THE MOZ SINGLES (Part 2)

I promised at least one reader that when the Cult Classics series ended I’d use the Sunday slot to feature all the Morrissey singles.  Those of you who don’t like the idea have only got yourselves to blame….if you’d submitted more of your own cult favourites then we wouldn’t be here today looking at the career of a bloke who has invited Cliff Richard and Tom Jones to be special guests on upcoming shows in NYC and LA…..

As I mentioned back in January, Morrissey has released 39 singles across his solo career. Three of these have been US only releases, while another was a gorgeous duet with Siousxie Sioux.  For an awful long while, particularly at the beginning of his solo career, many of his singles weren’t included on any studio albums (although inevitably, they would find their way onto one or more compilations).

This particular release was a stand-alone single, and was actually the fourth and final 45 Morrissey released back in 1991.  It was regarded by many as a return to the more recognisable and better-loved  sound after a flirtation with rockabilly, albeit this single and its new b-side had lyrics that allowed critics to lazily throw the miserablist tag at him.

My Love Life is a song that didn’t really anything for me at the time, but while I’ve grown to like it a lot more over the years I still think its about 45 seconds too long.  It features Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders on backing vocals

But if I wasn’t always fond of the main track, that’s not a statement I’ll ever apply to the new song that was put on the b-side as I’ve Changed My Plea To Guilty has always been one of my favourite solo Morrissey tracks.

I really feel this was the sort of musical road that The Smiths were beginning to go down at the end of their career with Johnny Marr trying to introduce more keyboards to the band’s sound, and I’m convinced it’s one that would have been near the top of many ‘my favourite ever Smiths song’ polls had it been written and recorded a few years earlier.

The bonus track on the 12″ is a live recording of There’s A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends. It’s a version recorded for KROQ radio station in Los Angeles, and one that is completely unrecognisable from the original piano-led version that closed the LP Kill Uncle.

My Love Life hit #29 in September 1991, and the cover shot, which shows the famous quiff at its finest, was taken in Dublin while the aforementioned Kill Uncle album was being toured.

mp3 : Morrissey – My Love Life
mp3 : Morrissey – I’ve Changed My Plea To Guilty
mp3 : Morrissey – There’s A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends (live)

Happy Listening.