Black Grape- Fat Neck (1996)

A tribute to Mondays/ Black Grape associate Karl Power, the bloke who lined up for team photos with Manchester United ,walked out to bat for England in an Ashes Test match, took Schumacher's place on a Grand Prix podium and knocked up in Wimbledon before a Henman match.
Johnny Marr features on guitar.
The single made it to number 10 in the UK charts.
1. Fat Neck
2. Yeah Yeah Brother (Outlaw Josie Wales Mix)
3. Pretty Vacant (live on TFI Friday, 22 Mar 96)

http://d01.megashares.com/dl/wbFPCNe/bgfn.rar

Black Grape- Stupid Stupid Stupid (1997)

Everybody should have a copy of Black Grape's debut album It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah , though I didn't play mine for some time due to strong assosciations with mania and alcoholism. This, their second and last album was somewhat overlooked. There's a couple of belters on here.

 http://d01.megashares.com/dl/wp0fKoX/Black Grape.part1.rar
http://d01.megashares.com/dl/o8UZcuN/Black Grape.part2.rar

Homage to M. Gainsbourg: Black Grape- A Big Day in the North (1995), Serge Gainsbourg- Initials B.B (1968)

Shaun William Ryder - Amateur Night In The Big Top (2003)

Shaun Ryder is a former newpaper columnist and reality TV hearthrob whose writing was once described by Anthony H Wilson as being 'on a par with WB Yeats'.
I loved the Happy Mondays in the late 80's and when I was aflame with hedonisim in the 90's Black Grape provided the soundtrack to the alcopop flavoured haze of mania.
I think it's fair to say that even though Shaun is a national treasure, a lot of people don't even know this record was ever released. More than have heard of Paul's record with Astrella Celeste tho...

 http://d01.megashares.com/dl/yJk8xBN/Shaun William Ryder Amateur Night At The Big Top.rar

The World Won't Listen

Johnny Marr later revealed that the back cover was Morrissey’s intentional visual joke; a portrait of four teenage girls whose faces bore an uncanny resemblance to the individual members of The Smiths. Left to right, the girls supposedly represent Joyce, Rourke, Marr and Morrissey. ‘We didn’t discuss it,’ said Marr, ‘but I understood'. 
From Songs That Saved Your Life by  Simon Goddard

 The sleeve was designed by Morrissey, using a photo by Jürgen Vollmer from the book Rock 'N' Roll Times: The Style and Spirit of the Early Beatles and Their First Fans.

Here's a link to a lossless download of the LP.  a selection of  funky FBI / Ministry of Justice / IRP  badges.

http://sradams777.blogspot.com/2011/10/smiths-world-wont-listen-2011-remaster.html

The Smiths live at The Hacienda July 6th 1983

Another repost with restored links:

It's a pity you didn't sign the Smiths…
God to Tony Wilson, in the movie 24 Hour Party People.

Here's another film:

In 1982 Factory Records impresario Tony Wilson opened a nightclub in a disused Bollywood cinema . It was named The Hacienda (the name comes from a slogan of the radical group Situationist International: "The Hacienda Must Be Built", from Formulary for a New Urbanism by Ivan Chtcheglov) and given the Factory catalogue designation FAC 51.

This was The Smiths 14th gig, their 2nd at the Hacienda. To date they had only released one single. Two days previously Morrissey had given his first national radio interview on the David Jensen Show.

Press:

Smiths sign to independent label Rough Trade
The Smiths, generally considered one of the brightest prospects to emerge this year, have signed a long-term deal with Rough Trade Records. They say this "represents a conscious decision of preference" for the independent label, which was competing against three major labels, one of whom offered a six-figure cash advance. Their single 'Hand in Glove' has already been released, and they are currently in the studio with producer Troy Tate recording tracks for their first album and follow-up single.
New Musical Express, July 9, 1983

Why the importance in carrying flowers?
Morrisey: "They're symbolic for at least three reasons. We introduced them as an antidote to the Hacienda when we played there; it was so sterile and inhuman. We wanted some harmony with Nature. Also, to show some kind of optimism in Manchester which the flowers represent. Manchester is so semi-paralysed still, the paralysis just zips through the whole of Factory..."
Sounds, June 4, 1983
Line up for those born too late or just plain indifferent:
Morrissey- voice
Johnny Marr- guitar
Andy Rourke- the bass
Mike Joyce- drums

These are AVI files. I play them on DivX player.
Use Windows Media Player?
Have a look here.

