The Smiths

The Smiths were an English band from Manchester, UK formed in 1982 consisting of Steven Patrick Morrissey (Vocals, Lyrics), Johnny Marr (Guitar, Music), Mike Joyce (Drums) and Andy Rourke (Bass). Hugely influential, The Smiths lasted all of five years from 1982 to 1987, releasing during this period four studio albums ('The Smiths', 'Meat Is Murder', 'The Queen Is Dead' and finally 'Strangeways, Here We Come') and three compilation albums ('Hatful Of Hollow', 'The World Won't Listen' and 'Louder Than Bombs'). 'Meat Is Murder' went on to enter the British charts at number one in February of 1985, and 'The Queen Is Dead' further confirmed the band's popularity with its release in spring 1986. Greeted with enthusiastic reviews and peaking at number two on the U.K. charts, the album also developed The Smiths' cult following in the U.S., breaking into the Top 100.

After the band's split in 1987, a further five albums were released, bringing the total number of Smiths albums to 12. These albums consisted of another four compilation albums ('Best 1', 'Best 2', 'Singles' and 'The Very Best Of'), and one live album ('Rank') recorded before the band's split during 'The Queen Is Dead' tour. Both 'Best 1' and 'Best 2' were heavily criticised by critics and some fans; however 'The Very Best Of', although with very similar content to said 'Best' albums, sold excellently, and drew much approval from critics.

The Smiths in popular culture

The track Asleep is mentioned in a book by Stephen Chbosky called The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and the track There Is a Light That Never Goes Out is mentioned in Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting novel as well as in the book You'll never walk alone by Sportfreunde Stiller's drummer Florian Weber, where it plays a major role throughout the whole story. There is also an entire book written about The Smiths' Meat Is Murder album, conveniently called Meat Is Murder, written by Joe Pernice. It tells the story of Joe and how the Smiths affected his life. It is based very loosely on reality, but worth the read, as is the book How Soon Is Never? by Marc Spitz (Spin Magazine). How Soon Is Never? tells the story of how The Smiths shaped the narrator's life from his early teens into his life as an adult with a "real" job. Additionally, Douglas Coupland's novel "Girlfriend in a Coma" plays off reference to the Smiths' song and works a number of references to Smiths' lyrics into the dialogue throughout the text.

Many listeners will be familiar with "How Soon Is Now". Love Spit Love's cover version was used as the theme song for the long running TV series, "Charmed".

There is also a song by German Farin Urlaub dedicated to The Smiths, called Sumisu (Japanese for "Smith").

Former members

Bass was originally played by Dale Hibbert, but he was replaced after 4 months. Craig Gannon was briefly a second guitarist for the band in 1986.
See The Smiths First Meetings