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The Smiths

The Smiths

The Smiths were the definitive British indie rock band of the '80s, marking the end of synth-driven new wave and the beginning of the guitar rock that dominated English rock into the '90s. Sonically, the group was indebted ... The Smiths were the definitive British indie rock band of the '80s, marking the end of synth-driven new wave and the beginning of the guitar rock that dominated English rock into the '90s. Sonically, the group was indebted to the British Invasion, crafting ringing, melodic three-minute pop singles, even for their album tracks. But their scope was far broader than that of a revivalist band. The group's core members, vocalist Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr, were obsessive rock fans inspired by the D.I.Y. ethics of punk, but they also had a fondness for girl groups, pop, and rockabilly. Morrissey and Marr also represented one of the strangest teams of collaborators in rock history. Marr was the rock traditionalist, looking like an elegant version of Keith Richards during The Smiths' heyday and meticulously layering his guitar tracks in the studio. Morrissey, on the other hand, broke from rock tradition by singing in a keening, self-absorbed croon, embracing the forlorn, romantic poetry of Oscar Wilde, publicly declaring his celibacy, and making no secret of his disgust for most of his peers. While it eventually led to The Smiths' early demise, the friction between Morrissey and Marr resulted in a flurry of singles and albums over the course of three years that provided the blueprint for British guitar rock in the following decade.
Before forming The Smiths in 1982, Johnny Marr (born John Maher, October 31, 1963; guitar) had played in a variety of Manchester-based rock & roll bands, including Sister Ray, Freaky Part, White Dice, and Paris Valentinos. On occasion, Marr had come close to a record contract -- one of his bands won a competition Stiff Records held to have Nick Lowe "produce your band" -- but he never quite made the leap. Though Morrissey (born Steven Patrick Morrissey, May 22, 1959; vocals) had sung for a few weeks with the Nosebleeds and auditioned for Slaughter & the Dogs, he had primarily contented himself to being a passionate, vocal fan of both music and film. During his teens, he wrote the Melody Maker frequently, often getting his letters published. He had written the biography/tribute James Dean Isn't Dead, which was published by the local Manchester publishing house Babylon Books in the late '70s, as well as another book on the New York Dolls; he was also the president of the English New York Dolls fan club. Morrissey met Marr, who was then looking for a lyricist, through mutual friends in the spring of 1982. The pair began writing songs, eventually recording some demos with the Fall's drummer, Simon Wolstencroft. By the fall, the duo had settled on the name The Smiths and recruited Marr's schoolmate Andy Rourke as their bassist and Mike Joyce as their drummer.
The Smiths made their live debut late in 1982, and by the spring of 1983, the group had earned a small but loyal following in their hometown of Manchester and had begun to make inroads in London. Rejecting a record deal with the Mancunian Factory Records, the band signed with Rough Trade for a one-off single, "Hand in Glove." With its veiled references to homosexuality and its ringing riffs, "Hand in Glove" became an underground sensation in the U.K., topping the independent charts and earning the praise of the U.K. music weeklies. Soon, Morrissey's performances became notorious as he appeared on-stage wearing a hearing aid and with gladioli stuffed in his back pockets. His interviews were becoming famous for his forthright, often contrary opinions, which helped the band become a media sensation. By the time of the group's second single, "This Charming Man," in late 1983, The Smiths had already been the subject of controversy over "Reel Around the Fountain," a song that had been aired on a BBC radio session and was alleged to condone child abuse. It was the first time that Morrissey's detached, literary, and ironic lyrics were misinterpreted and it wouldn't be the last.

"This Charming Man" reached number 25 on the British charts in December of 1983, setting the stage for "What Difference Does It Make"'s peak of number 12 in February. The Smiths' rise to the upper reaches of the British charts was swift, and the passion of their fans, as well as the U.K. music press, indicated that the group had put an end to the synth-powered new wave that dominated Britain in the early '80s. After rejecting their initial stab at a first album, they released their debut, The Smiths, in the spring of 1984 to strong reviews and sales -- it peaked at number two. A few months later, the group backed '60s pop vocalist Sandie Shaw -- who Morrissey had publicly praised in an article -- on a version of "Hand in Glove" that was released and reached the Top 40. "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" reached number ten, becoming their highest-charting single amid a storm of controversy about its B-side, "Suffer Little Children," which was about the notorious Moors Murders. More controversy appeared when Morrissey denounced the hunger-relief efforts of Band Aid, but the group's popularity was not affected. Though The Smiths had become the most popular new rock & roll group in Britain, the group failed to make it outside of underground and college radio in the U.S., partially because they never launched a full-scale tour. At the end of the year, "William It Was Really Nothing" became a Top 20 hit and Hatful of Hollow, a collection of B-sides, BBC sessions, and non-LP singles, went to the Top Ten, followed shortly by "How Soon Is Now," which peaked at number 24.

