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A forum for Morrissey and The Smiths
Volume Two, Issue 11
Greetings all 'Strangeways' subscribers, my name is Michael Piasecki and this
is the first issue I am moderating. I hope that I will do as good a job bring-
ing you Smiths/Morrissey news as Kevin did, I am sorry I hadn't gotten a news-
letter out sooner; with final exams and projects all week, I have been a mess,
but I hope you find the posts in here informative so enjoy!
Tell all new subscribers to send their email address to Pi at:
[email protected]
From: Simon Hughes <
[email protected]>
Subject: Strangeways: New Moz releases
A new Moz single `We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful' is
due for release in late April. Among the b-sides should be a track
called `You're the One For Me Fatty'. Both songs were written with
Alain Whyte, the guitarist in the touring band, and produced by Mick
Ronson who was a guitarist in David Bowie's Spiders From Mars. A new
lp is due in July.
Incidentally, `Education in Reverse' was once a possible title for
what became `Viva Hate' and I think the Australian version of the album
was so titled.
Simon
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Simon Hughes, Dept. of Computing, Imperial College. Email:
[email protected]
From: Edward Baichtal <
[email protected]>
Subject: NEW Smiths album!
A new Smiths album is out. :) It's just a vinyl release (I don't know
if it's on anything else, I only found the vinyl) of their demo tapes
however. It's entitled "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" and has a very
early studio shot of all four Smiths in a nice red/purple kind of color.
On the back it says "These tracks are unreleased Demo versions recorded
with Troy Tate for the first album." "Thanks to Andrew FOR PROMOTIONAL
USE ONLY." It's on Trash Records and it's number is TR7. It is from
England though, and I have not listened to it yet to be able to give a
review of what the quality is like. I do have a cassette as well that
calls itself their demo album, and it includes "Jeanne" though, and is
very low in sound. It's not scratchy, but sounds like it's been muted
and then recorded low. Anyway, this is a new release, it's not an old
record I found somewhere in a small shop. It doesn't include "Jeanne"
but does include "Wonderful Woman" which is not on my older cassette,
which leads me to believe there may be other demo works they have done,
as the version of Jeanne on my cassette is accoustic. Here's the track
listing of the record:
1. Reel Around the Fountain
2. You've Got Everything Now
3. Miserable Lie
4. These Things Take Time
5. Wonderful Woman
6. Handsome Devil
7. Hand in Glove
8. What Difference Does it Make?
9. I Don't Owe You Anything
10. Suffer Little Children
11. Pretty Girls Make Graves
About the reel tape I spoke of in a past Strangeways article... It belongs
to someone I have never met, but heard about from a friend of this person.
Both live in San Diego, but the friend who told me about it, is attending
a nearby college. Because of the amount of mail I got about it, I thought
I should make this note a little more public. I'll talk to her and see
if I can get a copy of it or something, and finally hear it and figure
out what it is (hopefully). But I will post more about it as I find out
more, and I'm sorry if I originally misled anyone.
From:
[email protected]
Subject: Strangeways
Hello Strangeways!
I know it's been a long time since I've posted, but here I am. Lots of
news...
Starting way back. I saw the Morrissey show at home in Dallas. Absolutely
fantastic. For those of you who haven't seen the promo video of the concert,
here are the details of the 67-minute vid:
The Last of the Famous International Playboys
Interesting Drug
Picadilly Palare
Trash
Sing Your Life
King Leer
Asian Rut
Mute Witness
November Spawned a Monster
Will Never Marry
Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together
There's a Place in Hell For Me and My Friends
That's Entertainment
Our Frank
Suedehead
Everyday Is Like Sunday (partial...)
Everyday is Like Sunday was the first song of the encore, which was cut off
because the mob on the stage got out of control. The sound on the promo video
is fantastic - would make a great source for a bootleg. The video is only a
two-camera job. Views from right and left, but none dead-center. While it
looks much better than a boot, the camera work isn't that fancy - probably
why the video was never released commercially.
A friend of mine who saw Morrissey perform in Dublin said something
very interesting. He was not very familiar with Morrissey and his only
exposure to The Smiths was Louder Than Bombs when he saw the show. We were
listening to Hatful of Hollow and he noticed that one of the songs is called
"Still Ill." He couldn't remember the song, but he said that Morrissey told
the audience "Some of you may have heard that I've been ill. Well, you'll be
happy to know that I am still ill." Then they played a song. Did Morrissey do
Smiths songs at any of his shows? I'd be very interested in hearing about it.
Other stuff: I read in the NME that Morrissey is working on a new LP, and
that a single will be released in April. It will be one of the two new songs
that he performed at the Amnesty International concert. BTW, does anyone have
a copy of that performance? I'd love to get a hold of one.
Finally, has anyone heard anything about any of the bootlegs that are out?
There are two available at Second Coming in Cambridge which I will check out
as I pass through on my way home for spring break. If I'm going to drop $30
on a boot, I'd like to get the best one.
Well, that's about all I've got. More later.
Michael
Subject: New Morrissey Video from Japan
From: "Kevin Y. Kawado" <
[email protected]>
Greetings.
