The Smiths part 1

Like them or not, the Smiths were the best British band of the 80s. For Q magazine, they were "the one truly vital voice of the '80s", "the most influential British guitar group of the decade" and the "first indie outsiders to achieve mainstream success on their own terms". In a 2002, NME named the Smiths the "most influential artist ever". They managed to do all that with only four studio albums, all of which are of a special interest to us.

The Smiths were formed in Manchester, UK in 1982. They were Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (drums). The band's focus on a guitar, bass, and drum sound, and their fusion of 1960s Rock and Post-Punk, came in sharp contrast to synthesizer-based Dance Pop, the prevalent style at the time. Marr's guitar-playing influenced later Manchester bands, including the Stone Roses and Oasis. Morrissey and Marr's songs combined themes about ordinary people with complex, literate lyrics delivered by Morrissey with a mordant sense of humor.

Their first album, simply named The Smiths, came out in 1984, had a half-naked Joe Dallesandro on the cover (from Andy Warhol's film Flesh) and was excellently received by the public and critics alike. The public sent the album at #2 in the UK charts (it stayed on the charts for 33 weeks).

The reviews were stellar: Slant Magazine listed the album at 51 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s" saying "There's no reason why a mordant, sexually frustrated disciple of Oscar Wilde who loved punk but crooned like a malfunctioning Sinatra should've teamed up with a fabulously inventive guitarist whose influences were so diffuse that it could be hard to hear them at all and formed one of the greatest songwriting duos of the '80s." Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album at #22 of the 100 greatest albums of the 80s, as well as at #473 of the 500 greatest albums of all time and at #51 of the 100 best debut albums of all time. UK's The Guardian placed it at #73 of the 100 best albums ever.

The first masterpiece of the album is the closing track of the A-Side, This Charming Man: the overtly homoerotic song, which deliberately uses archaic language, so as to deliver itself from epochal constraints, met with unanimous praise. The reviewer in The Face asked, "Where has all the wildness and daring got to? Some of it has found its way onto The Smiths' record, 'This Charming Man'. It jangles and crashes and Morrissey jumps in the middle with his mutant choir-boy voice, sounding jolly and angst-ridden at the same time. It should be given out on street corners to unsuspecting passers-by of all ages."

The groups appearance on UK's TV show Top Of The Pops was an instant sensation. Although as a single it only made #25 in its original run, it made #8 when it was re-issued in 1992. Here are the great lyrics:

Punctured bicycle

On a hillside desolate

Will nature make a man of me yet?

When in this charming car

This charming man

Why pamper life's complexity

When the leather runs smooth

On the passenger's seat?

I would go out tonight

But I haven't got a stitch to wear

This man said "it's gruesome

That someone so handsome should care"

Ah ! A jumped-up pantry boy

Who never knew his place

He said "return the ring"

He knows so much about these things

He knows so much about these things

Their first ever single, however, was Hand In Glove. It only charted at #124 on the regular UK Singles chart, but it made #3 on the UK Indie chart. A few months later, none other than one of the top female singers of the 60s in the UK, Sandie Shaw, recorded a cover version with The Smiths (minus Morrissey) as her backing musicians. This version reached #27 on the UK charts.

The lyrics were more veiled than in This Charming Man, but they were gay-themed nonetheless. Here they are:

Hand in glove

The sun shines out of our behinds

No, it's not like any other love

This one is different, because it's us

Hand in glove

We can go wherever we please

And everything depends upon

How near you stand to me

And if the people stare, then the people stare

Oh, I really don't know and I really don't care

Kiss my shades, oh

Hand in glove

The good people laugh

Yes, we may be hidden by rags

But we've something they'll never have

So, hand in glove I stake my claim, I'll fight

To the last breath

If they dare touch a hair on your head, I'll fight

To the last breath

For the good life is out there somewhere

So stay on my arm, you little charmer

But I know my luck too well

Yes, I know my luck too well

And I'll probably never see you again

Here are The Smiths, live in Glasgow, 1985:

Here are The Smiths with Sandie Shaw:

The third single off the album, What Difference Does It Make?, was their most successful at the time. It made #12 in the UK as well as in Ireland. Yet another great song. The lyrics:

All men have secrets and here is mine

So let it be known

For we have been through hell and high tide

I think I can rely on you

And yet you start to recoil

Heavy words are so lightly thrown

But still I'd leap in front of a flying bullet for you

So, what difference does it make?

So, what difference does it make?

It makes none

But now you have gone

And you must be looking very old tonight

The devil will find work for idle hands to do

I stole and I lied, and why?

Because you asked me to

But now you make me feel so ashamed

Because I've only got two hands

Well, I'm still fond of you, oh ho oh

So, what difference does it make ?

Oh, what difference does it make ?

Oh, it makes none

But now you have gone

And your prejudice won't keep you warm tonight

Oh, the devil will find work for idle hands to do

I stole, and then I lied

Just because you asked me to

But now you know the truth about me

You won't see me anymore

Well, I'm still fond of you, oh ho oh

But no more apologies

No more, no more apologies

Oh, I'm too tired

I'm so sick and tired

And I'm feelin' very sick and ill today

But I'm still fond of you, oh ho oh

Oh, my sacred one

Here's the official video:

More on The Smiths tomorrow.