Crazy Face Clothing Company, 70 Portland Street, M1 4GU

Crazy Face Clothing Company, 70 Portland Street, M1 4GU

The building positioned on the corner of Portland Street and Nicholas Street was, for a time, the Smiths’ Manchester HQ. The building was owned by Joe Moss who ran a clothes factory supplying garments for his Crazy Face clothing stores. 

Joe was an important figure in the Smiths story. He became The Smiths’ manager after their debut gig at The Ritz. He purchased their first PA system and Renault van, he also provided a rehearsal space initially in the shop itself and then on the top floor of the Portland Street building. Without the cost of rehearsal space to find The Smiths could get together as often as they could which was most weekday evenings.

Joe also offered Johnny a job running the Crazy Face store in the basement at Portland Street. After a day’s work in the shop Johnny would await the arrival of Morrissey, Andy and Mike and then take the lift to the top floor where they would rehearse until 10pm. 

The top floor at Portland Street was where a song called 'A Matter of Opinion' was rehearsed in December 1982. It was an original Morrissey / Marr composition which was recorded during a group rehearsal. It was never played live or properly recorded and was discarded in the new year. It's never appeared online or on a bootleg either. It was discovered by author Simon Goddard during his research for 'The Smiths - Songs That Saved Your Life' in Mike Joyce's private tape collection.

It's been described as being virtually identical to Buffalo Springfield's 'Mr Soul'. 

The only lyrics that can be deciphered from the recording are:

 "Oh, sit by the fire with your books and pretend that you're active / But the very last stage of a nuclear age is unattractive"

"God bless the boys on the factory floor"

"This is just something that happens to other people" and

"When will you stand up and say what you really want to?".

Each verse ends with "Oh it's all a matter of opinion"

 I wonder whether, one day, we'll get to hear it? On a similar subject I'd love to know if all the footage Johnny Marr filmed during the recording of 'Strangeways...' still exists and whether it will ever be made public. These things keep me awake at night. 

It was also at Portland Street around May 1983 that The Smiths recorded nine songs that went on to become known as the 'Pablo Cuckoo' tape. The purpose of the recording was to provide producer Troy Tate with a taste of the songs that they envisaged would appear on their debut album. Like 'A Matter of Opinion' it was recorded on a basic cassette player (possibly the same one?) and is a bit rough round the edges but it does give us an idea of how The Smiths sounded in those very early days. 

It's well worth a listen, most of the songs differ in some way from the versions that eventually ended up on their first album. 'Accept Yourself' has got some Moz yelps on it, 'Reel Around the Fountain' features some lovely Johnny Marr guitar and 'These Things Take Time' has a different first verse. The version of 'Handsome Devil' is excellent, most of the other songs are slightly slower than you'll be used to but this version hurtles along at a rollicking pace, showcasing a band full of confidence.

For those with better hearing than me (that's most people) there is some muffled chat between some of the songs. I think I can make out Johnny's voice before 'Reel Around the Fountain' but can't work out what he's saying.

The 'Pablo Cuckoo' title is an alias given to the individual who leaked the tape.

 

As well as being used for recording and rehearsals it was here where Johnny and Morrissey signed the Rough Trade record contract. Notably there were only two spaces for signatures, it's still not clear who requested this. 

You can get a glimpse of the interior of the building in the video of ‘This Charming Man’ which is available online. The footage was filmed for Channel 4’s The Tube and consists of the band performing their second single on a carpet of flowers. You don’t get to see much of Johnny’s face as apparently the director thought he was on drugs. 

There's currently a restaurant on the ground floor, I've tried to find out who occupies the top floor but haven't had much luck. I'll keep trying.