Stretford, Trafford, Manchester, England May 1982
Johnny Marr and Steven Patrick Morrissey decide to form a band. By that point,
Marr had become quite a skilled guitarist, and Morrissey was more of a writer, but could
also sing. As it turns out, both were fans of the same bands…bands like The New York Dolls,
T. Rex, and The Jam. At the time, synth pop and new wave were all the rage, but Marr and
Morrissey preferred to ditch the synth, returning to the roots of rock and a focus on just guitar,
bass, and drums. Both had previously worked with other bands…especially Marr.
Marr’s friend Steve Pomfret would play bass, but for those first rehearsals the band wouldn’t have
a drummer. By the summer, Marr and Morrissey had written several songs and recorded some of
them on a three-track cassette recorder. Soon Pomfret left the band, so Marr and Morrissey
recruited bassist Dale Hibbert to take his place. Hibbert worked at Macnhester’s Decibel Studios,
and through him they were able to record their first demo there in August. Simon Wolstencroft,
one of Marr’s old bandmates, played the drums on the recordings of the
songs “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” and “Suffer Little Children.” However,
Wolstencroft didn’t want to join the band because he didn’t like Morrissey’s voice. But no worries,
as they found another drummer, Mike Joyce, who had also been in other bands.
Soon after that, Morrissey took their demo to Tony Wilson, the cofounder of the record label Factory
Records, but Wilson was like “meh.” On October 4, the band played their first public performance
at a student-organized event at Manchester’s The Ritz. They played a total of three songs.
After this, Marr and Morrissey decided they needed another new bassist, and kicked Pomfret out of the
band. They recruited Marr’s former bandmate and childhood friend, Andy Rourke, to take his place.
Unlike most bassists at the time, Rourke was known for playing the instrument in a more melodic way.
Around that time, Morrissey had come up with the band’s name: The Smiths. He chose the name
since “Smith” is the most common surname in the English-speaking world. Morrissey:
Why do we call ourselves The Smiths? Marr: We call ourselves The Smiths because you decided that we
were called The Smiths. Morrissey: And I decided that it was the most ordinary name and I thought
it was time that the ordinary folk of the world showed their faces. Around that time Morrissey
also decided that he would only be publicly known by his last name. He hated his first name, anyway.
In December 1982, the Smiths recorded their second demo at Drone Studios. They sent it
to the record company EMI, who also was like “meh.” Regardless, they increased rehearsals,
wrote several new songs, and hired a manager named Joe Moss. Their sound was a rejection
of dance pop, a moody fusion of rock and roll and post-punk that highlighted Marr’s melodic,
jangle pop guitar and Morrissey’s baritone, melancholy voice. Morrissey’s lyrics were
often sad and depressing, yet also quite sarcastic and filled with dark humor.
The band’s second official show was on January 25, 1983 at the Manhattan Sound in Manchester.
By the spring, they were playing shows in London and had developed a small,
but loyal following. Morrissey would come on stage with flowers in his back pocket.
Eventually fans would throw flowers on the stage at shows to support the band.
In April, Marr and Morrissey met Geoff Travis, the founder of the independent label Rough Trade
Records. He agreed to record their song “Hand in Glove” and release it on the label as a
single. This would end up being the big break The Smiths needed. Rough Trade released “Hand
in Glove,” with this provocative cover, on May 13, 1983. While it wasn’t a big pop hit,
it was a huge alternative rock hit, and college radio stations across North America played it.
Five days after the release of “Hand in Glove,” The Smiths got another big break after getting
to perform on John Peel’s BBC Radio 1 show. After the success of “Hand in Glove,” Travis went up to
Manchester to sign the band. That said, Marr and Morrissey signed the contract on behalf
of the entire band, not discussing with Joyce nor Rourke how any earnings would be divided.
The band began recording with producer Troy Tate, recording 14 songs with him in the summer
of 1983. However, Travis wasn’t completely happy with how the recordings turned out,
and ultimately had the band re-record the songs with a new producer, John Porter.
