Hands in gloves...

I've been away, and now I'm back. A big thank you to both fans of the blog who enquired about my whereabouts! (Hi T!) After a week away I have heaps of stuff to write about, but I wanted to be topical today and mark the .. wait for it .. thirtieth anniversary of the release of The Smiths' first ever single. Can you believe that? It was thirty years ago today that we first heard that jingly-jangly, harmonica-filled, yodelly, open-drummed slice of 45rpm heaven that was 'Hand in Glove'. Blew my head off! I was a Smiths fan from that day on, and I'm so lucky that I was around and just the right age to see 'em. I remember going backstage at the Free Trade Hall and photographing Morrissey with his Mum, and asking her if her name was Mrs Morrissey! Ha! And then the NME used the shot of them with picture corners around it, as if it had just been copied from a family photo-album! Ha x 2! I also remember queuing up at Virgin Records on the corner of Market Street in Manchester for 'The Queen is Dead', and being the first person in the shop to pick up a copy. It had Morrissey's autograph scrawled across the front in gold pen - something I thought was just part of the sleeve design until I saw other copies and realised I'd just got my mitts on something rather special! Speaking of mitts, my hands are freezing! It was rather warm where I've just been and the atypical May weather has caught me on the hop. Yo, Moz! Where are my gloves?...