That song , ahh. I heard it once on a now defunct, Moz site, whose name escapes me. I thought it was very cool. It didnt sound like a live version, but what do I know. Who ever made the 30 sec clip must have had the full version. If we could only find it..... Else Marr and Morrissey will have to re-group to re-record this unique and melodic song.

I used to have that 30-second sample of I Want A Boy by the Smiths. It came from a guy called Dale who was the original bass player for the Smiths. He was trying to sell a tape of very early Smiths stuff at the time and released that 30 seconds of I Want A Boy on the net. I did have his e-mail address at the time but I think it's been lost. :-(

the site with the aforementioned name had it on some time ago, maybe still. Check it out, boys. Use the links!

You'll be rewarded. (the 30'' version).

http://members.aol.com/rcdgrl/birthdayboy.ra

ben... don't know where you "dug up" the song from, but if you don't have it already and you're interested in more from the cookies, the cd "the complete cookies" contains all of their singles and b-sides (good stuff!)

also...if you ever DO have a listen, you'll probably notice a STRONG resemblence between the single "only to other people" and a certain moz b-side. happy hunting.

go on

Hi Everyone, Due to the high volume of downloads of the "Cookies" song, my evil ISP took down my whole site down for the month. BEN.web should be back up at the beginning of next month. In the meantime for anyone that would still like to download the Cookies song I've moved it to a public Yahoo folder that you can access at: http://briefcase.yahoo.com/cookiesmp3 Thanks and enjoy your holidays! Ben

You have stimulated my interest here.. Is there, or was there ever, a compilation bootleg of Smiths out-takes, rarities, unreleased material, or alternative versions of known songs made..?

I don't necessarily mean Live performance Bootlegs (as we all have a few of these I am sure) But studio rarities..

Not sure if here, or in the Message Boards would have been the best audience for this question.. However, e-mail me directly if you know of, or can get hold of these types of rarities..

Thanks..

Grant Showbiz is currently working on the Billy Bragg tour and I gather he's quite accessible at these gigs...

I agree with many on the board that it would be a fine thing in these slow times to put some energy towards trying to unearth some rarities for The Smiths fan community.

At one time or another most members of the band when asked have stated that there is not much rare material that was not released. I think this is probably the case but as suggested in their statements I also believe that there are SOME rarities that have not seen the light of day. Whether Morrissey(solo) or Smiths material, here is a starting list of items that I believe do still exist somewhere in a recorded form:

"A Fool Such As I" (Elvis cover by The Smiths - first few bars of the song inadvertantly deleted)

"I Want A Boy For My Birthday" (Full Version)

"Frankly Mr. Shankly" (Alt. Version with Trumphets)

"Kitt"

"Striptease With A Difference"

"Please Help The Cause Against Lonliness" (Morrissey Vocal Version)

"November Spawned A Monster" (Alt Version)

In addition, I feel that there is probably some terrific footage of the legendary Wolverhapton concert residing in a vault somewhere. The concert was filmed by Tim Broad (I.E. Clips of the concert in "Hulmerist"), professionally recorded (I.E. "Sweet & Tender Hooligan" live b-side) and professionally photographed (I.E. Music articles of the time). Yet, in terms of a complete document of this amazing concert, the best we seem to have as fans is a poor audience bootleg recording. Would anyone else be interested in seeing/hearing the full show?

I am in no way trying to say that this is a complete or even acurrate list of the rare material that may be in existence. This is simply my best guess based on information collected over the years. Maybe this list can act as a starting point for any other interested fans to try to confirm the existence of any of these items, add other possiblities to the list or better yet offer bits of information that might lead to some of these items becoming available.

As for "I Want A Boy For My Birthday, here is the best starting information that I have: Several years ago, Dale Hebert(sp?) The Smiths first bass player and a sound engineer held an online auction. The auction was for a reel to reel tape of The Smiths original demo sessions. The reel contained three songs including a somewhat different version of "Suffer Little Children" that contained the sounds of children playing in the background. As part of the auction, the winning bidder would also receive a tape containing the full version of "I Want A Boy For My Birthday". To prove the ligetimacy of the song, the thirty second clip was created and posted on the Internet. Rumor later circulated that the reel to reel and tape ultimately went for about 10,000 pounds to someone going by the name Koon (?) in Denmark. So, where might a copy exist today? Maybe someone out there has more information? Can anyone confirm, clarify or have anything to add to these reports?

The collective knowledge The Smiths community could probably unearth some pretty cool stuff.

Happy Holidays,
Ben

Can we also (pretty please) add the Blacksmith/Goldsmith remix tracks?

There is also a song by Morrissey called "Bed on Fire" and a instrumental called "Freedom Bird" or something like that. Add those to your list and good luck finding them.