First of the Gang to Die

"First of the Gang to Die" is a song written by Morrissey from his 2004 album You Are the Quarry. It was released in July 2004 as the second single from the album. It was written by Morrissey along with Alain Whyte, the two being responsible for lyrics and music respectively. Following the success of "Irish Blood, English Heart", from the same album, the single reached the number six spot in the UK Singles Chart, giving Morrissey two top hits in a row for the first time since "The Last of the Famous International Playboys" and "Interesting Drug" both reached the top ten in 1989.

Contents

• 7 vinyl and CD UK
• DVD
• CD USA and 12 vinyl UK
• Musicians
• Cover version
• References

The single was A-Listed by BBC Radio 2 and received much more exposure than "Irish Blood, English Heart", propelling it onto the top 40 airplay chart. It entered the official singles chart at number six, making it the third-highest charting song and most successful follow-up single of Morrissey's career. The single stayed in the chart for seven weeks, longer than any other Morrissey single.

In the United States, the single failed to quickly achieve widespread airplay success like "Irish Blood, English Heart". However, it debuted at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales chart on 31 July, causing "Irish Blood, English Heart" to re-enter the chart for a week. By September, it had been added to the playlists of a few stations that supported the last single, including WNNX (Atlanta), CD101 (Columbus), KROQ, WHTG-FM (Monmouth / Ocean), KMBY, WROX-FM (Norfolk), XTRA, and KITS (San Francisco). However, despite at one point being nearly in the 50 most played alternative rock songs in the United States, "First of the Gang to Die" was never played in enough markets to break into the Top 40 portion of the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.

In October 2011, NME placed it at number 147 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".

The single was covered by Malaysian singer-songwriter, indie pop artist Zee Avi on her 2009 self-titled debut album.