I thought you said him and Sandie werent friends?
Do You Think I Care Too Much.....
Sandie Shaw's name crops up in many different chapters of The Smiths
story and, indeed, that of Morrissey.
The first contact between The Smiths and Sandie Shaw, was shortly
after the birth of Sandie's daughter, Amie. Amongst the flood of fan
letters and cards of 'best wishes', a letter, described by Sandie
as being in "child-like scrawl", arrived at her home.
The letter, written by "two incurable Sandie Shaw fans", stated that
it was their opinion that Sandie's future musical direction should
avoid the "overt icky momism trap" seized by her fellow '60s contemporaries,
by receiving a necessary "injection of high spirit and vengeance"
and they were just the boys holding the syringe.
The lads offered forth a song "I Don't Owe You Anything" written for
her, however, stated that if she wasn't fussed for it, more could
be supplied. The letter ended - "The Sandie Shaw legend cannot be
over yet - there is more to be done" and was signed by "Morrissey
(wordsmith/voice) and Johnny (multi-instrumentalist/composer) - The
Smiths".
The letter was dated 8th August, 1983 and was to spark off a long
relationship which produced, in one way or another, directly or indirectly,
a host of fascinating material.
Several months later, Sandie was to join The Smiths at Matrix Studios
and between being bombarded with questions about her records, work,
the Sixties, and personal life, Sandie and The Smiths managed to
record three tracks - "Hand In Glove", "I Don't Owe You Anything"
and the classic "Jeane".
The tracks were released on Rough Trade and to the shock and excitement
of Sandie, at least, leapt into the charts, as well as topping the
'Indie' charts. Sandie performed barefoot, as was her Sixties' trademark,
on Top Of The Pops, as did Marr, Joyce and Rourke.
Geoff Travis, owner of Rough Trade, and the band themselves, suggested
an album of material. Talk about an injection of high spirit! Unfortunately
Sandie had taken the statement a bit too literally and after announcing
that she was pregnant, the project was scrapped. In 1985, after the birth of her son Jack, Sandie recruited Charles
Negan-Fancey as her manager and signed up with Polydor, a relationship
which is only of interest to Smiths fans for the track "Steven (You
Don't Eat Meat)" which appeared as the 'b side' of the Lloyd Cole
penned "Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?" and lifted from the Commotions'"Rattlesnakes"
debut.
It was some time later that Sandie was contacted by Morrissey, when
he turned up on her doorstep, cassette in hand, and begged her to
come to do backing vocals for a new single at Solid State Studios,
owned by Paul Weller.
Sandie duly turned up, as did The Smiths - with the exception of Morrissey.
The time was wasted and was rescheduled with John Porter at Matrix
Studios where a "squirmy" version of "Sheila Take A Bow" was recorded.
As the sleeve notes will tell you, the finished article was not that
recorded by Sandie along with The Smiths, or even by John Porter.
After inheriting the nob twiddling responsibilities Stephen Street
grimaced and promptly destroyed the tape and re-recorded the eventual
version that was to appear as the single release.
In 1987, Sandie was intent on releasing an album. She had received
material from various sources but was not quite happy with any of
it. A postcard arrived one morning, from Morrissey, now a solo artist
- "Hello Angel - do you think I care too much?"
Morrissey expressed his doubts about the material as well, but rather
than feeling depressed about the situation, Sandie used the message
as a source of inspiration. She thought up a small melody and decided
to try writing some songs herself. And so was born the album "Hello
Angel". Like it or loathe it, it is never the less, a part of Smiths/Morrissey
history and worthy of some note.
Recorded at various ports with a host of 'names', the album was released
on Rough Trade in October 1988. The sleeve contains notes on each
of the tracks, but here are some notes I have drawn up on each song
sourcing information from various ports.
I hope they are slightly more interesting to those of us who are really
only interested in The Smiths/Morrissey involvement. Sorry Sandie!
"Nothing Less Than Brilliant"
After visiting Morrissey at Wool Hall, Bath, in October 1987, and
recording with him, Sandie headed home on a high, after getting to
know Stephen Street (who as we know binned her previous contribution)
and seeing Morrissey, whom she had had concern for following the split
of The Smiths.
She recalls how, on her arrival the first night, Morrissey and Stephen
ushered her over to the studio and played back three tracks for inclusion
on what was to be 'Viva Hate'. One track was titled "Maudlin Street"
and both she and Morrissey were reduced to tears of emotion listening
to the playback. Anyway, after a short stay at Bath, she flew home
completely forgetting to give Morrissey a tape of tunes laid down
by Chris Andrews for her own album project. She drove round Hyde Park
until she had finished the lyric for what was to be the opening track
of the album. The obvious single inspired by good times with Mr Morrissey
a song written about herself.
