Confessions of a Pop Fan

PERMANENT RECORDS: WHEN YOU CYCLED BY, HERE BEGAN ALL MY DREAMS

Permanent Records is a year-long project. Each Friday (or thereabouts), I will post a new entry about one specific album, chosen due to its significance to myself as a fan. Though the list is numbered, a particular record's placement should not be considered a ranking. There will be 52 albums in all.

This endeavor is based on a concept started by Chris Tamarri at Crisis/Boring Change. It has since been expanded as a concept, as Neal Shaffer takes on a study of album covers over at Leftwich.

20. THE SMITHS - HATFUL OF HOLLOW (1984)
Personnel: Morrissey, vocals; Johnny Marr, guitar; Andy Rourke, bass; Mike Joyce, drums
Producers: John Porter, Roger Pusey, Dale Griffin, & the Smiths / Label: Sire/Rough Trade

PAGE 1

Panel 1

A long panel across the page.

We are on a high school race track. Several runners in tank
tops and shorts are heading around a curve. Inside the curve
is the grass field. More runners are there, stretching (make
it three). One of them, all the way up front, is JAMIE. He
has headphones on and a cassette Walkman is in the grass by him.

One of the other guys is blonde, average looking. He is PAUL.

Gutter between Panel 1 and panels 2 and 3

TITLE
"You Are Your Mother's Only Son"

Panel 2

Two-shot. Jamie is in the foreground, Paul is in the
background. Paul is leaning forward to ask Jamie a question.
They are different years. Jamie is a sophomore and on the
junior squad, Paul is a senior and varsity. This can be
indicated by the color of their uniforms. Paul is dark blue,
Jamie light blue.

PAUL
Hey, what are you listening to?

JAMIE
Depeche Mode.

Panel 3

CLOSE-UP on Jamie as he listens to Paul talk. He seems
surprised that this boy is talking to him, particularly
about music.

PAUL
Cool. I like them.
(second)
Do you ever listen to the Smiths?

JAMIE
Not really. I've only heard that
"Girlfriend in a Coma" song.

Panel 4

Another long panel. This is a five row page.

Paul is standing now. He bends one leg behind his back,
clutching the ankle. Jamie is still sitting. The third guy
on the grass is gone.

PAUL
You should check them out. I have
all their albums but one.
(second)
Hatful of Hollow. It's only out in
England.
(third)
Anyway...

Panel 5

Paul takes off running. Jamie watches him go. He's perplexed.
What just happened?

PAGE 2

Panel 1

TIGHT on a car window. We are looking at it from the outside,
and we se that it's Jamie riding in the passenger seat. He
rests his cheek on his hand, his elbow on the door. He
stares longingly at the world passing by.

Panel 2

Jamie is in the dentist's chair. He is leaning back, mouth
open wide. The bright light shines down on him, and the
shadow of the dentist looms over him.

Panel 3

Jamie stands on the sidewalk outside the dentist's office.
We see the sign on the building behind him: ORTHODONTICS.

The boy is looking at his watch. He has time.

Panel 4

OVER-THE-SHOULDER SHOT. We look past Jamie and across the
street. There is a record store there, a big sign: MOBY DISC.

Panel 5

Close up of the record racks. This is 12" vinyl, old school.
We see the divider clearly that says THE SMITHS.

Jamie's hands are in panel. The left one is holding the
stack forward while he pulls out a light blue sleeve with
his right.

Panel 6

The last panel is open, with the image bleeding off the
bottom and right of the page, and also disappearing a bit
behind panel 5.

It's the album cover for the Smiths' Hatful of Hollow. A
treasure found!

PAGE 3

Panel 1

Jamie is in his bedroom now. He is on the floor, huddling
over a small record player. He is pulling the Smiths record
out of its sleeve.

Panel 2

CLOSE-UP of the record on the player, the needle already on
it, it's spinning.

Panel 3

Borderless panel across the page. No background. Just Jamie
and the record player floating on white space. Jamie is
laying on his stomach, his chin on his fists, elbows on the
floor. His legs are bent at the knees, feet in the air. He
looks like he's in heaven.

Lyrics float by.

THE SMITHS
(with musical notes)
...I would go out tonight, but I
haven't got a stitch to wear...

Panel 4

Jamie sits at the dinner table with his FATHER. They eat
slabs of meat and mashed potatoes and there are peas on
Father's plate but not on Jamie's. Father has a moustache.
He looks at Jamie, slightly concerned, maybe a little
disgusted. Jamie doesn't look up. He appears bored.

FATHER
What was that I heard you listening to?

JAMIE
The Smiths.

Panel 5

Just on Jamie now. He is having a "D'oh" moment, his blood
boiling, his shoulders hunched, maybe a dark squiggle above
his head. Parents just don't understand.

FATHER
The who?

JAMIE
The Smiths.

FATHER
They sound weird.

PAGE 4

Panel 1

Back on the field. Paul is on the grass stretching again.
Jamie is approaching behind him. He's got something in his hand.

JAMIE
Hey, Paul.

PAUL
Yo, man, what's up?

Panel 2

Jamie's hand. He holds a homemade cassette tape. We can see
"HATFUL OF HOLLOW" written on it in pen.

JAMIE
I got Hatful of Hollow.
(second)
I taped it for you.

Panel 3

Paul is standing now, too. He has taken the tape. He stares
at it. This is gold. Jamie watches, still a little shy,
waiting to see the reaction.

PAUL
Wow. Cool! Where did you find it?

JAMIE
There's a place down where my mom
lives.

Panel 4

Paul salutes off his forehead with the tape. He looks stoked,
maybe a little impressed.

PAUL
Thanks. You're a champ.

Panel 5

The rest of the page, a nice open panel bleeding off the page.

Jamie is alone in his room, laying on the floor, hands
behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He has his
headphones on and a big smile on his face.

THE SMITHS
(with musical notes)
...a boy in the bush is worth two
in the hand, I think I can help you
get through your exams...

TITLE
The End.

#26 #25 #24 #23 #22 #21
(The first 26) (Permanent Records iMix 1)

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Current Soundtrack: Hatful of Hollow

Current Mood: lonely