I just stopped by an import store and found a new video by Morrissey. It's
called Sing Your Life and basically just has three videos on it. Looks
like a video single of sorts. I wonder if it's out on CDV? Anyway, it
has Sing Your Life and Our Frank videos and Sister, I'm A Poet, from
Hulmerist. It was kind of expensive for just two new videos but I
bought it anyway just to complete my Morrissey collection :-). Maybe
there's something good between the videos, like tour footage or something.
=K=
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From:
[email protected] (Jarnail Singh Gill)
Subject: Strangeways: Morrissey books
I recently got this book called "The Unabridged James Dean: His Life
and Legacy from A to Z", written by Randall Riese. Its sort of like a
James Dean encyclopedia. To my suprise, Morrissey get's a mention in the
book. Here's what his entry says:
STEPHEN MORRISSEY
Author of the book "James Dean Is Not Dead", published by Babylon Books
in Great Britian in 1983. Morrissey, an unabashed Dean fan, is also
former lead singer of the rock band the Smiths, which disbanded in 1987
amid a riff between Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. In 1988 Morrissey
released a solo album, "Viva Hate", which included the single "Suedehead,"
the music video of which was shot entirely in Dean's hometown of Fairmount,
Indiana. With the Smiths, Morrissey had several hits on the British charts,
including "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side," a Dean tribute (1985).
For all those curious about the content of Moz's book, here what Riese has
to say about it:
JAMES DEAN IS NOT DEAD
Author: Stephen Morrissey
Publisher: Babylon Books, Great Britain
Year: 1983
James Dean may not be dead (perhaps he and Elvis Presley are having
lunch and exchanging dialouge from REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE), but this
trade paperback biography by Stephen Morrissey, former lead singer
of the British rock band the Smiths, is morose and lifeless. A front
cover, a back cover, and a lot of wasted paper in between.
Guess he's not much of a Morrissey fan. Can anyone else offer opinions on
this book? I also read somewhere that Morrissey wrote a book about the
New York Dolls. Can anyone offer insight into this book?
Just one more James Dean related question. I remember seeing "The Boy
with the Thorn in His Side" single once. I don't remember the cover very
well, but I recall it has a picture of someone jumping through the air.
In the James Dean book I have, there is a snap shot of Dean (from the
movie East of Eden) jumping through the air. Could this be the same
picture? Just curious.
Jerry.
From:
[email protected] (Scott Krajews)
Subject: StrangeWays, Here I Come
Hello one and all,
My name is Scott Krajewski. I recently found about StrangeWays and I
am very excited about it! This looks like something really interesting.
Anyway, if anyone wants to learn more about me or to chat drop me a line.
This is for Edward Baichtal from the last StrangeWays about "Education In
Reverse." Viva Hate was originally entitled that.
I have a text file of miscellaneous Smiths and Moz trivia. If there is any
interest I can binhex it with the formatting or just ASCII it to you
if you like.
Is anyone into fanzines? I can get you info on "The Morri'Zine" or "The
Darkened Underpass" if you E-mail me!
Scott
From:
[email protected] (MAHJOURI,ALI SABET)
Subject: Strange Fanzine
Hello everyone! My name is Travis Gravell. I have just completed my first issue
of 'Wilde About Morrissey'. There is a limited supply of copies, so get yours
now.
Travis Gravell
1349 Redmond Cir #A5
Rome, GA 30165
The price per issue is $2.50. Next issue will hopefully include pictures of
Manchester (Morrissey's home, school, and Salford Lad's Club, etc.).
Travis
From:
[email protected] (Jarnail Singh Gill)
Subject: Strangeways: t-shirts
I was wondering if someone could help me in identifying some
Smiths/Morrissey t-shirts.
I have this Smiths t-shirt that I found in Toronto (if your ever in
Toronto, check out this place that bills itself as "The Morrissey
Store". its right beside MuchMusic on Queen St.). It has a
purplish/pink and white picture of James Dean sitting on a motorcycle,
with the words "The Smiths" written across the top in green. I can't
figure out which single this is from. I've seen photographs of Mike
Joyce wearing the same t-shirt around the time Strangeways came out,
so it is probably a later single.
I've also got this Morrissey t-shirt with a purlish/blue picture of a
man's face (it looks like he's screaming) on the front and "Morrissey
1991" printed on the back. I noticed the same picture was used as a
backdrop during his tour and on the drum kit. If you look at the
Morrissey picture spread in NME a few months back, you'll see what i'm
talking about. Who is this man on the t-shirt?
can anybody help?
Jerry.
From:
[email protected] (Pi)
Subject: Strangeways Concert News
Well, I was in attendance of the first James concert of their very first U.S.
tour on Wednesday night and it was a great show. For reference, James is a
Manchester band who toured in the UK in 1985 with the Smiths and who is still
one of Morrissey's favorite bands. After the show we talked with the band, who
were very nice and informative about Morrissey. They confirmed our suspicions
that he is very shy and self-conscious, they also said that he has AGAIN moved
out of Manchester and down to the south of England. Furthermore, the bass
guitarist James Glennie stated that Morrissey was invited to play a 30,000
capacity venue in England on July 4 with James but has not contacted the band
about the date. Another member said that EMF was invited instead but turned
down the gig, it would be interesting to see if the Mozzer plays with the UK's
hottest act. And just for information's sake, Morrissey's friend Michael Stipe
was also at the show and later went to an artsy cafe after the concert with the
band.
Pi
