"Hand In Glove" #10 in Rolling Stone's "The 100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time"

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#10 "Hand In Glove, The 100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time - Rolling Stone

Excerpt:

“To me, the two-minute-ten-second single was power,” Morrissey told Rolling Stone in 1986, recalling his prefame days of obsessive music fandom. “It was blunt, to the point.” The Smiths proved themselves masters of the form right out of the gate. With its striking fade-in intro, slashing drums, reel-’round-the-cemetery harmonica, and Johnny Marr’s searing jangle, “Hand in Glove” was an anthem of loneliness and disaffection that touched a communal nerve, launching an astonishing run of U.K. hits for the band. As Morrissey recalled in his memoir, “The release of ‘Hand in Glove’ told me, at least, that I existed.” J.D.
 
That's nice. There's still some great writing in Rolling Stone sometimes (especially Rob Sheffield) but the website is so jammed with ads it's sooo hard to use.
 
Am I alone in thinking Hand in Glove is actually a bit duff?
The line 'the sun shines out of our behinds' is just awful.
Ever caught yourself whistling the melody? Nope, thought not.
A half decent b-side at best.
 
Am I alone in thinking Hand in Glove is actually a bit duff?
The line 'the sun shines out of our behinds' is just awful.
Ever caught yourself whistling the melody? Nope, thought not.
A half decent b-side at best.
You are not alone. I fervently wish that 'This Charming Man' had been their first single. For a two-minute-ten-second song, HIG is just too repetitive and lacks a compelling lyric.
 
Britney Spears, “… Baby One More Time” first? this can only be a joke
 
Am I alone in thinking Hand in Glove is actually a bit duff?
The line 'the sun shines out of our behinds' is just awful.
Ever caught yourself whistling the melody? Nope, thought not.
A half decent b-side at best.
You're not alone in this regard :) I never understood why everyone disliked 'What Difference Does It Make?', to which I was downright addicted (and still am), and held 'Hand In Glove' in such high regard, with which I always had to restrain myself not to skip to the next track. It's simply not the anthem Moz wanted it to be.
 
I think as a first release it was smashing and unique at the time. Talking here about Britney but Smiths HIG not a bad wee tune. ;)
 
Hand in glove is awesome because the guitar riff is so awesome it could carry the song by itself not to mention the drums were pretty fool on this one
 
Hand in glove is awesome because the guitar riff is so awesome it could carry the song by itself not to mention the drums were pretty fool on this one

Thank Angie for that.


“Angie [Marr’s girlfriend, now wife] had just passed her driving test and her parents had loaned her this little VW Beetle that we used to sort of hang out in. I said, ‘Get me round to Mozzer’s!’ Cos he’s got a tape machine. So we got in the car like I was going to have a baby, you know?”

“Angie always leaves me to it when I’m in that nutty headspace, but maybe because it was boring for her… she said ‘Make it sound like Iggy!’ She loves Iggy Pop. So I just took that Nile Rodgers thing and just played Iggy Pop chords. She said, ‘Yeah that’s cool!’ And I was like, Oh really!” Angie, The Smiths have a lot to thank you for.”

- Johnny Marr


 
Am I alone in thinking Hand in Glove is actually a bit duff?
The line 'the sun shines out of our behinds' is just awful.
Ever caught yourself whistling the melody? Nope, thought not.
A half decent b-side at best.
You are not alone. I fervently wish that 'This Charming Man' had been their first single. For a two-minute-ten-second song, HIG is just too repetitive and lacks a compelling lyric.



You two can go and .....



kiss ... my .... shades !!!



:cool:


;)
 
I agree with Rolling Stone on this but when they rated the Smiths songs from worst to best a couple of years ago it was hilariously off. Way off. But I still enjoyed it. I recommend it. When Hand in Glove came out it was played on every dance floor in NYC. It seemed like years to me before Charming Man came out. Hand in glove is the Smiths anthem. It stands alone even in even in the Smiths catalogue.
 
I have to admit too that HIG has never been my favourite Smiths song. I like it - but I don't love it. Much prefer Charming Man or What Difference. This Charming Man with Jeane as the b-side is the greatest gift The Smiths left to the world - period. Pop music as high art.
 

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