Morrissey-solo | 1984 Reel Around Kew Gardens - The Smiths on "Charlie's Bus"

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1984 Reel Around Kew Gardens - The Smiths on "Charlie's Bus"

posted by davidt on Wednesday July 12 2006, @10:00AM

Bhoy with a thorn writes:

An unbelievable clip courtesy of The Scotsman... The Smiths on a kids TV programme from 1984.

Lazy Guide to Net Culture: Stranger ways here we come… - The Scotsman

Excerpt:

This is why we have the internet.

Forget "the semantic web". Forget "2.0". Forget "community." It's all irrelevant. The entire project has been building to this one moment: a unique event that shows us the true purpose of this wonderful interconnected archive.

Here it is: a clip of The Smiths appearing on children's telly (TV-AM's S.P.L.A.T.!) in April 1984. On Charlie's Bus. Going to on a trip with a bunch of kids. To the tune of Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now. To meet Sandie Shaw. Who then sings what is arguably The Smiths' most depressing song, Jeane.
---
boredhousewife also writes:

There's a clip here from a weird '80s children's programme called Charlie's Bus. It features Moz and Marr presenting, as the kids take a trip to Kew Gardens, where, by some coincidence, they bump into Sandie Shaw, who sings Jeane. I kid you not!!!

Here's the URL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB_VmZMQj5c

Great version of Jeane, by the way.

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1984 Reel Around Kew Gardens - The Smiths on "Charlie's Bus" | Log in/Create an Account | Top | 60 comments | Search Discussion

The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

Goodness me (Score:0)

I know of no words to describe how weirdly brilliant that is.

Claire x

Anonymous -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @10:15AM (#227990)

[ Reply to this comment ]

dumbfounded (Score:0)

oh my god

Anonymous -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @10:19AM (#227991)

[ Reply to this comment ]

Classic! (Score:2, Funny)

Small child on bus....."Where are we going?"

Moz....."We're all going MAD!"

Love Alma xxx

almareallymatters -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @10:24AM (#227994)
(User #15430 Info)
On the Moz rampage...........at my age!

[ Reply to this comment ]

Re:Classic! by Sister Josephine (Score:1) Wednesday July 12 2006, @11:04AM
Re:Classic! by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday July 12 2006, @01:06PM
Re:Classic! by defari (Score:1) Wednesday July 12 2006, @09:33PM

love it! (Score:0)

I was uncertain if british people thought this was weird at the time, or if it was just a cultural difference between the U.S. and Britian. I heard that kids shows frequently had top and up-and-coming pop acts on.

Anyway, we saw this clip a few months ago and then went to london on vaction. we kept saying 'i thought we were going to kew gardens' over and over in increasingly more appalling "oliver twist" accents everytime we got on a tour bus.

Anonymous -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @10:29AM (#227995)

[ Reply to this comment ]

I wish Johnny Marr was my dad (Score:0)

Quite literally, the greatest thing I have EVER seen.

Anonymous -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @10:48AM (#228000)

[ Reply to this comment ]

chaz's bus (Score:2, Interesting)

I remember recording it at the time..and not finding it too bizarre..but after two decades of heavy rotation of increasingly ridiculous and abhorent ego wank music videos this will appear rather quaint.
At the time The Smiths seemed to see promotion in a rather more sixties/seventies way than their "glamourous" contemporaries(visibility over context)..and if you combine this with their mourning for the loss of the sense of community in Britain it does make more sense.
And if you think this is fucked up check out their datarun appearance!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDGTpxQM0JI&search= smiths%20interview

drilltime -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @11:06AM (#228005)
(User #15269 Info)

[ Reply to this comment ]

excellent clip (Score:0)

not seen this clip before, amazing, thanks very much to the person who put this up, it's fantastic, ohh happy daze

Anonymous -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @11:46AM (#228016)

[ Reply to this comment ]

youtube (Score:0)

all you have to do is go on youtube and type "morrissey smiths" and there are tons of videos. that's how i came across this video about a month ago.

Anonymous -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @12:50PM (#228031)

[ Reply to this comment ]

Re:youtube by jeffsbf (Score:1) Wednesday July 12 2006, @01:09PM
Re:youtube by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday July 12 2006, @03:42PM

Delightful (Score:1)

Knew they had done this but thought it was lost forever. Sandie Shaw is just amazing :)

Mozster -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @12:59PM (#228035)
(User #6823 Info)
Go to waste in the wrong arms, still running round.............

[ Reply to this comment ]

What a GEM! (Score:1)

That was outstanding... they are laughing the whole time at how silly they knew it all was- even at that time... and that other interview posted by drilltime here [youtube.com] is great too!

Cheers,

Jay

Mud * <{jaytando} {at} {hotmail.com}> -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @01:33PM (#228045)
(User #454 Info | http://jaytando.tripod.com/meeting-morrissey/ )
I'm really just Some Totally Random Moz Fan

[ Reply to this comment ]

Ah, that's my clip! (Score:1)

Hehe, this'll make my youtube views jump!

I'm surprised more people haven't seen this video by now actually.
It's been on the web for ages.

