"Dagenham Dave" | ||||
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Single by Morrissey | ||||
from the album Southpaw Grammar | ||||
B-side |
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Released | 21 August 1995 [1] | |||
Length | 3:16 | |||
Label | RCA Victor | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Steve Lillywhite | |||
Morrissey singles chronology | ||||
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Southpaw Grammar track listing | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
"Dagenham Dave" is a song by English singer-songwriter Morrissey, issued as a single in August 1995, a week prior to the release of his fifth studio album, Southpaw Grammar (1995). It was Morrissey's first release on RCA Records, the label he had signed to after leaving EMI. This was the second Morrissey solo single not to feature the singer on the cover; instead, English football coach and former player Terry Venables is pictured sticking out his tongue. Venables was born in Dagenham. [3]
Upon its release, the single reached number 26 on the UK Singles Chart. [3] The promotional video for the single featured former Grange Hill actor Mark Savage as the titular Dave. [4] This song is not related to the track of the same name by the Stranglers from their 1977 album, No More Heroes . "Dagenham Dave" is also naval slang for someone who is somewhat unstable or crazy, Dagenham being close to Barking ("barking mad"). [5]
NME gave a negative review, saying that this single showed that "Morrissey has become the embarrassing incontinent grandfather of Britpop". The song was described as "piss-poor old crap" and a "tune-impaired three-minute drone". Ned Raggett of AllMusic described it as "the least distinct song on the whole album". [2] In other reviews, the opinion was that the song was "very good". It was a unique style which Morrissey had embraced during the height of the Britpop era. [6] In his book Mozipedia , Simon Goddard called it "a mettlesome pop cartoon featuring, if nothing else, the greatest utterance of the word 'pie' by any singer in the entire history of recorded music." [4]
All tracks were written by Morrissey and Alain Whyte.
7-inch and cassette: RCA / 29980 7; 29980 4 (UK)
CD: RCA / 29980 2 (UK)
Strangeways, Here We Come is the fourth and final studio album by the English rock band the Smiths. It was released on 28 September 1987 by Rough Trade Records, several months after the group disbanded. All of the songs were composed by Johnny Marr, with lyrics written and sung by Morrissey.
Louder Than Bombs is a compilation album by English rock band the Smiths, released as a double album in March 1987 by their American record company, Sire Records. It peaked at number 62 on the US Billboard 200 album chart. Popular demand prompted their British record company, Rough Trade, to issue the album domestically as well. Upon its release in the UK in May 1987, it reached No. 38 on the British charts. In 2003, the album was ranked No. 365 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and ranked No. 369 on a 2012 revised list. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1990.
Southpaw Grammar is the fifth studio album by English alternative rock singer Morrissey, released on 28 August 1995 by record labels RCA in the UK and Reprise in the US.
"Interesting Drug" is a song by English singer-songwriter Morrissey, released as a non-album single on 17 April 1989. Co-written by Morrissey and former Smiths producer Stephen Street, the song was Morrissey's fourth release after the Smiths break-up. Morrissey was inspired lyrically by the drug culture in the English lower class, which he felt was being clamped down on by the power-hungry Thatcher government. These political themes were further explored in its music video. The single was the second and final Morrissey solo single to feature his former Smiths bandmates Andy Rourke, Mike Joyce, and Craig Gannon.
"Our Frank" is a song by Morrissey, released as a single in February 1991. It was the first single taken from the Kill Uncle album. It was also the first of his collaborations with Mark Nevin to be released.
"Hand in Glove" is the debut single by English rock band the Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. It was released in May 1983 on independent record label Rough Trade. It peaked at No. 3 on the UK Indie Chart but did not make the top 75 of the UK Singles Chart, settling outside at No. 124.
"Ouija Board, Ouija Board" is a song by English singer-songwriter Morrissey, released as a single in November 1989. The track appears along with its B-side "Yes, I Am Blind" on the compilation album Bona Drag. A shorter edit, omitting a verse, appeared on the 2010 reissue of Bona Drag. The single was poorly received by the music press and the public; its highest position on the UK Singles Chart was No. 18, making it the first solo Morrissey single not to reach the top 10. "Yes, I Am Blind" was composed by Morrissey's ex-Smiths partner Andy Rourke, and the picture on the sleeve was taken by Anton Corbijn.
