The Smiths
92 articles
Free articles
Comment by Barney Hoskyns, The Virgin Yearbook, 1984
GAY MEN PAVED pop’s way this year. With Boy George’s wardrobe fully open, all the closet cases came spilling forth: Burns and The Bronskis, Frankie ...
The Smiths: Fox Theater, Detroit
Live Review by Bill Holdship, Creem, December 1986
IT ALL BOILS down to the collapse and decay of the British Empire. You could blame it on Margaret Thatcher. Or on Joy Division. Or ...
Audio interviews
Interview by Martin Aston, Rock's Backpages audio, November 1986
The Smiths' front man on the ins-and-outs of being interviewed; his relationship to Smiths fans; the reference points for his songs; Derek Jarman's videos for the band; his fondness for the '60s; 'Big Mouth Strikes Again', and his self-image; treatment by the tabloid press; Live Aid; the nature of the Smiths' success; The Queen Is Dead; song titles; Patti Smith; camp humour; the consequences of fame, and leaving Rough Trade for EMI.
File format: mp3; file size: 91.9mb, interview length: 1h 35' 42" sound quality: ***
Interview by Mat Snow, Rock's Backpages audio, Fall 1989
Part 1 of Mat Snow's monumental interview with Morrissey in 1989.
File format: mp3; file size: 91.3mb, interview length: 1h 35' 08" sound quality: ***
Interview by Steven Daly, Rock's Backpages audio, Spring 1991
The professional controversialist on his new album, Kill Uncle; his refusal to explain his music, and other people's interpretations; his relationship with the music press; his hatred of Madchester; his lack of interest in pushing musical barriers; on Margaret Thatcher; lyrical taboos; working with Mary Margaret O'Hara; not suffering fools gladly, and not being a sex symbol.
File format: mp3; file size: 122.3mb, interview length: 2h 07' 04" sound quality: ***
List of articles in the library
For Faç's Sake! 10 Years of the Haçienda
Retrospective and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 23 May 1992
Few clubs can lay claim to changing the face of music, but THE HAÇIENDA certainly made it smile, giving fledgling acts like The Stone Roses, ...
Howard Devoto, SPK, the Smiths: The Lyceum, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 7 August 1983
WELL, YOU can always hope, can't yer? Fat lot of good that'll do you on a night like this. ...
The Smiths: Hatful of Hollow — Empty Promises
Review by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 17 November 1984
THE EMINENTLY QUOTABLE Morrissey said it himself. On the subject of Lloyd Cole, he told Ian Pye: "Lloyd is a tremendously nice person, much more ...
Interview by Adrian Deevoy, GQ, October 2005
The former Smiths frontman has had "20 very odd years": from indie outsider to LA's least typical expat, via court battles and enjoying self-imposed exile. ...
Interview by Adrian Deevoy, International Musician & Recording World, October 1983
Here come the Smiths smiling, brandishing their blooms and being hotly pursued by ADRIAN DEEVOY, our very own handsome devil. ...
Going for a song: 'This Charming Man'
Memoir by Andrew Smith, The Sunday Times, 5 November 2006
Andrew Smith on 'This Charming Man' by the Smiths ...
Johnny Marr: Escape from Strangeways
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 30 September 1989
THIS WEEK, THE THE'S WORLD TOUR FINALLY HITS BRITAIN. ANDREW MUELLER JOINED THE TOUR IN AUSTRALIA TO TALK TO MARR ABOUT HIS ROLE AS ROCK'S ...
These Disarming Men: The Smiths
Interview by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 4 February 1984
"...the touching and bewitching songs that open hearts and purses. Art. Great Art." – Jean Genet, Funeral Rites ...
Ridiculous and Wonderful: The Smiths/The Go-Betweens at the Venue, London
Live Review by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 1 October 1983
TWO STRANGELY jarring acts from Rough Trade, one increasingly abstruse, t'other ever more open, engaging. ...
