"Meat Is Murder" 7" test press on eBay

One of the ultimate collector's items, I believe...

Anyone got a few quid?

eBay item #200954357248
The Smiths ULTRA RARE Meat Is Murder Unreleased Mayking Test Press 7" Morrissey
Ranked Number 5 In The Smiths Top 100 Rarities List



The Smiths - 'Meat Is Murder (Live)' Mayking Test Press 7" - 1985

Catalogue no. RT 186 - Rough Trade

This is an original 1985 test pressing by 'Mayking' for the proposed UK single release of a live Smiths EP, which was scrapped in favour of 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore'. This test pressing accordingly bears the Rough Trade catalogue number RT 186, which was retained for the release of 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore'. The A-side of this test press is 'Meat Is Murder' (recorded live in Oxford), which eventually became the B-side of the 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore' single, while the B-side bears two tracks 'Nowhere Fast' and 'Stretch Out And Wait' (also recorded live in Oxford) which made it onto the B-side of the 12" for 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore' along with 2 other live tracks. I have owned this 7" for a number of years, and have debated several times about listing it on ebay before now finally deciding to go ahead. The Smiths collector will know how rare and sought-after this record is, being placed as highly as Number 5 in Record Collector's 'Top 100' Smiths Rarities article in 2005 (see photo), and it has been a pleasure and privilege to own. I have studied the record carefully, and there are several factors which have reassured me that the item is genuine. One is that the hand-written catalogue number on the 'Mayking' A-Side label is sufficiently similar to the style of the catalogue number of the example which was photographed for the Record Collector article (see Photos 3 and 8 for comparison) in order to convince me that it is the real article. Another factor is that the run-out groove etchings on the A-side, which read "RT 186 A1" and "OUR SOULS, OUR SOULS, OUR SOULS" in very small letters, are actually identical in style and positioning to the run-out etchings on the B-side to 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore' (in the case of first-run pressing examples, and not the later pressings with "RT 186 B-2U-1-1-" etc) but with the "A" of "A1" scratched out and with a "B" inserted before it to change the matrix number to "B1". Since the 'Meat Is Murder' track became the B-side of 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore', it is clear that the A-side plate of this test press was re-used for the B-side of the 7" which was actually released (once the amendment to the matrix number etching had been made). The etching "OUR SOULS, OUR SOULS, OUR SOULS" was then repeated (in larger letters) on the A-side of the 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore' 7" where it would have expected to be found, which would explain why the same message appeared twice on the released single. The test pressing being auctioned here has the message on the A-side only, as would have been originally intended, and the B-side plate for the test press (containing the 2 live tracks) is found only here and was not used anywhere else. This re-use of the pressing plate and run-out groove details is not documented anywhere that I have seen, and provides further evidence in my view that this is genuine. As in the case of all of my auctions, I will accept returns and give refunds on items if you believe that I have described anything incorrectly.

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Well a unique test pressing is worth the money though not what it's on, the
live tracks have been used on another [think it was the dutch 12' Headmaster Ritual]and from the
oxford show, more live track has been used on Smiths b-side's , so ' Stop me if you think you've Heard this one Before'

well I bought a painting for 400 euroos

and they say he's mentall
 

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