Rough Trade released the band’s second single, “This Charming Man,” on Halloween of 1983. It
was a much bigger hit than “Hand in Glove” and generated a lot of media buzz. In fact,
the media loved to interview the band, especially Morrissey, who often had unique, profound, and
often just plain candid things to say. The media, and eventually fans, particularly seemed obsessed
with Morrissey’s sexuality, as he didn’t fit neatly into conventional sexual and gender norms.
By the end of 1983, The Smiths had toured all over the United Kingdom
and were quickly becoming one of the most popular rock bands in the country.
Encouraged by this momentum, Rough Trade released their self-titled debut studio album on February
20, 1984. It was a critical and commercial success, getting all the way up to number
two on the UK Albums Chart. It featured the hit single “What Difference Does It Make?”
Their self-titled debut is often considered one of the greatest debut albums of all time.
Throughout 1984, The Smiths toured Europe and even North America a bit. On May 21,
Rough Trade released their single “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.” It got all the
way up to number ten on the UK Singles Chart and would be their highest charting
song of all-time. It was the first song the band recorded with producer Stephen Street.
Meanwhile, The Smiths were more regularly appearing on TV shows…even this random
children’s program. And this random children’s show, too.
Oh yeah, that was another wonderful performance. The Smiths teamed up with the singer Sandie Shaw,
who released her own version of “Hand in Glove” that was a pop hit.
On November 12, Rough Trade released a compilation album called Hatful of Hollow.
It got great reviews and also cracked the top ten of the UK Albums Chart,
featuring the singles “William, It Was Really Nothing” and “How Soon Is Now?”
“How Soon Is Now?” originally was a B-side but ended up being a surprise hit and one
of their most memorable songs. In addition to charting on the UK Singles chart in 1985,
it also charted in 1992, and today is one of the band’s most streamed and recognizable songs.
Meanwhile, The Smiths went back to the studio to record what would become their
second studio album, Meat Is Murder, released by Rough Trade on February 11,
1985. These songs were more political and in your face compared to their earlier stuff. Marr and
Morrissey also busted out some synthesizers to subtly add layers underneath the songs.
Critics also generally praised Meat Is Murder, and the album was their first
international success, even peaking at #110 on the Billboard 200 chart in
the United States. While most American pop radio stations avoided playing the Smiths,
COLLEGE radio stations played them A LOT. Meat Is Murder featured the hits “Barbarism Begins at
Home” and “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore.” The title track, uh…perhaps obviously,
is a pro-vegetarian song. By this time, both Marr and Morrissey were vegetarians,
and Morrissey was particularly outspoken about it, one time even convincing a Scottish TV show
to air footage of slaughterhouses at a time when most people watching were likely eating dinner.
Anyway, Meat Is Murder is often ranked today as one of the greatest albums of all time.
Despite commercial and critical success, Morrissey did draw a lot of controversy in pretty much
every interview he gave. He famously talked trash about Band Aid, the supergroup of musicians that
got together to raise money for those affected by famine in Ethiopia. When talking about their song,
“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” he infamously said: “One can have great concern for the
people of Ethiopia, but it's another thing to inflict daily torture on the people of England.
It was an awful record considering the mass of talent involved. And it wasn't done shyly,
it was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music.”
Anyway, perhaps stuff like this made The Smiths, and Morrissey in particular,
even more appealing in the counterculture. The band continued to have successful tours throughout
both Europe and North America for the rest of 1985. That fall, they had another hit single,
“The Boy with the Thorn in His Side.” A remixed version of that song ended up on their third
studio album, The Queen Is Dead, released by Rough Trade on June 16, 1986. And yep,
critics and fans adored this one, too. The Queen Is Dead is often considered a masterpiece. In
fact, it’s often picked as one of the top 50 greatest albums of all time. Featuring the
hits “Bigmouth Strikes Again” and “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” the album sold over
a million copies in the UK alone and got all the way to number two on the UK album chart.
However, just as the band was getting mainstream appeal, it was also already falling apart. Marr
was drinking too much alcohol. He even nearly died after crashing his car due to being drunk
while driving. Rourke was using heroin so much that he was kicked out of the band for a couple
weeks. Craig Gannon, formerly of the band Aztec Camera, took his place during those two weeks,
but then stuck around on rhythm guitar after Rourke returned. There had also been major
tensions between the band and Rough Trade. The label had even delayed releasing The Queen Is Dead
due to contract disputes. The band eventually left the label since it didn’t feel like it promoted
them well enough, signing with EMI, a major label, which of course caused fans to say they sold out.