The Smiths: Meat Is Murder; The Associates: Perhaps
Review by Barney Hoskyns, New Statesman, Spring 1985
MORRISSEY OF The Smiths is still the unlikeliest pop star of all. Watching him jerk and flounder about on Top Of The Pops last week, ...
This Disarming Man: In Defence of Morrissey
Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, September 2001
NOTE: These were liner notes for a Rhino compilation of solo Morrissey songs. The singer rejected them. ...
The Backpages Interview: Johnny Marr
Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, September 2001
Rock's eternal sideman steps into the spotlight with The Healers – and talks to Barney Hoskyns about life as an ex-Smith. ...
The Smiths: Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool
Live Review by Betty Page, Record Mirror, 22 February 1986
"FROM MANCHESTER WITH LOVE", it was billed. But love was the last thing in the air on this freezing cold Saturday night at Liverpool's Royal ...
The Smiths: Morrissey A Suitable Case For Treatment
Interview by Biba Kopf, New Musical Express, 22 December 1984
THE RECORDING of the new Smiths LP has been one of the season's better kept secrets. ...
The Smiths: Meat Is Murder (Rough Trade)****1/2
Review by Bill Black, Sounds, 16 February 1985
STEAK YOUR CLAIM ...
The Smiths: Keep Young and Beautiful
Interview by Bill Black, Sounds, 19 November 1983
BEFITTING A BAND verging on greatness, the Smiths have a keen sense of their own history. ...
So tell me, what was that all about? A Smiths Symposium
Report by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 29 March 2005
THE VIDEO for the Smiths' 1987 single 'I Started Something I Couldn't Finish' shows hundreds of faux-Morrisseys descending on the streets of Manchester — cardigans frayed, quiffs ...
The Smiths: Crisp songs and salted lyrics
Interview by Cath Carroll, New Musical Express, 14 May 1983
WHY CHOOSE a name like The Smiths? "It's a very stray kind of name, very timeless," explained the colourful Mancunian Morrissey, who gives words and ...
Obituary by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, February 2021
MY GOOD FRIEND Johnny Rogan, who died unexpectedly in January aged 67, was among the most prolific and acclaimed music biographers of his generation. Much ...
How The Smiths Pioneered Normcore
Retrospective by Chris Heath, GQ, 20 September 2015
They were the original normcores – a band of outsiders who took pains to dress as though they’d found their clothes at a rummage sale. ...
Review by Dave DiMartino, Creem, June 1984
THE SMITHS believe that it is possible to replenish appetites of both the soul and the pelvis simultaneously. That is: they might, but then again, ...
Profile and Interview by Dave DiMartino, Creem, February 1986
"I MUST BE QUITE HONEST," announces Morrissey of the Smiths. "I can understand that people can find me very irritating. And I accept that to ...
Live Review by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 5 October 1983
BY THE way, the Smiths are becoming massive, if I can squeeze in here between Manowar and Waysted (it hurts, but I like it). I ...
Interview by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 16 February 1984
From "severe starvation" to chart success without ever once ironing a shirt. Yes friends, says Dave Rimmer, it can be done! ...
Manchester's Answer to the H-Bomb: How It All Blew Up For Morrissey and The Smiths
Report by Dave Simpson, Uncut, August 1998
THE PHONE RINGS at the Sunset Marquis Hotel, Los Angeles. ...
Johnny Marr on the Smiths, Morrissey and putting politics back in pop
Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 11 January 2013
With the release of his first solo album The Messenger, the former Smiths guitarist talks about finally embracing his old sound, David Cameron and why ...
How we made: Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce on the Smiths' first gig
Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 23 January 2012
Andy Rourke, bass ...
Morrissey and The Smiths: There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends
Retrospective by Dave Thompson, Goldmine, 4 March 1994
IN JUNE 1984, Rolling Stone journalist James Henke asked Britain's latest rising superstar, Smiths vocalist Morrissey, for his opinions on the British Prime Minister, Margaret ...
Essay by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 22 August 1992
POP STARS are especially strange creatures when it comes to giving that all-important 'image' an overhaul. ...
