Email from The Smiths - "40 years of 'Hand in Glove'"

 

[Crisstti]

Could be, but you do realize from now until 2027 there is going to be 40th anniversary celebrations for 17 singles and 8 albums, which is cool because they all deserve it

But this is the first one.

 

[cameronk]

BOOYAH!

 

[Lujan369]

Thinking of Born to Harangue, here particularly. Guy will be sobbing and crying "THINK OF THE CHILDREN" while simultaneously cry wanking himself to fatigue at the sight of this OBSCENE image.

What a nasty comment. Very vulgar in bad taste

 

[Dirk Blaggard]

M is in no way gay though. LOL Joking apart, I think of those early Smiths days a hell of a fecking lot.. Music meant so much to us Brits back then.
I was saying to the kids just this morning, being in my teens in the early 80s was awesome. I didn't know it at the time, but it would be the best period of my life and that is no small part thanks to M. The 80s and the 90s was basically the last years of youth culture and I was just the right age. I really feel sorry for my kids, life is so much more complicated now, not as free and way more fecking cynical

Hand In Glove was an awesome statement of intent, the song didn't quite live up to the hope and power M and Marr were pouring into it but it was a good way to kick things off. Everything was there, the spirit of defiance, the romantic leanings, the working class, alienation, it was all in that song. That cover art was magical as well, the blue, silver kind of look . It was like having a work of art in your bedroom
For many of us, life has never quite lived up to the world, Smiths created. Kids or no fecking kids.
Peace out

 

[Dirk Blaggard]

I only just found out (via Wikipedia) that it was started in the States, and is now big in South Africa! (Always thought it was just a weird British thing.)

Yes, an American thing, I think there is still one in Swindon.

 

[Dirk Blaggard]

Thinking of Born to Harangue, here particularly. Guy will be sobbing and crying "THINK OF THE CHILDREN" while simultaneously cry wanking himself to fatigue at the sight of this OBSCENE image.

For some of us, that was always part of the fun of the Smiths/M watching the knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathers, who hate gays. Watching them sing along to this charming man and handsome devil. M used to cuck the bullies and they were too thick to see it

 

[Redacted]

Jesus, don't let some people here see the front cover of Hand In Glove. The conservative f***s will lose their mind.

Now I am not sure I've seen it. I mean, I don't remember anything shocking. Can you post it?

 

[Redacted]

We should have an online party to celebrate that 40th anniversary. Is that a thing?

If it was a thing, it would be a lame thing.

 

[DagenhamDan]

But this is the first one.

Indeed my friend, i still cant get my head around the fact that its 40 years ago, time flies

 

[DagenhamDan]

M is in no way gay though. LOL Joking apart, I think of those early Smiths days a hell of a fecking lot.. Music meant so much to us Brits back then.
I was saying to the kids just this morning, being in my teens in the early 80s was awesome. I didn't know it at the time, but it would be the best period of my life and that is no small part thanks to M. The 80s and the 90s was basically the last years of youth culture and I was just the right age. I really feel sorry for my kids, life is so much more complicated now, not as free and way more fecking cynical

Hand In Glove was an awesome statement of intent, the song didn't quite live up to the hope and power M and Marr were pouring into it but it was a good way to kick things off. Everything was there, the spirit of defiance, the romantic leanings, the working class, alienation, it was all in that song. That cover art was magical as well, the blue, silver kind of look . It was like having a work of art in your bedroom
For many of us, life has never quite lived up to the world, Smiths created. Kids or no fecking kids.
Peace out

Everything you just said there Dirk is spot on, agree with every word of that. I feel so lucky to have experienced The Smiths just at the right age of 16 onwards. They were not viewed then as they are now, they were outsiders and you were happily an outsider with them. Even alternative music now seems processed and samey.
But not in 1983 with Hand in Glove. God bless The Smiths.

 

[Luxo]

All jokes aside, the cover model, George O'Mara, has a fantastic body.

