'Bona Drag - Reassembled' Fan Edit

Neasden Biscuit Factory

Neasden Biscuit Factory

New Member
This is an attempt to recreate (and run down the lane with) the abandoned Bona Drag studio album that the compilation album of the same name became.

It’s a collection of music and image files that look like this when printed off.

Bona_Low.jpg


Main influences have been this forum, Passions Just Like Mine and the Mozpedia. Jonny Rogan’s Morrisey the Albums just turned up and has some nice interview material with Andy Rourke. Kevin Armstrong’s autobio may be useful but more on Kevin later.

The Files​

All here.

What’s on it?​

There’s nine songs here (13 tracks though), most of them quite familiar. Mozpedia and Passions Just Like Mine outline a core set of seven songs to work from from the Bona Drag studio album; November, Piccadilly Palare, Oh Phoney, Girl Least Likely To, Get off the Stage, Striptease with a Difference, He Knows I’d love to see Him.

All Hook End Manor, all Armstrong, Rourke, Paresi. I’m not a big fan of Girl Least Likely To personally, but I’m pretty confident in the rest as being strong contenders for being on the album. Seven were released 1990-1991, with Oh Phoney coming out on the reissued Bona Drag compilation and Striptease with a Difference still unreleased.

That leaves Ouija Board, Ouija Board and its b-side Yes I am Blind. There’s something to be said for Ouija as a stand alone single with its cut-and-shut Stephen Street composition and Langer/Winstanley production combo, but I’ve included it to plump things up and there’s precedent (antecedent?) for Morrissey using old co-writers on new albums with Your Arsenal. So it’s okay isn’t it?

Yes, I am Blind I’ve included because it’s a great song and because as I started pulling this album together I realised how much Bona Drag would have been Andy Rourke’s baby. He’s there co-writing songs, he’s there in the band. If nothing else this project was a chance to present this period of his work in a new way.

What’s not on it?​

There’s two pieces of music I’d love to be able to put on here.
  • The CDR Bona Drag ‘alternate version’ of Get off the Stage, although this might be a different piece of music from the Rourke composition - a Stephen Street tune is mentioned in Mozpedia.
  • The ‘orchestral arrangement’ Andy Rourke mentions Morrissey “liked but couldn’t get a grip on…” in Rogan’s Morrissey The Albums. I would LOVE to hear that. Even without Morrissey’s gurgles.
I chose a non-Morrissey cover star, from a painting by Hannah Gluckstein. Morrissey highlighted Gluckstein in the Headful of Heroes list fest for NME and was photographed with a bio of them in a shoot around this time. Given a lot of the songs were ‘character’ songs rather than autobiographical I thought it fitted. And Gluckstein’s work is beautiful. I’m really sorry for reducing it to CD size actually.

Tracklisting​

  1. Intro - The Old Dark House 0.28
  2. November Spawned a Monster (Suedehead Best Of) 5.27
  3. Piccadilly Palare (Early Version/Outtake w xtr Verse) (Hang) 4.14
  4. Oh Phoney (Second leak) (Never Heard Symphonies) 2.27
  5. Girl Least Likely To (Very Best of remastered) (Hang) 4.51
  6. Get off the Stage (NHS) 3.09
  7. Striptease with a Difference (alternate mix) (NHS) 3.13
  8. Ouija Board, Ouija Board (The HMV/Parlo Singles ‘88-’95) 4.27
  9. He Knows I’d Love to see Him (Rarities) 3.04
  10. Yes, I am Blind (Very Best of remastered) 3.44
  11. Outro - The Old Dark House 0.34
  12. November the 2nd (Sisterama version) 5.21
  13. Bonus track - Bona Nochy 1.02
Total running time 42.07

Read this after listening​

I wanted to include some dialogue samples. I couldn’t find the doco Johnny Come Home anywhere, which Morrissey mentions in the Nick Kent interview and Headful of Heroes feature from the time. I was a bit put out about this at first cos the subject matter would have linked with Piccadilly Palare. Instead, the audio intro and outro is from ‘The Old Dark House’, also mentioned by Morrissey in Headful of Heroes.

Tonally The Old Dark House is quite something. It’s a once thought lost James Whale horror - a bit gothic, a bit northern - that brings together a quite startling breadth of archetypes from the darkest reaches of James Whale’s subconciousness. Anyway, using this to scene set was a nod to the bootleg Rest In Peace The Smiths Live!! And it’s another example of fluffing obviously. I haven’t included information on this in the inlay.

