It had been 15 years since Sandie Shaw had last made an appearance in the UK charts when her version of Hand In Glove reached the #27 spot in April 1984. The connection with Morrissey/Marr brought a whole new fanbase and there was a fair bit of demand that she properly come out of retirement and record some fresh material.It wasn't however until May 1986 that the next record was released. When it was trailed that Sandie had gone into the studio to work with the famous production team of Langer and Winstanley and that one of the earliest things that would be foisted on the public would be a cover version of one of the most popular songs recorded by Lloyd Cole & The Commotions, there was huge anticipation.
Now until I found this in a second shop a couple of days ago, I hadn't actually heard it. I'd been lucky enough to be sent over the Janice Long session by a TVV reader, and indeed posted it just over a year ago. The session version wasn't bad....not a patch on the original version, but one that had some great guitar playing on it along with a fine vocal from Sandie.
I was therefore really disappointed to finally hear the studio version and reckon that it must be considered to be one of the most disappointing records I now have ownership of:-
mp3 : Sandie Shaw - Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?
It is one of the best examples you can find of how NOT to do a cover version. It takes a very simple and lovely song and submerges it in really awful and appalling production values that are a very unsubtle way of trying to ensure mainstream acceptance. Even worse, it does nothing to bring out any of the quality in Sandie's voice.
Truly disgusting. No-wonder it flopped at #68.
So why am I including it?? Well, some of you might disagree with my thoughts, and you may feel there is something of merit in this otherwise vaste of vinyl. Besides, the b-side is a tribute that many newish fans of Morrissey or The Smiths might not have heard before:-
mp3 : Sandie Shaw - Steven, You Don't Eat Meat
Feel free to disagree.
3 comments:
JC, today's post made me wonder if you'd heard this minor hit from last year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTa_RQC8ZxA
All my Smiths/Morrissey bios educated me about "Steven, You Don't Eat Meat" but until now I had no idea that the Camera Obscura song "Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken" was a response to a particular song. I feel like such a novice. You are the master in Morrissey/Smiths history -- I sit at your knee to learn. Thank you again.
I know bugger all about Smiths/Morrissey history and I'd class myself as a rank amateur when it comes to Camera Obscura. If proof were needed, there's supposed to be one at the top of Cairngorm mountain's funny colour funicular (which is where I found myself 2 Sundays ago) and could I find it? It's not as if there's an overwhelming number of places to look.
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