"My Early Burglary Years"
September/October 1998

 

Sunny
At Amber
Cosmic Dancer (live Costa Mesa 1 June 1991)
Nobody Loves Us
A Swallow On My Neck
Sister I'm A Poet
Black-Eyed Susan
Michael's Bones
I'd Love To (USA version)
Reader Meet Author
Pashernate Love
Girl Least Likely To
Jack The Ripper (live Paris 22 December 1992)
I've Changed My Plea To Guilty (USA version)
The Boy Racer
Boxers

Canada CD5 [Reprise CDW 46874]
USA CD5 [Reprise 9 46874-2]
 

Additional information:
The cd is enhanced, it features the video for "Sunny" which can be played back on multimedia-ready computers.

 

Artwork information:
Morrissey, photographed by Kevin Cummins. According to him, the photo was taken in Manchester by the Rochdale Canal near Granada TV in 1990. The session in which the photo was taken was commissioned by EMI for a NME feature and was later used by the record company for other promotional purposes. The other photos are uncredited. The airplane one from the back is repeated on the cd.

 

Additional release date information:
USA: 15 September 1998
Canada: 13 October 1998

 

Chart peak information:
USA: (didn't make the Top 200)

 

Promotion:
USA: Besides an advance cd (2-46874-A) in generic text artwork (view artwork at left), this album was promoted with the help of a retrospective cd sampler of Morrissey's career, simply titled "Morrissey Sampler" (Reprise PRO-CD-9492-R; no front artwork, titles on the back). The track listing is different to that of the album it promotes: "Jack The Ripper" (live Paris 22/12/92), "Cosmic Dancer" (live Costa Mesa 1 June 1991), "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get", "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful", "Tomorrow", "Suedehead", "Everyday Is Like Sunday", "November Spawned A Monster", "Interesting Drug", "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys", "Hairdresser On Fire". The live version of "Cosmic Dancer" was included on an 11-track various artists Warner promo cd numbered PRO-CD-9492. The "September 1998 Warner Guide" promo cd included snippets of "Sunny" alongside other artists.

 

Quotes

In an interview given to KCXX in 1998, Morrissey explained "There's no great concept, really. It's just a collection of songs, ones which aren't very well known, many of which weren't released in this country before. And it's just gathering certain things that have strayed away over the years. And it's just reminding people that, you know, I'm still here and I'm... vaguely alive."