“For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn” was released by Comeuppance Ltd on 27 June 2010 as the second and final single from Harley’s fifth solo studio album, Stranger Comes to Town (2010). The song was written and produced by Harley.
Background
“For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn” had its origins dating back a decade before it was recorded for Stranger Comes to Town, with Harley first mentioning the song in an online diary entry in September 2000. Speaking of new additions to the live set, Harley revealed, “And a new lullaby, a longing, yearning lullaby where a terrified young man is saying, ‘No. It cannot be what it appears to be; nothing living lies that still…..’ beside his helpless wife’s bed.” Harley began working on a new studio album in 2000 and revealed in a 1 December 2001 diary entry that he was going into the studio that week to record “For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn” and “The Last Feast”. While no album materialised, Harley later recorded the song again with Cockney Rebel in February 2005 during sessions for The Quality of Mercy. The song did not make the album’s final track listing.
Speaking of the song in 2010, Harley stated, “It’s a sad story – children having children and not really having the means or wherewithal to deal with that.”
Release
“For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn” was released on 27 June 2010 as a digital-only single, with some promotional CD copies issued to radio stations. For its release as a single, a ‘radio edit’ of the track, which cut the song’s duration by a minute, was created.
The release of the single was first announced in Harley’s diary entry of 31 May, “Over lunch, will make notes re edit of ‘For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn.’ which we have agreed to release as a download single. Radio 2 airplay? Not much chance, to be honest. It’s tough to get on their playlist if you’re not represented by Universal or Sony. But Stranger Comes to Town is a major project, so we’ll suck it and see.”
The song received its first play on BBC Radio 2 on 23 May 2010 on Johnnie Walker’s Sounds of the 70s show, when Harley appeared as the show’s guest.
Track listing
Digital and UK promotional single
- “For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn” (Radio Edit) – 3:59
Personnel
“For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn”
- Steve Harley – vocals, acoustic guitar
- Barry Wickens – violin, viola
- James Lascelles – Hammered dulcimer, piano, percussion
- Lincoln Anderson – bass
- Stuart Elliott – drums
- Katie Brine – backing vocals
Production
- Steve Harley – producer
- Nick Brine – engineer
- Dougal Watt, Owen Morgan, Alex Edmunds, Nelson Milburn – studio assistants
- Tom Povall – post production
- Denis Blackham – mastering
Other
- Mike Callow – photography
- With thanks to – “The Stranger on the Beach”
- Mark Scarfe at Aarlsen – sleeve design
