Blog
The Smiths - Rarities
A few words on Smiths’ rarities taking in: Leeside Music on Cork’s MacCurtain Street, green and white price stickers, kitchen sink dramas, Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey, Albert Finney, Billie Whitelaw, Rita Tushingham, Yootha Joyce, Colin Campbell, Murray Head, Terence Stamp, Viv Nicholson, Pier Paolo Pasolini and James Dean.
The Smiths - Singles
A few words on The Smiths’ singles taking in: Woolworths in Enniskillen, Prince’s ‘Girls & Boys’, Owen Paul’s ‘My Favourite Waste of Time’, Nina Simone, New Order, misheard lyrics, cover stars, B-Sides, Vinyl Matrix Etchings, 7” singles from 1986 and more. By 1986 I was spending all my pocket money on singles and in the first six months of that year I had bought four. Falco’s ‘Rock Me Amadeus’ had been a huge hit all over Europe in late-85 and hit the top spot In both Ireland and the UK in March.
The Smiths - Bootlegs
A few words on The Smiths taking in: vinyl bootlegs, CD bootlegs, Diana Dors, Doris Day, Margaret Sullavan, Hattie Jacques, Jean Howard, Glenn Miller and 1950s “Marlboro Baby” advertisements. The most beautiful bootleg in my collection is Unreleased Demos & Instrumentals a double LP that came out at the end of 2010 featuring previously unreleased studio demos, outtakes and instrumentals. The cover is a still of Diana Dors taken from 1956’s Yield to the Night. It’s a beautiful sleeve.
Morrissey - Bootlegs
A few words on Morrissey bootlegs taking in: The Smiths, Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Dublin’s National Stadium, The Stone Roses at Spike Island, FM broadcasts, cassette bootlegs, New Order, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Lollapalooza 1992, vinyl bootlegs, DVDs, and “art vs. the artist”. Today is the 33rd anniversary of Morrissey’s second solo gig. His 27 April 1991 National Stadium show was his first solo outing since the December 1988 Wolverhampton Civic gig and the opening night of the European leg of his Kill Uncle tour.