Also, it was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, the town I call my home. My other half works in the Stockport museums service and she helped put the Strawberry Studios exhibit together. There was a big mosaic featuring Morrissey made just for the exhibit. Can't find my photos for it though!

 

[DagenhamDan]

 

All jokes aside, the cover model, George O'Mara, has a fantastic body.

Also, it was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, the town I call my home. My other half works in the Stockport museums service and she helped put the Strawberry Studios exhibit together. There was a big mosaic featuring Morrissey made just for the exhibit. Can't find my photos for it though!

If im correct i saw a documentary about 10cc who i think helped set it all up for free studio time, but i may be completely wrong there.
Lots of great music recorded there for sure.

 

[Futfetish3]

Shame theyre not here anymore, i think maccy d's probably didnt help

There are still a few Wimpys dotted about. I've seen them in Huddersfield, Wembley and Streatham. Google tells me there are 66 in the UK

 

[ACTON]

We should have an online party to celebrate that 40th anniversary. Is that a thing?

Well I sometimes have a 'platter party' with a friend at the weekend. Him in his house, me in mine, we take turns picking the record we'll both play and then countdown and spend the LP guzzling beer and whatsapping each other. The next best thing to a real night out in person, which I'm doing tomorrow. Record fair at 11am followed by a day of beer, conversation and maladjusted mayhem.

 

[Luxo]

 

If im correct i saw a documentary about 10cc who i think helped set it all up for free studio time, but i may be completely wrong there.
Lots of great music recorded there for sure.

Yeah, 10cc recorded there, as did Joy Division. Loads of great artists.

Strawberry Studios itself was reopened for a while as well, which was really good. Stockport has a really cool music history!

Paul Slattery did a signing of his Joy Division photo book a few years ago in Stockport Staircase House (where the Strawberry Studios exhibit was), as he took tons of pictures of them in Stockport, and my partner is a big JD fan. We got chatting about his Smiths photography work as well.

 

[Born to Harangue]

Thinking of Born to Harangue, here particularly. Guy will be sobbing and crying "THINK OF THE CHILDREN" while simultaneously cry wanking himself to fatigue at the sight of this OBSCENE image.

What a peculiar individual you are. “Conservative f***s” on a Morrissey website are going to “lose their minds” upon seeing a man’s bare arse on the Hand In Glove cover, are they? What, is a man’s bare arse left-wing now or something, in your mind? You came up with the idea out of thin air then doubled down on it despite the fact that nobody has had anything negative to say about it since we’ve all seen the cover countless times before. Name one person who would object to it being posted here— such a poster doesn’t exist on this website, they only exist in your imagination. Well, maybe Johnnie Ray, but he considers himself a Democrat . And to be clear, I thumbed down your first post because it was fatuous, not because I was foaming at the mouth about the imagery and was embarrassed about being exposed by you or whatever you thought. Sometimes a thumb down is enough of a statement, or should be, then I wouldn’t have to waste my time explaining this to you. (side note: I see Redacted gave a laughing reaction to your second post even though she was one of the biggest Trump apologist conservatives on this website 12 months ago, but she’s been trying to rebrand recently and hopes nobody remembers back that far.)

So no, I haven’t been “cry wanking” at the sight of a 40 year old Smiths record cover, but what big words from a man who was too afraid to have an actual debate with me:
Post in thread 'Arguments'

Nearly three weeks later and still no reply; keep humouring yourself with your straw man arguments about imaginary conservatives busting a blood vessel due to inherently left-wing bare male arses though, there’s a good chap, bravo.
Imagine if these non-existent conservatives were aware of Michelangelo’s David, or nudity in Renaissance art in general, they’d be like ‘’, am I right? Don’t tell the conservatives in your head about any of that or they’ll really lose the plot.

 

[Luxo]

 

If im correct i saw a documentary about 10cc who i think helped set it all up for free studio time, but i may be completely wrong there.
Lots of great music recorded there for sure.

Yeah, 10cc recorded there, as did Joy Division. Loads of great artists.

