Letter to John Ob - 1983

"I Don't Owe You Anything" was going to be a single? I don't recall seeing or hearing this previously.

 

[Famous when dead]

I'm guessing the Hand in Glove take she did was preferred and changed around.
She did, indeed, record the track in Feb, '84 - it just became a B side on final release.
Just my humble opinion,
Regards,
FWD.

Edit: knew I had seen it somewhere: From Songs That...
"In January 1984, their debut album yet to be released, The Smiths’ first surprise of the new year was the announcement they’d manage to lasso Shaw further out of obscurity to join them on a special single version of ‘I Don’t Owe You Anything’. ‘The tabloids leaped on the case with great vigour,’ Morrissey would recall. ‘They were completely sceptical. “Sandie, how can you possibly soil your slippers?”’
It had taken Morrissey and Marr the best part of six months to coerce the reticent Shaw into soiling said slippers, making their initial approach by post while recording with Troy Tate during the summer of 1983. Mailing her a cassette of ‘I Don’t Owe You Anything’, a song she’d provisionally inspired, Morrissey’s accompanying fan letter reiterated ‘obviously the song was written with you in mind’ while beseeching ‘The Sandie Shaw legend cannot be over yet — there is more to be done!’
At the outset, Shaw was extremely wary: it didn’t help that their plea coincided with
The ‘Handsome Devil’ furore which immediately discouraged her. Morrissey next sent her a copy of their debut single ‘Hand In Glove’. Seeing its sleeve, Shaw exclaimed in horror to her husband: ‘He’s started sending me pictures of naked men with their bums showing!’ With Geoff Travis’ intervention and Morrissey’s constant ingratiating plaudits in the press (most prominently an insightful retrospective of her career printed in Sounds that December), Shaw was eventually won over, agreeing ‘on the proviso that if I didn’t like the result we’d scrap it.’ For Morrissey it was a dream come true. ‘I’ve worshipped her for so long,’ he confessed, ‘and then to work with her is just the highest thrill that I can think possible.’ Baited by ‘I Don’t Owe You Anything’, Shaw eventually selected an upbeat arrangement of the anthemic ‘Hand In Glove’ as the single’s A-side, later enthusiastically describing it as ‘real Joan of Arc stuff’ (a quote Morrissey may have had in mind when penning ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’ the following year). Based on a vibrant new arrangement of the song The Smiths had already recorded, and scrapped, for their debut album, its introductory passage offered a breezier, more optimistic colouring of Marr’s Stooge-indebted riff while producer John Porter suffused Joyce’s beat with added bounce. A snippet of Marr’s morale-boosting studio chatter survives on the remixed version later included on Shaw’s 1988 Hello Angel album: ‘can you turn everything now overall, up!’."
FWD.

 

[Famous when dead]

Unfortunately, as is his right, John sold this wonderful bit of musical history in the comments section of the Facebook post (for what looks like £650). Something that evidences the intention to release I Don't Owe... as a single and by Sandie would be something I'd hang on to.
Hope it went to a good home.
Regards,
FWD.

 

[Anonymous]

Even as late as March 12th, when Sandie joined them onstage at the Hammersmith Palais, the decision to sing IDOYA suggested it was still intended to be the single.

 

[Anonymous]

I used to write letters to a John Knob.


God knows what he did with them...

 

[celibate]

As I mentioned this a lot, Sandy was also around the Viva Hate recording, Maudlin street was done in 1 take, [Morrissey's vocals] and the people around were really taken by it [read it in Sandy's bio, world at your feet]

one of my favourite live Smiths songs, is 'I don't owe you anything"at de Meervaaart 1984, Amsterdam, FM broadcasted, and the bootleg is easy to get.

Sorry ignoring John Ob and the letter.

 

[just a thought]

I used to write letters to a John Knob.


God knows what he did with them...

 

[Anonymous]

Mmm. Don't recognize our John in this picture...
But...Is that the infamous West Coast Waistcoat?

 

[Anonymous]

I'm guessing the Hand in Glove take she did was preferred and changed around.
She did, indeed, record the track in Feb, '84 - it just became a B side on final release.
Just my humble opinion,
Regards,
FWD.

Edit: knew I had seen it somewhere: From Songs That...
"In January 1984, their debut album yet to be released, The Smiths’ first surprise of the new year was the announcement they’d manage to lasso Shaw further out of obscurity to join them on a special single version of ‘I Don’t Owe You Anything’. ‘The tabloids leaped on the case with great vigour,’ Morrissey would recall. ‘They were completely sceptical. “Sandie, how can you possibly soil your slippers?”’
It had taken Morrissey and Marr the best part of six months to coerce the reticent Shaw into soiling said slippers, making their initial approach by post while recording with Troy Tate during the summer of 1983. Mailing her a cassette of ‘I Don’t Owe You Anything’, a song she’d provisionally inspired, Morrissey’s accompanying fan letter reiterated ‘obviously the song was written with you in mind’ while beseeching ‘The Sandie Shaw legend cannot be over yet — there is more to be done!’
At the outset, Shaw was extremely wary: it didn’t help that their plea coincided with
The ‘Handsome Devil’ furore which immediately discouraged her. Morrissey next sent her a copy of their debut single ‘Hand In Glove’. Seeing its sleeve, Shaw exclaimed in horror to her husband: ‘He’s started sending me pictures of naked men with their bums showing!’ With Geoff Travis’ intervention and Morrissey’s constant ingratiating plaudits in the press (most prominently an insightful retrospective of her career printed in Sounds that December), Shaw was eventually won over, agreeing ‘on the proviso that if I didn’t like the result we’d scrap it.’ For Morrissey it was a dream come true. ‘I’ve worshipped her for so long,’ he confessed, ‘and then to work with her is just the highest thrill that I can think possible.’ Baited by ‘I Don’t Owe You Anything’, Shaw eventually selected an upbeat arrangement of the anthemic ‘Hand In Glove’ as the single’s A-side, later enthusiastically describing it as ‘real Joan of Arc stuff’ (a quote Morrissey may have had in mind when penning ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’ the following year). Based on a vibrant new arrangement of the song The Smiths had already recorded, and scrapped, for their debut album, its introductory passage offered a breezier, more optimistic colouring of Marr’s Stooge-indebted riff while producer John Porter suffused Joyce’s beat with added bounce. A snippet of Marr’s morale-boosting studio chatter survives on the remixed version later included on Shaw’s 1988 Hello Angel album: ‘can you turn everything now overall, up!’."
FWD.

I know you're referring to Shaw, but use her name at least once before you use She so bloody much!

 

[Poppycocteau.]

I used to write letters to a John Knob.


God knows what he did with them...

I imagine he put them in the bin.