The Smiths: The Smiths (Rough Trade)
Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 25 February 1984
"And if you must go to work tomorrow Well, if I were you I wouldn't bother" ('Still Ill') ...
The Smiths: Home Thoughts From Abroad
Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 27 September 1986
While THE SMITHS tour America, controversy still rages over their single, 'Panic'. Does the refrain 'hang the deejay' really harbour racist tendencies? Frank Owen tracks down ...
The Smiths: The Smiths (Rough Trade}
Review by Graham K. Smith, Record Mirror, 25 February 1984
"A COMPLETE signal post in the history of popular music." Little Stevie Morrissey's verdict on his own work bears his usual stamp of camp immodesty ...
The Smiths: Strictly Shrub-wise
Interview by Graham K. Smith, Record Mirror, 12 November 1983
MORRISSEY IS a bit of a saucy fellow. ...
Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 25 February 1984
WHEN YOU'VE been touted as the next big thing as comprehensively as the Smiths, life in the goldfish bowl can start to get pretty uncomfortable. ...
The Smiths: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 20 April 1985
CRACKED ACTORS ...
Interview by Ian Birch, Smash Hits, 10 November 1983
"IT'S VERY strange the way things happen," muses Morrissey, 23-year-old singer, lyricist and general spokesman for the Smiths — a band with a growing live ...
Retrospective by Ian Fortnam, Vox, June 1997
They were the darlings of the '80s bedsit generation, a loner, a muso and their mates who created British Pop pretty much from scratch. Ten ...
The Smiths and The Jam: The Great English Rock Group
Comment by Iman Lababedi, Creem, March 1988
THE SMITHS broke up recently. No need for tears. The Smiths were a fine band, sure, but I doubt they made your life — and ...
Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, MOJO, April 2001
It was a hot California afternoon. Our West Coast gumshoe, Jaan Uhekszki, heard the phone ring. Once again, she'd tracked down her man. He was ...
The Cult Of Steve: Morrissey Live At Wembley Arena
Live Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 17 March 2020
John Calvert is dragged by his lifelong Smiths fan girlfriend to Wembley — but will he finally see what all the fuss is about? ...
The Smiths: No Time Like The First
Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, MOJO, June 2004
Britain in the early '80s: New Romantics, pencil 'taches and Phil Collins. Then came The Smiths. The tale of their first ever gigs by Johnny ...
"The Smiths and Morrissey changed our lives"
Comment by Jon Savage, The Observer, 2 October 2011
They might have split 24 years ago, but the Smiths remain as popular as ever, and not just among those who remember them first time ...
Profile by Jon Savage, Spin, June 1985
They aren't teen idols, but have a number-one album thanks mainly to Morrissey, their asexual, charismatic singer-writer. ...
Interview by Jon Savage, The Sunday Times, 8 January 1984
THESE ARE EXCITING times for the Smiths. A top 20 record with only their second single, ‘This Charming Man’; a non-stop stream of interviews that ...
Manna for Fans: The history of the hidden track in music
Retrospective by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 25 January 2015
From inner groove loops to absurd backmasking, artists have long found ways to embed secret songs, cryptic writings and coded messages in their albums. ...
Kevin Cummins: Manchester – Looking For The Light Through The Pouring Rain (Faber & Faber)
Book Review by Keith Cameron, Q, October 2009
Manc-rock, from punk to Oasis, by legendary lensman. ...
How to buy: Rough Trade Records
Guide by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, December 2006
The revolutionary, still-smokin' independent. ...
I Was A Juvenile Axe-Attacker: Craig Gannon
Retrospective and Interview by Len Brown, New Musical Express, 18 March 1989
From THE SMITHS to THE ADULT NET, THE BLUEBELLS to THE COLOURFIELD and not forgetting AZTEC CAMERA… CRAIG GANNON has played with them all, and ...
Live Review by Len Brown, New Musical Express, 2 August 1986
WE'RE HUDDLED together (2000 of us) in the home of heavy metal, witnessing the early disturbed sound of 'Bigmouth'. But thankfully they're just warming up; ...
