I was clearing out an old box today and found this letter from 1989 and it reminded me what collecting Smiths rarities was like at that time.
I had heard that a friend of a friend of a friend was a Smiths collector and got his address. I sent a letter asking what he had and he replied with this A4 sheet. From there, over the postal system, there was some negotiating, some tape-to-tape of C90 cassettes and finally (some weeks later) a package of some recordings I hadn't heard.
Of course, none of this is news but it reminded me of the amount of effort required. Also, it seems like the cassette version of Thank Your Lucky Stars (before it became a bootleg) included Meat is Murder.
I had heard that a friend of a friend of a friend was a Smiths collector and got his address. I sent a letter asking what he had and he replied with this A4 sheet. From there, over the postal system, there was some negotiating, some tape-to-tape of C90 cassettes and finally (some weeks later) a package of some recordings I hadn't heard.
Of course, none of this is news but it reminded me of the amount of effort required. Also, it seems like the cassette version of Thank Your Lucky Stars (before it became a bootleg) included Meat is Murder.