Seated next to Patti Smith (yesterday) on my shelf, we have one of the most consequential bands of the 1980's here, and I know/knew people who simply despised this bunch, and not a little bit......again, like some others (I cited the Jam recently), so overwhelmingly "British" that some of my fellow yanks couldn't really take them.....lots of good stuff her, though, some good albums, especally good singles, and some rare and live stuff there for the taking if one is inclined.The Smiths were guitarist Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke, drummer Mike Joyce, and vocalist Morrisey (no joke, when I was a kid I knew another lad, right here in Ohio, whose name was REALLY Morrissey....why he never took a hatchet to his parents I will never know,but you can imagine how much he loved being compared to the "real" Morrissey once the band got popular)...thier sound was a unique rock/pop melding, quite simple actually, and thier lyrics were often beyond bizarre, moping stuff which at times could make Joy Division sound like "The Ramones Leave Home".
The debut album (1984) was controversial in that the lyrics to some of the songs, notably "Rally Round the Fountain" as well as "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" seemed to deal with the topic of pedophilia (kind of sounded that way to me as well, you judge for yourself)......this was followed with a string of exceptional singles, most notably "How Soon Is Now" and "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", which for the most part are collected on "Louder Than Bombs", "Hatful of Hollow" is another singels collection from around the same era. The second album, "Meat Is Murder", is not nearly as good in my opinion, but the band stuck by their guns and continued the controversial themes with the title track, "Nowhere Fast", and "Barbarism Begins at Home"......the US version of the album contains "How Soon Is Now", the one included here does not (it's the originl UK track sequence). One could have retired the Smiths as a decent, semi-controversial singles band, except.....
1986's "The Queen Is Dead" was one of the decade's best. The title track, I think, is going away the band's best, the album also includes good stuff such as "Frankly Mr Shankley", "Cemetery Gates" and"There is a Light That Never Goes Out".....classic, 5-star album.It was pretty much thier last gasp, the follow-up, "Strangeways Here We Come" is perhaps the weakest of the four studio albums....."Rank" is a fair live disc, and I have a pretty large batch of rarities and stuff, a LOT more than I have for a lot of bands that I prefer to The Smiths. Rather than go out of my way to talk about all of them, take a look at the track lists for each of them below, and download the ones that interest you, lazy-ass. There is also a "tribute" album, "The Smiths Is Dead", which features the rather odd concept of various bands covering the "Queen Is Dead" album in the same sequence....file under "Not Terribly Great".......
LOTTA stuff here, why I have SO MUCH of this stuff I don't know, I liked em OK but not really one of my very faves......anyway, suppose they ARE one of your faves, I'll bet there is something here you are unfamiliar with, give me a little while to get all these links ready though, gonna take a little while......THE SMITHS-01 Reel Around the Fountain/02 You've Got Everything Now/03 Miserable Lie/04 Pretty Girls Make Graves/05 The Hand That Rocks the Cradle/06 This Charming Man/07 Still Ill/08 Hand in Glove/09 What Difference Does It Make?/10 I Don't Owe You Anythinb/11 Suffer Little Children
MEAT IS MURDER-01 The Headmaster Ritual/02 Rusholme Ruffians/03 I Want the One I Can't Have/04 What She Said/05 That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore/06 Nowhere Fast/07 Well I Wonder/08 Barbarism Begins at Home/09 Meat Is MurderTHE QUEEN IS DEAD-01 The Queen Is Dead/02 Frankly Mr Shankley/03 I Know It's Over/04 Never Had No One/05 Cemetery Gates/06 Bigmouth Strikes Again/07 The Boy With the Thorn In His Side/08 Vicar In a Tutu/09 There Is a Light That Never Goes Out/10 Some Girls Are BiggerThan Others
STRANGEWAYS HERE WE COME-01 A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours/02 I Started Something I Couldn't Finish/03 Death of a Disco Dancer/04 Girlfriend In a Coma/05 Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before/06 Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me/07 Unhappy Birthday/08 Paint a Vulgar Picture/09 Death at One's Elbow/10 I Won't Share YouLOUDER THAN BOMBS-01 Is It Really So Strange/02 Shelia Take a Bow/03 Shoplifters of the World Unite/04 Sweet and Tender Hooligan/05 Half a Person/06 London/07 Panic/08 Girl Afraid/09 Shakespeare's Sister/10 William, It Was Really Nothing/11 You Just Haven't Earned It Yet , Baby/12 Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now/13 Ask/14 Golden Lights/15 Oscillate Wildly/16 These Things Take Time/17 Rubber Ring/18 Back To the Old House/19 Hand In Glove/20 Stretch Out and Wait/21 Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want/22 The Night Has Opened My Eyes/23 Unloveable/24 Asleep
HATFUL OF OF HOLLOW-01 William, It Was Really Nothing/02 What Difference Does It Make/03 These Things Take Time/04 This Charming Man/05 How Soon Is Now/06 Handsome Devil/07 Hand In Glove/08 Still Ill/09 Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now/10 The Night Has Opened My Eyes/11 You've Got Everything Now/12 Accept Yourself/13 Girl Afraid/14 Back to the Old House/15 Reel Around the Fountain/16 Please Please Please Let Me Get What I WantRANK-01 The Queen Is Dead/02 Panic/03 Vicar In a Tutu/04 Ask/05 Rusholme Ruffians/06 The Boy With the Thorn In His Side/07 What She Said/08 Is It Really So Strange/09 Cemetery Gates/10 London/11 I Know It's Over/12 The Draize Train/13 Still Ill/14 Bigmouth Strikes Again
02 The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (October 1983, John Porter monitor mix)/03 This Night Has Opened My Eyes (June 1984, unreleased studio recording)/04 Rusholme Ruffians (July 1984, John Porter first take)/05 I Misses You (December 1984, instrumental)/06 There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (September 1985, take 1, early lyric)/07 The Queen Is Dead (Fall 1985, original unedited version)/08 Frankly, Mr Shankly (November 1985, Stephen Street 'trumpet' take)/09 Ask (June 1986, early take)/10 Is It Really So Strange? (June 1986, unreleased studio recording)/11 Shoplifters Of The World Unite (December 1986, instrumental)/12 Sheila Take A Bow (January 1987, John Porter original version)/13 Girlfriend In A Coma (January 1987, early take)/14 Death Of A Disco Dancer (April 1987, first take)/15 Paint A Vulgar Picture (April 1987, early take)/16 Heavy Track (April 1987, instrumental)/17 How Soon Is Now? (Italian 12", studio outtake version)
LOS ANGELES 1986-01 Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want/02 Still Ill/03 I Want the One I Can't Have/04 There Is a Light That Never Goes Out/05 How Soon Is Now/06 Frankly Mr Shankley/07 Panic/08 Stretch Out and Wait/09 The Boy With the Thorn In His Side/10 Is It Really So Strange/11 Cemetery Gates/12 Never Had No One Ever/13 Rubber Ring/What She Said/14 That Joke isn't Funny Anymore/15 Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now/16 The Queen Is Dead/17 Money Changes Everything/18 I Know It's Over
PARIS 1984-01 Hand In Glove/02 Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now/03 Girl Afraid/04 This Charming Man/05 Barbarism Begins At Home/06 Pretty Girls Make Graves/07 This Night Has Opened My Eyes/08 Still Ill/09 You've Got Everything Now/10 Handsome Devil/11 Miserable Lie/12 These Things Take Time/13 What Differece Does It Make/14 Barbarism Begins at Home