THE MOZ SINGLES (30)

Ok folks…..you’re going to get short-changed this week.

I’ve endeavoured to bring you all the singles plus all the b-sides that Morrissey has released as a solo artist over the years. But, there’s a couple missing from a single released in February 2008.

It really comes down to the fact that I couldn’t be bothered shelling out three times for the same release, when all I would get in return were a couple of live songs from shows that were part of American tours in May and October 2007. It was bad enough that the single was being used to promote the eighth compilation/greatest hits album – the exact same number as actual studio albums that had been released at this point in time.

So, I only bought one of the two versions of the 7″ single, and here are both sides of the fantastic plastic in all their glory:-

mp3 : Morrissey – That’s How People Grow Up
mp3 : Morrissey – The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (live)

The single itself is one of the better offerings in the singles canon, in as much that a bit of a plodding tune is rescued by a fine vocal by Morrissey and a wonderfully strange and glass-shattering intro from backing vocalist Kirsteen Young. (Ms Young had previously supported Morrissey on some of his American dates, and has fronted her own two-piece band featuring pianos and percussion since the late 90s – she kind of sounds like Kate Bush at times and Tori Amos at other times. )

The b-side is a Smiths cover….regular readers will know my views on these. This offering from Omaha in May 2007 is fairly typical and unessential fayre.

The single reached a surprisingly low #14 in the UK charts, which is probably down to the fact that it had received a lot of airplay for about two months before release and most fans had downloaded a copy from somewhere or other. Maybe if a bit more effort had gone into the b-sides it might have charted higher…..but then again, given that the follow-up single performed even more poorly despite having new songs on the reverse blows that theory of mine out the water.

Oh and it is versions of Why Dont You Find Out For Yourself from Salt Lake City and Last Of The Famous International Playboys from New York, both in October 2007 that are missing. I’m sure you’ll forgive me.