When The Smiths were fronted by a 1960s era female popstar - Smiths & Sandie article - Post-Punk.com

When The Smiths were fronted by a 1960s era female popstar - Post-Punk.com

Excerpt:
"Morrissey and Marr having the strong desire to be recognized professionally as great songwriters not unlike Burt Bacharach and Hal David who wrote Shaw’s first hit, began writing her letters asking if she would cover their song I Don’t Owe You Anything, which they had written and composed in the hopes that Shaw would agree to perform it.

Shaw was initially reluctant to accept the offer being averse to the controversy surrounding The Smith’s track Reel Around the Fountain.

Despite this, Morrissey and Marr persisted in trying to recruit Shaw to perform their music, and Shaw was eventually won over by Morrissey’s praise of her in the press by the intervention of Rough Trade label founder Geoff Travis."

With some archive pictures & videos,
Regards,
FWD.

 

[destiny]

This thread desperately needs this song:

 

[Peppermint]

This thread desperately needs this song:

No thread can ever be sufficiently in need to need this song.

 

[countthree]

Nice picture. Morrissey tells his side of the story in Autobio.

 

[SuedeMoz]

I think it's cool that Sandie Shaw teamed up with The Smiths ... but am I the only one underwhelmed by the performances? I know Morrissey admired her but it just didn't seem like the songs suited her all that well.

 

[Harsh Truth]

I love "Jeane" especially, with the stripped down arrangement. There is a tone of desperation in her singing of a shattered romance. Her smoky, jazzy vocals on "I Don't Owe You Anything" are also excellent. I'm not a huge fan of her take on "Hand in Glove", admittedly.

 

[Old Mathew]

I love "Jeane" especially, with the stripped down arrangement. There is a tone of desperation in her singing of a shattered romance. Her smoky, jazzy vocals on "I Don't Owe You Anything" are also excellent. I'm not a huge fan of her take on "Hand in Glove", admittedly.

Also Moz's back up vocals on Jeanne are just gorgeous -- the perfect example of the tenor of his voice in the early Smiths days.

 

[Oh my]

I really like what she did with The Smiths. Probably such collaboration made her cover other post-punk anthems, like The Jesus & Mary Chain's Cool about you... and her version is even better than the original, which is already fantastic.

 

[Peppermint]

This thread desperately needs this song:

Actually, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if this was the reason Morrissey fell out with her. He was probably so embarrassed he never spoke to her again.

 

[Dingoatemybabby]

And this one too - "Go Johnny Go"

 

[Peppermint]

And this one too - "Go Johnny Go"

Bloody nora. I wonder what the accepted rock and roll etiquette is when someone writes a song about you and it's this bad? I am curious, since this is never likely to happen to me. On balance, though, I'm quite glad.

 

[Johnny]

And this one too - "Go Johnny Go"

That is dreadful but thanks for sharing.

 

[Dingoatemybabby]

That is dreadful but thanks for sharing.

Well I had to sit through it so I thought everyone else should suffer as well!

 

[Famous when dead]

She was kind enough to sign my Hello Angel album a long time ago - she had an incredible presence. I think her relationship with Moz was catalysed by her becoming strong friends with Chrissy Hynde which would have only helped.
Nothing Less Than Brilliant had a bit of a Smiths harmonica feel to it too (although there's no confirmation the song is about Moz):

Regards,
FWD.

 

[marred]

What a crock. She sang a song for them.

 

[Famous when dead]

Chris Andrews (her song writer) is credited by Marr for inspiring aspects of Shankly via 'Yesterday Man':
Heaven Knows I'm Missing Him Now - clear cited influence on their Heaven Knows:
You've Not Changed cited as lyrical inspiration 'But if you wore rags you'd still look good to me' influencing his 'hidden by rags'.

Sang & recorded Jeanne.
Sang & recorded I Don't Owe You Anything.
Sang & recorded Hand In Glove (with a mix by Stephen Street).
Sang on and recorded Shelia Take A Bow - not used by the band / John Porter.
Fronted the band on prime time TV.
Joined The Smiths live twice on stage to sing.
Joined The Smiths aprox. 5 times on TV to sing/mime (as was the case those days).
Sang & recorded Please Help The Cause... - given to her by Morrissey + sang vocals on the Moz versions.
Go Johnny Go written by Chris Bostock, Mark E Nevin, Rob Marche and Sandie Shaw about Johnny Marr.
Steven (You Don't Eat Meat) written by Clive Langer & Sandie Shaw about Morrissey.
She has a small part in their/his history, but it's an interesting one.
Regards,
FWD.

 

[Harsh Truth]

What a crock. She sang a song for them.

Three, to be precise.

 

[Peppermint]

Chris Andrews (her song writer) is credited by Marr for inspiring aspects of Shankly via 'Yesterday Man':
Heaven Knows I'm Missing Him Now - clear cited influence on HSIN:)
You've Not Changed cited as lyrical inspiration 'But if you wore rags you'd still look good to me' influencing his 'hidden by rags'.

Sang & recorded Jeanne.
Sang & recorded I Don't Owe You Anything.
Sang & recorded Hand In Glove (with a mix by Stephen Street).
Sang on and recorded Shelia Take A Bow - not used by the band / John Porter.
Fronted the band on prime time TV.
Joined The Smiths live twice on stage to sing.
Joined The Smiths aprox. 5 times on TV to sing/mime (as was the case those days).
Sang & recorded Please Help The Cause... - given to her by Morrissey + sang vocals on the Moz versions.
Go Johnny Go written by Chris Bostock, Mark E Nevin, Rob Marche and Sandie Shaw about Johnny Marr.
Steven (You Don't Eat Meat) written by Clive Langer & Sandie Shaw about Morrissey.
She has a small part in their/his history, but it's an interesting one.
Regards,
FWD.

Wow, FWD. I am genuinely surprised that Mark Nevin and Clive Langer put their names to those. I honestly imagined they were something Sandie had cooked up by herself and nobody had the heart to tell her. I did always like Nothing Less Than Brilliant, though, and still think it's a great pop single. I had never considered it might be about Moz, but it's intriguing to see that possibility.

On Heaven Knows I'm Missing Him Now, did you mean the Smiths connection was HKIMN? Or am I missing something more subtle?

 

[Famous when dead]

Wow, FWD. I am genuinely surprised that Mark Nevin and Clive Langer put their names to those. I honestly imagined they were something Sandie had cooked up by herself and nobody had the heart to tell her. I did always like Nothing Less Than Brilliant, though, and still think it's a great pop single. I had never considered it might be about Moz, but it's intriguing to see that possibility.

On Heaven Knows I'm Missing Him Now, did you mean the Smiths connection was HKIMN? Or am I missing something more subtle?

Several of her mildly obscure works have some bearing on Smiths songs - do please ignore the HSIN and switch it mentally for Heaven Knows I'm Miserable... - the title being a Moz-intended pun. Put the wrong acronym as I wasn't concentrating. Just to add to Nothing Less Than Brilliant's mystique - Chrissy Hyndes plays harmonica on that track.
Regards,
FWD.

 

[lutewhine]

Nothing Less Than Brilliant was apparently written about Sandie Shaw, for Sandie Shaw.