Have you ever looked back on things you did or said when you were younger and thought to yourself ‘Jeez – what an absolute prick I was then’?! This is an embarrassingly obvious example of that for me. In my mid-teens, just before I sat my GCSEs, I was heavily into rock music. Sadly, as a result of that, and despite liking other genres I’d been exposed to (such as pop, country etc), I was also incredibly opinionated about other genres / artsits which I wasn’t really into and, sadly, wasn’t willing to give a chance to. One of those bands was The Smiths. Other cooler kids at school (typically in sixth form) clearly loved them – obsessively so, actually. I didn’t give them a chance and therefore roundly dismissed them whenever I could. I sneered at them. I summarsied all their music as crap. I distinctly remember saying that Johnny Marr wasn’t the guitar god many claimed him to be and was bang average at best. How wrong I was. What an absolute prick I was. Thank God I soon came to realise that almost all music genres have something wonderful to offer…
The artist
Steven Morrissey and Johnny Marr met at a Patti Smith gig at Manchester’s legendary Apollo Theatre venue in 1978. Bonding through a love of poetry and literature, the two formed a band in 1982 and soon began working on a number of songs. Later that year, Morrissey chose the band name The Smiths as 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 be publicly known only by his surname. Having originally used a different drummer, Mike Joyce joined the band that same year. They played their first gig in October 1892 and soon replaced their then bassist with Andy Rourke, thereby finalising the classic line-up. In December that year, they recorded their first demo, including the songs What Difference Does It Make?, Handsome Devil, and Miserable Lie. That demo was turned down by EMI. However, the band continued to write and record demos and Geoff Travis, of the indie record label Rough Trade Records, agreed to cut the song Hand In Glove as a single. It sold relatively well for the next 18 months but did not chart in the UK Top 40. They had some radio exposure, not least via John Peel’s Radio 1 show, and signed a full contact with Rough Trade Records. They recorded their debut album and the singles This Charming Man and What Difference Does It Make? Both made the UK Top 30.
Having started to build a dedicated fanbase, in February 1983, the band released their debut album, The Smiths, which reached number two on the UK Albums Chart. Subsequent albums included 1985’s Meat Is Murder and 1986’s The Queen Is Dead. By this point, the music had become more political than the debut album, with Morrissey in particular showing a considerable political stance in many of his interviews at the time. A legal dispute with Rough Trade delayed the release of The Queen Is Dead by almost seven months and, although it reached number two on the UK charts, Marr, in particular, was starting to feel the stress of the recording and touring schedules.
Following a period of in-band unrest, line-up changes, and the release of a few compilation albums, further tension emerged in 1987, with an exhausted Marr taking a break in June. He felt this was negatively perceived by his bandmates and, in July, he left the group, leading to a full split. Despite having only been active for 3-4 years (certainly in terms of record releases), they remain one of the most revered and influential UK indie bands of all time, thanks in no small part to the release of classic singles such as This Charming Man, Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now, How Soon Is Now?, Bigmouth Strikes Again, Panic, Sheila Take A Bow, Girlfriend In A Coma, and There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.
Why I’ve chosen to write about this song
That riff! That goddamned genius opening riff! There are other reasons, of course, but, primarily, what made me realise I’d been hideously wrong about The Smiths was this song and How Soon Is Now?The riff here is incredible and illustrates just what a phenomenal guitarist Marr is. It’s quick, precise, brilliant and bloody difficult to play! The song as a whole is just fantastic. That riff and Marr’s other guitar parts here just drive the song along at a great pace. The song also has a slightly sinister feel to it, which I often love. Manchester lays claim to having created some of the finest songs in music history, particularly during those Indie glory days of the 80s and 90s, and this song sits right up in the highest echelons of those lists.
The video
Just a fan-made video this time around, due to the band deciding not to make an official video for the original 1984 release. Speaking in an appearance on The Tube that year, Morrissey stated that he felt the video market was “going to die very quickly” and that he wanted to “herald the death of it”.
The stats
The song first charted at number 26 on the 28th January 1984. Spending 9 weeks in the top 100, it peaked at number 12 on the 18th February chart. For the stats fans, the number one single that week was Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Relax, whilst the number one album was Simple Minds’ Sparkle In The Rain.
The cover version
An acapella version of the song containing multiple layered vocal parts? Sounds bonkers but that’s what the American singer/songwriter Janice Whaley did, and she has created something quite beautiful. Clearly a huge fan of the band, her 2010 multi-album release ‘The Smiths Project’ saw her release acapella versions of every song in The Smiths’ back catalogue.
The wrap-up
The older I get, the more I’m happy to admit when I’m wrong, and by Christ, I was hideously wrong about The Smiths during my teenage years! Let’s forget about all the many Morrissey controversies and hone in on the facts – they were a bloody brilliant band and deserve all the acclaim they receive when debate rages about the most influential British bands of all time. Their hit-rate in terms of classic songs released during such a short period of time is astonishing. If I was wrong about the band as a whole, I was even more wide of the mark in my assessment of Johnny Marr. He was a phenomenal guitarist and songwriter and remains so today. An iconic figure in the Manchester music scene, and insanely cool to boot (even now, at the age of 62), he is still one of Manchester’s most beloved sons, and quite rightly so. Please do seek out his recent solo work if you haven’t heard it – his brilliance is still clear to see and pretty much anything he has written or appeared on is certainly worth a listen.
Best wishes.
Mick
