IF IT'S NOT LOVE THEN IT'S THE POLL THAT WILL BRING US TOGETHER - ILM Artist Poll #72 - THE SMITHS - RESULTS THREAD

can't believe unloveable didn't make it

Yeah I was surprised by that, I really love that one.

I can't get enough of the Smiths or of polling things so I started a poll for their record sleeve artwork

The Smiths cover artwork poll

(but the formatting is all screwed up because I didn't realise that there is a ten image per post limit)

1. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
2. Still Ill
3. Panic
4. This Night Has Opened Up My Eyes
5. This Charming Man
6. The Headmaster's Ritual
7. Back to the Old House
8. A Rush and Push and the Land is Ours
9. The Queen is Dead
10. Bigmouth Strikes Again
11. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
12. Girl Afraid
13. Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before
14. Death of a Disco Over
15. The Boy With The Thorn In is Side
16. Handsome Devil
17. Cemetry Gates.
18. I Know It's Over
19. Ask
20. London

Nothing more satisfying than a finite and manageable but still almost infinitely rich catalog.

Thanks to Nate and JF, this has been fun.

My ballot:

Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
Still Ill
The Boy with the Thorn in His Side
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
Well I Wonder
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
William, It Was Really Nothing
Nowhere Fast
Bigmouth Strikes Again
Girl Afraid
I Don't Owe You Anything
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
This Charming Man
The Headmaster Ritual
These Things Take Time
You've Got Everything Now
I Know It's Over
Half A Person
Oscillate Wildly
Unloveable

Albums:
The Queen Is Dead
The Smiths
The World Won't Listen
Meat Is Murder
...Best II

One positive thing about this poll is that it's got me listening to The Smiths again, so thanks Nate for re-awakening my interest in this band after so long.

yeah thanks Nate, great poll!

Thanks to Nate for a fun poll.

Posting my ballot at this moment just to ensure there are three in a row with Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others top. We wuz robbed.

Songs

1. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
2. Nowhere Fast
3. The Queen Is Dead
4. The Headmaster Ritual
5. Rubber Ring
6. I Know It's Over
7. A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours
8. This Night Has Opened My Eyes
9. Half A Person
10. What She Said
11. Still Ill
12. Handsome Devil
13. Sweet and Tender Hooligan
14. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
15. Wonderful Woman
16. I Started Something I Couldn't Finish
17. Never Had No One Ever
18. I Want The One I Can't Have
19. Back to the Old House
20. Girl Afraid

Albums

1. Meat Is Murder
2. The Queen is Dead
3. Hatful of Hollow
4. Strangeways Here We Come
5. The Smiths

Was sort of hoping that top 3 would be avoided just for the sake of a more interesting result but oh well, don't have anything against any of those. I'm very surrpised Stop Me made it into the top 10, that's never done anything for me. There's a few nice guitar bits but when most of their songs are full of fantastic guitar bits and much better vocal melodies?

Glad to see Ask do so well though, it was almost my #1. A fantastic pop song with that brief atmospheric break in the middle.

I Know It's Over
This Charming Man
Ask
Still Ill
William, It Was Really Nothing
Asleep
Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
You've Got Everything Now
Cemetry Gates
How Soon Is Now?
There is a Light That Never Goes Out
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Girlfriend in a Coma
Panic
What Difference Does it Make
Shoplifters of the World Unite
Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
The Headmaster Ritual

The Queen is Dead
Louder Than Bombs
Hatful of Hollow
The Smiths
Strangeways, Here We Come

What I've learned from this poll is that ILX really really like the Smiths, which I was not aware of before.

Girl Afraid
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Still Ill
William, It Was Really Nothing
Hand in Glove
Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now
The Boy With A Thorn In His Side
Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before
This Charming Man
The Headmaster Ritual
Asleep
I Know It’s Over
How Soon Is Now?
Cemetary Gates
Big Mouth Strikes Again
Ask
That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want
The Queen is Dead
What Difference Does It Make?

1. The Queen Is Dead
2. You Just Have Earned It Yet, Baby
3. What Difference Does It Make? (Peel Session)
4. Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
5. Half A Person
6. The Headmaster Ritual
7. Hand In Glove
8. Bigmouth Strikes Again
9. Ask
10. Cemetry Gates
11. How Soon Is Now?
12. Handsome Devil
13. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
14. Is It Really So Strange
15. Vicar In A Tutu
16. Sheila Take A Bow
17. Girl Afraid
18. Sweet And Tender Hooligan
19. I Started Something I Couldn't Finish
20. I Know It's Over

thanks guys

1. The Boy with the Thorn in His Side
2. There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
3. How Soon Is Now?
4. The Queen Is Dead
5. What Difference Does It Make?
6. Rubber Ring
7. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
8. The Headmaster Ritual
9. I Know It's Over
10. What She Said
11. Nowhere Fast
12. Well I Wonder
13. London
14. Shakespeare's Sister
15. Stretch Out and Wait
16. Hand in Glove
17. Rusholme Ruffians
18. Shoplifters of the World Unite
19. Barbarism Begins at Home
20. Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before

1. Meat is Murder
2. The Queen is Dead
3. The Smiths
4. Strangeways Here We Come

i have to admit everything after #14 was plucked at random, should've given the whole discography more thought.

