Dagenham Dave
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"Dagenham Dave" is a song by English singer-songwriter
Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...
, issued as a single in August 1995, a week prior to the release of his fifth studio album, ''
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. It re ...
'' (1995). It was Morrissey's first release on
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
, the label he had signed to after leaving
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
. This was the second Morrissey solo single not to feature the singer on the cover; instead, English
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
coach and former player
Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (6 January 1943 – 25 November 2023), often referred to as El Tel, was an English football player and manager who played for clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers and won two caps for E ...
is pictured sticking out his tongue. Venables was born in
Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...
. Upon its release, the single reached number 26 on the UK Singles Chart. The promotional video for the single featured former ''
Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...
'' actor Mark Savage as the titular Dave.Goddard, Simon (2012) ''Mozipedia: The Encyclopaedia of Morrissey and the Smiths'', Ebury Press, , p. 88 This song is not related to the track of the same name by
the Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1974. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 20 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have originated in the ...
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, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...
("barking mad").Jolly, Rick (2011) ''Jackspeak'', Conway, , p. D-127


Critical reception

''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' gave a negative review, saying that this single showed that "Morrissey has become the embarrassing incontinent grandfather of
Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...
". 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 database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
described it as "the least distinct song on the whole album". 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
Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...
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. Early life Goddard was born in Wales and later moved to Scotland. Though a writer by profession, Goddard originally went to art school in Carlisle, then Hul ...
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."


Track listings

All tracks were written by
Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...
and
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 band ...
. 7-inch and cassette: RCA / 29980 7; 29980 4 (UK) # "Dagenham Dave" # "Nobody Loves Us" CD: RCA / 29980 2 (UK) # "Dagenham Dave" # "Nobody Loves Us" # "You Must Please Remember"


Musicians

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


See also

*
Mondeo Man Essex man and Mondeo man are stereotypical figures which were popularised in 1990s Britain. The "Essex man" as a political figure is an example of a type of median voter and was used to help explain the electoral successes of Conservative Prime Mi ...


References

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