Well, I'll just pat myself on the back then, ha.

dallow_bg <{brainboy77} {at} {aol.com}> -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @03:19PM (#228066)
(User #10559 Info | http://www.dolefulorange.com/ )
"All the people I like are those that are dead."

[ Reply to this comment ]

Re:Ah, that's my clip! by wemissumoz (Score:1) Wednesday July 12 2006, @05:43PM
- Re:Ah, that's my clip! by David T (different) (Score:1) Sunday July 16 2006, @03:08PM

...what the heck?? (Score:0)

Like this is the oldest thing ever!!

it's been on CemetryGates.com since forever!!

1st time i saw this was back in '01.

losers :)

Anonymous -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @04:10PM (#228083)

[ Reply to this comment ]

Re:...what the heck?? by dallow_bg (Score:1) Wednesday July 12 2006, @06:07PM
Re:...what the heck?? by kaleidoscope (Score:1) Thursday July 20 2006, @02:03PM

old (Score:0)

yes, this is incredibly old

Anonymous -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @07:25PM (#228097)

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Real/phony Smiths fans litmus test (Score:1)

I think the back-and-forth here proves which ones of us are either Really old or Really big fans. Or both. :)

Ship Erect <steven@shiperect.com> -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @07:41PM (#228098)
(User #15399 Info | http://www.shiperect.com/ )

[ Reply to this comment ]

Surprised (Score:0)

I'm surprised so few people that posted have not seen this clip before. At last I feel like a true fan.

Now if only I could figure out how to capture YouTube video.

Anonymous -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @10:39PM (#228105)

[ Reply to this comment ]

Re:Surprised by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday July 14 2006, @06:56AM

Sandy Shaw- (Score:0)

was supposed to have sung "Handsome Devil."

They settled on "Jeane."

Anonymous -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @10:50PM (#228106)

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Chickenskin (Score:0)

Huh ...?! How come I never bumped into this? Hilarious and great. Jeane is sung much better by Sandy Shaw than on the single-version, which was in the wrong key or something (too high for her). This is how it should have been. And it shows me again how the music of The Smiths is firmly rooted in folk music ... Chickenskin.

Anonymous -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @11:29PM (#228107)

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most have seen this already (Score:0)

but those of you that haven't, where have you been?

Anonymous -- Wednesday July 12 2006, @11:37PM (#228109)

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Brilliant! (Score:1)

Thats made my day, thank you.

This is why I like this site!

I am human -- Thursday July 13 2006, @01:07AM (#228113)
(User #3100 Info)
...and I need to be loved.

[ Reply to this comment ]

Stones (Score:1)

This is so bizzare and fantastic. It's freaky that Johnny mentions the Rolling Stones because tonight I'm going to see the Counterfeit Stones at Kew Gardens !!!

Jay -- Thursday July 13 2006, @03:14AM (#228123)
(User #1258 Info)

[ Reply to this comment ]

I love that clip... (Score:1)

...Morrissey looks so perturbed by being surrounded by children, and the children look perturbed by surrounding him. Not exactly someone you'd hire to babysit, really.

And the moment Sandie starts singing "Jeane", it's amazing the children don't start sobbing, although in the context of a children's programme, it makes my poor mind find a link between The Smiths and "Bagpuss", as strange as that might sound. Johnny could be the toad, and Sandie could be the ragdoll. And Moz could be Professor Yaffle.

Sadly, I have no recollection of seeing "Charlie's Bus" on tv as a child, and I'm quite disappointed.

Helvissa -- Thursday July 13 2006, @04:15AM (#228130)
(User #12421 Info | http://www.prettypettythieves.com/ )

[ Reply to this comment ]

This clip.. (Score:1)

..is as old as the hills.

lilyboobear -- Thursday July 13 2006, @04:35AM (#228136)
(User #16453 Info)

[ Reply to this comment ]

Re:This clip.. by Anonymous (Score:0) Thursday July 13 2006, @11:30PM

Not the oldest video either (Score:2, Informative)

If I knew it would get so much publicity on this site, I would've announced it ages ago! There are, by the way, plenty of other stuff back from the early eighties Moz on youtube - and Charlie Bus is not the oldest - there's stuff dating back from 1983 (I can't remember which ones). It can be so easily found on youtube it is fantastic. There's The Smiths in Madrid, very early interviews he's given, him going back to the site where "The Old House" of his early childhood has once stood, him talking about the "dying pop music", and more! A true archive, posted only a few months ago. Enjoy! :)

Mrs. Woolf -- Thursday July 13 2006, @05:14AM (#228140)
(User #14157 Info)

[ Reply to this comment ]

This is on a bootleg CD (Score:1)

Called Unloveable from the mid-90's.
There are loads of tracks from appearances on The Tube(including a v.v.wank intro from Jools Holland and Steven Fry), John Peel, Whistle Test, Charlies Bus, and best of all a few stuttering soundchecks of Unloveable from somewhere up in Scotland.
I have it if anybody wants a copy.
stevealdcroft@hotmail.com

ManAlive -- Thursday July 13 2006, @05:38AM (#228142)
(User #4261 Info)
Finally, after 3 seasons of watching MLB.tv in my bedroom in Salford the Boston Red Sox are champions of the world.