1. This Night Has Opened My Eyes
2. I Want the One I Can't Have
3. The Headmaster Ritual
4. Girlfriend in a Coma
5. Rusholme Ruffians
6. Meat is Murder
7. Barbarism Begins at Home
8. What She Said
9. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
10. Nowhere Fast
11. You've Got Everything Now
12. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
13. How Soon is Now?
14. Well I Wonder
15. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
16. There is a Light That Never Goes Out
17. Ask
18. Bigmouth Strikes Again
19. Panic
20. This Charming Man

ALBUMS

1. Meat is Murder
2. Hatful of Hollow
3. The Smiths
4. The Queen is Dead
5. Strangeways, Here We Come

Thanks.

TRACKS

01 These Things Take Time
02 Back To The Old House
03 This Charming Man
04 William, It Was Really Nothing
05 Shakespeare's Sister
06 How Soon Is Now?
07 The Queen Is Dead
08 London
09 Handsome Devil
10 Shoplifters of the World Unite
11 Sheila Take A Bow
12 Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
13 I Want The One I Can't Have
14 Miserable Lie
15 What She Said
16 Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want
17 Reel Around The Fountain
18 I Know It's Over
19 There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
20 The Boy with the Thorn in His Side

ALBUMS

01 The Smiths
02 Meat Is Murder
03 The Queen Is Dead
04 Louder Than Bombs
05 Strangeways, Here We Come

1 Girl Afraid
2 William, It Was Really Nothing
3 Half A Person
4 Frankly, Mr. Shankly
5 This Charming Man
6 London
7 The Queen Is Dead
8 Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
9 Cemetry Gates
10 Panic
11 How Soon Is Now?
12 Bigmouth Strikes Again
13 Ask
14 There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
15 This Night Has Opened My Eyes
16 Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
17 You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby
18 Shoplifters Of The World Unite
19 Girlfriend in a Coma
20 Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want

ALBUMS
Meat Is Murder
The Queen is Dead
Louder Than Bombs
The Smiths
Rank

SONGS
This Charming Man
The Boy with the Thorn in His Side
I Wonder
Half a Person
Still Ill
Asleep
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
William, It Was Really Nothing
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
I Know It's Over
Back to the Old House
Ask
Stretch Out and Wait
The Headmaster Ritual
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
Panic
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want
Reel Around the Fountain
Barbarism Begins at Home
Jeane

Thanks Nate and Johnny Fever!

My non-placers:

01 Shakespeare's Sister
08 Accept Yourself
15 Jeane

Kinda amazed that the first one (an A-side, albeit a chronically underappreciated one) was even beaten convincingly by the last one (a B-side with no convenient compilation appearances until that relatively recent deluxe thingy).

What She Said
Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
London
Sweet and Tender Hooligan
The Queen Is Dead
Miserable Lie
Golden Lights
You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby
Jeane
Suffer Little Children
I Know It's Over
What Difference Does It Make?
Never Had No One Ever
Rusholme Ruffians
Barbarism Begins At Home
Panic
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
Stretch Out And Wait
Nowhere Fast
Death At One's Elbow

Thanks for running this, Nate

(I won't bother posting my ballot because we can see everyone's ballot in the spreadsheet you posted a link to)

Very nice choice of pictures for the rollout.

Heaven Knows Im Miserable Now
the boy with a thorn in his side
there is a light that never goes out
this charming man
Reel around the fountain
Ask
i know its over
panic
Bigmouth Strikes Again
Hand in glove
still ill
how soon is now?
accept yourself
Girlfriend in a coma
handsome devil
this night has opened my eyes
william it was really nothing
i wont share you
what difference does it make?
some girls are bigger than others

albums

hatful of hollow
the queen is dead
the world wont listen
strangeways here i come
meat is murder

missed the roll out of this but big thanks to nate and johnny and to everyone involved in a great thread.

