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/ News

Look Into My Eyes: Morrissey Announces Smiths Single with Unreleased Material

December 2, 2016 By Mike Duquette 2 Comments

the-smiths-the-boy-with-the-thorn-in-his-sideEvery announcement of archival material by The Smiths is met (whether or not it deserves it) with those famous lyrics from "Paint a Vulgar Picture" as a reaction: "Re-issue, re-package, re-package / Re-evaluate the songs / Double-pack with a photograph / Extra track and a tacky badge..."

Well, get those lyric cards ready, because Morrissey has recently announced a 45 RPM single from Warner Music U.K. featuring previously unissued versions of "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" and "Rubber Ring." Both songs were released on a single in 1985, with "Thorn" later appearing on the band's landmark album The Queen is Dead. (The A-side to this single is supplemented with "Demo Mix" on the sleeve.)

Morrissey, as always, designed the sleeve (with layout from Warner's Darren Evans), which features an image of actor Albert Finney.

The news, which has no release date yet, closes a year of wild activity for The Smiths' mercurial former frontman. This past May, he congratulated his former bandmates, producer Stephen Street and ex-label Rough Trade for "30 fantastic years of sales for The Queen is Dead," the band's acclaimed 1986 album, while condemning Warner U.K.'s "brick wall" reaction when asking to reissue the title track as a single.

In recent weeks, Moz has rescheduled American concert dates after keyboardist Gustavo Manzur collapsed backstage before a show in Boulder, Colorado. (The singer himself is no stranger to health issues, having been treated for esophageal cancer in 2014.

Elsewhere, in his new memoir Set the Boy Free, Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr discussed a 2008 meeting with his estranged songwriting partner where a reunion of The Smiths was "a very real prospect" for several days.

Watch this space for more information on the upcoming Smiths single!

Categories: News Formats: Vinyl Genre: Rock Tags: Morrissey, The Smiths

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Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, holding positions at Legacy Recordings and Rhino Records and contributing to Allmusic, Discogs, City Pages, Ultimate Classic Rock and Mondo Records, for whom he penned liner notes for his favorite piece of music: John Williams' Oscar-winning score to 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.' Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

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Comments

  1. Ross says

    December 2, 2016 at 2:03 pm

    Wow! I want this. What chance of a proper Smiths reissue campaign? Deluxe editions of their four studio albums are long overdue.

    Reply
    • Murray says

      December 2, 2016 at 6:40 pm

      Well their whole catalog was remastered with the input of Johnny Marr a few years ago and the 2CD Sound of the Smiths CD had a bunch of rare stuff. Of course some of the bootlegged stuff has yet to be issued officially, but I honestly doubt you'll ever see that. Seems like the band has too much friction with each other to really get serious about a project like that.

      Reply

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