Meat Is Murder, the band's second proper studio album, entered the British charts at number one in February of 1985, despite some criticism that it was weaker than The Smiths. Around the time of the release of Meat Is Murder, Morrissey's interviews were becoming increasingly political as he trashed the Thatcher administration and campaigned for vegetarianism; he even claimed that The Smiths were all vegetarians, and he forbade the remaining members to be photographed eating meat, even though they were still carnivores. Marr, for his part, was delving deeply into the rock & roll lifestyle and looked increasingly like a cross between Keith Richards and Brian Jones. By the time the non-LP "Shakespeare's Sister" reached number 26 in the spring of 1985, The Smiths had spawned a rash of soundalike bands, including James, who opened for the group on their spring 1985 tour, most of whom Morrissey supported. However, all of the media attention on The Smiths launched a mild backlash later in 1985, when "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" was pulled from Meat Is Murder and failed to reach the Top 40.

"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" revived the band's fortunes in the fall of 1985, and their third album, The Queen Is Dead, confirmed their popularity upon its release in the spring of 1986. Greeted with enthusiastic reviews and peaking at number two on the U.K. charts, The Queen Is Dead also expanded their cult following in the U.S., cracking the Top 100. Shortly before the album was completed, former Aztec Camera guitarist Craig Gannon became the band's rhythm guitarist, and he played with the band throughout their 1986 international tour, including a botched American tour. The non-LP "Panic," which was criticized as racist by some observers for its repeated refrain of "Burn down the disco...hang the DJ," reached number 11 late in the summer. A few months after its release, Marr was seriously injured in a car crash. During his recuperation, Gannon was fired from the band, as was Rourke, who was suffering from heroin addiction. Though Rourke was later reinstated, Gannon was never replaced.

The Smiths may have been at the height of their popularity in early 1987, with the non-LP singles "Shoplifters of the World" and "Sheila Take a Bow" reaching number 11 and ten respectively, and the singles and B-sides compilation The World Won't Listen (revamped for U.S. release as Louder Than Bombs later in 1987) debuting at number two, but Marr was growing increasingly disenchanted with the band and the music industry. Over the course of the year, Morrissey and Marr became increasingly irritated with each other. The singer wished that Marr would stop playing with other artists like Bryan Ferry and Billy Bragg, while the guitarist was frustrated with Morrissey's devotion to '60s pop and his hesitancy to explore new musical directions. A few weeks before the fall release of Strangeways, Here We Come, Marr announced that he was leaving The Smiths. Morrissey disbanded the group shortly afterward and began a solo career, signing with Parlophone in the U.K. and staying with The Smiths' U.S. label, Reprise. Marr played as a sideman with a variety of artists, eventually forming Electronic with New Order frontman Bernard Sumner. Rourke retired from recording and Joyce became a member of the reunited Buzzcocks in 1991.

