| "The Queen Is Dead" | June 1986 | |
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The Queen Is Dead/Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty Frankly, Mr. Shankly I Know It's Over Never Had No One Ever Cemetry Gates Bigmouth Strikes Again The Boy With The Thorn In His Side(album version) Vicar In A Tutu There Is A Light That Never Goes Out Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others UK CD [Rough Trade ROUGHCD96]
Additional information: The version of "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" is slightly different on original Australian pressings on CBS and Festival Records. The intro doesn't fade in then out as it does everywhere else. The 2006 Japanese cd reissue is slipped inside a mini-replica of the original Tokuma Japan LP sleeve. Even the inner sleeve, obi and label are replicas of the ones from the original LP pressing. The picture disc, pink vinyl, green vinyl and multi-coloured splatter LP editions on Rough Trade are actually bootleg reproductions made in 2007.
Artwork information: The Salford Lads Club photo from inside the LP (see left bar) was changed to a different one from the same sessions in CD reissues on Rough Trade and WEA.
Etchings on vinyl:
Additional release date information:
Chart peak information:
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Promotion: Argentina: White label copies of the LP were used for promotion. Australia: Copies of the 1988 LP reissue on Festival were used for promotion with a promo sticker on the label. Brazil: Stock copies of the LP were stamped on the back with a promo-only warning. Different various artists promo EPs were also sent to radio at the time of release of this album. A 6-track one (WEA #24; 1.024), slipped in a blue sleeve with yellow text featured "Bigmouth Strikes Again". A 4-track one (WEA #37; 1.037) slipped in a light blue sleeve with pink text featured "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out". Canada: Gold-stamped copies of the LP were used for promotion. A various artists promo cassette featuring "Bigmouth Strikes Again" was sent to radio by WEA at the time of release of this album. Germany: Copies of the green vinyl LP were distributed to media with two press sheets. A promo VHS featuring the Derek Jarman videos for "The Queen Is Dead" and "Panic" (2 versions of the latter) were distributed to the relevant media in Germany for promotion of this album as well as the "Panic" single. Greece: Copies of the LP were promo-stamped on the label. Holland: Not more than 50 copies of a white label pressing of this album were distributed in anticipation of the Smiths appearing at the Dutch Pinkpop festival in 1986. However, the band's appearance was eventually cancelled. Italy: A 4-track various artists sampler 12" (CGD INT15267) featured "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" as a promotional tool for this album. Japan: Promotion of the original release was done via copies of the LP format with a white SAMPLE sticker on the sleeve and the usual extra 3-character promo text printed on the label. Promo cds for the 1990 and 1993 (and possibly 1995 and 1997) reissues have a promo sticker on the case and promo text on the cds' inner ring. The promo cd for the 2006 reissue in LP-replica sleeves have a white and red promo sticker on the back and 'sample loaned' etched on the cd's inner ring. Copies of the double-cd set featuring this album and "Hatful Of Hollow" were stamped on the back for promotion. USA: Gold-stamped copies of the LP were used for promotion. A 1-track promo 12" of "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" (Sire, PRO-A-2571) was also distributed in June of 1986 to promote the album (view artwork in left bar). The video for the latter song was included on a record label's promo video compilation (Mini Comp #52). The videos for "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" and "The Queen Is Dead" were circulated on a different label promo video compilation, this one numbered NVS#1702. The latter two videos were also separately circulated on the September 1986 and the January 1987 issues of the Telegenics promo video series respectively. A press kit including a bio and a photo by Steve Wright was also sent to radio and the relevent media.
Quotes: Morrissey in Oor magazine, February 1987: "It didn't really occur to me ever that people would consider the title offensive. The song existed, and I thought it was so strong it deserved special attention, which it was given by being the title track. (...) Another aspect was that no Top 10 groups, or any English group with a high status, were trying to compile a thoughtful language. And I thought The Queen Is Dead, as a title between Invisible Touch and A Kind Of Magic and Picture Book, was something one would pause over. Morrissey in Q Magazine April 1994: "Some things we did are not as good as they're remembered. "The Queen Is Dead" is not our masterpiece. I should know. I was there. I supplied the sandwiches." Johnny Marr reminisces about the album at this link.
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