Manchester, So Much To Answer For (1990)

The Fall Eat Yourself Fitter Buzzcocks What Do I Get

The Frantic Elevators  Hunchback Of Notre Dame The Chameleons Second Skin (Films) 

The Passage  Dark Times Blue Orchids The House That Faded Out

Tools You Can Trust Working And Shopping Twang Big Dry Out

A Witness I Love You Mr. Disposable Razors Big Flame All The Irish Must Go To Heaven 

The Smiths Handsome Devil Happy Mondays Mad Cyril Inspiral Carpets Directing Traffic 

The Railway Children Consider Dub Sex Swerve A Certain Ratio Do The Du 

A Guy Called Gerald Rockin' Ricki Ruthless Rap Assassins Three The Hard Way 

Kiss AMC Rawside New Fast Automatic Daffodils Big

I bet you've all been dying for a bit of Mick Hucknall on here?

A bit of a cash in on the (then) massive impact that Manchester was having on the popular music scene.
 Flaws? A Manchester comp covering roughly 1978-1990 with no Joy Division / New Order?

Stone Roses never played a Peel Session so they're not here either. Similarly absent and more of a loss - The Durutti Column and Frank Sidebottom . Anyway, what's here is, generally speaking, good. In places the sound quality is not great I'm afraid. (One of those 90's CDs that's turned a funny yellow colour...)

MC Tunes (feat. 808 State) - The North At Its Heights (1990)

This album is credited to MC Tunes only- tho 808 State provide the music and production.

http://d01.megashares.com/dl/aT7NBqg/Mc Tunes vs 808 State - The North At Its Heights.rar

MC Tunes vs 808 State- Tunes Splits The Atom (1990)

Madchester. Might sound like New York but with the lovely bass loop from I Am The Resurrection by The Stone Roses and a sample from Testone by  Sweet Exorcist (Sheffield) it's a very English affair.
Younger readers mightn't know that 808 State took their name from The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer,one of the first programmable drum machines, made between 1980 and 1983 (TR standing for Transistor Rhythm).

Nicky Lockett aka MC Tunes.

Shelagh Delaney (1960)

I know this is a rather lazy way to go about the blogging, sticking up things from video sharing sites, but this will be of interest to admirers of The Smiths and Morrissey ( and, of course, admirers of Miss Delaney and literature of the 1950's and 1960's, the whole so called Kitchen Sink genre, the New Wave of British Cinema... it will interest social historians, historians of Salford, of Manchester; students of popular culture, of  Ken Russell...)
From Monitor (1960) Directed by Ken Russell.
Tall, ain't she?

The Smiths- Demos

A remastering of some demos and previously unheard material from The Smiths that originally resurfaced to much media attention last December.
Lossless versions and liner notes here. All credit to the original poster for their sterling work.
MP3's @ 320 all in one folder here.

1 Reel Around The Fountain (July 1983, Troy Tate final mix)

2 The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (October 1983, John Porter monitor mix)

3 This Night Has Opened My Eyes (June 1984, unreleased studio recording)

4 Rusholme Ruffians (July 1984, John Porter first take)

5 I Misses You (December 1984, instrumental)

6 There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (September 1985, early take)

7 The Queen Is Dead (Fall 1985, original unedited version)

8 Frankly, Mr Shankly (November 1985, Stephen Street "trumpets" recording)

9 Ask (9 June 1986, probable first-ever take)

10 Is It Really So Strange? ( June 1986, original unreleased studio recording)

11 Shoplifters Of The World Unite (December 1986, instrumental)

12 Sheila Take A Bow (January 1987, John Porter original version)

13 Girlfriend In A Coma (January 1987, early take)

14 Death Of A Disco Dancer (April 1987, first take)

 15 Paint A Vulgar Picture (April 1987, early take)

16 Heavy Track (April 1987, instrumental)

Morrissey - Janice Long Session, BBC Radio 2- December 17th , 2004

A rare excursion (incursion?) in to the 21st century for Burning Aquarium.
This is Morrissey, appearing in session for Janice Long on BBC Radio 2. The set was recorded on December 9th and first broadcast on December 17th 2004.
01 - Intro
02 - Play Easy To Get
03 - Redondo Beach
04 - Interview
05 - Noise Is The Best Revenge
06 - It's Hard To Walk Tall When You're Small
07 - Outro

Redondo Beach is of course a cover of a Patti Smith song, taken from her classic LP Horses.