"Sing Your Life" is a single by English singer-songwriter Morrissey released in April 1991. It was the second single taken from the Kill Uncle album. On release this was Morrissey's lowest charting single in the UK charts, reaching only number 33. One of the single's B-sides was a cover version of "That's Entertainment" by The Jam which had backing vocals by Chas Smash, a.k.a. Carl Smyth the second singer of the band Madness. Vic Reeves also recorded backing vocals for the song, but they weren't included in the final version. He is thanked in the sleeve notes.
"Pregnant for the Last Time" is a song by Morrissey, released as a non-album single in July 1991. This was the first time Morrissey worked with guitarist Boz Boorer, who consistently worked with him until 2020. The single reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. B-side "Skin Storm" was originally written and performed by Bradford, while another B-side, "Cosmic Dancer", is a cover of a T. Rex song.
"My Love Life" is a song by Morrissey released in September 1991. It was a stand-alone single rather than taken from any studio album, although it was included on the compilation albums World of Morrissey (1995) and Suedehead: The Best of Morrissey (1997).
"We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" is a song by English singer-songwriter Morrissey from his third studio album, Your Arsenal (1992). It was released as the lead single from the album on 27 April 1992 by His Master's Voice (HMV). It was the first Morrissey single to be co-written with guitarist Alain Whyte and produced by glam rock guitarist Mick Ronson, known for his work with David Bowie as one of the Spiders from Mars. The song peaked at No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 9 in Ireland.
"You're the One for Me, Fatty" is a single by Morrissey released in July 1992. It was taken from the then-unreleased Your Arsenal album and was the second Morrissey single to be co-written with Alain Whyte and produced by glam rock legend Mick Ronson. The title is a pun on the Marvelettes' song "You Are the One for Me, Bobby". The track reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart.
"The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get" is a song by English singer-songwriter Morrissey, co-written by Boz Boorer released as a single on 28 February 1994. It was taken from the then-unreleased Vauxhall and I album and was the first Morrissey single to be produced by Steve Lillywhite. The extra B-side "I'd Love To" features Kirsty MacColl on backing vocals.
"Roy's Keen" is a song by Morrissey, released as a single in October 1997. It was the second single to be taken from the Maladjusted album and was the third solo Morrissey single not to feature himself in the cover picture, instead using a photograph of two boys taken by Roger Mayne on London's Southam Street in the 1950s.
"Satan Rejected My Soul" is a song by Morrissey, released as a single in December 1997. It was the third single to be taken from the Maladjusted album.
"Certain People I Know" is a song by English singer-songwriter Morrissey, released in December 1992 as the third single from his third studio album, Your Arsenal (1992). It was the third and final Morrissey single to be produced by glam rock musician Mick Ronson. Reaching number 35 in the UK Singles Chart, the song had the distinction of being Morrissey's lowest-charting solo single up to that point.
"Hold On to Your Friends" is a song by Morrissey, released as a single in May 1994. It was the second single taken from the number 1 album Vauxhall and I. Morrissey claimed, "It was written about somebody I know, in relation of their treatment towards me."
"Boxers" is a song by English singer-songwriter Morrissey, released in January 1995 to promote a tour of the same name. The single reached number 23 on the UK Singles Chart despite not appearing on an album at the time of the release. The title track and the two B-sides would later be compiled on the World of Morrissey that was released in February that year.
"Sunny" is a song by English singer-songwriter Morrissey, released as a single in December 1995. It was released by Parlophone to try to cash in on Morrissey's Southpaw Grammar album that had been released that year by RCA Records and consists of three songs that Morrissey had recorded while under contract to Parlophone. "Sunny" had initially been planned to appear on the "Boxers" single released in January 1995, and "Black-Eyed Susan" had at one point been allocated to be the B-side of "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get" in 1994.
"Tomorrow" is a US-only single released by Morrissey in September 1992. It reached number one on Billboard magazine's Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. It is a remix of the final track of Morrissey's Your Arsenal album of the same year.