The bonus track 'Bona Nochy' isn't anything to get excited about. It's a mix of two things you'll have heard before. Studio chatter from the leaked demo version of He Knows I’d Love to See Him alongside guitar from Kevin Armstrong. Kevin released versions of Oh Phoney and He Knows on his 2019 album Run, which is definitely worth a listen. I’m hoping my treatment of this in situ can be considered a non-copyright infringing new work.

I’ve omitted East West. Could have added it as bonus track but it was already a b-side. Let’s leave it there.

I also haven’t included At Amber, which I actually love but would mean including a completely different band on the album cos this was originally recorded with Rourke, Joyce and Street I believe. In the parallel universe this album is set in this song remains a b-side for Piccadilly Palare.

I really like Get off the Stage nowadays.

There’s two choices I’m in two minds about.

1. Demo or final studio version of He Knows I’d Love to See Him? I love the vibe of the former, which is a nice palate cleanser on the album I’ve sequenced - but the guest appearances from Mary Margaret O’Hara and Danny Thompson on the latter are really special. I started with studio version, went to demo and finally went back to the studio.
2. November the Second or not? I think I’m including it because it’s less heard and it adds intrigue. Having a bonus track that’s a dance remix is a nice 90’s moment too! Having two versions of what I think is possibly Morrissey’s crowning achievement as a solo artist might be stuffing the rucksack but I don’t think the New York/London/Manchester/Felixstowe mixes of This Charming Man make The Smiths’ pinnacle worse.

So that’s that.

Notes​

My story? I was completely preoccupied, alongside my friendship group at school, with Morrissey and the Smiths. My interest started between Everyday is Like Sunday and Playboys. I jumped out after Vauxhall & I which I think stands up alongside anything he’s done with The Smiths, when I started going beyond indie and pop and listening to other bands and genres. Mostly Public Enemy if you must know. My relationship with Morrissey since then has kind of been like an ex who you hear about every now and again and go “Oh, they were on the Johnny Carson show wearing a pin badge for a load of fascists? Hell's bells.” It takes guts to be gentle and kind, as a great man once wrote.

Questions​

Who’s playing sitar on Striptease? Who’s playing piano?

Who’s playing the accordion on Get off the Stage?

Why weren’t there more Morrissey/Langer compositions? November is one of his greatest songs and Striptease is a treat.

Were there any other tracks recorded during the Hook End sessions?

I wonder if Moz planned to use the November video still as a cover image when Bona Drag was going to be a studio album?

The remastered version of November is a segue from Interesting Drug on both Bona and Very Best of. Is there a non segue version now or will this remaster be forever tied to Interesting Drugs coattails?

Thanks​

Well I hope you enjoy this. Happy to discuss alternatives to the mixes I’ve used, up to a point. I’ve done a little rudimentary work on Adobe Audition to sort sound levels, but I’m not the guy from Power of Independent Trucking or anything. Depending on whether there’s interest I could always go back and fiddle with bits, stick the title in a tiny germanic typeface LOL etc.

This is all for personal use only and I’m not encouraging anyone to infringe copyright by engaging with this commentary and exploration of an underreported period in an amazing musician’s life.

Rest in Peace Andy.
 
did no samples of Saul’s mad laughter make it into the mix ?!

Full film for those who haven’t, but should …..




btw ‘Johnny Carson show’ ? Lol, Hell’s bells indeed.
 
SUPERB! .. though admittedly i haven't actually listened to it yet .. but im sure it will be!! :lbf:

Thank You


(side note) .. im not sure if this is the doc. you mention ?? it was recently uploaded here >>

..
 
Neasden Biscuit Factory said:
Enigmatically shared without comment. Hopefully not recorded over with the Radio 1 Top 40 from Sunday.

From Westside, so possibly around time of the Sing Your Life b-side sessions there? Is this from your collection sander? Do you know the story behind it?

Sorry, I sound like Antiques Roadshow.
Click to expand...
Sent you a pm
 
Share?
 
please sir.
 
Neasden Biscuit Factory said:
This is an attempt to recreate (and run down the lane with) the abandoned Bona Drag studio album that the compilation album of the same name became.

It’s a collection of music and image files that look like this when printed off.

View attachment 96625

Main influences have been this forum, Passions Just Like Mine and the Mozpedia. Jonny Rogan’s Morrisey the Albums just turned up and has some nice interview material with Andy Rourke. Kevin Armstrong’s autobio may be useful but more on Kevin later.

The Files​

All here.

What’s on it?​

There’s nine songs here (13 tracks though), most of them quite familiar. Mozpedia and Passions Just Like Mine outline a core set of seven songs to work from from the Bona Drag studio album; November, Piccadilly Palare, Oh Phoney, Girl Least Likely To, Get off the Stage, Striptease with a Difference, He Knows I’d love to see Him.

