Rumors have circulated since early this year that the title track to The Smiths’ beloved 1986 album The Queen is Dead would receive a new 12-inch vinyl single release — and they appear to have been substantiated today by Morrissey’s longtime guitarist Boz Boorer, who posted a photo of himself holding what appears to be the completed product on Facebook.
The caption on Boorer’s photo: Released June 16th at your local HMV on 12″, 7″ etc. June 16 — next Friday — also is the date, in 1986, that The Smiths originally released The Queen is Dead in the U.K.
The sleeve art that Boorer’s holding matches the photos of a “The Queen is Dead” 12-inch single that circulated in January; that release was slated to feature, as B-sides, the Smiths’ three instrumental tracks: “Oscillate Wildly,” “Money Changes Everything” and “The Draize Train.”
RELATED: Vote for your favorite songs by The Smiths in Slicing Up Eyeballs’ readers poll
A commenter on Boorer’s Facebook post claims to have copies of both the 12-inch and 7-inch already; his photo of the 12-inch matches the previously leaked tracklist, and his picture of the 7-inch (see both below) shows that single as being backed by “I Keep Mine Hidden,” which originally appeared as the B-side to “Girlfriend in a Coma” and holds the distinction of being the last song The Smiths ever recorded.
No Smiths “The Queen is Dead” single appears on HMV’s webstore or other online retailers, and it’s not clear if Boorer’s reference to the retailer means it’s an exclusive to that store.
The release would follow this year’s Record Store Day 7-inch, which featured previously unreleased versions of The Smiths’ 1985 single “The Boy with the Thorn in His Side” — which went on to appear on The Queen is Dead — and its original B-side, “Rubber Ring.”
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Best of The Smiths: Vote for your favorite songs by Morrissey & Marr
- Listen: The Smiths’ Record Store Day 7-inch with 2 previously unreleased demos
- ‘Trump will kill America’ etched into vinyl of The Smiths’ Record Store Day single
- Watch: Morrissey walks off during ‘Everyday is Like Sunday,’ ends concert after 6 songs
- ‘Breakfast with The Smiths’ radio show finds new home on The Independent FM
- The Smiths to issue unreleased versions of 2 songs on Record Store Day 7-inch
Two conclusions reached:
Moz needs the money for health reasons.
Mike Joyce’s solicitors are ringing again.
Third conclusion: Boz needs to stop buying his clothes from Forever 21.
Well done, Andrew. Well. Done.
I’m sorry, but why on earth would I buy this when I have those songs ten times over in various formats? At least the RSD 7″ was an alternate take of TBWTTIHS.
Because at 45rpm on a 12″ record it will offer superior audio to any other format.
Silly Derek, no one old enough to remember how much of a pain it was listen to the format the first time around listens to vinyl.
Vinyl LPs are fetish objects for twentysomething hipsters have a wank over. Hope that sorts things.