"Dagenham Dave" is a song by Morrissey, released as a single in August 1995, a week prior to the release of ''

Southpaw Grammar ''Southpaw Grammar'' is the fifth studio album by English alternative rock singer Morrissey, released on 28 August 1995 by record labels RCA in the UK and Reprise in the US. The album charted at number 4 in the UK and number 66 in the US, but r ...

''. It was Morrissey's first release on

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

, the label he had signed to after leaving EMI. This was the second Morrissey solo single not to feature the singer on the cover, instead English football coach and former player

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...

is pictured sticking out his tongue. Venables was born in Dagenham. The promotional video for the single featured former ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical comprehensive school. The show began its run on 8 February 1978 on BBC1, and was one of the longest-running progra ...

'' actor Mark Savage as the titular Dave.Goddard, Simon (2012) ''Mozipedia: The Encyclopaedia of Morrissey and the Smiths'', Ebury Press, , p. 88 The single reached number 26 on the UK Singles Chart. It is not related to the song of the same name by

The Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origin ...

, from their 1977 album '' No More Heroes''. "Dagenham Dave" is also naval slang for someone who is somewhat unstable or crazy, Dagenham being close to

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

("barking mad").Jolly, Rick (2011) ''Jackspeak'', Conway, , p. D-127

Track listings

All tracks by Morrissey/

Alain Whyte Alain Gordon Whyte (pronounced Alan) (born 3 July 1967) is an English musician, songwriter, composer and singer. He was Morrissey's main songwriting partner and guitarist between 1991 and 2007. Prior to 1991, Whyte previously been in the bands ...

7": RCA / 29980 7 (UK)

# "Dagenham Dave" # "Nobody Loves Us" * also available on MC (29980 4)

CD: RCA / 29980 2 (UK)

# "Dagenham Dave" # "Nobody Loves Us" # "You Must Please Remember"

Reviews

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' gave a negative review, saying that this single showed that "Morrissey has become the embarrassing incontinent grandfather of

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...

". The song was described as "piss-poor old crap" and a "tune-impaired three-minute drone". Ned Raggett of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

described it as "the least distinct song on the whole album". However, in other reviews, the opinion was that the song was "very good". It was a unique style which Morrissey had embraced during the height of the

era.NME Dagenham Dave Review
/ref> In his book '' Mozipedia'',

Simon Goddard Simon Goddard (born Cardiff, 21 December 1971) is a British author and music journalist. He was born in Wales, later moving to Scotland. Though a writer by profession, Goddard originally went to art school in Carlisle, then Hull, and briefly con ...

called it "a mettlesome pop cartoon featuring, if nothing else, the greatest utterance of the word 'pie' by any singer in the entire history of recorded music."

Musicians

* Morrissey: lead vocals * Alain Whyte: guitar * Boz Boorer: guitar * Jonny Bridgwood: bass * Spencer Cobrin: drums

Live performances

The song was performed live by Morrissey on his 1995 and 1997 tours.

References

{{authority control Morrissey songs 1995 singles Songs written by Morrissey Songs written by Alain Whyte Song recordings produced by Steve Lillywhite 1995 songs RCA Records singles