New Smiths compilation - Nov 10th

[non capisco]

yet we have pages upon pages about Andy Rourke watching too much He-Man. Or summat.

Ha ha! That's exactly the sort of thing I want in a rock biography!

I haven't read it, but I gather Simon Goddard's 'The Smiths: Songs That Saved Your Life' focuses on their music.

[Ambient Sheep]

Oops, hadn't seen that there was a third page.  Yes, "Songs That Saved Your Life" is the dog's bollocks, and no serious Smiths fan should be without it.  A far better read than "The Severed Alliance", which to be frank I never completed.

[Backstage With Slowdive]

Is there a decent Smiths book more focused on the music?

Yes, and HMV were selling it for a fiver about 2 years ago.

[trotsky assortment]

I'm pretty sure I've spotted copies of 'Songs that Saved Your Life' in some (but not all) branches of Zavvi for about a fiver.

[Custard]

Cheers for the recommendation chaps. I shall have a hunt about for a copy!

[LC]

What's so important about sequeing Rubber Ring into Asleep?

[El Unicornio, mang]

"You do not want to believe, you..are...sleeping"

[Ambient Sheep]

With one crossfading into the other through the howling wind noise, with that woman's voice on loop.  It's magical.  I always thought she was part of the beginning of Asleep, rather than the end of Rubber Ring, so I was even more surprised at what they'd done when I heard the separated versions.

[trotsky assortment]

Does anyone know if the expensive CD single (link above) segues the two, or whether they're separated?

[Ambient Sheep]

Does anyone know if the expensive CD single (link above) segues the two, or whether they're separated?

Sorry, I somehow missed that earlier (I hate following Amazon links, for some unknown psychological reason).

Short answer: yes, apparently it does.

Long answer:

Another, rather expensive 'Boy With The Thorn' CD single here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Boy-Thorn-His-Side/dp/B000KD3YPK/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1225804167&sr=8-13

Unless Rough Trade took a gamble and released it on CD single back in '86, I reckon that's one of the mid-90s reissues.  No tracklisting.

Well that's an odd one, isn't it!  I'm not a Smiths discography mega-expert, but I thought I had all the 1992 reissues, namely "This Charming Man" (which was a bastard to get hold of - Sister Ray announced in their NME advert the week before release that they'd already sold out their allocation of CD1, so I had to go elsewhere for it), "How Soon Is Now?", and "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out".  (I picked up the import version of "This Charming Man" that Huzzie mentioned shortly afterwards; it's the same as the UK CD2 with the addition of "Wonderful Woman".)

I didn't know there were any more than that, and indeed I remember hoping at the time that they'd do "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" just for the B-side segue.  (While we're here, they're very shoddily packaged, whoever laid out the spines couldn't make up their mind which way to set the writing, so to get all six of them to read the same way you have to turn them all this-way-n-that on your shelf.)

Anyway, back to the point, whenever that Amazon one was released, it appears to be what we want.  Although there's no official tracklisting, the description says:

UK 3-track CD-single in slimline case featuring the b-sides 'Rubber Ring' and 'Asleep' which segue. One of a handful of Rough Trade singles, which were randomly selected for reissue on CD.

...which makes it even stranger, as the 1992 reissues that I have are all in proper jewel cases, not the slimline ones.  Also the catalogue number seems to be "B000KD3YPK", whereas the 1992 releases all start "YZ000...".

Not only that, but http://www.discogs.com hasn't heard of it under B000KD3YPK, but wait...it has heard of it under RTT 191CD, released November 1988, and has all three tracks on it.  The case style isn't mentioned.

I guess it must be that then!  So I was wrong, the two tracks have been released on CD together, but back in the days when hardly any Smiths fans had CD players...

[Backstage With Slowdive]

Here comes Taylor Parkes once again giving us the perspective of the embittered ex-saddo (he's been writing these for about 15 years now).

[El Unicornio, mang]

By the time I got to him saying "Andy Rourke's pale funk basslines" I gave up.

[trotsky assortment]

I think you may be right, Mang... I think the expensive CD single could be the one from '88 (which I don't think I've seen). 

Funnily enough, when you mentioned earlier you didn't think there was a mid-90s reissue, I could've sworn I remembered one; I was sure I'd seen one way back, in a proper sized jewel case, sitting next to the 'This Charming Man' 2CD set in a second hand record shop.

Dammit.  I want to hear that segue now.  If it's that special, I feel I really ought to know what the fuss is about.

[Ambient Sheep]

I think you may be right, Mang...

?!

Funnily enough, when you mentioned earlier you didn't think there was a mid-90s reissue, I could've sworn I remembered one; I was sure I'd seen one way back, in a proper sized jewel case, sitting next to the 'This Charming Man' 2CD set in a second hand record shop.

Well I don't know for sure, but at the time I didn't see any more come out after "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out", but that doesn't mean there weren't.  Although Discogs doesn't seem to have heard of one.  It's too late in the evening now to go consulting a proper Smiths discography, but I might have a try tomorrow if I get time.

