Intriguing... Mike Joyce posts about digitising early Smiths tapes



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A dusty bit of information from the archive:

"About ten years ago I was working for a magazine and an interview was arranged with Mike Joyce. A journalist and I were dispatched up to his house in the more well off suburbs of Manchester. Mike is very friendly and a great guy to hang out with. The journo is talked into a jam with Mike in his studio basement.

After this we are sitting in his kitchen having a coffee and Mikes appears with a battered ghetto blaster and a cardboard box of cassettes. We look inside and are amazed by the contents of this box. With his characteristic enthusiasm he pulls a tape out and sticks it into the ageing player that looks like it might 'eat' every cassette you put into it. The sounds that come out are familiar but we can't quite place them. Mike grins and says "This is the Smiths first rehearsal" That amazing sound isn't quite there Moz's voice is slightly different that confidence is not fully developed, the rhythm section sound more like they want to be in a funk outfit. Only Marr's guitar sounds pretty polished. Overall though its quite impressive for the first ever time of playing together. There must be 30+ tapes in the box they obviously recorded a lot of gigs, there's also some outtakes and studio run-throughs. Lets hope that some of these finally see the light of day.."

I forget which TV documentary actually filmed him with the box of tapes, but the first rehearsal would be good or perhaps A Matter Of Opinion et al.
I think we all know he had a hand in the audio bits used in Granada's These Things Take Time and he tried to share in the early 2000's, posting the following on his site after issues arose:

"AUDIO NEWS
Statement From Mike Joyce

Hello People...
Due to the legal implications of putting up the Smiths tracks. I am currently
seeking advice as to the best way to get these tracks heard. I will keep you
informed of any progress. Sorry About the delay.
Love and Peace

Mike

P.S. There is only one factor in this that is stopping me from putting these tracks
up on this site. I'm sure you all know what/who that is.....
Find here.... some never before heard gems from the past..............
watch this space ! as new tracks will be added over the coming months"

Unfortunately, nothing more was heard until now.
This could be promising, or his tapes could just be oxidising away :)
Regards,
FWD

Edit: seeing the whole Twitter picture would have helped:

IMG_20191002_070005.jpg


So that's '82 and he's said this further:


Fingers crossed...
 
I lost track of the story after awhile - but I'm guessing Dale Hibbert is no longer sharing "I Want A Boy For My Birthday" at the end of this year?
 
Joyce has been banging on about his trove of goodies for quite a long time now. I remember him mentioning them on a few occasions when he had his own radio show, on a station he launched . I forget the name of it now.
 
typical FH Mike, if it avoids him getting a job, he s all over it.:mad:

coming to a cul de sac near you, FH Mike and his bag of boots, 5 quid apiece.:yum:

what a DISGRACE>:rage:
 
typical FH Mike, if it avoids him getting a job, he s all over it.:mad:

coming to a cul de sac near you, FH Mike and his bag of boots, 5 quid apiece.:yum:

what a DISGRACE>:rage:
I’ll give 3 boots for free, son. You won’t even hear the second and 3rd because the first one will be a knock-out! ;)
 
I lost track of the story after awhile - but I'm guessing Dale Hibbert is no longer sharing "I Want A Boy For My Birthday" at the end of this year?
what happened to his countdown clock.its scheduled for xmas time so might still happen.
 
If he has had these tapes so long and has his own studio, why has it taken him so long to digitise them!?
 
I lost track of the story after awhile - but I'm guessing Dale Hibbert is no longer sharing "I Want A Boy For My Birthday" at the end of this year?
Still have 74 days...
 
Crikey. A TDK D series cassette? I wouldn't expect much more than shite sound if he ever ends the tease.
 
I’ll give 3 boots for free, son. You won’t even hear the second and 3rd because the first ne will be a knock-out! ;)

:rolleyes:
FH , whats up?

the second and third one will be confiscated by the authorities.:horny:

get a job:rock:
 
I meant that I couldn't find the countdown - is it still online, or has his plan to gift us been thwarted?
His last communication (this August) was with the 'MozArmy' FB and said:
"Notice from former Smith, Dale Hibbert:

Hi there, just making you aware of this, on Dec 16th 'I want a boy for my birthday' will be available. There is no moneytization of the channel, it's just a slice of history that some people will appreciate.

Thank you, Dale!"

Regards,
FWD.
 
Crikey. A TDK D series cassette? I wouldn't expect much more than shite sound if he ever ends the tease.

If you want to go back in time and find a way to professionally record their early rehearsals in immaculate quality, go ahead. In the meantime, you must please remember they were skint nobodies in 1982, and the fact they even recorded the rehearsals on a TDK D-90 is much better than say, Joy Division who hardly ever recorded most of their rehearsals.
 

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