Why are The Smiths so bitter these days? Warner Bros. is releasing yet another compilation Hang The DJ: The Very Best of The Smiths without consent by the band. This comes off the news that Warners is releasing a Live at the Hollywood Bowl DVD against the wishes and approval of Morrissey. You could say that Moz is not very pleased with Warner Bros.
Moz is urging his fans to resist purchasing either Smiths double CD or Moz DVD. In case you were wondering the track listing for the Smiths compilation:
CD1
'Hand In Glove', 'This Charming Man', 'What Difference Does It Make?', 'Still Ill', 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now', 'William, It Was Really Nothing', 'How Soon Is Now', 'I Want the One I Can't Have', 'Shakespeare's Sister', 'Barbarism Begins At Home', 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore', 'The Headmaster Ritual', 'The Boy With The Thorn In His Side', 'Bigmouth Strikes Again', 'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out', 'Panic', 'Ask', 'You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby', 'Shoplifters Of The World Unite', 'Sheila Take A Bow', 'Girlfriend In A Coma', 'I Started Something I Couldn't Finish', 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me'
CD2
'Jeane', 'Handsome Devil' (Live at Manchester Hacienda), 'This Charming Man' (New York Vocal), 'Wonderful Woman', 'Back To The Old House', 'These Things Take Time', 'Girl Afraid', 'Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want', 'Stretch Out And Wait', 'Oscillate Wildly' (Instrumental), 'Meat Is Murder' (Live at Oxford Apollo 18/3/85), 'Asleep', 'Money Changes Everything', 'The Queen Is Dead', 'Vicar In A Tutu', 'Cemetery Gates', 'Half A Person', 'Sweet And Tender Hooligan', 'I Keep Mine Hidden', 'Pretty Girls Make Graves', 'Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before', 'What's The World?' (Recorded Live in 1985), 'London' (Live at National Ballroom, Kilburn)
You will notice included I Keep Mine Hidden. The song from the last session of The Smiths. You could call this rare track and the other b-side the Cilla Black cover of Work is a Four Letter Word, the songs that broke up The Smiths.
Recorded after the Strangeways sessions, the tension actually arrived after the album was completed. It seemed that Marr was burnt out and needed some time to recharge his energies. But Moz was instant in recording some b-sides. Those tumultuous sessions led to the split of the band.
It makes you wonder if Marr had some time to relax and not been forced by Morrissey to record some b-sides would the band had stayed together longer?
Read more info on the last studio sessions of The Smiths in Simon Goddard's book Songs That Saved Your Life.
