Bona Drag

Product Information

The late Tim Broad directed The Smiths’ videos Girlfriend In A Coma and Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before. For Morrissey’s debut promo as a solo artist, the video starts in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea where Moz’s nephew, Sam Esty Rayner, delivers a copy of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince, to the singer. The name recognition that Morrissey garnered from his time with the Smiths afforded him the luxury of an unorthodox approach to his early solo career. After the release of Viva Hate, the Moz resolved to temporarily abandon the full-album format in favor of releasing a string of non-album singles. None of those singles were intended for inclusion on a studio LP, but the artist's commitment to the idea wavered when he had trouble filling out the full-length follow-up that would eventually become Kill Uncle. This led to the release of Bona Drag, which collected all of Morrissey's early singles and B-sides (including those associated with Viva Hate) and added one entirely new single in "Piccadilly Pilare". The end result not only serves as the best introduction to Morrissey's early solo work, surpassing the comparatively uneven Viva Hate, but gets my vote as one of the best compilation albums of its era. At No.3 in the UK, it was his highest-charting single ever along with Irish Blood, English Heart. Read more: This Is Morrissey review Only For The Brave And then the wheels fell off. Morrissey began what was to be his follow-up album, Bona Drag, surrounded by acrimony and litigation. He had fallen out with producer Stephen Street, plus former Smiths bandmates Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke-- all of whom had played key roles in that successful string of hits. The breakup of his partnership with Street was the most devastating: He had co-written all of Viva Hate and served as an unofficial mentor for Morrissey's early solo years, performing on records and playing several instruments. And what a coup it was to secure an appearance by legendary actress Billie Whitelaw alongside Cheryl Murray, alias Suzie Birchall in Morrissey’s beloved Coronation Street.

NEVIN: Around the dinner table there’d be lots of chat going on. Although Morrissey often wouldn’t say anything, which could be very intimidating. He’d sit there silently presiding over our nervousness and awkwardness. I felt a bit like a new kid at boarding school. ARMSTRONG: Morrissey had the haunted master bedroom at Hook End Manor. It’d belonged to David Gilmour, but originally it was the Bishop of Reading’s place or something, from the 16th Century. It’s got a long history and there were creepy vibes in the house. I think Morrissey got quite into that. We did actually play ouija one night. All sorts of things were spelt out. Alcohol and various things had been taken, so I can’t really remember. But we were in a darkened room with a candle. Included here are two key songs from _Viva Hate_, namely "Suedehead" and the wonderfully evocative "Everyday is Like Sunday," which just _sounds_ like a dreary English seaside town, but elsewhere the songs are mostly singles and new songs. The album begins incredibly strongly with a string of top-notch songs, including the elegant and slightly melancholy "Piccadilly Palare," the chiming jangle of "Interesting Drug," which features Kirsty MacColl on wonderfully effective vocal harmonies, the menacing and sad "November Spawned a Monster," an electrifying highlight that remains a staple of Morrissey's live set, and the beautifully sad "Will Never Marry." However, The National Front Disco (especially the ambiguity of the line: “England for the English”) and We’ll Let You Know, with its assertion that football hooligans are: “the last truly British people you will ever meet”, definitely makes for uncomfortable listening. According to Pitchfork, it was: “His most vital, entertaining and savage record since Vauxhall And I.” Read more: Johnny Marr interview Read more: Low In High School review The Essential SinglesJONNY BRIDGWOOD, bassist: There was a general air of excitement from day one. The feeling was that we were about to create something that was quite special. Everyone was keen and enthusiastic. Big league producer Steve Lillywhite – who can list U2, Peter Gabriel and Simple Minds on his CV – expands the sonic spectrum on the sumptuously melancholic Now My Heart Is Full, the irresistible charming The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get and full-frontal assault of Speedway. The thrill of being part of a gang – and maybe even the thrill of the violence that membership of same invariably entails – is brilliantly captured by the twin guitars of Alain Whyte (who shares a writing credit with Morrissey) and Boz Boorer.

The second single from You Are The Quarry, after Irish Blood, English Heart, The First Of The Gang To Die gave Morrissey his first brace of Top 10 hits since The Last Of The Famous International Playboys and Interesting Drug in 1989. As declarations of independence go, few come much better than Morrissey’s first single after The Smiths broke the hearts of indie fans by calling it a day. ANDREW PARESI, drummer: There was a terrific forward momentum throughout the recording. It was as if we were recording it on the Titanic and had half an hour to get it done. It had that kind of feel. And in that environment I think you can spark some very interesting things.

The Essential Singles

The cognoscenti thought so, too, with the NME, Morrissey’s frequent sparring partners, hailing it as: “a brave record and sometimes beautiful – honest, angry and vulnerable,” and Rolling Stone, less effusively applauding it as: “a tight, fairly disciplined affair”. From 1990’s Bona Drag to 2011’s Very Best Of Morrissey, there are plenty of compilation albums dedicated to Mozzer. Here’s Classic Pop‘s own mixtape: For someone almost as quintessentially English as the Carry On movies, Morrissey possesses a particular Irish sensibility, perhaps most pronounced in his proclivity for sadness. Bona Drag features all of Morrissey's solo singles up to that point, two of which ("Suedehead" and "Everyday Is Like Sunday") were taken from his first solo album Viva Hate, while the others were making their first ever appearance on an album. Four of these singles were Top Ten hits. The album also includes several B-sides, none of which had appeared on an album before.

It then moves to the streets of Fairmont in Indiana, the boyhood home of James Dean. It features the film star’s school and the cemetery where he’s buried alongside footage of Rebel Without A Cause.Morrissey enlisted the help of Stephen Street, engineer on the Smiths’ Meat Is Murder and The Queen Is Dead, and producer on Strangeways, Here We Come, and The Durutti Column’s Vini Reilly on his first album since the break-up of Manchester’s finest. The NME liked it, suggesting that Kill Uncle: “Bodies immensely well for the future, not least because this is the first album where half the songs are about someone other than himself.” VINI REILLY, guitarist: Recording with Morrissey was one of the best experiences of my life. I think the fact we were both Irish gave us something in common; we understood each other and there were lots of similarities. And we’d both had difficult childhoods and the rest of it. It forged a friendship between Morrissey and me, and a mutual respect that was based on him taking the piss out of me. Initially conceived as the follow-up to Viva Hate, Bona Drag instead morphed into a superior collection of singles (“Piccadilly Palare”, “November Spawned A Monster”) and killer B-sides (“Disappointed”, “Will Never Marry”, “Hairdresser On Fire”).