THE SMIRKS

Singles Of The Week (phew)

Rosemary

New Musical Express - Thrills

March 24th, 1979

THE SMIRKS prepare for their solo flight (L-R): Ian Morris, Mike Doherty, Neil Fitzpatrick, Simon Milner. Pic: Klad McNulty

NME Record Of The Week - despite the atrocious production. "We had no experience in the studio before then," admits Milner, "and it was all mixed down by Kenny Laguna after we'd finished recording. When we heard the final mix we discovered he's added a glockenspiel all the way through."

'Rosemary' was a misguided stab at a commercial formula. Originally scheduled for September last year, by the time it was released two months later it was caught in the pre-Christmas rush. 'Rosemary' sank without trace.

The last straw was Beserkley's refusal to accept The Smirks'debut album.

Exit one band amidst a sea of litigation which concerns not merely The Smirks'relationship to Beserkley UK Ltd., but the company's relationship with Beserkley Inc. (the U.S. parent), distrbutors Polydor, and with various creditors.

All this would cause many an act to call it a day - but The Smirks have decided to Go It Alone.

Already heavily in debt - "we've decided to extend our creditors"- they've elected to go ahead with a tour orignally scheduled to promote the album, relabelling same the 'Smirks Seek Employment Tour', secure in the knowledge that all the gig receipts go to paying off their agency and on equipment hire, and that two gigs are at subsidised rates for charity anyway... "We're hoping RAR and Gay Lib will do a benefit for us!"

To replace the never-to-be-released album, The Smirks have rush-recorded an EP, which they feel - and I can agree having heard the result - to be the best thing they have ever done.

"'American Patriots' is more definitive of our style. The singles we've had out have been other people's ideas of what we should sound like. Before, it was drummed ito us to record somethng to get on to the playlist. But we've got three good songs here. If the lyrics mention 'penetration', 'sentimental shits', things like that, well, bugger the radio, we'll just put it out anyway for people that like us. Looking at it now, if 'Rosemary' had been a hit, it'd have been a disaster."

Of course, behind all the optimism, the cost in human endurance will be high. Road manager Steve wonders exactly how far five loaves and two fishes will stretch. And as there's no chance of hotels it's a question of sleeping in the van or travelling from home for every date.

But don't worry. True Northern Grit will win out. And just in case any younger fans are worried about the - ah - 'questionable' lyrics of the popsters' new material, The Smirks have a new strategy to avoid the temptations of the road.

Not only has bass player Ian Morris, formerly the toast of Manchester's ligging circles, gone on the wagon - "mine's a Britvic Orange" - but they have a new code.

Each of them starts off the tour with 30 points, and these are then lost for such aberrations as brief encounters, too many shandies, and generally not having that certain je ne sais quoi at all times.

And wouldn't you just know it. As I write this, they've all got 30 points.

Ian Wood

Smug Smirks - Sounds Jaws

SMUG SMIRKS: nice, gutsy Smirks piece in NME the other week, extolling the virtues of the band (are they rilly from Manchester?) and, in particular, the merits of the band's new ep released on a new private label based in Manchester. Pity they omitted to tell us that the writer of the piece, Ian Wood, is also the owner of the label. And we thought we were supposed to do that sort of thing.

SnoudsGets It

Wrong

Again

Last week's Jaws column in Sounds carried a report which alleged that NME's Manchester correspondent Ian Wood was the owner of Smirksongs Records, the label which recently issued The Smirks' three-track EP.

This is completely untrue. Smirksongs is owned jointly by the four Smirks and their manager Andrew Jaspan. At no stage has Ian Wood been involved with the label.

The Sounds report went on to suggest that there might have been some link between Ian's 'ownership' and the praise which he gave The Smirks in a recent Thrills article on the group in NME. In fact, Ian wrote nice things about The Smirks because he genuinely likes the band's music and admires their pluck in starting their own label at a time when most bands in their position - discarded by a major record label and deep in the financial mire - would simply have packed it all in. The implication that he would write complimentary articles on a group for financial gain is, to say the very least, unprofessional - though, may we say, not totally untypical.

At the time of going to press, legal action was being taken against Sounds by both Ian Wood and The Smirks. Who's smirking now?