These B-sides....don't you think it's silly?

[Maradona]

Silly in the sense that, with performances as beautiful as "The Boy with the Thorn in his Side" and "Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself?", Moz should decide to consign them to b-sides on little-heard (and, no doubt, little-bought) vinyl b-sides.

I mean, that heartbreakingly tough yet tender, almost impossibly perfect version of "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" is a song that every music fan should hear, in my opinion....

..and am I right in thinking these are not even on the bonus live disc with Greatest Hits? Weird. Like most of you, I'm sure, I strongly suspected we'd get a whole live show either on audio or DVD with the set, in an expanded edition or something. Maybe it's on that weird Moz download site with the mysterious "Morrissey music soon coming soon" message thing.

These could have been highlights of some as-yet-unplanned box set somewhere down the line...and I know there are other nuggets out there.

 

[Cowshed]

I seriously doubt there is any planned Morrissey box-set on the horizon, and judging by all these downloads that keep appearing it seems Morrissey (and/or Decca) record every Morrissey gig.

As for strange choices, I'm not too sure. I find it a little more odd that the CD has only 2 tracks, and one of them isn't a great version of Playboys. Although the live version of The Boy with a Thorn in his Side is very good. A little vinyl gem.

 

[Kewpie]

Last week, someone reported that Morrissey's back catalogue will be reissued in August:
http://www.morrissey-solo.com/article.pl?sid=08/01/30/1654250

Hopefully those feature some bonus tracks.

 

[Mel_Torment]

Mozzer's b-side perversity

Silly in the sense that, with performances as beautiful as "The Boy with the Thorn in his Side" and "Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself?", Moz should decide to consign them to b-sides on little-heard (and, no doubt, little-bought) vinyl b-sides.

I mean, that heartbreakingly tough yet tender, almost impossibly perfect version of "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" is a song that every music fan should hear, in my opinion....

I hear ya in that everyone should hear an "impossibly perfect version of" Boy w/ Thorn!

But I've come to expect that Mozzer's b-sides are hidden gems, treasures that are gifts to the faithful who seek out and purchase the increasingly inaccessible vinyl singles (hard to find/not well-stocked in the major chains).

I may be deluded and rationalising Mozzer's poor marketing, but b-side perversity is what I've come to believe after seeing several years of mediocre A-sides coupled with astounding B-sides from Moz.

 

[spleenhead]

Even more ridiculous that I bought all 3 formats and that both of the vinyl b-sides repeatedly skip so that they're literally unlistenable. Ironically the single which I have heard too many times already plays fine on both vinyls.

 

[Theo]

Morrissey needs to wake up and realize that vinyl is over. I say that as someone who still has a turntable and still uses it. For him to keep putting out tracks exclusively on vinyl is laughable. But this is a guy who tries and make his CDs look as much like vinyl records as possible.

 

[Maradona]

Another weird thing:

The performances of "The Boy with the Thorn in his Side" and "Why Don't You Find out for Yourself" are far more interesting than anything on the bonus live disc that came with Greatest Hits!

He's such a weirdo, man....

 

[dcn]

I applaud the release of the vinyl. Part of the reason that some of the tracks are released as b-sides to the singles is because the record company knows people will then buy the digital download so as to not have to digitize them themselves.

So, they are selling a cd single with one extra track, two 45's with a track or two each that some will want because they either still like vinyl or still like to have a tangible item and they will also sell the digital download for reasons mentioned above. They are covering all bases and trying to move product.

 

[Jukebox Jury]

Morrissey needs to wake up and realize that vinyl is over.

As someone with a vinyl jukebox, I have to disagree

Jukebox Jury

 

[FDR]

I applaud the release of the vinyl. Part of the reason that some of the tracks are released as b-sides to the singles is because the record company knows people will then buy the digital download so as to not have to digitize them themselves.

So, they are selling a cd single with one extra track, two 45's with a track or two each that some will want because they either still like vinyl or still like to have a tangible item and they will also sell the digital download for reasons mentioned above. They are covering all bases and trying to move product.

In doing so, they are also increasing their soundscan numbers (measuring sales), helping push the single up the charts and therefore keeping Moz relevent to people who may be too young to know him historically. Don't get me wrong, I always buy them all for the purpose of collecting everything, but you have to question the motivation.

 

[King Leer]

Putting aside which live b-sides should've been where, it seems many are not happy that there weren't new songs on the flip side.

But as far as Greatest Hits albums go (think of any band), is it usual to record new b-sides when it's usually just a single new track included with the hits?

 

[Theo]

Re: Mozzer's b-side perversity

But I've come to expect that Mozzer's b-sides are hidden gems, treasures that are gifts to the faithful who seek out and purchase the increasingly inaccessible vinyl singles (hard to find/not well-stocked in the major chains).