my ballot
1-How Soon Is Now? (immense, perfect))
2-The Queen Is Dead (helllooo, pianer, nine yr old toughs)
3-What Difference Does It Make? (drums crashing in, "in front ova" + oho ho)
4- That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore (the swell before "i've seen this happen" the reprise, the extended ending))
5-Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others (dole age, crate of ale, "oh i say")
6-Hand In Glove (the fade in, DRUMS)
7-This Charming Man (de-sol-ate)
8-London (feedback whistle guitar mouth organ, the forward momentum, "platform")
9-Death Of A Disco Dancer (maybe my favourite vocal performance)
10-Paint A Vulgar Picture ("tacky badge")
11-Handsome Devil ("i crack the whip)
12-Rubber Ring ("lay in awe on your bedroom floor and said on no smother me mother" the most accurate distillation of how music can make me feell)
13-Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me (long build + everything else)
14-Sheila Take A Bow (jauntiness)
15-Panic (carlisle dublin dundee humberside)
16-Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want ("good time for a change")
17Sweet And Tender Hooligan (bruising)
18-Back To The Old House ("saddest thing..")
19-This Night Has Opened My Eyes (got me watching taste of honey which i'm glad about, beautifully evocative opening line)
20-Barbarism Begins At Home (the third of the song where morrissey is too tired/bored to sing words and sings noises instead )

going thru their catalogue again surprised by just how much i love the drums on so much of their stuff. also for someone who i think is a brilliant lyricist just how much moz loves to wail away wordlessly and that's not even including the la la la's.

singles:

1. Girl Afraid
2. London
3. Hand in Glove
4. Rusholme Ruffians
5. Back to the Old House
6. This Charming Man
7. How Soon is Now
8. There is a Light That Never Goes Out
9. Rubber Ring
10. You've Got Everything Now
11. What Difference Does it Make?
12. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
13. Handsome Devil
14. Death of a Disco Dancer
15. Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
16. Jeane
17. Still Ill
18. Pretty Girls Make Graves
19. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
20. Miserable Lie

albums:

1. The Smiths
2. Louder Than Bombs
3. Meat is Murder
4. Hatful of Hollow
5. Rank

1.Ask
2.This Charming Man
3.There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
4.That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
5.Panic
6.This Night Has Opened My Eyes
7.The Queen Is Dead
8.Bigmouth Strikes Again
9.Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
10.Frankly, Mr. Shankly
11.Sheila Take a Bow
12.Death Of A Disco Dancer
13.Reel Around The Fountain
14.Cemetry Gates
15.Rusholme Ruffians
16.Jeane
17.Well I Wonder
18.I Want The One I Can't Have
19.You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby
20.Asleep

My #1!

I love the story Marr has about designing the music after what he felt the MC5 should have sounded like after he'd finally heard and was disappointed by them.

― Now I Know How Joan of Arcadia Felt (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, March 6, 2016 3:07 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It was my #1, too. Funny, I got into the MC5 around the same time -- shit, now that I remember it, it was the same day -- I got into the Smiths. My brother and I went to the record store where he bought Hatful of Hollow, and I bought Babes in Arms.

I loved "The Queen Is Dead" the moment I first heard it. I already loved the Smiths, and I hadn't necessarily wished for them to rock out more, but hearing them do so blew my mind.

Thanks for doing this, nate!

My ballot:

1. The Queen Is Dead
2. How Soon Is Now
3. Bigmouth Strikes Again
4. What Difference Does It Make
5. This Charming Man
6. William It Was Really Nothing
7. Still Ill
8. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
9. Handsome Devil
10. What She Said
11. These Things Take Time
12. Frankly Mr. Shankly
13. Hand In Glove
14. I Know It's Over
15. London
16. Reel Around The Fountain
17. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
18. You've Got Everything Now
19. Cemetry Gates
20. Vicar In A Tutu

songs:

How Soon Is Now? (would have been my #2 had I not gotten irritated right before sending my ballot)
This Night Has Opened My Eyes (my actual favorite)
What Difference Does It Make?
Half A Person
Sweet and Tender Hooligan
Shoplifters Of The World Unite
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
The Queen Is Dead
Bigmouth Strikes Again
London
Shakespeare's Sister
William, It Was Really Nothing
Handsome Devil
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Meat Is Murder
Girl Afraid
Ask
Is It Really So Strange?
Rubber Ring
Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want

albums:

Hatful of Hallow
The Queen Is Dead
Louder Than Bombs
Meat Is Murder
The Smiths

The songs that fell off the end of my ballot that I desperately wanted to include but couldn't:

A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours
Asleep
Back To The Old House
Hand In Glove
Oscillate Wildly
Panic
Reel Around The Fountain
The Boy with the Thorn in His Side
This Charming Man

The singer Morrissey is said to be "considering very seriously" an invitation to enter the London mayoral race.

An entry on his semi-official website revealed he had been asked to stand by the Animal Welfare Party.

A statement by the singer on the website said he wanted to speak out "against the hellish and archaic social injustice allotted to animals".
The Animal Welfare Party confirmed it had approached him to represent them.

