One of THE great early songs by The Smiths was tucked away as a b-side on a 12" single. The indie-kids very own version of Don't Worry, Be Happy:-mp3 : The Smiths - Accept Yourself
Its an infectiously catchy and hugely danceable number - but I don't actually ever recall shaking my ass to it on a dance floor until a few months ago when it was part of the playlist at one of the National Pop League nights. Having said that, I have moved around a bit to it at parties over the years.
At this point in time, other than the stuff taped off the radio, The Smiths had released just two songs, one of which was a live recording. The four songs that made up the 7" and 12" copies of This Charming Man just took the band to new heights. Yes, some bands at the time did release some cracking b-sides, but this just seemed to be very special. If this was the sort of stuff they were prepared to in a sense just throw away, well no wonder the sense of anticipation around the debut LP was so huge.
It's the combination of a killer tune and a hugely enjoyable and uplifting lyric that makes it so special. You might be sick, dull, plain, hate your life and have issues about your footwear.....but it doesn't really matter all that much. Shove this on the next time someone labels the band as the arch-miserablists and prove them so wrong.
If anything, the version that was recorded for a Radio One session in August 1983 is superior....ever so slightly slower in pace, the guitar playing is as jingly-jangly as it gets while the vocal is just so much sharper and clearer:-
mp3 : The Smiths - Accept Yourself (Jensen session)
Sadly, it was a song never played live after the end of 1983 meaning only those fortunate enough to have been at the very earliest of shows got to her it live (it was never ever played in Scotland!!)
From the show in Leicester that is advertised in the photo that accompanies today's post:-
mp3 : The Smiths - Accept Yourself (live)
Happy Listening.
2 comments:
how good it is to discover every saturday which Smiths single you selected.
Every song corresponds to a different period of my life, or a different place.
I realize no other band counted so much to me. Definitely thesoundtrack of my young man years.
The Jensen Session version (which appears on "Hatful" I believe, is definitely far superior. Nice live gem, thanks as always for your stellar work. Despite not being British and discovering them 2 years after they'd split, they have been, and remain, my favorite band ever.
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