I may be deluded and rationalising Mozzer's poor marketing, but b-side perversity is what I've come to believe after seeing several years of mediocre A-sides coupled with astounding B-sides from Moz.

He needs to make sure every b-side is on the CD format. The sound quality of CDs is superior to downloads, and when a song is just on vinyl I can't put it on my IPod Shuffle without buying some new equipment.

I have a small vinyl collection and still play records, and I really love how the album art looks with the larger vinyl sleeves. But Morrissey needs to get over his nostalgia for vinyl. Enough with the CDs designed to look like lil records too.

 

[Theo]

I applaud the release of the vinyl. Part of the reason that some of the tracks are released as b-sides to the singles is because the record company knows people will then buy the digital download so as to not have to digitize them themselves.

So, they are selling a cd single with one extra track, two 45's with a track or two each that some will want because they either still like vinyl or still like to have a tangible item and they will also sell the digital download for reasons mentioned above. They are covering all bases and trying to move product.

It's f***ing annoying. I prefer his U.S. CD singles, which have 3 b-sides. Why should I have to fumble around with 3 CD cases just to hear 4 songs?

 

[Not Right in the Head]

It's f***ing annoying. I prefer his U.S. CD singles, which have 3 b-sides. Why should I have to fumble around with 3 CD cases just to hear 4 songs?

Why don't you just rip them all to your computer and never look at the CDs again?

 

[Theo]

Why don't you just rip them all to your computer and never look at the CDs again?

Because I'm stuck in the CD past like Moz is stuck in the vinyl past?

 

[Theo]

Because I'm stuck in the CD past like Moz is stuck in the vinyl past?

But I do now have two IPod Shuffles, and the second one is packed entirely with every Smiths/Morrissey studio song, including a few alternate versions (but not including those silly "This Charming Man" remixes, and not including the Troy Tate sessions), plus a few odds and ends with Sandie Shaw ("Please Help The Cuase Against Loneliness," "I Don't Owe You Anything", "Jeane," two versions of "Hand In Glove") and Nancy Sinatra ("Let Me Kiss You"). It took my retarded self a long time to edit out the fan phone-ins from the KROQ "Sing Your Life" for this purpose.

From "Reel Around The Fountain" to "Sweetie-Pie" is quite a listen. I don't have the new shit yet. Just got "Sweetie-Pie" in the mail this afternoon (LOVE that song). So, that's 254 songs, 16 hours, 893.7MB.

Unfortunately, space is running low and I can't fit all his officially released live albums/songs. I allowed for five live tracks - "Jack The Ripper" right before "Vauxhall & I", "Cosmic Dancer" from "My Early Burglary Years" and "First Of the Gang To Die" from Craig Kilborn right before "You Are The Quarry", and "There Is A Light" and "Redondo Beach" because they were singles. I have the Kilborn recording in there even though it's not an official release because "Cosmic Dancer" is the track I use to close the '90s era and represent the 7 Year Wait, and then Kilborn's voice comes on to say, "Performing a new song for the very first time on television....." to signal the beginning of the Attack era.

Looks like I'll have to take a baby-step up to a *gasp* Ipod Nano to have the full discography fully pocket-sized and portable.

 

[vivabob]

Morrissey needs to wake up and realize that vinyl is over. I say that as someone who still has a turntable and still uses it. For him to keep putting out tracks exclusively on vinyl is laughable. But this is a guy who tries and make his CDs look as much like vinyl records as possible.

vinyl is actually proving to be getting more and more popular as of late - and with the USB turntable could have a renessance

 

[Morrissey the 23rd]

As someone with a vinyl jukebox, I have to disagree

Jukebox Jury

To pop on a couple of 7" b-sides from your jukebox before going to bed or heading out, is just magic.

Vinyl is the best sounding format.

Also, on the point of formats thought to be from the past. The isn't anything much better than making or having a mixed tape made for you. There is no skipping tracks that way and your hidden message is better passed on than passing on files or a CD.

 

[Not Right in the Head]

It took my retarded self a long time to edit out the fan phone-ins from the KROQ "Sing Your Life" for this purpose.

Since you have iTunes, you don't even need to edit the song. Just select it in iTunes, control-click it to Get Info, switch to the Options tab, and enter 3:40 as the stop time.

To pop on a couple of 7" b-sides from your jukebox before going to bed or heading out, is just magic.

Vinyl is the best sounding format.

I've got several linear feet of vinyl and a turntable within inches of my bed, and I still never bother to play vinyl. Even though it's the format I started with back in '83 or so, I still can't understand the nostalgia about it.

Also, on the point of formats thought to be from the past. The isn't anything much better than making or having a mixed tape made for you. There is no skipping tracks that way and your hidden message is better passed on than passing on files or a CD.

I do agree about mix tapes. I haven't made one in years, because I keep telling myself that it's much easier to do on the computer, yet I haven't done any of those, either.