It's just a fairytale

I've been a fan of The Smiths enough that I have all the albums and I can probably quote more than a handful of Morrissey's great lines, or at least my favorite ones. I was never hardcore, though, the albums were good enough for me and I didn't really delve much further. Tonight, I'm sorta surprised to discover, thanks to the good folks over at Extra Track (and a tacky badge), that they did a 4-track single with Sandie Shaw. I recognize the name and I know she's English, but I really only know of her through a song or two from a couple girl-group compilations. I don't think her singing is that great, but it's interesting enough to give it a couple listens. The writer from the Extra Track Smiths blog pretty much sums it up for me, click here if you want to read his post regarding this release.

Sandie Shaw > Jeane


PS - Also, I didn't know how to list the artists. Is it Sandie Shaw with The Smiths? The Smiths with Sandie Shaw? or how about The Smiths featuring Sandie Shaw? The artwork on the front cover reads only Sandie Shaw, so I guess I'll go with that.

The Smiths Project

 I stumbled onto Janice Whaley's Smiths Project a short time ago (via Slicing Up Eyeballs, which is a cool 80s sorta alternative music blog). She's basically trying to cover every Smiths song by the end of this year, and it looks like she's on track to hit that goal. You can go to the blog and listen, and you also can download tracks here. As of this writing, there are 32 tracks for your downloading pleasure. I also grabbed her widget thingy (man, that sounds dirty) from which you can listen here, as well. That is, if you're lazy and don't want to navigate away from here. Anyway, I think her endeavor is very cool and anyone who is a fan of The Smiths should give it a listen. And really, who doesn't like The Smiths?

Passions just like mine

A long time ago, I went to see a friend who was living in Santa Barbara at the time. I decided to head down there on my motorcycle and I took the scenic route, Highway 101 to Highway 1, if I remember correctly. It was roughly a 7 or 8 hour trip. I think around when I hit Monterey, The Smiths' Cemetry Gates somehow slipped into my head, I have no idea why. All I can remember from the ride, though, is me, my motorcycle, the highway...and that song in my head. All the way down to Santa Barbara. It could have been a worse song, I guess. It's just a little maddening after the first few hours.

The Smiths > Cemetry Gates