The Smiths- Hand In Glove 7" (1983)

It was important to me that there'd be something searingly poetic in it, in a lyrical sense, and yet jubilant at the same time...
Morrissey


The Smiths debut was released on Rough Trade Records in May 1983.
A self produced tape of the track, made at a cost of £250 had landed them a one record no contract deal with the company.
Attempts were made to re record Hand In Glove for the epynomous debut LP but eventually John Porter settled on a remix of the original effort.
The b-side was a live recording of the (prepoterously) controversial Handsome Devil (on 25th August 1983 - The Sun newspaper, under the headline Child Sex Song Puts The Beeb In A Spin accused The Smiths of singing about picking up kids for sexual kicks) from the Hacienda gig on 4th February 1983- notable for being the first time that flowers were used on stage by the group (a response, acording to Morrissey, to the sterile inteior of the club).
Morrissey specified that the record should have a paper label with 4 vents around the centre piece (like the 1960s singles he so loved) and that the sleeve should have a 'side vent' so that the disc was put in from the side rather than the top.
Much to his chagrin Hand In Glove did not make the top 40.

The Smiths- This Charming Man (1983)

One of those moments when a vivid, electric awareness of the power of music is born or renewed- Danny Kelly (NME)
...it imparted the first glimpse into the unknown dominion of Smithdom. The prelude now over, This Charming Man felt like The Smiths'concrete beginning.- Simon Goddard (The Smiths- Songs That Saved Your Life).

Tracks:
1 This Charming Man [Manchester*- produced by John Porter]
2 This Charming Man [London- produced by John Porter]
3 This Charming Man [New York Vocal, produced by Francois Kevorkian]
4 This Charming Man [New York Instrumental, produced by Francois Kevorkian ]
5 This Charming Man [Peel Session 21.09.83, produced by Roger Pusey- as featured on the LP Hatful of Hollow]
6 This Charming Man [1992 single remix]
7 This Charming Man [Original 7" version*, produced by John Porter]
8 This Charming Man [ Vinyl rip of original 7" version*, produced by John Porter]
9 Jeane [Vinyl rip of original 7" B-side, produced by Troy Tate]
10 Wonderful Woman [12" single B-side, produced by John Porter]

* On the CD multi single I have Sire Records rather naughtily overlook the fact that the original 7" mix was Porter's Manchester version . Therefore there are only 6 different versions of the track here.

Completists will be aware that Accept Yourself also featured on the B-side of the UK 12". It was an earlier version than the one used on Hatful of Hollow, which was from a David Jensen radio session- both versions were produced by John Porter. Here is the version that appeared on the B-side of the 12" single:

Morrissey- Desert Island Discs (2009)

Sorry for the delay in bringing you this -

Okay nostalgia lovers, who remembers the heady days of November 2009 when the world was a better, safer place? We used to leave our door unlocked in them days...

For those of you who don’t know (i.e.- those who are not from Britain) Desert Island Discs is a long-running radio programme. It was first broadcast on 29 January 1942 .
Imagine that you are obsessed with pop music from a young age- it is your all consuming passion- you become an aficionado.You enjoy a successful 26 year music career in which your work is rich in pop culture references, all influences reverentially eulogised. Then at the age of fifty, after 45 years of obsessive pop fandom you are invited onto Desert Island Discs and have to choose eight records.
Eight.
Practically impossible.
When he appeared in November last year I thought that Morrissey might include: Sandie Shaw, Jobriath, some Rockabilly, Ludus, Patti Smith, Joni Mitchell.
Here’s what he did choose:
• New York Dolls - (There’s Gonna Be a) Showdown (overall choice)
• Marianne Faithfull - Come and Stay With Me
• Ramones - Loudmouth
• The Velvet Underground - The Black Angel’s Death Song
• Klaus Nomi - Der Nussbaum - The Walnut Tree
• Nico - I’m Not Saying
• Iggy & The Stooges - Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell
• Mott the Hoople - Sea Diver

Included here are the eight records in their entirity and the complete programme.
For a more comprehensive insight into Morrissey’s tastes and formative influences see the LP Under the Influence .

