Hand in Glove by Sandie Shaw

Twelve"02 – a new series of 12" crate digging

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Twelve" - the series

I love a 12 inch single or EP. I’ve always loved them. They give us special tracks and then, if we’re lucky we get amazing remixes too. The first ones I bought were in the eighties and nineties and were effectively bigger versions of 7 inches, but with better sound quality.

In the 2000s, I also bought a lot of house and dance music on 12 inch vinyl – and I found some truly awesome songs – some of them originals, some of them remixes. This series is a dip into my 12 inch ‘crate’. It’ll almost be a lucky dip (almost) and I hope there’ll be some finds that you’d like to follow up!

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Twelve"02 – Hand in Glove by Sandie Shaw

These days, conversations around the Smiths tend to be about whether Morrissey is a right-wing bell-end or a truth-telling, free-speech balladeer, or whether it’s OK still to like his music, and what Johnny Marr thinks of his old mate (they’re ‘not close’, just in case you were wondering).

However, who remembers a far more interesting moment in their career, when this Sandie Shaw EP of Morrissey/Marr-penned songs was released (yes, she of Puppet On A String Eurovision fame)? In fact, this EP could just as easily fit into the oddfinds section of this blog. What could be odder than the first British Eurovision winner in 1967, filling in as lead singer for the coolest band of the 80s? However, she’s no glove puppet: for everything else Morrissey might have said or done since then, this piece of inspiration might at least offer a crumb of redemption!

One of the great things about these versions of classic Smiths songs is that they sound so different from the band’s originals. In Hand in Glove it is Shaw’s vocal and Andy Rourke’s (RIP)¹ amazing bass line that dominate. The feel is poppier, janglier - even punkier - than the Smith’s original.

Shaw’s voice really shines on the other two tracks too – they are like completely new songs. I Don’t Owe You Anything is beautifully played, and sung as a sixties-style slow-dancer, with a restrained guitar and organ backing; whilst Jeane is accompanied only by Marr’s strummed acoustic guitar and, late in the song, a familiar yodel and wail from Morrissey – perfectly placed in the backing track.

I can’t remember where I bought this particular record. However, the date of release - 1984 - would suggest either Our Price or the independent Record Savings in Banbury. You can hear the full 12”, courtesy of the wonders of YouTube, below:

The tracklist on the EP is:

1. Hand In Love

2. I Don’t Owe You Anything

3. Jeane ²

…and here is Sandie Shaw is singing I Don’t Owe You Anything and Jeane from the EP, live with the Smiths on the BBC in 1984 …³

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1. Tragically, Andy Rourke, the Smith’s bassist died, aged 59, of pancreatic cancer in May 2023: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/19/andy-rourke-obituary

2. Geeky stuff: the 12 inch EP was produced by John Porter. Words by Morrisey. Music by Johnny Marr. Released on Rough Trade, 1984.

3. I was trying to find some live performances of these songs on video from 1984, but there are only mimed appearances on Top of the Pops and other shows. The sound-only session above was recorded on Saturday Live (BBC Radio 1) on 14th April 1984. There is also a live TV performance: Sandy Shaw singing Jeane, from Gaytime on BBC 2 in 1996, which I really like.