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VIV NICHOLSON
wikipedia.org
Viv Nicholson, who appeared on three The Smiths covers ("Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", "Barbarism Begins At Home", and the withdrawn CD single "The Headmaster Ritual"), passed away last weekend at the age of 79 to a stroke.
Although Morrissey and Nicholson were friends in the beginning ... in 1987, she, via her agent Mr Apsrey, disassociated herself from the band. Her image was used for the CD version of "The Headmaster Ritual". According to the letter, less than 4,766 copies of this single exists... which I'm happy to report that I own a copy.
According to Jo Slee's excellent Peepholism book, here is an extract from a letter from Rough Trade:
wikipedia.org
Viv Nicholson, who appeared on three The Smiths covers ("Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", "Barbarism Begins At Home", and the withdrawn CD single "The Headmaster Ritual"), passed away last weekend at the age of 79 to a stroke.
Although Morrissey and Nicholson were friends in the beginning ... in 1987, she, via her agent Mr Apsrey, disassociated herself from the band. Her image was used for the CD version of "The Headmaster Ritual". According to the letter, less than 4,766 copies of this single exists... which I'm happy to report that I own a copy.
According to Jo Slee's excellent Peepholism book, here is an extract from a letter from Rough Trade:
Earlier this month I received a request from her daughter to phone Mrs [Viv] Nicholson as they had discovered the CD was in the shops. After a lengthy conversation with Mrs Nicholson about her association with The Smiths in general, I offered her £100, and eventually agreed to her request for £150. I explained that our sales expectation was only in the region of 5,000 units and apologised for pre-empting her approval, with which she seemed quite satisified.
Subsequent to this, I received a telephone call from a Mr Asprey, the new agent, who explained that Mrs Nicholson was a Jehovah's Witness, and was embarrassed by the expression of 'spineless bastards' on the track 'Headmaster Ritual'.
When he asked that we issue a statement disassociating Mrs Nicholson from the project, I outlined the disadvantages of this: if she wished to avoid further publicity, I felt that because of the over-zealous nature of Smiths fans, we should not do anything which would invite controversy and thereby have people clamouring for the record. I suggested that RTR [Rough Trade Records] quietly withdraw the record, and if Mrs Nicholson wished to make a statement herself, she was free to do so. Mr Asprey then asked whether we would consider pressing large quantities of the record and trying to 'make it a hit'. I explained that as the material had been available since 1985 this was not a realistic course of action.
Mr Asprey then brought up the 'Moors Murders' issue; I said that it was my understanding that this had all been settled at the time, that Mrs Nicholson fully accepted that the song was in fact a kind of requiem, not exploitative, and had fully agreed to allow her photo to continue to be used. I (without public statement) withdrew RTT215CD, of which we had pressed 4,766 copies, from circulation immediately after Mr Asprey's phone call.
Subsequent to this, I received a telephone call from a Mr Asprey, the new agent, who explained that Mrs Nicholson was a Jehovah's Witness, and was embarrassed by the expression of 'spineless bastards' on the track 'Headmaster Ritual'.
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Headmaster Ritual (CD Single)
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Mr Asprey then brought up the 'Moors Murders' issue; I said that it was my understanding that this had all been settled at the time, that Mrs Nicholson fully accepted that the song was in fact a kind of requiem, not exploitative, and had fully agreed to allow her photo to continue to be used. I (without public statement) withdrew RTT215CD, of which we had pressed 4,766 copies, from circulation immediately after Mr Asprey's phone call.
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THE LUCKSMITHS
thelucksmiths.bandcamp.com
In addition to covering The Smiths' "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" on the compilation Romantic and Square is Hip and Aware, the indie pop band The Lucksmiths had a slight "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" line in their song "Great Parker" from Happy Secret (1999).
The line is "I was drunk in the haze of a happy hour"... obviously a play off of "I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour."
Also worth noting, their song "There Is A Boy That Never Goes Out" from Naturaliste (2003), is an obvious nod to "There is a Light that Never Goes Out".
It seems pretty obvious to anyone that the trio (Tali White, Marty Donald, and Mark Monnone) were big Smiths fan... Sadly the Melbourne band broke up in 2009.
thelucksmiths.bandcamp.com
In addition to covering The Smiths' "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" on the compilation Romantic and Square is Hip and Aware, the indie pop band The Lucksmiths had a slight "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" line in their song "Great Parker" from Happy Secret (1999).
The line is "I was drunk in the haze of a happy hour"... obviously a play off of "I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour."
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Naturaliste
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It seems pretty obvious to anyone that the trio (Tali White, Marty Donald, and Mark Monnone) were big Smiths fan... Sadly the Melbourne band broke up in 2009.
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FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL
imdb.com
As noted by Jimi, they used The Smiths song in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), via Registered Historical Facts.
The scene in question is when the main character Peter Bretter's stepbrother Brian confronts him in his home after discovering that he hadn't left the house in two weeks in deep depression after his girlfriend Sarah Marshall left him. As they argue over Sarah, you can hear sad music playing in the background, including Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U" and The Smiths' "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now". Perfect depression songs, of course.
Bretter would later try and forget his five-year-old relationship break up by going on vacation in Hawaii. Unfortunately, he runs into his ex-girlfriend on the island, vacationing with her new rockstar boyfriend Aldous Snow. The running joke is that he keeps running into Sarah Marshall, despite his best efforts to forget her with his newly found friend/girlfriend hotel clerk Rachel Jansen.
In the films' final credit, it lists:
imdb.com
As noted by Jimi, they used The Smiths song in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), via Registered Historical Facts.
The scene in question is when the main character Peter Bretter's stepbrother Brian confronts him in his home after discovering that he hadn't left the house in two weeks in deep depression after his girlfriend Sarah Marshall left him. As they argue over Sarah, you can hear sad music playing in the background, including Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U" and The Smiths' "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now". Perfect depression songs, of course.
Bretter would later try and forget his five-year-old relationship break up by going on vacation in Hawaii. Unfortunately, he runs into his ex-girlfriend on the island, vacationing with her new rockstar boyfriend Aldous Snow. The running joke is that he keeps running into Sarah Marshall, despite his best efforts to forget her with his newly found friend/girlfriend hotel clerk Rachel Jansen.
In the films' final credit, it lists:
"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"
Written by Steven Morrissey, Johnny Marr
Performed by the Smiths
Courtesy of Warner Music UK Ltd.
By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing
Written by Steven Morrissey, Johnny Marr
Performed by the Smiths
Courtesy of Warner Music UK Ltd.
By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing
