The Loop
Morrissey's Rockabilly Gem
Co-written with Mark Nevin, ‘The Loop’ appears to have been written at some point in 1990. The song was recorded at Hook End Manor with producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, but information regarding the time of recording and personnel involved is not clear. Biographer Simon Goddard states that the song was recorded at the end of the Kill Uncle album sessions (which took place in the autumn of 1990). However the song credits seem to point to the post Kill Uncle recording session in December 1990 where Morrissey recorded material for an ultimately aborted rockabilly mini-album. In both scenarios Mark Nevin played guitar, Andrew Paresi drums and Steve Heart organ, but Boz Boorer is credited as second guitar (he entered the picture between the two sessions) and Jonny Bridgwood is credited for bass instead of Mark 'Bedders' Bedford who had that job on the Kill Uncle sessions.1
'The Loop' appeared as a B-side on both the 12-inch vinyl and CD formats for the 'Sing Your Life' single (Morrissey's 9th single), which was initially released beginning April 1991 in the UK and Europe, followed by release in the US and Japan. The single reached 33 in the UK Singles Chart.
‘The Loop’ also appears on the B-side of the Japan release (CD format) of the ‘My Love Life’ single in September 1991.
Over a year after the initial release of 'The Loop', the song saw limited re-release in France in July 1992 in the form of an extended play CD giveaway to promote subscriptions to the French magazine 'Les Inrockuptibles'. The cover art of the French re-release consists of a blurry, somewhat faded black and white photograph of
