The Smiths 1987
Introduction
Early 1987 The Smiths were at the height of their popularity, in the UK that is. Europe and the US still reacted lukewarm to The Smiths. Maybe start the new year with a compilation album?
The Smiths – The World Won’t Listen & Louder Than Bombs
Compilations
Following the successful year of 1986, which was largely dominated by the release of The Queen Is Dead and the succeeding tour, the band started 1987 as it had concluded 1986: on January 26, 1987, the single and non-album track Shoplifters Of The World Unite was released. It replaced the planned You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby, another non-album track.
On February 23, 1987, the compilation The World Won’t Listen was released (which included both Shoplifters Of The World Unite and You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby), comprising all singles and their B-sides released between 1985 and 1987, of which many were never released on regular albums. The compilation’s title refers to Morrissey’s conviction that radio and the record buying public spent too little attention to the band.
On March 30, 1987, Louder Than Bombs, the American counterpart to The World Won’t Listen was released in the US. Because Hatful Of Hollow hadn’t been released in the US (yet), Louder Than Bombs was expanded to a double album. When Rough Trade noticed that the album was often imported from the US, they decided to release the album in Europe as well. Two compilations over the course of one-and-a-half months? Perhaps, inspiration for a lyric?
The Smiths – Shoplifters Of The World Untie & Sheila Take A Bow – 1987 singles
Rough Trade or EMI
By the way, Rough Trade? What was up with that? The band wanted to leave that company and hadn’t they struck a deal with EMI in July 1986? True indeed, but the band still had a contractual obligation to release one more album for Rough Trade. So, the band went to work as quickly as possible to record that last album. In January 1987 the band was in the studio (Wool Hall in Beckington, Somerset, England), completing recordings in April. In the meantime the single Sheila Take A Bow was released on April 13, 1987, which had been recorded in December 1986.
The Smiths – Split in the media 1987
Problems
During the recording sessions the general vibe was relaxed. After the day sessions were done, the band and crew drank and partied while listening to records, all except for Morrissey. Co-producer Stephen Street; “That was always after Morrissey had gone to bed… it wasn’t really his bag. We’d carry on finishing overdubs and then the records would come out. We’d be partying all hours”.
But, as soon as the recordings were done, old feelings emerged again. Recurring management problems (which were made Marr’s concern and responsibility), Marr who was in desperate need of some rest, Morrissey’s wish to rehash oldies (while Marr wanted to move forward) and Morrissey’s refusal to appear at a video shoot, made Marr inform the band that he wanted to stop in early May 1987. He was persuaded to record two B-sides.
But the damage had been done: the magic was gone, no-one talked to each other anymore. The lyrics to the new song I Keep Mine Hidden contained some lines, of which Marr must have thought they were aimed at him: “The lies are easy for you / Because you let yours flail into public view”. Marr wanted peace and quiet and put everything on hold, planned shows, one at the Dutch Pinkpop festival, where I would finally see the band, were cancelled.
It all led to speculation in the English press. On August 1 the article “Smiths To Split” was published in the New Musical Express (NME). Marr, already disappointed in the band members’ reaction to his wish to slow things down, was unhappy (to say the least) with the article. According to legend the article was the catalyst for Marr’s definitive decision to leave the band. He was convinced Morrissey planted the article, or at least had something to with it.
Within a week the news was officially announced: The Smiths were no more, at least, not with Johnny Marr. Marr in his message to NME: “What in the past made me happy makes me unhappy, I had to leave”. The remaining band almost immediately declared they would go on with another guitar player (probably convincing Marr even more that his decision was the right one to make).
Extra:
See the sub article The Smiths in the press 1987 for a number of articles that were published in the UK press around the demise of The Smiths.
The Smiths – Strangeways, Here We Come
Strangeways, Here We Come
On September 28, 1987, the new (and last) studio album by The Smiths was released: Strangeways, Here We Come. The Smiths were over, but luckily there still was a final album.
The album portrays a band that’s willing to go in a new direction. Marr was determined to say goodbye to the well-known “jingle jangle” sound, he wanted to use other inspirations and sources and use more and different instruments.
Song by song
Again, Morrissey’s lyrics stand out. The self-pity is all but gone (yet it does creep up here and there), the savage remarks are still there, but there’s more room for self-reflection.
A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours
HELLO
I am the ghost of Troubled Joe
Hung by his pretty white neck
Some 18 months ago
I traveled to a mystical time zone
And I missed my bed
And I soon came homeThey said
“There’s too much caffeine
In your bloodstream
And a lack of real spice
In your life”
I said
“Leave me alone
Because I’m alright, dad
Just surprised to
Still be on my own…”© The Smiths, 1987
And we’re off with Strangeways, Here We Come, the vocals enter the song like a dream/awakening sequence. Is this supposed to portray the waking of the narrator following a suicide attempt or a coma?
A perfect album opener, with Marr sending his message home. He plays marimba, harmonica, keyboards, but no guitar. The band sounds like they never sounded before, a fine introduction.
I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish
The first recordings were done in December 1986. Marr wanted to convey a glam feel. The song opens with a heavy guitar sound and has a booming rhythm, supplemented with an electronic snare drum.
I started something
I forced you to a zone
And you were clearly
Never meant to go
Hair brushed and parted
Typical me, typical me
Typical me
I started something
… And now I’m not too sure© The Smiths, 1987
I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish was the second single in the UK, after Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before was banned by the BBC (see Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before).
