A ‘lost’ song by the band that would later become The Smiths has been unearthed and is now set for release. Check out ‘Firefly’ by Freak Party below.

Freak Party were formed of guitarist Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Si Wolstencroft, and were working on music together before forming The Smiths with Morrissey and drummer Mike Joyce just six month later.

Now, Wolstencroft has unearthed an old tape of songs recorded in 1981, and on Monday 24 October is planning to release 500 vinyl only copies of it into record shops on his Funky Si Records label.


The first track ‘Firefly’ contains Marr’s unmistakable, idiosyncratic guitar sound, but contains a far more funk and disco influenced sound than The Smiths. As Manchester Evening News reports, Wolstencroft claims their early sound was inspired by the likes of Parliament and Funkadelic.

It features vocals from Angie Brown and additional guitar from “the fifth Smith” Craig Gannon – who later played on ‘Panic’, ‘Ask’, and toured with the band in 1986.

http://players.brightcove.net/4221396001/4173e39f-74b4-4855-bda0-83de2a6d59a3_default/index.html?videoId=5179797345001

The ‘Firefly’ vinyl will be sold in Rough Trade stores in London and on Amazon, before a digital release on 26 November. A second track called ‘Don’t Push Your Luck’ is due for release in the months ahead.

Meanwhile, Johnny Marr is set to release his autobiography Set The Boy Free on 3 November. He’ll be talking about this book at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music on 7 November and at Milton Court at London’s Barbican on 10 November.

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