'I Want A Boy For My Birthday'
Morrissey and Marr's Debut Recording
Morrissey & Marr's debut recording was made in August 1982, and (technically) pre-dates the formation of the Smiths. The recording is a simple demo composed solely of Morrissey's voice and Johnny's guitar performing a cover version of 'I Want A Boy For My Birthday'1 by the Cookies2. This recording has been in the possession of Dale Hibbert for 40+ years.
Hibbert was the Smiths' second bassist, replacing their original bassist Steve Pomfret, who left the band on acrimonious terms.
The song was recorded in Johnny Marr’s attic bedroom on Portland Road3 in Bowden (Greater Manchester) on a TEAC three track cassette recorder.
Johnny and Morrissey gave the demo to their new bassist so that he could familiarize himself with the track before the Smiths debut gig at The Ritz in Manchester (October 4 1982).
It was Morrissey's suggestion that the yet-to-be formally named band produce a cover of 'I Want a Boy for My Birthday' by the 1960's American girl band, the Cookies. Although he had never heard of the song before, Marr agreed, enjoying the subversive element of having a male vocalist sing it.
As with bassist Steve Pomfret, Hibbert's stint was short-lived. Marr's friend Andy Rourke took his place as the Smiths' bassist soon after their October 1982 public debut. The reasons behind Hibbert's departure are disputed; speaking to The Guardian in 2012, drummer Mike Joyce claimed that Hibbert was "clueless" about his instrument, though Hibbert would later refute this, telling the outlet that he played on several Smiths demos and was "hardly someone who could not play." He also clarified in his autobiography (via The Irish Times) that he was more interested in working as a sound engineer and, as such, wasn't fully committed to his role with the Smiths.
'I Want a Boy for My Birthday' has only been performed by the Smiths at their first two gigs according to Stephane at Passions Just Like Mine. Neither of those live performances has ever been officially released.
In December 2019 the demo was released by Dale Hibbert via YouTube. Hibbert quickly removed it, but not before it was shared. Hibbert issued the following statement to explain why he removed the demo from YouTube:
"I have taken the channel down, before the gossip and rumours, no one has forced this, it was my choice. I made it available for people with an interest in the music, and in the embryonic development of bands. I did not make it available for the likes of the the f***ers at NME and other music rags to use as click bait. What frustrated me the most was the absolute shit arsed laziness of the journalists, copying and pasting from old wiki entries, absolutely no fact checking. This was never intended for you. I would imagine that everybody that wanted to hear it, now has."
Listen to Morrissey/Marr's demo here:
Listen to the studio version of the song as performed by the Cookies:
I Want a Boy for My Birthday' by the Cookies was released in 1963 as a B-side to their 'Will Power' single.
The Cookies were an American R&B girl group active in two distinct lineups; the first from 1954 to 1958 (which later became The Raelettes), and the second from 1961 to 1967. Several of the members of both lineups were members of the same family. Both lineups were most prominent as session singers and backing vocalists. 'I Want a Boy for My Birthday' by the Cookies was released in 1963 as a B-side to their 'Will Power' single.
ALTRINCHAM TODAY: “Altrincham has played a pretty important part in the life of The Smiths – you were living around here for quite a bit of your time in the band? You had an early photo shoot in Dunham Massey, for instance.”
JOHNNY MARR: “Yeah, but more importantly than that, the first songs we wrote were done on Portland Road just behind what was Culcheth Hall School. I moved to Bowdon in 1981 when I was 17 and lived with Shelley Rohde’s family on Portland Road. Shelley was a journalist and TV presenter on Granada Reports. My friend managed to blag a room on the top floor and said there’s a spare room going and the family wouldn’t mind. So I moved in – I don’t think the family knew I was in there for three weeks! But they were very welcoming, and that was an amazing time for me because I’d moved out of my parents’ house and this little attic room was the first place of my own. That’s where Morrissey and I wrote our very first songs. The Hand That Rocks The Cradle was the very first one we wrote there, and then the same day, in our first writing session, we wrote Suffer Little Children. In that room on Portland Road I wrote nearly all of the first album – You’ve Got Everything Now, Accept Yourself, Jeane, What Difference Does It Make?, Handsome Devil, and a few more. From the moment I moved in there I started making these experiments with tapes, and that was a few months I’d met Morrissey. It was really the start of the next phase of my life.”
-Johnny Marr, Altrincham Today, June 19, 2018
Morrissey's vocal sounds so sweet and dreamy on this 😍