All Hook End Manor, all Armstrong, Rourke, Paresi. I’m not a big fan of Girl Least Likely To personally, but I’m pretty confident in the rest as being strong contenders for being on the album. Seven were released 1990-1991, with Oh Phoney coming out on the reissued Bona Drag compilation and Striptease with a Difference still unreleased.

That leaves Ouija Board, Ouija Board and its b-side Yes I am Blind. There’s something to be said for Ouija as a stand alone single with its cut-and-shut Stephen Street composition and Langer/Winstanley production combo, but I’ve included it to plump things up and there’s precedent (antecedent?) for Morrissey using old co-writers on new albums with Your Arsenal. So it’s okay isn’t it?

Yes, I am Blind I’ve included because it’s a great song and because as I started pulling this album together I realised how much Bona Drag would have been Andy Rourke’s baby. He’s there co-writing songs, he’s there in the band. If nothing else this project was a chance to present this period of his work in a new way.

What’s not on it?​

There’s two pieces of music I’d love to be able to put on here.
  • The CDR Bona Drag ‘alternate version’ of Get off the Stage, although this might be a different piece of music from the Rourke composition - a Stephen Street tune is mentioned in Mozpedia.
  • The ‘orchestral arrangement’ Andy Rourke mentions Morrissey “liked but couldn’t get a grip on…” in Rogan’s Morrissey The Albums. I would LOVE to hear that. Even without Morrissey’s gurgles.
I chose a non-Morrissey cover star, from a painting by Hannah Gluckstein. Morrissey highlighted Gluckstein in the Headful of Heroes list fest for NME and was photographed with a bio of them in a shoot around this time. Given a lot of the songs were ‘character’ songs rather than autobiographical I thought it fitted. And Gluckstein’s work is beautiful. I’m really sorry for reducing it to CD size actually.

Tracklisting​

  1. Intro - The Old Dark House 0.28
  2. November Spawned a Monster (Suedehead Best Of) 5.27
  3. Piccadilly Palare (Early Version/Outtake w xtr Verse) (Hang) 4.14
  4. Oh Phoney (Second leak) (Never Heard Symphonies) 2.27
  5. Girl Least Likely To (Very Best of remastered) (Hang) 4.51
  6. Get off the Stage (NHS) 3.09
  7. Striptease with a Difference (alternate mix) (NHS) 3.13
  8. Ouija Board, Ouija Board (The HMV/Parlo Singles ‘88-’95) 4.27
  9. He Knows I’d Love to see Him (Rarities) 3.04
  10. Yes, I am Blind (Very Best of remastered) 3.44
  11. Outro - The Old Dark House 0.34
  12. November the 2nd (Sisterama version) 5.21
  13. Bonus track - Bona Nochy 1.02
Total running time 42.07

Read this after listening​

I wanted to include some dialogue samples. I couldn’t find the doco Johnny Come Home anywhere, which Morrissey mentions in the Nick Kent interview and Headful of Heroes feature from the time. I was a bit put out about this at first cos the subject matter would have linked with Piccadilly Palare. Instead, the audio intro and outro is from ‘The Old Dark House’, also mentioned by Morrissey in Headful of Heroes.

Tonally The Old Dark House is quite something. It’s a once thought lost James Whale horror - a bit gothic, a bit northern - that brings together a quite startling breadth of archetypes from the darkest reaches of James Whale’s subconciousness. Anyway, using this to scene set was a nod to the bootleg Rest In Peace The Smiths Live!! And it’s another example of fluffing obviously. I haven’t included information on this in the inlay.

The bonus track 'Bona Nochy' isn't anything to get excited about. It's a mix of two things you'll have heard before. Studio chatter from the leaked demo version of He Knows I’d Love to See Him alongside guitar from Kevin Armstrong. Kevin released versions of Oh Phoney and He Knows on his 2019 album Run, which is definitely worth a listen. I’m hoping my treatment of this in situ can be considered a non-copyright infringing new work.

I’ve omitted East West. Could have added it as bonus track but it was already a b-side. Let’s leave it there.

I also haven’t included At Amber, which I actually love but would mean including a completely different band on the album cos this was originally recorded with Rourke, Joyce and Street I believe. In the parallel universe this album is set in this song remains a b-side for Piccadilly Palare.

I really like Get off the Stage nowadays.

There’s two choices I’m in two minds about.

