Vinyl love: The Smiths “Hatful of hollow”

(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)

Artist: The Smiths
Album Title: Hatful of hollow
Year released: 1984
Year reissued: 2011
Details: Remastered, gatefold sleeve, part of box set that includes booklet and poster

The skinny: Now that I’ve gotten through the four studio LPs, it’s time to start in on the multiple compilation albums that were released by The Smiths, starting with “Hatful of hollow”. I’ve mentioned in replies to comments on a previous post in this series that I actually prefer their singles, many of which don’t appear on the albums, over their proper studio albums. So for me, these compilations are where the meat of The Smiths best work resides. Released in 1984, “Hatful of hollow” gathers together recordings of the multiple live performances by the band on the BBC, all made prior to the release of their debut, as well as a few A-sides and B-sides of singles released around the time. This compilation is a compelling listen because those BBC versions are often quite different from those found elsewhere. Finally, of all the great tunes on this record, I’ve chosen the song below because this is the only disc in the box that includes “This charming man”. And well, it is a great tune!

Standout track: “This charming man”