UK 7" [Rough Trade RT191]
UK 7" [Rhino UK RT191; 2008 reissue]
Australia 7" [CBS RTANZ012]
Holland 7" [Megadisc MD5294]
Italy 7" [Virgin VIN45162]
Portugal 7" [Transmedia RT191]
Sweden 7" [MNW RT191]

The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (single version)
Rubber Ring / Asleep

UK 12" [Rough Trade RTT191]
UK CD5 [Rough Trade RTT191CD]
Australia 12" [CBS RTANZ12010]
Australia CD5 [Festival D1075]
Brazil 12" [WEA 608.7000]
Canada 12" [Sire 92 03920]
France 12" [Virgin 80208]
Germany 12" [RT/Warner RTT191]
Holland 12" [Megadisc MD125294]
Spain 12" [Nuevos Medios 41-159M]
USA 12" [Sire 9 20392-0]

The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (single version)
Rubber Ring
Asleep
Oscillate Wildly

Japan 12" [Tokuma Japan 15RTL-3009]

Additional information:
The 2008 reissue of the 7" single by Rhino UK was also included in the "Smiths Singles box" which compiled the band's first 10 UK singles (plus two bonuses). On each of the five weeks leading to the release of the latter box, two singles from it were put up for sale individually. Collectors could therefore buy two single reissues every week, or wait at the end of the programme to get all of them in the box, alongside the two bonus 7"s.

Artwork information:
Truman Capote, photographed by Cecil Beaton in 1949. The band's name on the front is in black in Canada.

Etchings on vinyl:
UK 7" and 12": ARTY BLOODY FARTY / "IS THAT CLEVER"...JM
The words of b-side etching are the ones heard at the end of the b-side song "Rubber Ring", a sample taken from a recording of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance Of Being Earnest". "JM" is for Johnny Marr.

Additional release date information:
UK 7"/12": 16 September 1985
USA: 17 September 1985
UK cd-single: 28 November 1988
Australia cd-single: late 1988
UK 2008 reissue: 8 December 2008

Chart peak information:
UK: 23
USA: never charted

Promotion:
UK: This single was promoted with a purple label version of the 12". The record was usually slipped inside a black custom die-cut sleeve. A 12"x24" promo poster was occasionally slipped inside. A one-track Vanderquest promo video was also distributed.

Australia: This single was promoted by the usual Australian promo 7" and 12", identical to their stock counterparts except for the labels which were the black and white 'hat man' ones. The 7" was occasionally dispatched inside a generic CBS sleeve instead of the picture one. The promo 12" sleeve was the stock one, gold stamped on the back with the usual promo warnings.

Brazil: Promo 12"s were stamped in ink on the labels, and in gold on the back of the sleeve.

Canada: Gold-stamped copies of the 12" were distributed to radio and record shops to promote this single.

France: Copies of the 12" were stamped in a corner of the sleeve to be used for promotion. The stamp has the usual promo warning written in a circle.

Germany: The UK 7" was dispatched to media with a press release in German.

Italy: A 6-track various artists sampler 12" (CGD INT15250) featured the title track of this single. This might also have been used to promote the "The Queen Is Dead" album.

Japan: Promo 12"s had the usual white SAMPLE sticker on the sleeve and the extra promo characters printed on the record's label.

New Zealand: Stock copies of the 7" and 12" formats were dispatched for promotion with a "Demonstration record" sticker on side B's label.

USA: Gold-stamped copies of the 12" were used for promotion. The video was sent to the relevent media on a various artists promo compilation numbered #44A.