Interview by Len Brown, New Musical Express, 2 July 1988
The Smiths were "like a life-support machine" to Morrissey. Without STEPHEN STREET – co-writer/producer of Viva Hate – it's conceivable that Les Miserable himself would ...
The Smiths: Strangeways, Here We Come
Review by Len Brown, New Musical Express, 12 September 1987
"MAN THAT is born of woman hath but a short time to live and is full of misery. He cometh up and is cut down ...
Interview by Luke Turner, The Quietus, 11 September 2009
In a revealing interview, Johnny Marr and The Cribs discuss what went wrong with indie, why LA destroys creative thought, the curse of the lad, ...
The Smiths and Echo & The Bunnymen: The Smith and the Bunnyman
Interview by Mark Cooper, No. 1, 28 April 1984
No.1 brings together two of rock's most charismatic singers... and two of its biggest egos as well!" ...
Interview by Mark Cooper, No. 1, 5 May 1984
TEMPTED OUT of retirement by the friendship and the songs of The Smiths, Sandie Shaw seems girlishly bemused by the sudden fuss around her. ...
The Smiths: Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Mark Rowland, Billboard, 27 September 1986
SMITHSMANIA HAS yet to erupt here on the scale that it has in England, the quartet's home. But if reaction to the second of two ...
Essay by Mark Sinker, New Musical Express, 2 January 1988
"Oh, grassy dale and lowland scene/Come see, come hear the English Scheme!" (The Fall)"You might sleep, but you will never dream/Oh, Manchester! So much to ...
The Smiths: Witty, Sad, Poignant, Green…
Retrospective and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, October 1994
If ever a band established a coherent identity, a rallying point for their fans, through their sleeve artwork, that band was The Smiths. Those famous ...
Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, December 1989
Your fans are fiercely loyal but always "with an aura of love and gentleness". You’re being sued by two former band members but accept it ...
Live Review by Mat Snow, New Musical Express, 1 November 1986
IN THE FOOTSTEPS of such music-hall and variety greats as Tommy Trinder, Ted Ray and Jimmy Tarbuck, tonight The Smiths tread these venerable boards to ...
Blind Date: Sandie Shaw meets Tracey Ullman‚ the Generation Game
Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 19 May 1984
SANDIE SHAW WAS ONE OF BRITAIN'S TOP SINGERS IN THE '60s. NOW SHE'S BACK IN THE CHARTS WITH THE '80s SOUND OF THE SMITHS' 'HAND ...
Live Review by Max Bell, The Times, 14 February 1984
DESPITE THEIR PROSAIC NAME, the Smiths are very much the band of the moment. Six months ago this Mancunian four-piece were breaking out of the ...
The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead (Rough Trade)
Review by Nick Kent, Melody Maker, 14 June 1986
THIS IS NEITHER the time nor the place to indulge in trivial banter; suffice to say that The Smiths' peculiar career manoeuvres, which have caused ...
Review by Nick Kent, The Catalogue, September 1988
IN MANCHESTER this summer, the first Smiths convention is held, effortlessly attracting thousands of the faithful. In London the New Musical Express tirelessly trumpets an ...
Interview by Nick Kent, The Face, March 1990
Walking backwards into the Nineties, has Morrissey finally lost all sane 'focus' on his career? ...
The Smiths: Dreamer In The Real World
Profile and Interview by Nick Kent, The Face, May 1985
To his father, he was a "complete fruitcake," to his contemporaries "the village idiot". Yet in the treacherous image-bloated clone-zone of pop, his is the ...
The Smiths: The Band With The Thorn In Its Side
Report by Nick Kent, The Face, April 1987
The past two years have seen panic in the Smiths camp, with take-over bids and narcotic problems competing with international success. Nick Kent assesses the ...
Life in Rough Trade: How Geoff Travis became a major player for indie bands
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Jewish Chronicle, 17 February 2014
AS FOUNDER of the Rough Trade record store, distribution company and label, Geoff Travis has done as much as anyone to promote indie music as ...
