“IF MORRISSEY’S ‘SIGNATURE’ IS OVER TERENCE STAMP’S FACE, IT’S PROBABLY A DUD…” – FINDS, FAKES AND FORGERIES WITH EXPERT MITCH HARRISON

By Dickie Felton | 2 February 2025 |

The market in Smiths and Morrissey rarities is at fever pitch right now.

A collection of ‘breathtakingly rare’ Smiths records has just sold for £50k while a 36-year-old Morrissey tee is on eBay for an eye-popping £1300.

So it’s a good time to chat to Mitch Harrison who has been dealing in Smiths and Moz gems for more than a decade.

Mitch runs MishMash Records from his home in Barnsley, Yorkshire.

His popular Insta page – with 31k followers – announces recent Moz acquisitions for sale with the catch-phrase ‘NEW IN!’.

Wanting to track down the Zimbabwe version of The Smiths’ debut album?

Wondering how much you should pay for the negative sleeve version of ‘Hand in Glove’?

Concerned about the authenticity of a ‘signed’ Morrissey record – Mitch is your man.

Early this month the private collection of Smiths producer John Porter went under the hammer at Wessex Auction Rooms.

The 60-lot treasure trove was made up of items relating to his time producing the band in their early years.

The haul went for a combined total of £50k.

It seemed like a good place to start our conversation…

DF: Hi Mitch! Did you follow the John Porter auction?

MH: Yes! There were some truly breathtaking items.

I participated and bought quite a few bits. I’m a sucker for this stuff. I think I will be eating Pot Noodle and bread and butter for the next month now.

To be honest, I think the nature of the auction, with quite a few duplicates in there, has skewed the market prices / values of some of them. It almost makes these items look more common than they are.

When in actual fact, they are the rarest of rare.

I’m very happy with what I did win, and shall be sharing them soon (hopefully the wife doesn’t find out…).

DF: Tell us about yourself Mitch

MH: I’m an accountant by day and record dealer and Smiths expert by night.

I’m a collector, seller and enthusiast. I have slowly established myself as a reliable source of information for people on fakes, forgeries and general lowdown on mostly any item connected with the band.

I also collect and listen to other groups, although you wouldn’t know it from my Instagram.

I’m a keen gig and festival goer (or was before the kids), runner and am currently starting the writing process with my book on Smiths / Morrissey collecting.

DF: Your knowledge of Smiths and Moz back catalogue is fantastic – it’s a real passion…

MH: Yeah it truly is one of my greatest passions.

Five or six years ago if you’d have told me what a big part The Smiths / Moz would have had in my life I’d have called you crazy.

I started collecting records back when I was 15/16.

I became obsessive, going to car boot sales & markets to try grab some bargains or find something weird and wonderful.

I wouldn’t say my initial collecting starting point was The Smiths. I was big into 60s/70s folk, psych and soul and still am in terms of listening, but not so much collecting these days.

So early days I went down the rabbit hole of Vertigo Swirls, Pink Island and Plum Atlantic labels.

The first Smiths records in my collection, were ‘Louder Than Bombs’ US LP and the debut Portuguese LP. And since that point it quickly turned into completing all the LPs, then 12”s, then 7”s.

DF: Did you have any help growing your Smiths knowledge? 

MH: A few mentors and sellers made The Smiths world exciting and opened my eyes to the variations and differences.

Darren Witcomb took me under his wing and sold a lot of stuff my way. He taught me a lot about the rarer side of The Smiths.

Richard Carr, who too was an encyclopedia on the subject, answered a lot of my questions and started the Smiths / Moz Rarities page.

Since meeting these two, I would say my interest and obsession escalated rapidly. I have a lot to thank them for.

DF: How did learn about all the different versions?

MH: I immersed myself and learnt a lot of the differences and variants very quickly.

Although even now, I am still discovering new things.

DF: What is it about Smiths and Morrissey collecting / trading that you love?

MH: First and foremost, obviously I love the music.

Collecting wise, the buzz of finding something unique or a top tier item is amazing.

Also, discovering new items, that have never been listed or known about before.

I’ve met so many wonderful people through this, it really has been a blessing.

It probably trumps the actual record aspect of what I do.

DF: What is the Smiths/ Moz collecting scene like right now? Would you say it’s more popular than ever?

MH: For sure, I’ve been probably collecting solid now for 10-12 years and definitely seen an increase in interest as time has gone on.

I probably started really committing to mainly selling Smiths/Moz pre-Covid and since then I’ve established a lot of regular customers from all age ranges, backgrounds and counties.

It’s lovely to see so many people getting involved in collecting vinyl records and particular Smiths / Moz collecting.

DF: What is the holy grail of Smiths / Moz records?

I’ll do a quick top 10, because I flip-flop quite often with a few of these –

1. Hand In Glove (Negative Sleeve) £4-5k
2. Reel Around The Fountain test pressing £3-4k
3. Zimbabwe debut album £3-4k
4. Hong Kong debut album £3-4k
5. Dutch Panic white / black 7″ £2-3k
6. RTD 25 multicoloured promo £2-3k (pictured above).
7. Rank blank sleeve £1.5-2k
8. Dutch Bigmouth blue 7″ £1.5-2k
9. This Charming Man withdrawn 7” £1-1.5k
10. Uruguayan Meat is Murder £750-1k

I haven’t included any test pressings, acetates, gold discs or signed bits to confuse it (barring ‘Reel Around The Fountain’ just because of its wow factor and everyone’s knowledge of it).

