collectors appendix
UK 7" [Rough Trade RT131]
Rigid sleeve. Blue label with silver text. As the Smiths grew in popularity and the single sold out, more copies had to be pressed. Four versions have been reported:
- 'Manchester' version - May 1983
back: "Endless Gratitude to Joe and Janet" / "Sleeve by The Smiths" / Manchester contact adress
label: solid centre; publishers are Glad Hips music; Rough Trade logo on top
RT 131 A1 / RT 131 B1; estimated 6000 copies were pressed
Ranked #94 in the 1992 Record Collector Top 100 Smiths collectibles, value £12. Absent from 2005 Top 100. - 'London-Smiths' version - mid-1984
back: idem but London contact adress
label: push-out centre; publishers changed to Warner Bros; Rough Trade logo moved to left; band name now bigger
RT 131 A1 / RT 131 B1 - 'London-Morrissey' version - appr 1986
back: idem to 'London' above but sleeve credit changed to Morrissey and gratitude line dropped
label: back to solid centre but layout idem to previous version
RT 131 A1 / RT 131 B1
RT 131 A-2U-1-2- / RT131 B1; 'kiss my shades' now lowercase instead of all uppercase on a-side, nothing on b-side - 'no address' version - date unknown, appr. mid-1980s
back: no contact address, Smiths sleeve credit and 'gratitude' line are present
label: idem to previous
RT 131 A-2U-1-2- / RT-131-B; no 'kiss my shades'
RT 131 A-2U-1-1-25 Kiss My Shades / RT 131 B1 KISS MY SHADES TOO
A 'Manchester' version with sleeve credited to Morrissey is rumoured, but unconfirmed.
It is speculated that the 'no address' version may have been produced for export, hence the removal of the contact address. Some copies have 'Made in England' stickers on them.
It is possible that variations on the above exist. Leftover sleeves were sometimes re-used with a later represssing, or vice versa, therefore sometimes a record will be found inside a sleeve that doesn't match.
UK 7" - 2008 reissue [Rhino UK RHN131]
Almost identical to original Rough Trade release. The sleeve is still rigid. On the back of it the catalogue number was changed to RHN131, a barcode was added at the bottom and the "Distributed by The Cartel" line was removed. The sleeve is credited to the Smiths and the Gratitude line is present. There are obviously no Rough Trade contact address. The record has a solid centre. On the label there is no logo and the catalogue number was also changed to RHN131. Publishers on the right are now Universal Music, etc.
UK 7" - jukebox issue [Rough Trade RT131]
The text layout on the label of the "Hand In Glove" jukebox 7" is the same as that of the Manchester version described above, but the record has a large opening in the centre. It doesn't come with a picture sleeve unless someone found an orphan sleeve for it.
RT 131 A1 / RT 131 B1
UK 7" - 1983 promo [Rough Trade RT131]
The original 1983 release of the single was promoted via stock copies with a white Scott Piering (plugger) contact info sticker on the back. Some came with a 2-page 'Appearing' A4 press release. Others came with a Rough Trade press sheet which is headed "Official Biography, 13 May 1983" by Ivor Jones.
RT 130 A-1U-1-1-5 / RT 130 B-1U-1-1-2
UK 7" - 1984 white label promos [Rough Trade RT131]
Two 1984 white label promos have been reported. Both usually come with a press release if they have not been lost.
- Two-sided, stamped '18 APR 1984'. Matrix numbers RT131 A1 / RT131 B1 also handwritten on the label. Some also have 'EMI' written on the label. This very likely corresponds to the 1984 'London-Smiths' version listed above.
RT 131 A1 / RT 131 B1
Ranked #13 in the 2005 Record Collector Top 100 Smiths collectibles, value £200. - One-sided with test tones on b-side, stamped '1 JUN 1984' on the label. The matrix number is RT131 A 2U, also appears handwritten on the label. This may correspond to the 'no address' version listed above.
RT 131 A-2U-1-1-1
Ranked #11 in the 2005 Record Collector Top 100 Smiths collectibles, value £250.
UK 30cm x 60cm promo poster (12" x 24")
View here.
UK 100cm x 152cm promo poster (40" x 60")
Subway size poster. This is an oddity because no subway size poster was ever produced for any Smiths single before 1985, and surely Rough Trade would not have widely advertised the band's first single, however much they believed in them. And even if they had wanted to advertise the single, they would presumably have had to change the image for a less graphic one. The item was apparently produced by Rough Trade so its legitimacy shouldn't be doubted, but it was very likely never used and it can be speculated that it was printed in very small numbers. View here.
UK various artists Rough Trade promo cassette "3 PACK"
The two songs from the single were included on a Rough Trade pre-release promo cassette sent to certain media in mid-1983. The cassette also features 2 songs by Zerra 1 and 1 by Influence. The front of the photocopied insert actually shows a close-up of the bum from this single's artwork. The cassette itself is made of black plastic and its "Rough Tapes" labels are greyish with red print.
Rough Trade ad
A full page Rough Trade Records ad published in City Life magazine in June-July 1983 features a segment on the Smiths' debut single "Hand In Glove". The ad is in black and white, it doesn't show any artwork, only a quote from a City Life review for the single. Beneath that, "What Difference Does It Make?" is announced as the band's next single (this would eventually change for "This Charming Man").
UK 7" - blue sleeve mispressing [Rough Trade RT131]
Some copies of the 'London-Morrissey' re-release mentioned above were mispressed with the cover picture appearing in negative (view left). The back of the sleeve is also in negative, with grey text on blue background. A handful of these mispressings made it out of the record plant at the time of pressing, and now and then (particularly around 1997-1998) more have entered the collectors market when copies believed to have been deleted were found in Rough Trade storage, or when ex-employees who had salvaged copies sold them on the internet.
Listed in Record Collector magazine's top Smiths collectibles in 1988, value £40.
Ranked #3 in the 1992 Record Collector Top 100 Smiths collectibles, value £80.
Ranked #1 in the 2005 Record Collector Top 100 Smiths collectibles, value £1300.
UK 7" - 1983 test pressing [Rough Trade RT131]
Two-sided test pressing of the original 'Manchester' version listed above. Has handwriting on it saying "The Smiths" and "Hand In Glove" on side A and "Handsome Devil" on side B. Some copies also have 'A' and 'B' handwritten on the label. It is expected about 5-10 copies may have been pressed, one for each member of the band, plus a few more for record company people. Johnny and Mike's copies are now in the hands of collectors. Mike's was autographed.
RT 131 A1 / RT 131 B1
Unlisted in the 2005 Record Collector Top 100 Smiths collectibles because the author believed the item had not yet made it into any collector's hands.
UK 7" - 2008 reissue 7" test pressing [Rhino UK RHN131]
The white label test pressing of this item has so far only been sold as a set with the test pressings of the other 7"s included in the "Singles Box". It is therefore described in the latter item's collectors appendix.
UK 7" - 2008 reissue 10" acetate [Rhino UK RHN131]
The 10" metal-based lacquer reference acetate for the 2008 7" reissue listed above comes housed in a 12" grey Heathmans Mastering sleeve with printed custom studio labels on the front (white with Heathmans Mastering logo on top, band name, title, catalogue numbers and '21/9/2008'). The matrix number is handwritten in the centre of the disc.
UK Strawberry Studio quarter-inch tape
A perhaps one-of-a-kind 1983 Strawberry Recording Studios quarter inch tape of "Hand In Glove" was sold to a collector in the late 1990s.