Unreleased song release #1 wish

Erik

#23
Subscriber
just to lighten the mood. Thought we’d go back to when the site was more about the music..

Which of the known unheard, unreleased songs would you pick to be released ? I think I’d go with “I Know Who I Love”
 
I still cry twice nightly over Striptease With a Difference not being included on Bona Drag in 1990. WHY MORRISSEY, WHY???
 
Me too goes for I Know Who I Love, because it sounds very promising...

Source Mozipedia (Simon Goddard):

"Studio outtake from the 1997 Maladjusted album session. In context of Maladjusted's weaker crop, it's baffling that Morrissey should have consigned one of it's strongest contenders to the bin. With it's starry- eyed melody and blood-rushing chorus the charming ' I Know Who I Love' was even worthy of consideration for a single. To the chagrin of co-writer Boz Boorer, it was bumped off the album, relegated as a potential B side and then scrapped outright. It may be that, by the time of the album's completion, Morrissey no longer empathised with it's affectionate sentiment: 'These words I scribble down / observe the way that you work / you see it, you want it, you take it / And then it's yours.........I know who I love'. The song also contained a reference to medication- 'These pills that i'm prescribed'- while his 'Having had the worst of times /Now I want the best of times' evoked Charles Dickens famous opening to A Tale of Two Cities. Whatever the reason for it's exclusion from Maladjusted, the loss of I Know Who I Love was a major oversight."

Further explanation I found somewhere...

"An upbeat Maladjusted outtake boasting a jangling guitar melody similar to that album’s “Alma Matters”. Moz sings of highs, lows, and even “these pills I’m prescribed”. Optimistic and catchy, it still begs for an official release."
 
"There are not many of them", as Boz put it once, when he gave a first live rendition of "Kit". But the Maladjusted period gained a lot of songs, because Morrissey had a flow with the lyrics, as Alain explained on one of "Tim's listening parties" on twitter. There may be 2-3 unfinished outtakes (Hanratty, The leeches gon removing, Nightmare) and of cause the much talked about "I know who I love" from the original album sessions.

I would like to hear the half finished "Kill Uncle" song in any case too.
 
Obviously, I Know Who I Love. But as an Elvis devotee, I yearn daily for the Smiths' cover of A Fool Such as I.
 
Obviously, I Know Who I Love. But as an Elvis devotee, I yearn daily for the Smiths' cover of A Fool Such as I.
👆 This. Although it probably only exists in fragments.

I Don't Want Us To Finish as far as solo material is concerned.
 
I'm Playing Easy... was aired live once at Universal Amp. (Nov. 12, 2004) and coupled with the Janice version, kind of 'exists' as a track and as I like the Quarry era stuff, was good to hear in some capacity.
Hanratty has always interested me as the story could fit with classic Morrissey tropes.
It may have been quite powerful and dramatic given the subject matter.
For just instrumentals needing more work to finish - I'd look to Sharp Bend... & Stay As You Are - as the 'quality' of material from Vauxhall era was excellent if the album was anything to go by.
A random 'wonder what that was all about': I Was Bully Do Not Forget Me.
Regards,
FWD.
 
I wonder if Mark E. Nevin still has those "Kill Uncle" title song fragments?

As told on other occasions, Alain still has the original demo for "Home is a ?" with Morrissey's full early vocal take and Alain's different song idea.
 
Newer one, but I'd very much like to know what Diana Dors is about/sounds like, too.
 
The original Smiths version of 'Bengali in Platforms', from when Moz was trying to keep the band going after Johnny left. Or, indeed, anything recorded during this period with Ivor Perry on guitar (it sounds like two songs were recorded during this session). It might be awful, but it would be intriguing to hear what might have been.
 
I'm Playing Easy... was aired live once at Universal Amp. (Nov. 12, 2004) and coupled with the Janice version, kind of 'exists' as a track and as I like the Quarry era stuff, was good to hear in some capacity.
Hanratty has always interested me as the story could fit with classic Morrissey tropes.
It may have been quite powerful and dramatic given the subject matter.
For just instrumentals needing more work to finish - I'd look to Sharp Bend... & Stay As You Are - as the 'quality' of material from Vauxhall era was excellent if the album was anything to go by.
A random 'wonder what that was all about': I Was Bully Do Not Forget Me.
Regards,
FWD.

The studio version was aired at Universal Amp? What’s Amp?

And no one recorded it?
 
How about the first John Peel radio session that was recorded around the time of 'Viva Hate', but not released at Morrissey's request? I'm guessing that would have been 3 or 4 songs. Does that recording still exist somewhere?
 
The studio version was aired at Universal Amp? What’s Amp?

And no one recorded it?
Played live. Amphitheater (Universal City, CA).
Passions entry here.
Here it is live:

Initial source (MP3 only) for the bootleg appears to be Solo.
Full gig available if required.
Regards,
FWD.
 
Played live. Amphitheater (Universal City, CA).
Passions entry here.
Here it is live:

Initial source (MP3 only) for the bootleg appears to be Solo.
Full gig available if required.
Regards,
FWD.

