The Miracle of the Smiths

the new smiths book is fantastic, loving it so far

funny how the original 'outraged' interview quote is more OTM and less insane than his sober, considered quote!

tho tbh even most of that quote isn't really wrong, except for 'unseen in british history' and 'syria, china.'

the new smiths book is fantastic, loving it so far

yeah I'm digging it, it has made me notice all sorts of details in the songs that I had previously glossed over or never bothered to dissect (ie, anything referencing Manchester geography lol)

You guys are talking about A Light That Never Goes Out right? What about the book called Songs That Saved Your Life?

yes, the former. I dunno that latter.

Still gotta read my copy of that guy's All Hopped Up And Ready To Go.

yeah light that never goes out!

so many cool details in the early days, johnny marr liked tom petty and rory gallagher! the smiths 4th gig was opening for richard hell & the voidoids!

first gig was the same night as a WS Burroughs reading at the Hacienda etc

songs that saved your life is the one that's modeled on ian macdonald's beatles book, right? would love to read something like that about the smiths.

OK, guess I gotta start reading before you guys post any more spoilers.

tho tbh even most of that quote isn't really wrong, except for 'unseen in british history' and 'syria, china.'

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Tuesday, 9 April 2013 22:29 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yes,

also:

Thatcher's name must be protected not because of all the wrong that she had done, but because the people around her allowed her to do it, and therefore any criticism of Thatcher throws a dangerously absurd light on the entire machinery of British politics.

is very otm indeed. And, of course, will remain unremarked upon. (in favour of the syria/etc quote, and somthing added on about animal welfare or some such)

complete 1985 Madrid show taped for spanish TV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQXJ8isLCx4

rockpalast show in germany, a bit more low end on the sound here vox a little low but not bad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iuNMObFnwk

Morrissey's Wolverhampton 88 show has leaked in glorious soundboard quality. Check it out on Morrissey-Solo.

thanks for the heads up re the 88 gig; very interesting recording! band sound way tighter than i'd have thought for their first gig. well ONLY gig i suppose with that line up.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2013/why-i-still-hate-the-smiths-and-myself/ This is one of the worst pieces of music writing I have come across.

got the light that never goes out book at the library -- really a great rock bio so far. i'm not even a smiths die-hard (i think they're awesome, don't get me wrong), but it's just packed with good stuff.

kind of astonishing how fast everything went for them once marr and morrissey partnered up.

yeah the speed of it is crazy

also realizing that the legendary "manchester scene" was soooo small really

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2013/why-i-still-hate-the-smiths-and-myself/ This is one of the worst pieces of music writing I have come across.

The writer comes across as a misogynist cretin.

Anyway, like any good adolescent boy, I wanted in her skinny jeans so damn bad.

'any'

pretty much every sentence of that article is horribly worded, it reads like a fake piece by that onion guy.

i have read much worse reviews, the guy dos not follow the cult of the smiths and tries to explain why. his arguments are not very convincing but still.

How the Guardian covered the Smiths in the early 80s

With a terrible review (in both senses) from Mary Harron and an interview that misspells Morrissey's name …

The interview is terrific. Morrisey a prick in a good way. I tried to read it imagining I had never heard The Smiths. What would the music this man makes be like? Something like Savages.

Just realised that the Mary Harron who wrote the "nurd" review is the director of American Psycho (and ex-girlfriend of Tony Blair)

and ex-girlfriend of Tony Blair

Uhhhhhhhh, what?!?!?!?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/when-tony-met-mary-met-chris-467061.html

wow, small world.

she also went out with Chris Huhne, an Oxford contemporary of Blair, who last week was tipped in the polls as the most likely contender to take over from Charles Kennedy as Liberal Democrat leader.

LOLz

just plowed through the fletcher bio in a couple of days - a really great read as stated above by others. i'm a little surprised at absolutely no mention of the byrds among marr's influences/interests.

I read the book last week and it has quite re-invigorated my love for the music, and watching YouTube videos of their early gigs at the Hacienda really helps underscore the notion that they seemed to emerge fully formed. Lyrically and musically, some of their earliest songs are still amongst their strongest and most affecting, imo. But reading of how they pretty much hit the ground running made me wonder if they don't dispel Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000-hour rule (ie the amount of time required practicing something before you can master it). I mean, yeah, Marr played in other bands before the Smiths, and there's Morrissey's fevered letter-writing activities, but it doesn't seem to be the equivalent of, say, the Beatles slog through the Hamburg and Cavern years. I dunno.

If I've read The Severed Alliance, should I pick up this Fletcher Bio?

xp yeah The Smiths are the all time great example of where the Outliers theory doesn't work. Marr says they never even rehearsed.

according to the book they rehearsed plenty. also they specifically played small out-of-the-spotlight venues to hone the songs.

yeah, and there's that tape of them rehearsing!
http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2013/03/19/smiths-rehearsal-tape-may-1983/
[maybe he meant they didn't rehearse much]

they rehearsed mostly daily early on, and did so to get better between their first appearance and subsequent gigs.

Also Gladwell's theory is bullshit.

http://thischarmingcharlie.tumblr.com/

TRENDING: Peanuts strips w/Smiths-Moz lyrics. The Lucy ones are all great, but this one is perfection:

http://31.media.tumblr.com/f040e379045b0b13cce55fae6873d98d/tumblr_mr8zesWAZu1seji43o1_500.png

ha ha just posted that here

Morrissey's Smiths Lyrics: Are they 'in character', or from his own viewpoint?

so much to love!

Johnny Marr on the process of writing with Marr.

I didn't know that Half a Person was the one song they wrote together together

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/05/british-songwriter-interviews-secrets

Writing with Morrissey, rather.

i forgot You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby was meant to be a single. it's way more Radio friendly than many of their actual singles.

Yes, but it's also kind of awful.

yeah it kind of is, it's in that rubbishy Smiths mini cannon. Golden Lights, Girlfriend In A Coma, Work Is A 4 Letter word,
I Keep Mine Hidden.. i guess that's it. oh and maybe Ask.

Enjoyed reading those "Smiths fan" stories upthread! This and "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" poll revived my memories... of 80s turntables and the crackle of vinyl, autumn nights and pots of peppermint tea! Too busy at the time feeling dismissed by stupid and xenophobic American writers to be truly depressed.
Like, I listened to the vinyl albums with folk and oldies. After reading that stuff, I stopped reading any and all press about British bands.

Anyway, I listen to them on mp3 now but it's not the same! I guess the music doesn't go with office culture as well as it does dorm rooms and study. Morrissey dresses great and is a good entertainer. Also read he likes Buffy Saint-Marie! Honor the campfire!

Also I have my own Smiths story, but it's funny rather than sincere : this was another "not-shit" guitar band being passed around via tapes in my teenage circle....sat at party at some friend's house and we wondered what the singer looked like. "He sounds fat!" Not in an anti-fat people way, either. Like - how cool that fat people are fronting fashionable British rock bands! How punk! So we were a little disappointed.

I don't know how someone can "sound fat" but when I listen to early Smiths now I can't shake the false memories I have of fat Morrissey and smile.

He's a bit thicker now tbh

Yes, I noticed - but he has aged well IMO!

He has, and that's one reason why a Smiths reunion would look wrong. The other 3 are all variations of "young lads, but older"