1. Demo or final studio version of He Knows I’d Love to See Him? I love the vibe of the former, which is a nice palate cleanser on the album I’ve sequenced - but the guest appearances from Mary Margaret O’Hara and Danny Thompson on the latter are really special. I started with studio version, went to demo and finally went back to the studio.
2. November the Second or not? I think I’m including it because it’s less heard and it adds intrigue. Having a bonus track that’s a dance remix is a nice 90’s moment too! Having two versions of what I think is possibly Morrissey’s crowning achievement as a solo artist might be stuffing the rucksack but I don’t think the New York/London/Manchester/Felixstowe mixes of This Charming Man make The Smiths’ pinnacle worse.

So that’s that.

Notes​

My story? I was completely preoccupied, alongside my friendship group at school, with Morrissey and the Smiths. My interest started between Everyday is Like Sunday and Playboys. I jumped out after Vauxhall & I which I think stands up alongside anything he’s done with The Smiths, when I started going beyond indie and pop and listening to other bands and genres. Mostly Public Enemy if you must know. My relationship with Morrissey since then has kind of been like an ex who you hear about every now and again and go “Oh, they were on the Johnny Carson show wearing a pin badge for a load of fascists? Hell's bells.” It takes guts to be gentle and kind, as a great man once wrote.

Questions​

Who’s playing sitar on Striptease? Who’s playing piano?

Who’s playing the accordion on Get off the Stage?

Why weren’t there more Morrissey/Langer compositions? November is one of his greatest songs and Striptease is a treat.

Were there any other tracks recorded during the Hook End sessions?

I wonder if Moz planned to use the November video still as a cover image when Bona Drag was going to be a studio album?

The remastered version of November is a segue from Interesting Drug on both Bona and Very Best of. Is there a non segue version now or will this remaster be forever tied to Interesting Drugs coattails?

Thanks​

Well I hope you enjoy this. Happy to discuss alternatives to the mixes I’ve used, up to a point. I’ve done a little rudimentary work on Adobe Audition to sort sound levels, but I’m not the guy from Power of Independent Trucking or anything. Depending on whether there’s interest I could always go back and fiddle with bits, stick the title in a tiny germanic typeface LOL etc.

This is all for personal use only and I’m not encouraging anyone to infringe copyright by engaging with this commentary and exploration of an underreported period in an amazing musician’s life.

Rest in Peace Andy.
Click to expand...
Very erudite rendering of Bona as album rather than compilation. All in all, it's clear that they were at least 3-4 tracks shy of delivering a cogent, cohesive album.

In answer to your first question, I would bet that it is an electric sitar, which is shaped and played like a guitar but also has an extra series of strings. Presumably, Kevin Armstrong played it on "Striptease."

en.wikipedia.org

Electric sitar - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

When Alain was interviewed several years ago, he demonstrates on an electric sitar from his collection. It begins at approximately the 3:20 mark. This leads me to believe that he plays the electric sitar part on "I Will See You In Far-Off Places."

 
Just to help complicate things, IIRC, Jesse has an electric sitar credit on an album (Dog) and had the potential to play said on Tormentors!?
Alain's credits on allmusic for that time period are pretty poor - possibly reflective of the 'issues'.
FWD.

@dneuer any idea?
 
Famous when dead said:
Just to help complicate things, IIRC, Jesse has an electric sitar credit on an album (Dog) and had the potential to play said on Tormentors!?
Alain's credits on allmusic for that time period are pretty poor - possibly reflective of the 'issues'.
FWD.

@dneuer any idea?
Click to expand...

Good point. I'm willing to bet it's Alain as co-writer's choice, though. Boz is known to spice up tracks with guitar esoterica so it could really be any one of them.

"Issues" would also be a kinder box in which to place the matter of Alain's guitar work being buried a full fathom five in the mix of Ringleader. ;)
 
Last edited:
MissDee said:
(side note) .. im not sure if this is the doc. you mention ?? it was recently uploaded here >>

..
Click to expand...

Wow, that video hit me like a punch in the gut! Billy McPhee(aka Billy Two-Tone) came from the same village as me, Bannockburn. I was at Primary School when this was shown, but EVERYONE was talking about it even though most of us were too young to be allowed to watch it. The wee boy seen wiping tears from his eyes at around 1hr26min was Billy's younger brother who was at school with us at the time. That was the one moment everyone at school spoke about because a fellow pupil was on TV(although I'm sure he would have much preferred not to be).
We all knew about Billy being dumped in a ditch, made to swallow paper(?!) etc, and even some of the conversations about the case used to give my single-digit aged head horrible nightmares.
The scenes of the funeral at Bannockburn cemetery near the end gave me chills like I've never felt in my life before, like looking at an entire village of ghosts!!

Thanks for posting the video, and thanks for unleashing a whole new set of fresh sleepless nights:unsure:
 
Last edited:

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