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Fact #160495

When:

Short story:

When The Smiths' UK tour plays at the Hammersmith Palais, London, England, UK, Europe, Sandie Shaw comes onstage for the encore.

Full article:

Jill Smith (press officer, Rough Trade Records) : Before the gig, I collected Sandie Shaw from her flat in Harley Street in my old Renault 4, then we drove over to Campden Hill Road in Kensington where Morrissey lived, to pick him up. Unfortunately, neither of us actually knew which house he lived in. It was getting dark, and in the end, Sandie, short-sighted as hell, got out of my car with her dresses flapping in the breeze on dry-cleaning hangers, and started running up and down the road, calling out, "Morrissey! Morrissey! Where are you?" until eventually we found him.

When we got to The Palais, it was a bit tense because the tabloid press were sniffing around. Sandie and Morrissey were huddled in the bar and we had strict instructions not to let anybody go near.

Johnny Marr (guitarist, The Smiths) : That wasn't a good gig from our point of view. The sound was like playing inside a bucket. Elvis Costello came along, which was good, but there were hundreds of people on the guest list, so many that it didn't feel like a real gig at all. I didn't enjoy it at all and then, when Sandie was supposed to come on and do Hand In Glove, we couldn't find her.

Sandie Shaw : I was so nervous. I'd been sitting at the side of the stage watching, and they went marching off to the dressing room to look for me. When I wasn't there, they thought I'd pissed off because I didn't like the show. So they're panicking up there and I'm sitting down on the stage, thinking, 'They don't want me to go on. They've changed their minds.'

Geoff Travis (MD, Rough Trade records) : The band was on stage, and they kept playing the introductory chords to Hand In Glove, to fill in time until we could locate Sandie. I eventually found her.

Sandie Shaw : They found me and were begging me to go on.

Geoff Travis : When she finally went on stage, Morrissey very ungraciously handed the microphone over to Sandie, as if he was reluctant to let go of it.

Sandie Shaw : Afterwards, Morrissey rang me up about three in the morning and said, 'Well?' I just told him I could have done an hour. One song wasn't enough.