Joy Division- Peel Session December 12th 1979

Cock Jockeys? No fucking way!

Joy Division’s second session for John Peel was transmitted on December 10th 1979.

Love Will Tear Us Apart

24 Hours
Colony
The Sound Of Music

The various writings of Steven Morrissey 1974-1983

Dear person,
So nice to know there's another soul out there, even if it is in Glasgow. Does being Scottish bother you? Manchester is a lovely place, if you happen to be a bedridden deaf mute. I'm unhappy, hope you're unhappy too.
In poverty,
Steven

In 1980 Morrissey responded to an advert in Sounds from a fellow called Robert Mackie (male Bowie seeks female Bowie for relationship, Glasgow area...). Mackie preserved the letters that Morrissey wrote to him and made them available in a 'fanzine' format in the late 80's (apart from one, apparently, which appears in the second link).

Here is a selection of letters and reviews from the pen of Morrissey that appeared in various music magazines from 1974-1981:

I was beginning to fear that the online version of James Dean is Not Dead published by Babylon Books in 1983 had dissapeared into the cyber ether- but here it is:




And here is Steven's 1981 work on The New York Dolls:




I've hunted these down so that you don't have to- respect to the efforts of the original compilers, transcribers and posters and , of course, to the author himself.

Joy Division-Peel Session February 14th 1979

Joy Division’s first session for John Peel was transmitted on February 14th 1979.
Exercise One
Insight
She's Lost Control
Transmission

Happy Mondays- Freaky Dancin' 12" (1986)

Another forgotten record from 'before they were famous'. Bernard Sumner from New Order producing (not a particularly succesful venture in my opinion- the funky bass gets buried in a rumbling muddy sound at times, and the clangy guitar only sporadically shines through, the overall effect is that there's a hell of a lot going on- this worked on later records like WFL).
I think this is the only place you can find The Egg- a cracking, funky track.
This is probably my best charity shop find for years.

The Return of The Durutti Column (1979) La Retour De Colonne Durutti (1966)

Musical virtuosity may not have been the defining feature of the British 'post punk' era, but virtuoso is an apt description of the Mancunian guitarist Vini Reilly. Graduating from punk band Ed Banger and the Nosebleeds ( he was replaced by Billy Duffy- later of The Cult, and Ed Banger by a certain Stephen Morrissey) Reilly was an early signing for Factory Records. In fact Durutti Column were assembled by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus before they embarked on the Factory scheme. After various line up changes Durutti Column effectively became Reilly's solo project, and this, the first Durutti Column LP, was a collaboration between Reilly and producer Martin Hannett. Included here is a two track record by Hannett that came with initial releases of the album.
Being an admirer of the Anarchist Buenaventura Durruti I had often wondered if there was any significance in the misspelling of his name as used by Reilly, or was it merely an error.
This brings us on to Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, and their seeming fascination for the Situationist International movement of the 1960's. Fac 51- The Hacienda Nightclub, would later be named from Formulary for a New Urbanism , a Situationist work by Ivan Chtcheglov,(the hacienda must be built...)
Le Retour de la Colonne Durutti (The Return of the Durutti Column), was a 4-page Situationist comic by Andre Bertrand given away at Strasbourg University in October 1966- so the misspelling was not down to Wilson, Erasmus or Reilly, but was faithful to Bertrand's text.



*Translation below

The LP itself also made reference to the Situationists. Like Guy Debord's book Mémoires — It came in a sandpaper cover,(the idea in Debord's case being that this would destroy other books on the shelf).



Vini Reilly & Martin Hannett



*Cowboy 1: What's your scene, man
Cowboy 2: Realisation
Cowboy 1: Yeah? I guess that means pretty hard work with big books and piles of paper on a big table.
Cowboy 2: Nope. I drift. Mostly I just drift.