DF: Tell me about the ‘Hand in Glove’ negative sleeve. How did you find that? 

MH: I bought it in a large collection from a huge Smiths / Moz fan called Maria who was from Spain and did a fanzine over there.

The actual copy of the negative was given to her by Grant Showbiz (Smiths producer) in the late 80s. In terms of how many copies of the negative sleeve there are, it was always rumoured about 25.

But I would have to say maybe between 25-50. It’s difficult to say.

DF: Which Morrissey record is worth the most money?

MH: In terms of stock/promo copies, the most valuable Moz record would be ‘Hold on to your Friends’ UK promo 7” worth around £1,000-1,200.

Also a few honourable mentions for the two South African 7” promos for ‘Everyday is Like Sunday’ & ‘Suedehead’ – £750-1,000.

DF: Some Morrissey vinyl albums go for big money – ‘Southpaw Grammar’, ‘Maladjusted’, ‘Ringleader of the Tormentors’. Why is this? And how much should people generally pay?

MH: Generally speaking, and this goes across the board for most bands in the mid 90s onwards to early 00s, there is a massive increase in value due to the huge takeover of CDs and this then meant more limited runs of vinyl records.

These three albums haven’t had a reissue on record which also keeps the value higher.

‘Maladjusted’ and ‘Southpaw Grammar’ generally do £150-200 dependent on condition and ‘Ringleader of the Tormentors’ about £120-150.

Anywhere in those ranges is a fine price to pay, anything under is a lovely price.

DF: I worry when I see ‘signed’ moz stuff online. How can people be careful?

MH: I worry too. My biggest annoyance in this realm is people flogging fakes.

I’d always say to people to seek a professional opinion, or ask Facebook groups for opinions before purchasing anything signed.

Certificates of Authenticity (COAs) aren’t always what they promise to be. So be careful with those. I’ve probably seen more fakes with COAs than real items.

One tip I always tell people: Morrissey in terms of when he does sign stuff, is very deliberate and smart with placement on a record sleeve generally. That’s always a dead giveaway a lot of the time.

If you see a Morrissey signature going all over the face of Terence Stamp* it’s probably a dud.

DF: What do you think of Moz selling signed vinyl at his gigs? On his merch stall at UK gigs they are priced £250 while at USA shows $250. On his autumn US tour he offered signed 7 inch singles for $100.

MH: It’s a very conflicting thing really, but it’s good fans get a chance to get a signed item from him on iconic album covers.

However the price is obviously a bit of a sticking point with fans.

But then again, this is the going rate in the signature market for his stuff.

DF: Are there any dos and don’ts of Moz collecting?

This probably can be applied for most collecting:

Spend and collect within your means and there is always a bargain out there waiting to be had.

Collect whatever aspect of Moz/Smiths you love and don’t be discouraged by others’ collections or collecting niche.

If you have any doubts with signatures, never buy it as that gut feeling is probably right.

Always make sure when you are buying from new sellers or someone you haven’t dealt with before to pay via PayPal Goods and Services so you have buyer protection.

Always make sure the seller has securely packaged the item, and seperated the record from the sleeve to avoid sleeve tears in transit.

The green title of  ‘Strangeways…’ is sun wear. Don’t buy it (this debate has been going for as long as time began).

DF: You really got behind the campaign to Save Salford Lads Club with an exhibition and auction. Tell us how you became involved and why you felt it important?

MH: I was approached by Kyle Dale (Oasis Collectors Group / Bittersweet Homes) who had done a few exhibitions recently relating to Oasis and charity events.

He’d done one at the Lads Club, and when it was announced about the possible closure, he invited me to collaborate with a joint exhibition of Manchester Music.

For most fans, it’s a must to have a picture outside of the Lads Club.

So to be able to actually do an exhibition there, was an absolute dream come true.

It was obviously very short notice, maybe 2/3 weeks, but it was important we helped such an integral and iconic part of Manchester history / community.

After being there over the weekend, it became a lot clearer that the Lads Club was much more than The Smiths.

And that really was a secondary part of it. The community and help linked with the place is just amazing and seeing that first-hand made me even more passionate about the place than when I had first arrived.

Over the weekend we managed to raise over £8k helping them get past the £250k mark they needed to raise to avoid closure.

DF: Tell us about the book you are writing…

So I wanted to write a book about collecting Smiths & Morrissey but turned up to nerd level 100.

I want to make a good price reference book, as I feel like the Record Collectors guide is very outdated and pricing is way off.

I also wanted to give people guidance with signatures, mythbust some of the everlasting debates among Smiths fans and do a Top 100 Rare List. I’m still very early days with the book.

I was hoping to make much more progress by this point but young children and other projects are currently halting that.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

DF: THANKS Mitch. And happy Moz collecting everyone!

CHECK OUT MISHMASH RECORDS HERE

*Terence Stamp was the original cover star on The Smiths single ‘What Difference Does It Make?’

 

Dickie Felton’s new book I AM HATED FOR LOVING – A Morrissey Tour on the Brink – is available now. All books ORDERED HERE will be signed by Dickie.