Strawberry Studios itself was reopened for a while as well, which was really good. Stockport has a really cool music history!

Paul Slattery did a signing of his Joy Division photo book a few years ago in Stockport Staircase House (where the Strawberry Studios exhibit was), as he took tons of pictures of them in Stockport, and my partner is a big JD fan. We got chatting about his Smiths photography work as well.

What a peculiar individual you are. “Conservative f***s” on a Morrissey website are going to “lose their minds” upon seeing a man’s bare arse on the Hand In Glove cover, are they? What, is a man’s bare arse left-wing now or something, in your mind? You came up with the idea out of thin air then doubled down on it despite the fact that nobody has had anything negative to say about it since we’ve all seen the cover countless times before. Name one person who would object to it being posted here— such a poster doesn’t exist on this website, they only exist in your imagination. Well, maybe Johnnie Ray, but he considers himself a Democrat . And to be clear, I thumbed down your first post because it was fatuous, not because I was foaming at the mouth about the imagery and was embarrassed about being exposed by you or whatever you thought. Sometimes a thumb down is enough of a statement, or should be, then I wouldn’t have to waste my time explaining this to you. (side note: I see Redacted gave a laughing reaction to your second post even though she was one of the biggest Trump apologist conservatives on this website 12 months ago, but she’s been trying to rebrand recently and hopes nobody remembers back that far.)

So no, I haven’t been “cry wanking” at the sight of a 40 year old Smiths record cover, but what big words from a man who was too afraid to have an actual debate with me:
Post in thread 'Arguments'

Nearly three weeks later and still no reply; keep humouring yourself with your straw man arguments about imaginary conservatives busting a blood vessel due to inherently left-wing bare male arses though, there’s a good chap, bravo.
Imagine if these non-existent conservatives were aware of Michelangelo’s David, or Renaissance art in general, they’d be like ‘’, am I right? Don’t tell the conservatives in your head about any of that or they’ll really lose the plot.

Lol. He saw the obvious bait and fully went for it, "BURST A BLOOD VESSEL" he says, while rage typing paragraphs of text to internet strangers. Worked a treat.

Rage and seeth lmao.

Anyway, wonderful cover picture, and I guess I was right about it enraging certain people, just like it did in 1983.

 

[Ryan]

Has it been analysed that the “hand in glove” mentioned is actually about male fisting? And that the “glove” that the hand goes into in question is the pictured arse?

It would be big enough for the sun to shine out of at that point.

 

[j*e*t]

Has it been analysed that the “hand in glove” mentioned is actually about male fisting? And that the “glove” that the hand goes into in question is the pictured arse?

It would be big enough for the sun to shine out of at that point.

'Analysed' ! I see what you did there! I haven't seen any mention of that before, at least as far as I can recall, and I had a look for that meaning in slang but couldn't find any. We generally use the term to indicate close collusion and Morrissey has referred to the 'rival gang spirit' of the song. I think it's about two people having so much confidence in each other's abilitities that they would defend each other in any fight with outsiders. And I'm not sure Sandie Shaw would have covered it if she'd thought it was about fisting! Who knows what Morrissey was thinking subliminally though. By the way, did anyone think at the time that it was Morrissey on the single cover?

 

[j*e*t]

When I did a search to see if the expression 'hand in glove' had been used in a song before, nothing came up, but yesterday I watched the 1967 film Smashing Time again and noticed there's part of a song called Day Out that has the lines 'Oh, what a hand in glove day/Oh, what an I'm in love day' and also 'sunshine day' is repeated a few times. There were a couple of other points of interest in the film e.g. the debut single of the manufactured pop star is I'm So Young, with this line being repeatedly sung, so that reminded me of Please Help The Cause Against Loneliness. And I think it might be Battersea power station that is convulsed at the end. I also thought that if the sunglasses worn by the Sharks pop group were paired with the diamante necklasses of the nightclub hostesses you could be reminded of a look that Johnny Marr wore once!