilation The Best Of The Smiths with Dan Hersch.
But why the secrecy? Who knows! Inglot is not credited on the recent 12-inch of The Queen Is Dead and that presumably used the newly remastered audio. That single reissue in itself was weird, with indie retailers been told that under no circumstances should they try to promote it ahead of the release date!"
It might explain Johnny's muted response too - given how much effort he put in to his remaster.
Oh, and congratulations to SDE for getting any kind of response out of Warners - well played.
Regards,
FWD.