Rank, a live album recorded on the Queen Is Dead tour, was released in the fall of 1988. It debuted at number two in the U.K. A widely criticized, two-part The Best of the Smiths compilation was released in 1992; the praised Singles compilation was released in 1995. Joyce and Rourke sued Morrissey and Marr in 1991, claiming they received only ten percent of the group's earnings while the songwriters received 40 percent. Rourke eventually settled out of court, but Joyce won his case in late 1996.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
AllMusic.com
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tapes
Tape	Songs	Comments	Author
Dear loser ex-boyfriend Dear loser ex-boyfriends of the world, Here's something for you. Enjoy! Truly yours, Clear-headed ex-girlfriends of the world	21	6	Enooby
My Favorite Things A few of my favorite songs	163	1	JeffKaos71
Good Songs Beginning With B A mixtape containing good songs that begin with the letter B.	28	3	adamus
A collection of songs for both being in love, losing love and moving on from love.	21	0	ClaudiaLovesMusic
"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite." A list of songs mentioned in one of my favorite books, "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower."	20	4	XNeverMind
I'll run away with you To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.	19	1	Enooby
(500)Days of Summer the movie	11	0	XtraELITE
Favorite Songs	50	0	MurdocKilz
I'm Yours. Songs to my best friend who I love to death. Who knows but is afraid to hurt me. Who I will live the rest of my life hoping for.	30	8	Meguca
Breakup Hate/love this playlist	14	1	dan0my
Some of my favourite songs	45	0	Nerio
Mud On The Tracks A break-up album.	24	12	caleby
Sing me to sleep What have I become, my sweetest friend? Everyone I know goes away in the end.	17	1	Enooby
black is how I feel inside mixtape for lonely nights.	15	0	damnation
The words I cannot speak	14	0	wallflower87
September	75	1	mremix
Tainted love There's a club, if you'd like to go. You could meet someone who really loves you. So you go and you stand on your own and you leave on your ...	20	1	Enooby
for all you beautiful dreamers What we have here is a dreamer, someone completely out of touch with reality. When she jumped, she probably thought she could fly.	10	0	nostalgiclux
the lyrics that move me I'm not good at English, but that doesn't change the fact that some lyrics strike my heart. Moreover, because they're in a foreign language,...	3	0	oct71952
Autumn. A real mix CD I gave someone. No emo bullshit. No blatant songs about love. Just good music to listen to.	17	0	himynameisjuan
Favourites Just my favourite songs of all time.	53	1	aidualc
Good songs to listen when Pterodactylus attack with ice arrows of loneliness What other song can be suitable for this list.	18	0	tobeortobe
DL	28	0	l0vefool
Blue in the Face Me	29	0	MarcusH
JohnnyLurg's Favorite Songs Vol. 15 I'll be making these mixtapes until the end of time.	30	2	JohnnyLurg
Songs to End the Summer Music to listen to when the nights start getting cooler, and the colours of the trees begin to change. Made in 2005, when I was 20.	20	6	Sincerity
You made me realise All my friends are embryonic. All my friends are dead and gone. All my friends are microscopic. All my friends wake up alone. Girl germs eat...	20	8	Enooby
Really Good Love Songs! Perfect love songs for that special someone!	29	3	Audi0bl00d
Your name like ice into my heart Girlfriend in a coma, I know, I know, it's serious.	20	0	Enooby
JohnnyLurg's Favorite Songs Vol. 8	30	0	JohnnyLurg
Soundtrack Maastricht 03/2011 Is this film based on a true story?	13	0	MissAnthrope
Oh nastolgia Anyone else get this weird feeling when listening to any of these or memory of friends, being a kid, that girl who pours your drinks, the a...	9	1	Damianhockley
songs that make you think	11	1	adalain
My favorites, volume 5.	30	0	XNeverMind
You have destroyed my flower-like life You've been around enough to know that if I want to leave, you better let me go because I take full advantage of every man I meet. I get awa...	21	1	Enooby
Janvier 2011 se sentir triste, et seul, et loin du monde	6	1	MorbidIris
SunOnYourFace	27	8	Injera
If I had a heart For angsting.	11	3	spieg
Wintertime Nostalgia (acoustic) Songs about moving on, letting go, and poetic melancholia. Ideal for listening during chilly winter nights, when you don't mind dancing on t...	6	0	BitterSweet36
Slow Love Loss and Pain losing love finding love looking for love	18	0	WillG1970
Songs you cry yourself to sleep to Sad :'(	15	3	Krista47
June	30	0	mremix
Mine?	16	0	VictimsOfKnowledge
♥ Volume 1 ♥	30	1	ghostthefestivals
Spring 2011 - Dreaming Away... Every season I burn a cd for my girlfriend full of songs on my mind that flow together in some way. This spring I wanted to give her one th...	19	2	Austini
My favorites, volume 4.	30	0	XNeverMind
some favorites	11	1	timeismyvessel
Dad	30	0	whoshat
Wait It Out For my dearest Maria Mariano, "This is my mixtape for you. It's like I wrote every word with my own fingers."	12	0	iNiks
SMITHS	13	1	danloss
August Light The wistfulness of August. "The august light on my hands..." Light in August.	10	2	evasinclair
Feeling Gloomy Too I created a playlist for a club night called Feeling Gloomy. So pretty much every song on here has a negative or sullen mood. Mostly 80's st...	14	4	blinkxme