Dammit.  I want to hear that segue now.  If it's that special, I feel I really ought to know what the fuss is about.

I meant to end my last post with something like "...and after all that build-up, you'll probably be dreadfully disappointed when you finally get to hear it."  :-)

[El Unicornio, mang]

?!

I think that was in reference to me saying that Smiths article was rubbish, not the CD single stuff!

[Ambient Sheep]

I think that was in reference to me saying that Smiths article was rubbish, not the CD single stuff!

Well I might have thought that, except it was in the same sentence!

Never mind, no harm done.

[trotsky assortment]

Apologies.  When I returned to this thread last night, I misquoted the CD single stuff to El Unicorn, Mang.  I meant Sheepy. 

I still want to hear the segue, even though it won't live up to expectations now.

[LC]

I mean, just fucking pop the two songs into Winamp or whatever. It's definitely not worth bothering about or stressing over.

[trotsky assortment]

I have the two songs.  I can put them into media player, or whatever...but the point you've missed is, WITHOUT the versions from the discussed rare CD single, you don't get them segued; you just hear the 'normal versions' played one after the other. NOT the same.

[The Plunger]

Johnny Marr plays guitar on 'Rolling Back The Rivers In Time' from the new Girls Aloud album.

Here

Would have much rather he played on the PSB-penned 'Loving Kind' though. Far better song.

Anyway, back to The Smiths !

[LC]

Aw right. Upload them then.

[23 Daves]

Here comes Taylor Parkes once again giving us the perspective of the embittered ex-saddo (he's been writing these for about 15 years now).

Bloody hell - "'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out', poised and almost perfect, runs headlong into the clangorous codswallop of 'Panic'".  Clangorous Codswallop?  Still, I suppose a reader is always going to disagree with some of the points raised in a review...

Since my copy of The Smiths "Singles" has been scratched to death by my wife (she carried it around with her in one of those dreaded CD folders for a long time) I'm debating about whether to buy this to replace it or not.  We've probably got most of the tracks featured on there in some format or another, but it might be good to have them in one place.  We'll see.

[The Mumbler]

God, I'm glad I wasn't in the same room as Parkes and his review copy. Not only do I like What Difference, Barbarism, I Started Something and Nowhere Fast very much, but I also find Suffer Little Children a bit of a stinker (sincere naturally but, as a piece of music, very slight indeed). Also, it's clear he means his cross between Fleetwood Mac and HMHB to be an insult, whereas that would fascinate me.

[Kishi the Bad Lampshade]

Here's Rubber Ring/Asleep:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ua5vs1

FEEL MY GENEROSITY

[Ambient Sheep]

Here's Rubber Ring/Asleep:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ua5vs1

FEEL MY GENEROSITY

Oooooh I am, and it's big and thick!  Thank you ever so much, sir!

My reaction to hearing it again after all these years

I'd forgotten how early the Rubber Ring music stops, and I was thinking "Oh, maybe it doesn't crossfade as much as I remember" (but then of course I used to consider the woman to be part of Asleep, not Rubber Ring), but sure enough, as soon as the wind & piano faded in, all the hairs went up on the back of my neck.  Yayyyy!!

[close]

So is that a rip of the original 12", or (one of) the CD reissue(s), and if so what's its catalogue number & case style, out of interest?

[trotsky assortment]

Thanks for the upload, Kishi.  Will listen to that in a couple of minutes.


While I would never call it clangorous codswallop, I've never been that fond of 'Panic'.  The over-reliance of the hang the DJ refrain always sounded, to me, like it was created for that 'annoyingly-memorable-hit-single'.  Never among Moz's best lyrics.  I may be missing the point, but it's more likely a skipper whener I have a Smiths binge.
I'm in agreement with an earlier post, too... I never liked 'Suffer Little Children'.



Right... I've heard the segue now.  It's brief, but lovely.  Subtle.  The way it's in and out kind of reminds me of the way Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust' goes into 'Suffragette City'; something which has completely screwed up on the 2CD remaster.  Who decided to put in a new fade?  Christ, I hate it.

[The Plunger]

Aw right. Upload them then.

There's a link in the original post.

[trotsky assortment]

Not sure, but I think LC may have been responding to my post about the 'Rubber Ring/Asleep' segue there, rather than the Girls Aloud track.  Apologies if I'm wrong.

[The Plunger]

Ah, apologies then if that's the case.

So, back on track - any thoughts on Marr's best output since The Smiths ? I'd have to say the first Electronic lp. An absolute classic. I also rate 'Infected' by The The. Especially 'Dogs of Lust', which is a barnstormer of a single.

[trotsky assortment]

Apart from a couple of Electonic singles, I've really not heard much of Marr's post-Smiths work.  A mate of mine bought a solo album and said it was dull.

Any recommendations?