The Smiths: Liverpool Polytechnic
Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 5 November 1983
WHAT ARE you to think when the group come on stage and start throwing flowers into the audience? On this occasion, a practical response seems ...
Johnny Marr: The Man Who Caught The Common Cold
Interview by Rex Garvin, ZigZag, August 1984
ELVIS WAS NOT MY LOVER claims Smiths' guitarist Johnny Marr. A sceptical Rex Garvin fans this latter-day Francis Drake. ...
Meaty Marr-Might Sandwich: The Smiths/James: Brixton Ace, London
Live Review by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 9 March 1985
JAMES ARE POISED on the cusp of something that might be new, that's certainly afloat with ideas. It was too short a set to say, ...
The Smiths, Phranc: Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 27 August 1986
MORRISSEY SPILLS HIS SOUL FOR FANS ...
The Smiths, Phranc: Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 27 August 1986
MORRISSEY SPILLS HIS SOUL FOR FANS ...
The Smiths: Meat Is Murder (Sire)
Review by Richard Riegel, Creem, June 1985
EVEN THOUGH I happen to think that this group's debut disc was one of the best albums of 1984, I'm afraid that they may be ...
The The: Soul Mining (Epic); The Smiths: The Smiths (Warner Bros.)
Review by Roy Trakin, Musician, May 1984
"FIFTEEN MINUTES with you/I wouldn't say no," sings the Smiths' Morrissey, echoing Warhol's famous dictum. Well, there you go again, as President Reagan is wont ...
Interview by Roy Trakin, Musician, June 1984
AMERICA MAY HAVE been charmed by Boy George, but it's more difficult to imagine it embracing the Smiths and their poetic singer/writer Morrissey, the U.K.'s ...
Seymour Stein: Siring Greatness
Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), Summer 2005
IN A WORLD where the longevity of most rock stars is fleeting, record magnate Seymour Stein has nurtured a vast array of successes across the ...
Genesis: Invisible Touch (Virgin GENLP2); The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead (Rough Trade 96)
Review by Simon Frith, The Observer, 15 June 1986
I KNOW there are hundreds of thousands of people out there (most of them Observer readers) who took forward to a new Genesis LP, but ...
Essay by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 26 September 1987
Simon Reynolds, long-time fan of the Smiths, sheds a tear at their sudden demise and examines the successes and failures of one of the most ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Pitchfork, 22 October 2017
Newly reissued as a boxed set, the Smiths' 1986 masterpiece still stands as an enduring testament to England in the '80s, the complex relationship between ...
Interview by Steven Daly, Spin, April 1991
With Morrissey's new album, Kill Uncle, about to be released and talk of a U.S. tour, England's last great pop poet is back. STEVEN DALY ...
Sever Little Children: Morrissey And Marr: The Severed Alliance by Johnny Rogan (Omnibus Press)
Book Review by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 16 May 1992
A FANATIC, they say, is someone who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim. The Smiths spawned many fans — I know, I ...
Book Review by Stuart Maconie, Daily Mail, 26 November 2016
Written in disarmingly unaffected prose, Johnny Marr's long-awaited autobiography avoids all the rock and roll clichés. ...
Memoir by Susan Corrigan, i-D, October 1995
Five years ago an explosion of music, drugs and flares hit a certain Northern city. Now with Oasis, the Stone Roses and Black Grape in ...
Book Review by Tim Footman, Tangents, 2002
THERE'S MORE THAN one way to string a Strat, and there are several ways to tell the story of a band. The most obvious is ...
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, 31 January 1985
"MEAT IS MURDER!" That's the message from Morrissey. A message he's "madly serious" about. He's so serious, in fact, that The Smiths are just about ...
Personal File: Johnny Marr, The Smiths
Interview by uncredited writer, Smash Hits, 30 August 1984
NAME: Johnny Marr. I haven't been called "John" since birth. ...
Interview by William Shaw, ZigZag, February 1984
William Shaw locks horns with that charming band The Smiths. ...
see also Electronic
see also Johnny Marr
see also Morrissey
back to LIBRARY
