Strangeways, Here We Come
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| Strangeways, Here We Come | |||||
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| Studio album by The Smiths | |||||
| Released | September 28, 1987 | ||||
| Recorded | Spring 1987 | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | ||||
| Length | 36:37 | ||||
| Label | Rough Trade Records | ||||
| Producer | Johnny Marr, Morrissey and Stephen Street | ||||
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Strangeways, Here We Come is the fourth and final studio album by The Smiths, originally released in 1987. The album takes its title from Manchester's notorious (and now renamed) Strangeways Prison, whilst the line "Borstal, here we come" is taken from Billy Liar. All of the songs on the album were composed by Johnny Marr, with lyrics written and sung by Morrissey.
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[edit] About the album
The Smiths recorded what was to be their final studio album at the Wool Hall studios in Bath, England. Although still firmly an indie record, it finds the band experimenting with overtly synthesized saxophone and string arrangements and drum machine additions.
Between the record's recording in March and its release in September 1987 the band had broken up after Johnny Marr announced in August that he had left the band. The album rose to No. 2 in the British and No. 55 in the American charts.
Strangeways, Here We Come may be The Smiths' last album, but it does not feature their last-ever recordings, as a final two songs were recorded in May 1987 to provide B-sides for the album's lead single, "Girlfriend in a Coma" (see the entry on "I Keep Mine Hidden", B-side for this single and the last song The Smiths recorded). Two more singles were taken off Strangeways, Here We Come; they were supplemented on their B-sides by archive recordings.
[edit] Cover
The sleeve for Strangeways, Here We Come, which was designed by Morrissey, features a murky shot of East of Eden co-star Richard Davalos. Davalos is looking at James Dean, who is cropped from the image. Dean was a hero of Morrissey's, about whom the singer wrote a book called "James Dean Is Not Dead". Five years later, when designing the sleeve for WEA's Best of compilations, Morrissey again chose Davalos as a cover star, and Davalos is looking at Dean, who is once again cropped.
As revealed in Jo Slee's collection of Smiths and Morrissey sleeve artwork, "Peepholism", Davalos was not the original choice for cover star. Morrissey wanted to use a still of Harvey Keitel in Martin Scorsese's "I Call First" (also known as "Who's That Knocking At My Door"(1967)), but Keitel declined to allow him to use the image. In 1991 Keitel relented, and the image was used on t-shirts and stage backdrops for Morrissey's 1991 solo tour.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Morrissey/Marr.
[edit] LP
[edit] Side A
- "A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours"
- "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish"
- "Death of a Disco Dancer"
- "Girlfriend in a Coma"
- "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before"
[edit] Side B
- "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me"
- "Unhappy Birthday"
- "Paint a Vulgar Picture"
- "Death at One's Elbow"
- "I Won't Share You"
[edit] Compact disc
- Same as that of the LP, but with continuous numbering.
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Band
- Morrissey - vocals, piano on "Death of a Disco Dancer"
- Johnny Marr - guitar, keyboards, harmonica, synthesized strings and saxophone arrangements
- Andy Rourke - bass guitar
- Mike Joyce - drums
[edit] Additional musicians
- Stephen Street – additional drum machine programming on "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish", "Paint a Vulgar Picture" and "Death at One's Elbow", and strings arrangement for "Girlfriend in a Coma"
The sleeve notes list Orchestrazia Ardwick as being responsible for performance of the strings and saxophone arrangements; in reality, this is Johnny Marr and his synthesizer.
[edit] Technical staff
- Johnny Marr, Morrissey, and Stephen Street – producers
- Steve Williams – assistant engineer
[edit] In popular culture
The photographer Sefton Samuels had used the title "Strangeways Here We Come" in 1971 for a photograph of the imposing Victorian prison.
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