[ Reply to this comment ]

Re:This is on a bootleg CD by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday July 14 2006, @02:40AM

Marrs naughty sign (Score:0)

Does anyone else think that Marr gives the boy he's sat behind at the start of the clip, a wanker sign? it looks as bizarre as the eyebrow raised by mozzer just before the 'heaven knows..' music starts...

Anonymous -- Thursday July 13 2006, @06:01AM (#228148)

[ Reply to this comment ]

Re:Marrs naughty sign by uncleskinny (Score:1) Thursday July 13 2006, @02:41PM
- Last of the family line... by Elsie (Score:1) Friday July 14 2006, @06:18AM
  - Re:Last of the family line... by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday July 14 2006, @07:36AM
    - Re:Last of the family line... by Elsie (Score:1) Sunday July 16 2006, @04:47PM

Retards on this website (Score:0)

You people are complete retards. This video clip is old news. God you people are so dumb and gay. Gaylords.

Anonymous -- Thursday July 13 2006, @08:24AM (#228161)

[ Reply to this comment ]

Re:Retards on this website by Elsie (Score:1) Thursday July 13 2006, @11:38AM
Re:Retards on this website by boredhousewife (Score:1) Thursday July 13 2006, @09:41PM
- Re:Retards on this website by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday July 14 2006, @12:58PM
  - Re:Retards on this website by boredhousewife (Score:1) Sunday July 16 2006, @07:58AM

We're going mad... (Score:1)

That was the most bizzarre and brilliant thing I've seen in a good long while!!! I have to say that I cannot recall the programme though??? Perhaps it was their choice of 'pop'stars that got it took off air? Who was on the week after? Felt?

Elsie -- Thursday July 13 2006, @11:33AM (#228191)
(User #16918 Info)
"There is always something ridiculous about the emotion of people whom one has ceased to love"

[ Reply to this comment ]

Re:We're going mad... by dallow_bg (Score:1) Sunday July 16 2006, @06:13PM

whos the biggest smiths fan then (Score:0)

so what if you have seen it before, if you have why post, get a life, some people have'nt the time to sift through endless web pages, does'nt mean they are less fans of the smiths, i have'nt seen this clip, but i've seen the smiths live 6 times, i'm not patronising about it, enjoy the clip, if you've seen it then bully for you

Anonymous -- Thursday July 13 2006, @02:26PM (#228215)

[ Reply to this comment ]

Two things... (Score:1)

1. Being unfamiliar with Charlie's Bus...what was the point of the entire segment...just a promotion of The Smiths? 2. I wonder if any of the children, who would be near 30 years old now, are fans of Morrissey and are on this forum? Please stand up if you are one of them and tell us of the experience.

someraincoatedlovers * -- Thursday July 13 2006, @03:17PM (#228219)
(User #10290 Info)
We've been too long American Dreaming, And I think we all lost the way.

[ Reply to this comment ]

One of the most... (Score:1)

incredible clips I've ever seen. Too bad about the horrible youtube compression. Great post. Great reason for the Internet.

everdene -- Thursday July 13 2006, @08:33PM (#228245)
(User #4392 Info)

[ Reply to this comment ]

don't suppose... (Score:0)

anyone here is one of the kids in the video?....

Anonymous -- Friday July 14 2006, @12:42AM (#228265)

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This is what the internet is all about indeed. (Score:1)

I absolutely loved this, I'd heard of it, but hadn't seen this particular clip. This is what makes the internet so absolutely amazing... What makes it less amazing is all the people, anonymous and otherwise, who have to be such downers about everything. Can I apologise to them profusely for my ignorance and label myself "Not a proper Morrissey fan" for not having been dedicated enough to him to have trawled every nook and cranny to ensure that I had seen and read every single reference to him ever made in any form of the media in the last 25 years. I am clearly totally unworthy and will drown myself in the Thames later after having put all my affairs in order. Thank you again all the TRUE Morrissey fans out there for putting me straight!

CityBill -- Friday July 14 2006, @05:07AM (#228302)
(User #13510 Info)

[ Reply to this comment ]

Hate to say... (Score:0)

But this really is incredibly old news that's been well documented before.

It only worries me because at this rate, next week someone will post the Datarun clip - another 1984 kids show and just as daft - and everyone will make the same bloody fuss and say "WOW! Amazing" when it's been on bootleg (audio and video) and the net for the last two decades.

This is message board stuff, please don't post this old news as NEWS as it will become monotonous...

Anonymous -- Friday July 14 2006, @07:38AM (#228316)

[ Reply to this comment ]

Re:Hate to say... by not sorry (Score:0) Friday July 14 2006, @09:13AM
- Re:Hate to say... by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday July 14 2006, @11:18AM
- Re:Hate to say... by Wilde is on my side (Score:1) Saturday July 15 2006, @03:34PM
Re:Hate to say... by Roger the Horse (Score:1) Friday July 14 2006, @09:59AM

Where are we going? (Score:1)

We are all going mad

stepchild -- Sunday July 16 2006, @12:48PM (#228467)
(User #16694 Info | http://www.myspace.com/allaloneinthedangerzone )

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