Whether intending to launch on Johnny Marr’s birthday or not, the crew that brought us the extraordinary Recycle: Joy Division & New Order — The Factory Years blog picked an appropriate date to kick off its much-anticipated next sonic restoration project: The Smiths: Extra Track (and a tacky badge).
The blog — which bills itself as “a careful restoration of The Smiths on Rough Trade” and “a labor of love from a small, devoted circle of fans” — will post each original single, with tracks “taken from the best/earliest possible sources to avoid modern mastering techniques which crush the dynamics.” As the site notes, these singles are all out of print, and some of the tracks never have been released on CD.
First up: The Smiths’ 1983 debut single “Hand In Glove,” backed by a live version of “Handsome Devil” — and, as a bonus, a live version of “Hand in Glove” recorded in ’83 that was sent to radio that year on a promo cassette, and later included on the now out-of-print 1992 “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” CD single.
CHECK IT OUT: The Smiths: Extra Track (and a tacky badge)
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS:
- Milestones: Johnny Marr is 47 today; watch The Smiths’ full May 18, 1985, concert
- Vintage Video: Morrissey appears on ‘Pop Quiz’ game show on May 26, 1984
- Morrissey wears a cat on his head, says ‘the Chinese are a subspecies’
- Morrissey’s ‘Bona Drag’ 20th anniversary reissue to feature 6 unreleased tracks
- The Smiths Project: Janice Whaley recording covers of every Smiths song in 2010