a-z of my favourite songs	26	0	twins27
heythereamericanbear! #1	17	0	austinparish
Heaven knows I'm miserable now A noise, a scream tears my clothes as the figurines tighten with spiders inside them and dust on the lips of a vision of hell. I laughed in ...	18	0	Enooby
Heartbreak For people who dwell on past break ups.	10	2	kitsononline
Sadface :( The only one I truly love does not return their feelings. I just want to curl up into a ball and watch the world end. (Whhaaaaa!)	8	17	kaotic73
50 Favorite work inspired by the lyrical word	27	0	ai9652
yours truely.	5	0	ireenie
Memories in lyrics	22	3	klarusia
The Monster within Me - Melancholy, Depression and Anxiety Some songs that have helped me staying alive.	15	0	baroness_strange
LIFE 2	19	0	ymandy75
Mixtape I Created While Drinking Shiner This Playlist Will Make You Feel Like You Have A Dozen Tealights Lit In Your Bedroom.	24	2	bunnyfrom666
Moody	20	0	malouza
Favorites Just favorite songs.	3	0	briiibree
Victory at Monterey Music.	10	0	ryanalbertjohnomar
Swimming the same deep water as you is hard Some eighteen months ago I travelled to a mystical time zone and I missed my bed and I soon came home. They said, "There's too much caffeine...	19	0	Enooby
WORSHIP this is a collection of underrated or not cult songs.	5	0	SLAVE4U
Dad Volume 1 Songs for my Dad	18	0	whoshat
London Riots Panic on the streets of London...	7	6	lawlessdan
Bipolar Opposites Volume 1 A little something for every mood you may be in.	30	0	EverythingandNothing
unholy war blues	8	8	flois
III part one A huge two part mix I made for, you guessed it, the girlfriend. Note, I'm 99% sure Wretched Man is actually solo number by Marcus Mumford be...	18	1	TtotheJ279
Drowning Sometimes it sinks. You fall right in and hopelessly flail about.	11	0	ai9652
Planet of the Tapes Love, loss, heartbreak, rejection, redemption and getting wasted in an indie jangly bedroom.	30	1	scratcher
Suffer Little Children She lives in a fairy tale somewhere too far for us to find. Forgotten the taste and smell of a world that she's left behind. "It's all about...	23	0	Enooby
If you walk away I walk away	17	2	arcynic
Do you feel like a man when you push her around? All the other kids with the pumped up kicks, You better run, better run, outrun my gun. All the other kids with the pumped up kicks, You ...	20	0	Enooby
moving	3	0	mindlessblur
some punk rock alt punk & alternative rock music...	21	2	moonshadowbird396
Nostalgia. ...um, nostalgia.	9	0	LadyStephanie
My favorites, volume 9.	19	1	XNeverMind
xmess putting the mess back into christmas	30	1	fkngslp
Alt mix	21	0	doneill1027
Born this way I kissed a girl and I liked it.	24	1	Enooby
My life in music How I feel about everything.	6	0	baileeh
One Winter From The Perks of Being a Wallflower	8	0	jennifersmith2
different colours, different shades	50	0	drewmanoid
The Perks of Being a Wallflower. All songs referenced in the novel "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky..	21	1	floatingswans
What Other Guy... The end of a long term "relationship" with a man who was almost the man of my dreams.	3	0	katelamark
Top of the World You know, the songs where your just glad to be alive cause you found some of the most awesome songs to ever be heard on the planet?	3	0	bleekerface
Songs to Daydream To Just sit back.	8	0	bleekerface
Asexual Playlist	15	13	NChoir
Just Another Mixtape A collection of songs I posted on my blog.	7	0	mimi0711
lovecats. a playlist i made about a year ago for a special person.	12	0	Louyiihn
The Smiths .	13	0	1hangtheDJ
Pretty songs various themes, soft, mellow	23	0	dulcamia
For My Funeral Not that I'm dying any time soon I hope...	9	1	manic4manics
The Eighties My favourites from an awesome decade	34	0	manic4manics
A Little Bit Of Savagery When you've a lot of bottled up anger and fancy screaming some abuse	15	1	manic4manics
Songs to Listen To when you Just Want to Scream Along Ah, these are those songs for when you're really keyed up, angry, excited, whatever, and you just want loud, good music on that reflects you...	11	1	boulevard1
Great Songs that will Never Get Old Some of my favorites over the years that I could listen to over and over and over.	28	0	Fifi834
I Like Candy My friend gave me a box of candy for Christmas, so I made this mix to reciprocate. As such, it's mostly made up of rather sweet-sounding so...	12	1	gray96
Songs With Deep Meanings Songs that generally have a brilliant story and deeper meaning than you think.	8	2	CameoLover
Flaming Flamboyant Felines I gave this to a friend for her birthday. She recently had her hair highlighted, and I think that she looks kinda like a cat because of it....	11	1	gray96
Awesome Breakup Songs	18	1	manic4manics
｡･ ☆｡ pop ｡･☆ ･｡* This is the ultimate "poppare" mixtape. "Poppare" is a subculture in Sweden, their style are mainly inspired by the 60's mods style. There a...	28	0	josefst
introvert a mixtape for all the introverts.	7	3	lina182
to heather. you're no teenage icon but you're pretty rad and i like you.	174	3	vriska
¡Para Ti! Another birthday gift. It's titled as such because she and I were in the same Spanish class a while back. Plus, I gave it to her at a party,...	16	1	gray96

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