It’s taken me 17 weeks, but I’ve finally decided that I have to share the review given to a Morrissey single by the NME:-
He has become the embarrassing incontinent grandfather of Britpop. The song is piss-poor old crap and a tune-impaired three-minute drone.
Now, given that the world’s most famous vegetarian and the paper have waged a bit of a war with one another since the late 80s, it’s no surprise that many of his releases have been treated with some disdain by various correspondents. It has to be said however, that this is a particularly vitriolic putdown.
But whisper it……they’re right….well the bit about it being piss-poor old crap and tune-impaired.
mp3 : Morrissey – Dagenham Dave
mp3 : Morrissey – Nobody Loves Us
mp3 : Morrissey – You Must Please Remember
It’s a 3-track CD single saved by the quality of Nobody Loves Us, a song that amidst so much flotsam and jetsam demonstrates that the great man could still give us something worth clinging onto as we floundered for reasons to keep believing.
The cover star for once is not Morrissey, but instead is a photo taken sometime in the 60s of footballer Terry Venables (born in Dagenham). If you want to know more about the life of that particular chancer, read here.
The single was released in August 1995 and reached #26 in the UK charts. It can also be found on the largely unloved Southpaw Grammar LP.
Happy Listening.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
I’ll bring up the minority here and say that I have no issue with Dagenham Dave. Maybe it’s not filled with pearls of vitriolic wisdom or a career defining tune or some universal truths – who says it’s supposed to be? Maybe it’s meant as a particular commentary on a particular person…It’s still miles above the crap that called itself Britpop in the mid 90’s.
I agree totally with Echorich, and, to put my wee but in, I think that Nobody Loves Us is one of the best tracks that Middle Moz wrote/recorded.
I can’t really defend DD, other than exorcising the Mozzer’s George Formby fixation, there seems little point to it.
However, the NME appear to be back in love with him (or, at least, courting his fans in a desperate attempt to lure back old readers): they just gave his new album 9 out of 10. (I read that in Morrisons, I didn’t buy it.)