TODAY’S TOP TEN ALBUMS OF THE ’80s (by Paul Hallam) 1. Hatful Of Hollow – The Smiths 2. More Specials – The Specials 3. Diamond Life - Sade 4. Sound Affects – The Jam 5. Hull 4 London 0 – The Housemartins 6. Licensed To Ill - Beastie Boys 7. Looking For Lewis And Clarke Mini Album - Long Ryders 8. Pretenders II – The Pretenders 9. Do A Runner – Athletico Spizz 80 10.Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) - David Bowie ‘Hatful Of Hollow is my No. 1 as it was the first time that decade I realised anything other than a ’60s soul or r ’n’ b based album could be good – and Johnny Marr’s guitar is timeless,’ says Paul Hallam, debonair man about town who used to run the legendary Filthy McNasty’s pub in Islington. Paul publishes books on music and youth culture and he’s also responsible for the very wonderful Street Sounds magazine, along with Garry Bushell, that appears quarterly. An annual of all the issues published so far has just come out. Check it out here streetsoundsonline.co.uk/shop.html ‘Can I nominate young Spizz to do a chart?’ You sure can, Paul. Hey Spizz, where’s Captain Kirk…? Done your Top Ten yet? Message, don’t post, your selection and if you could mention why you chose your No. 1 that would be great. If you want to promote anything – record, book, film, gig etc. – send the details at the same time. We guarantee to post every one we receive. Also, if you’d like to nominate a friend or friends to do the Top Ten challenge, please be our guests. The aim is to produce the Ultimate Flexipop! Top 40 Albums Of The 80s Chart so please put your choices in order. The following have been nominated to do their TOP TEN ALBUMS OF THE ’80s. Hatful Of Hollow was a compilation album featuring BBC Radio 1 studio recordings and two singles with their B-sides. It was released on 12 November 1984 just months after the bands debut, The Smiths. It reached No. 7 in the UK and stayed on the chart for 46 weeks. It was released in the US on 9 November 1993. Q magazine placed Hatful Of Hollow at No. 44 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. The album consists mainly of songs recorded over several BBC Radio 1 sessions in 1983. When first broadcast, these radio sessions mainly featured songs which were otherwise unavailable – all were subsequently re-recorded for singles or the following years debut album, with the exception of This Night Has Opened My Eyes which was only ever recorded for the September Peel session. The album also features the bands debut single, Hand in Glove, and their two most recent singles prior to the albums release, Heaven Knows Im Miserable Now and William, It Was Really Nothing, with their B-sides Girl Afraid, How Soon Is Now?, and Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want. In a review of the album the BBC said: ‘Already the darlings of the evening tastemakers at Radio 1 and the music press, Morrissey and Marrs Smiths had, by 1984, yet to make a satisfying entry in the album stakes. Their eponymous debut had some fine songs, but the production had left them sounding rather tinny and un-finished. Luckily their prodigious work-rate and sensible decision to use Radio 1 sessions as substitute studio/rehearsal time meant that they were soon perfecting their recorded sound as well as honing their formidable writing skills. ‘Equally luckily someone at Rough Trade noticed, and a deal was struck to release these sessions along with some non-album A and B sides as Hatful Of Hollow. In one fell swoop the mistakes of the previous six months were forgotten. ‘Hatfuls versions of the debut’s material, including Hand In Glove, Reel Around The Fountain and What Difference Does It Make, suddenly come alive in this quick and dirty environment – more closely resembling the live favourites that had won them acclaim in the first place. But it was the new material that really shone here. Singles William It Was Really Nothing and Heaven Knows Im Miserable Now revealed giant steps in both Morrisseys deadpan witticisms and Marrs way with a punchy hook, while Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want, Back To The Old House and This Night Has Opened My Eyes all showed the Mancunian bard to be now a master of gothic, Northern pathos. The last is quite desperately sad, with its moral upbraiding of an unwanted pregnancys termination. ‘As if this wasnt enough, Hatful… contains the first appearance of what may be the bands finest moment. How Soon Is Now encapsulates everything good about the Smiths. It has Morrissey’s faintly mocking sense of teenage rejection (…so you go and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own. And you go home and you cry and you want to die), Marrs stunning vibrato guitar chimes and a rhythm section you could set your watch to. Within weeks it was winning Peels Festive 50. ‘Hatful Of Hollow was the point where even to doubters began to really believe the hype surrounding the band. It was their true debut in every sense.’ Track List: 1. William, It Was Really Nothing (Single A-Side) 2. What Difference Does It Make? (John Peel Session, 5/18/83) 3. These Things Take Time (David Jensen Session, 6/26/83) 4. This Charming Man (John Peel Session, 9/14/83) 5. How Soon Is Now? (B-Side Of William, It Was Really Nothing) 6. Handsome Devil (John Peel Session, 5/18/83) 7. Hand In Glove (Single Version) (Single A-Side) 8. Still Ill (John Peel Session, 9/14/83) 9. Heaven Knows Im Miserable Now (Single A-Side) 10.This Night Has Opened My Eyes (John Peel Session, 9/14/83) 11.Youve Got Everything Now (David Jensen Session, 6/26/83) 12.Accept Yourself (David Jensen Session, 8/25/83) 13.Girl Afraid (B-Side Of Heaven Knows Im Miserable Now) 14.Back To The Old House (John Peel Session, 9/14/83) 15.Reel Around The Fountain (John Peel Session, 5/18/83) 16.Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want (B-Side Of William, It Was Really Nothing) How Soon Is Now? was released as a single on 28 January1985. It reached No. 24 in the British charts, but failed to chart in the US. Both Morrissey and Johnny Marr lamented the lack of chart success of what they considered their strongest song so far. Marr described it as ‘possibly our most enduring record. Its most peoples favourite, I think.’ He might have a point there – it was voted No. 3 in the Flexipop! Ultimate Top 40 Singles of the 80s chart earlier this year. How Soon Is Now? has been described as the ‘Stairway to Heaven of the eighties.’ So, without further ado, ‘Theres a lady whos sure all that glitters is gold…’
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 13:38:16 +0000
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