ONE SONG BY THE SMITHS : A SATURDAY SERIES (Part 1)

It's going to do exactly what it says on the tin.

And in a sense its a way for me to take Saturdays off in terms of thinking hard about what to post. But where to start?

How about here.....

mp3 : The Smiths - Nowhere Fast

From the 1985 LP Meat Is Murder. One of Johnny Marr's finest tunes with more than a hint of rockabilly and I'd like to think Morrissey has joined in the fun with a lyric that tips the hat to Johnny Cash - you know the thing about when trains going by being such a sad sound.

Oh and of course, there's the hint of what was to come on the title song of the follow-up LP thanks to our handsome devil of a lead singer declaring that he'd like to flash his bum at Her Majesty.

I would love to have seen this released as a single if only to have a laugh at how the right-wing tabloids would have reacted.

A John Peel session version of the song, recorded in August 1984, was made available on the b-side of the 12" version of Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me, the band's final single in 1987:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Nowhere Fast (Peel Session)

But prior to that, a live version, from a gig in Oxford on 18th March 1985 was made available on the b-side of That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, the #48 flop single from July 1985:-

mp3 : The Smiths - Nowhere Fast (live)

This series is likely to run and run for a while.