One night in January 1983 Johnny Marr wrote the riff and knew immediately he had something great, and he couldn't wait to get the music to Morrissey. He revealed to the Daily Mail that he didn't have anything to record the riff on, so he had to play it over and over in the car on the way to get his creation to Moz. Morrissey wrote the lyrics that night and the song came together the next day.
Eventually the Smiths recorded a demo for "Hand In Glove." In the Daily Mail interview Marr talked about how he stopped by the Rough Trade offices to drop off the demo and have an in person discussion with label boss Geoff Travis, but he was turned away. Determined to have the song heard, he hung around outside and snuck back into the building by pretending he worked there:
'I found my way to Geoff’s office. He looked really busy. I hung around until he was on his own...I just grabbed him and said, “Hey Geoff, uh, hi, my name’s Johnny. I’m in a band from Manchester and you won’t have heard anything like this…”
Three days later, the Smiths found out that Rough Trade was interested in releasing "Hand In Glove" as a single. And the rest is history. Read the full interview with Marr about the making of "Hand In Glove" here.
The version of "Hand In Glove" found on the 7" single is slightly different from the version that would eventually be released on the band's full length debut album the Smiths in 1984. [The 7" version found renewed light of day on the Smiths' compilation album Hatful of Hollow.] A live version of "Handsome Devil" was the b-side to the "Hand In Glove" single.
Version from Troy Tate session
Demo version (no harmonica)
Original single version (also appeared on Hatful of Hollow)
Version from the 1984 album The Smiths
Live version with Sandie Shaw