The Smiths – Hatful of Hollows (1984) Album Edit

For those not in the know, fan albums are the attempts of me and many others to take songs and put them on an album, typically they’re made to improve upon something, such as an existing album or to take non-album tracks and put them on an album.

I discovered The Smiths recently and they’ve quickly become one of my favorite bands. That’s mainly due to the performing and songwriting of Johnny Marr, the guitarist and Morrissey, the singer. Sadly, their big personalities resulted in only four LPs being cut before they couldn’t stand each other and the band broke up. However, there are three compilation albums released during the band’s life that are sometimes canonized as being basically albums by the band. One boxset called Complete features the four studios plus those three comps. The comps feature no LP tracks, though they do have overlap with each other. If you were to buy Complete, you’d have some repeats throughout and also some missing tracks. Seeing as the non-studio tunes are the length of three albums, I am led to ask, “What if these albums had all the tracks and no repeats?” This is the first of the three. The twelve cuts here span from before the first album to between the first and second. The sound is a little rougher than the better remembered songs. Morrissey on occasion comes off as unsure of how to sing the songs. Still, these songs are good and some are considered classics of the band, namely “This Charming Man”, “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now, and “How Soon Is Now?”

My listening order was as followed:

1. I Want a Boy For My Birthday
2. Jeane
3. This Charming Man
4. Wonderful Woman
5. Handsome Devil
6. Back to the Old House
7. Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now
8. These Things Take Time
9. Accept Yourself
10. This Night Has Opened My Eyes
11. Girl Afraid
12. How Soon Is Now?
13. Fast One

This was tightened up to give more high-and-low into what is a more effective album. Also, the track “Fast One” shouldn’t be counted as part of the album, but instead as a bonus. There’s no Morrissey. It seemed sensible to put it here just so it doesn’t get lost. The album’s title and cover are the same as the actual Hatful of Hollows album.

THE SMITHS – HATFUL OF HOLLOWS

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “I Want a Boy For My Birthday” (Sylvester Bradford)
2. “Jeane” (Johnny Marr, Morrissey)
3. “This Charming Man” (Johnny Marr, Morrissey)
4. “Handsome Devil” (Johnny Marr, Morrissey)
5. “Back to the Old House” (Johnny Marr, Morrissey)
6. “Wonderful Woman” (Johnny Marr, Morrissey)

SIDE B

1. “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” (Johnny Marr, Morrissey)
2. “These Things Take Time” (Johnny Marr, Morrissey)
3. “Accept Yourself” (Johnny Marr, Morrissey)
4. “This Night Has Opened My Eyes” (Johnny Marr, Morrissey)
5. “Girl Afraid” (Johnny Marr, Morrissey)
6. “How Soon Is Now?” (Johnny Marr, Morrissey)

BONUS TRACK

1. “Fast One” (unknown, probably Johnny Marr)

PERSONNEL

• Morrissey – lead vocals (tracks 1-12)
• Johnny Marr – guitar (tracks 1-13)
• Andy Rourke – bass (tracks 1-13)
• Mike Joyce – drums (tracks 1-13)

The Smiths (1984)

Hatful of Hollows (1984)

Meat Is Murder (1985)

This is a passion of mine and if one person likes what I do, I’ll feel honored. I like suggestions on what artist to cover next, so if you know of one you’d like me to look at, feel free to suggest ‘em!

The Clash – Band on the Run (1979) Album Edit (Take 1)

For those not in the know, fan albums are the attempts of me and many others to take songs and put them on an album, typically they’re made to improve upon something, such as an existing album or to take non-album tracks and put them on an album.

The Clash had a healthy amount of recordings in 1979. This album covers the 1979 period roughly. “Pressure Drop” is from 1978 and “Armagideon Time” is absent due to being recorded in late 1979, it’ll be included on the next fan album. The Clash had a lot of non-album singles which covered the first fan album and this one here. Non-album singles will become less common starting here. I like when each side of an album has a different feel, such as with the first Minor Threat fan album of mine, where each side was recorded a few months apart. Side a of this fan album are singles and side b consists of London Calling demos. Most of the demos would be refined into London Calling songs. The exception is “Walking the Slidewalk”, which is an LC demo, but is at the end of side a, due to fitting better there. Admittedly, most of the demos are not good enough in the state they exist in. If they had been committed to, they would’ve ultimately been more polished and professional sounding. I include them here as my goal is to cover every Clash song not on their proper studio albums. If you want just the professional stuff, just listen to the first five cuts here. That being said, I wouldn’t call the demos valueless. There’s some interesting cuts here.

Originally, this would be titled “Capital Radio”, but upon finding the above art, I changed it to the name already on it. Frustratingly, the official YouTube upload of “Capital Radio Two” is just called “Capital Radio”, making it easy to confuse it with “Capital Radio One”.

This album marks the beginning of a new era for the Clash. Their first two official albums and my first fan album were strictly punk. This is the beginning of the post-punk era. Unlike with the first era, the first album of it isn’t the best, but Band on the Run is a good sign of what’s to come. The next album in line after Band on the Run is the famous London Calling. London Calling‘s follow-up will be covered next time.

THE CLASH – BAND ON THE RUN

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “I Fought the Law” (Sonny Curtis)
2. “Pressure Drop” (Toots Hibbert)
3. “Capital Radio Two” (Joe Strummer, Mick Jones)
4. “Groovy Times” (Joe Strummer, Mick Jones)
5. “Gates of the West” (Joe Strummer, Mick Jones)
6. “Walking the Slidewalk” (Joe Strummer, Mick Jones)

SIDE B

1. “Lonesome Me” (The Clash)
2. “Where You Gonna Go (Soweto)” (Joe Strummer, Mick Jones)
3. “Heart and Mind” (Joe Strummer, Mick Jones)
4. “Up-Toon” (Joe Strummer, Mick Jones)
5. “The Man In Me” (Bob Dylan)

PERSONNEL

• Joe Strummer – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Mick Jones – lead guitar, vocals
• Paul Simonon – bass guitar
• Topper Headon – drums

Band on the Run (1979)

London Calling (1979)

This is a passion of mine and if one person likes what I do, I’ll feel honored. I like suggestions on what artist to cover next, so if you know of one you’d like me to look at, feel free to suggest ‘em!