On July 21, 1986, Rough Trade released the single “Panic.” Even
though Morrissey’s lyrics heavily criticized pop music, even calling to “hang the DJ,”
British DJs played it, anyway, alongside…yep, pop music. Next up was another hit song,
“Ask,” released on October 20, one of their most complex songs they ever recorded.
The last few live shows The Smiths ever played were in the final months of 1986.
During that time, the band also recorded some new material. Even though Gannon recorded with them,
he and Marr were not getting along very well, and Gannon left the band shortly after that.
On January 26, 1987, Rough Trade released “Shoplifters of the World Unite.” Despite being
another controversial song that promoted shoplifting and referencing Karl Marx,
it was another hit for the band, getting up to number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.
Rough Trade released two more compilation albums in early 1987: The World Won’t Listen
and Louder Than Bombs. Sire Records released them in the United States. Both sold well,
but critics generally weren’t as happy with The World Won’t Listen as they were with Louder Than
Bombs. Rough Trade got another hit single out of The Smiths with “Sheila Take a Bow,” released on
April 13, 1987. It was their only other song to reach the top ten on the UK Singles Chart.
Before The Smiths left for EMI, they still had an obligation to record one more studio album
for Rough Trade. But uh, as it so happens, they would not be leaving for EMI after all. Let me
explain. In the spring of 1987, the band recorded what they pretty much all thought was their best
stuff yet. They got much more experimental and branched out their instrumentation. However,
while creatively they were feeling pretty good, on a personal level, Marr just wasn’t happy in
the band anymore. He and Morrissey hadn’t been getting along, anyway. In June, Marr took a
break. Rumors spread that Morrissey really just thought Marr was leaving the band to work with
other musicians, and…if this was true…this ended up being a self-fulfilling prophecy,
as Marr was paranoid of Morrisey saying that anyway. He officially left the band in July.
After Morrissey had trouble finding a suitable replacement for Marr, he decided to end the band.
Rough Trade released their fourth and final studio album, Strangeways, Here We Come,
on September 28, 1987. By that time, fans knew the band was no more. Still,
the album was yet another critical and commercial hit, featuring four singles:
“Girlfriend in a Coma,” “I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish,” “Last Night I Dreamt
That Somebody Loved Me,” and “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before.”
Despite only officially releasing 74 songs, they’ve released seven more compilation
albums and one live album in the years since their breakup. Morrissey went on to have a
successful solo career that continues to this day. Johnny Marr collaborated with
MANY different artists as both a session musician and writing collaborator. He’s ALSO released some
solo stuff. Joyce and Rourke fought for years in court to get their fair share of recording
and performance royalties. They eventually won back SOME royalties, but in hindsight,
it seems Joyce and Rourke got screwed over in the original royalties distribution deal.
This is likely a big reason why, ever since, all of its members have turned down offers to
reunite. It’s one of those rare examples of a band resisting the urge to cash in on a reunion tour.
Despite this, today The Smiths remain one of the most prominent bands in
British music history. Johnny Marr is still considered one of the greatest guitarists of
all time and Morrissey is considered one of the greatest lyricists of all time.
Rarely does a band exist for such a little amount of time yet have such a huge influence. I know
that “indie rock” has become a terrible, catch-all label today to describe music,
but if I had to pick one band that helped make “indie rock” a thing in the first place, it would
be the Smiths. Odds are, your favorite band from the past 35 years was influenced by them- that’s
how influential they were. More specifically, The Smiths helped British popular music return
to its rock roots, even helping create an entire genre of music- Britpop. As a matter of fact, I’d
argue alternative rock wouldn’t have been nearly as big in the 1990s if it weren’t for the band.
The Smiths may have only been together a few short years,
but their impact on music and culture still resonates today.
Comment
if you found this video after watching (500) Days of Summer. I’m always curious if people are legit
watching this video who are not familiar with the band yet. Also, believe it or not, The Smiths are
still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That’s crazy to me. Anyway, which band should
I cover for this series next? Let me know down below. Thanks for watching, Mr. and Mrs. Smith!