Hmmm... I wonder why this was never released as a studio b-side? Or even give the radio session version a place on a single?
 
Hmmm... I wonder why this was never released as a studio b-side? Or even give the radio session version a place on a single?
During the interview with Janice for the BBC session Morrissey suggested that both Playing Easy and Noise Is The Best Revenge were "maybe" just songs written for this particular session.

Seems hard to believe though, especially since Playing Easy is such a strong song. Maybe the timing just wasn't right as it seems to have been written in late 2004 and it sort of fell into the gap between Quarry and Ringleader?
 
How about the first John Peel radio session that was recorded around the time of 'Viva Hate', but not released at Morrissey's request? I'm guessing that would have been 3 or 4 songs. Does that recording still exist somewhere?
Sounds very intriguing - if anyone can tell us more, it is FWD.
 
Hmmm... I wonder why this was never released as a studio b-side? Or even give the radio session version a place on a single?
Usual references:

Goddard's view:
Rare song broadcast as part of a December 2004 Janice Long BBC radio session but never officially released. Morrissey later explained ‘it was recorded, but not very well, so we hid it – although my experience is that nothing can ever be hidden’. Over a breezy guitar and organ backdrop, the lyrics are extremely flirtatious, detailing his blatant attempts to be picked up in his Hollywood neighbourhood. Judging from the location details ‘between Cole [Place] and Cahuenga [Boulevard]’, Morrissey is being ‘just plain desperate’ on Sunset Boulevard, possibly loitering around the cavernous Amoeba Music record shop, enjoying a coffee in Groundworks or dawdling on his way to his local ‘English pub’ the Cat & Fiddle a few blocks down the road. An unusually candid love song for Morrissey, ‘I’m Playing Easy To Get’ was a revealing glimpse into how he may have bided his time in Los Angeles during his dry spell without a record deal.

Talk pre & post playing it live:
..."I'm Playing Easy To Get" was introduced with the long "I am, in everything except technical legal fact, a US citizen and (crowd cheers)... it's fascinating to me to have... three hometowns, one of which is Manch-fest - Manchester... one of which is Dublin... and one of which of course is Pittsburgh! - Los Angeles and... Los Angeles, yeah and... this is a sweet little song about Los Angeles and it's called... it's called "I'm Playing Easy To Get". After the song Morrissey asked "Now what the hell was that song about? Does anybody know? Bla-bla-bla-bla-bla... No, it wasn't about that, try again..."

Interestingly, the live version was played before Long's version aired (December 17) and before it was recorded (December 9), so it looks like a test run live.
The L.A. bit makes sense given the time period.
Regards,
FWD.
 
Sounds very intriguing - if anyone can tell us more, it is FWD.
It's in a shoebox in whatever state of incompleteness they ended the session in. No sighting ever thereafter.
Definitely Suedehead & Margaret - lots of speculation as to the other 2 tracks (so won't guess).
Some good Peel info here (don't normally quote wikis, but the details are good).
And if people aren't bored of information regurgitation...

Goddard:
"The eggshells soon began to crack as, over time, tensions between Reilly and Street bubbled to the surface. ‘With Vini, it was little things at first,’ explains Street. ‘Like he wouldn’t play the solo on “Suedehead” because he thought it was too simple. But then he became more awkward, more critical over some of the chord sequences. He was being a bit of a musical snob which upset me and upset Morrissey too. So as the album went on I was feeling as if my judgement was continually being tested by Vini.’ According to Paresi, Reilly saw the humour in his own diva-ish tantrums, pinning a self-mocking list of instructions on the studio wall: ‘What to do if Vini throws a wobbler.’
After a fortnight’s interval in late October, the session recommenced the following month. By the time work was completed the week before Christmas, Street was confined to bed with stomach ulcers. ‘The pressure of making the album, writing it and producing it, was so much that in the end I made myself physically ill,’ he admits. Beyond the underlying friction between Street and Reilly, morale was further shaken when the Viva Hate group took a break to the BBC studios in Maida Vale, London to record Morrissey’s debut solo radio session for John PEEL. ‘A very sad experience,’ recalls Street. ‘The BBC engineers had a bad attitude. They were treating me like I was just a bass player so when I was trying to explain that I was the songwriter and producer they just ignored me. Morrissey was unhappy. Vini was in another one of his moods. So it was a f***ing nightmare, basically.’
The session was never finished nor broadcast, though prior to his death Peel informed this author that his producer, the late John Walters, retained a copy of the tapes. The running order remains unconfirmed though Paresi is sure that ‘Suedehead’ and ‘Margaret On The Guillotine’ were among those attempted. ‘The saddest thing about the whole Peel fiasco is that it had a massive impact on Morrissey in terms of thinking whether he could play live with us as a group,’ adds Paresi. ‘That was a huge disappointment for me, personally, but another blow to his confidence before the album was even finished.’"


Regards,
FWD.
 
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