Animal rights
Vanessa Hudson, the party leader, told BBC London: "We'd like to see the mayoral contest include the views of a candidate who would seek to champion London, not only as a world leading city for people but for animal welfare, too."

Morrissey, who has been vocal on the subject of animal rights and vegetarianism for many years, said in his statement: "What animal protectionists need to say is very well worth saying and well worth hearing.

"But we cannot just sit around waiting for establishment enlightenment. The sanctimonious disaster of animal agriculture cannot be allowed to go on forever, because its widespread impact is hellish."

Morrissey is from Manchester and has lived in London, Los Angeles and Rome.

To be eligible to stand, he would need to be registered to vote in London, or show that he had lived or worked there for 12 months.
A candidate also needs the signatures of 10 registered electors from each London borough and a deposit of £10,000.
Nominations for London mayoral candidates close at the end of March.

So he won't be standing for mayor then.

no.

Thanks so much to Mr. woolls f running the poll.

My ballot:

1
Shoplifters Of The World Unite
You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby
The Headmaster Ritual
Reel Around The Fountain (John Peel version)
The Queen Is Dead
Panic
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Sweet and Tender Hooligan
Sheila Take a Bow
Ask
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
Is It Really So Strange?
Girlfriend in a Coma
Half A Person
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
I Want The One I Can't Have
Bigmouth Strikes Again
Cemetery Gates
Unhappy Birthday
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
20

"Panic" is still a ton of fun to sing but growing up with the rise of hip-hop and then learning more about the origins of techno combined with the "turn" his lyrics and public persona took makes it really, really hard for me (especially as an African-American) to not hear that song as a racist lynching anthem.

TRACKS:

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
How Soon Is Now?
What Difference Does It Make?
Bigmouth Strikes Again
The Boy with the Thorn in His Side
William, It Was Really Nothing
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
The Headmaster Ritual
This Charming Man
Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now
Shakespeare's Sister
Sheila Take A Bow
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want
You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby
Asleep
Half A Person
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Rubber Ring
Panic

ALBUMS:

Singles
Louder Than Bombs
Meat Is Murder
The Queen Is Dead
The Smiths

1. You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby
2. London
3. I Started Something That I Couldn't Finish
4. There is a Light That Never Goes Out
5. This Charming Man
6. Sweet and Tender Hooligan
7. Ask
8. Some Girls Are Bigger...
9. Cemetery Gates
10. Barbarism Begins at Home
11. The Queen is Dead
12. I Won't Share You
13. Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
14. Bigmouth Strikes Again
15. Half a Person
16. Is It Really So Strange?
17. Back to the Old House
18. Panic
19. I Know It's Over
20. What Difference Does It Make?

ALBUMS

LOUDER THAN BOMBS
THE QUEEN IS DEAD
MEAT IS MURDER
STRANGEWAYS HERE WE COME
THE SINGLES

"Hatful of Hollow" really seems like the great divider--somebody upthread posted a ballot with literally nothing from that record;
I would struggle to find more than half a dozen songs I care about that AREN'T on it...

Yeah my basic conception of The Smiths is Hatful/Bombs/TQID

I've never heard Hatful of Hollow

A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours
Still Ill [Hatful of Hollow version]
Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
I Know It's Over
London
Oscillate Wildly
Asleep
Girlfriend in a Coma
Jeane
Unloveable
Reel Around the Fountain [Hatful of Hollow version]
The Boy with a Thorn in his Side
Sweet and Tender Hooligan
You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby
I Want the One I Can't Have
Vicar in a Tutu
Unhappy Birthday
Cemetry Gates
This Charming Man

albums
Louder Than Bombs
The Queen Is Dead
Hatful of Hollow
Strangeways, Here We Come
The Smiths

Hatful of Hollow was the last Smiths' album I bought, so I had already heard all the songs on it except for Handsome Devil and Accept Yourself. Some of the versions are different, but it still never meant too much to me.

"Panic" is still a ton of fun to sing but growing up with the rise of hip-hop and then learning more about the origins of techno combined with the "turn" his lyrics and public persona took makes it really, really hard for me (especially as an African-American) to not hear that song as a racist lynching anthem.

― i like to trump and i am crazy (DJP), Monday, 7 March 2016 16:41 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

if it helps, the song that prompted this was Wham's "I'm your man", so it would be that sort of thing..

and I thought they got on so well after their TV interview too

It was because BBC Radio One DJ Steve Wright played "I'm Your Man" straight after a news report about Chernobyl.

Instead of playing the Smiths.

Ha! Yeah, possibly... but mostly because Moz/Marr felt it was so inappropriate. Kinda like playing a U2 song after coming out of a story about some fuckin' dog dying.

Pure indie snobbishness however you slice it though.

morrissey always hated the greeks

"Rembetika is vile"