During the song’s fade-out Morrissey asks “OK, Stephen, shall we do that again?”, Stephen being Stephen Street, the album’s co-producer.
The Smiths 1987
Death Of A Disco Dancer
Beautiful build up, the song starts out quietly and end with a cacophony of drums, guitar and keyboards. Funny lyrics. The first and only Smiths song to feature Morrissey playing an instrument: piano.
The death of a disco dancer
Well, it happens a lot ’round here
And if you think peace
Is a common goal
That goes to show
How little you know© The Smiths, 1987
Girlfriend In A Coma
The first single, released on August 10, 1987, as a prelude to the album. The song is inspired by Nina Simone’s To Be Young, Gifted And Black, as performed by Bob and Marcia. The song initially started out as a reggae (!) song, which didn’t work. The music was changed to a sweet, acoustic sound.
The music is in stark contrast to the lyrics. The girlfriend of the narrator went into a coma following an accident (?). The narrator remembers the uglier times, but wants to see her in the end.
Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know – it’s serious
Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know – it’s really serious…
There were times when I could
Have “murdered” her…
There were times when I could
Have “strangled” her© The Smiths, 1987
The contrast between the music and the words is amazing and creates a highlight on the album and The Smiths’ entire body of work.
The single contained the last recorded songs (in May 1987) by The Smiths, I Keep Mine Hidden and a Cilla Black cover, Work Is A Four-Letter Word, which Morrissey wanted to record, to the annoyance of Johnny Marr. In 1992 Marr said: “‘Work Is a Four Letter Word’ I hated. That was the last straw, really. I didn’t form a group to perform Cilla Black songs. That was it, really. I made a decision that I was going to get away on holiday. The only place I could think of was L.A. L.A. was the only place I knew where there’d be sunshine, so off I went. I never saw Morrissey again”.
N.B.:
The song’s lyrics can also be interpreted as the girlfriend being in a coma due to the narrator’s behavior, where the narrator remembers the love/hate relationship, but never intended to hurt his girlfriend so badly. But, this rather unsettling interpretation is widely regarded to be false, especially when compared to the rest of the Smiths’ body of work.
Another explanation, as projected by Rolling Stone, is that the song addresses AIDS and is a response to the crisis that took the lives and broke the hearts of so many friends and lovers. An even more far-fetched theory.
Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before
Grand sound, and the introduction of a guitar solo on a Smiths album. Beautiful vivacious melody, with yet another brilliant Morrissey lyric.
Nothing’s changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
Only slightly, only slightly less
Than I used to, my love© The Smiths, 1987
Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before was slated to be the second single off the album. Promo singles were pressed and sent out to BBC Radio One. The BBC refused to play the song, because the phrase “plan a mass murder” was deemed to be offensive. The assumption was that many listeners would link the song tot the so-called Hungerford massacre (which took place on August 19, 1987), one of the deadliest shooting incidents in Britain, killing 16 people.
In the UK the single got a different A-side: I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish.
The Smiths – Strangeways, Here We Come – Promo photo shoot
Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
The song’s introduction lasts no less than 1 minute and 55 seconds, consisting of a piano motif and crowd noises recorded during the miner strikes of 1984/85. When the song (finally) starts it’s absolutely mesmerizing. Beautiful song, reprising Morrissey’s weltschmerz, as well as the yodeling.
Last night I dreamt
That somebody loved me
No hope, no harm
Just another false alarmLast night I felt
Real arms around me
No hope, no harm
Just another false alarm© The Smiths, 1987
Both Johnny Marr and Morrissey named it as their all time favorite Smiths song.
Fun fact:
Outkast‘s Andre 3000:
“I personally wish I would have written that Smiths’ song ‘Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me.’ Genius song. This girl named Hannah in Atlanta turned me on to them. ‘Cause I was telling her that I loved the Hives and the Buzzcocks and she said, ‘Hey, you need to check these guys out.’ [On the song] it’s this dude and he says, ‘Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me / No hope, no harm, just another false alarm.’ So it’s like he had a relationship and then he woke up and he was like, ‘Damn, it was just a dream.’
The song was the last single from the album, and therefore the last ever single by The Smiths. The single was in fact promoted as “The last single”.
Unhappy Birthday
A fine album track, but the least accomplished song off the album. It just ambles along, with fun lyrics.
I’ve come to wish you an unhappy birthday
Cause you’re evil
And you lie
And if you should die
I may feel slightly sad
(But I won’t cry)…
So, drink, drink, drink
And be ill tonight© The Smiths, 1987
Paint A Vulgar Picture
Great song, great riff. Fine lyrics as well, a charge against the music industry, which sees music as a product and fans as cash cows. The lyrics are intertwined with the experience of ‘the fan’, who wants nothing more than to be seen by the ‘big’ artist.
Re-issue! Re-package! Re-package!
Re-evaluate the songs
Double-pack with a photograph
Extra track (and a tacky badge)But you could have said no
If you’d wanted to
You could have walked away
… Couldn’t you?Best of! Most of!
Satiate the need
Slip them into different sleeves!
Buy both, and feel deceived© The Smiths, 1987
Against the backdrop of The Smiths, who had released 2 compilation albums that very year, the charge is rather uncomfortable. Given the later semi-continuous stream of compilations, re-releases, remasters, etc., the lyrics can only be seen as outright irony.
The Smiths – Morrissey & Johnny Marr
Death At One’s Elbow
Up-tempo, great guitars, nice flow. The title is ‘borrowed’ from Joe Orton’s diaries, which Morrissey had just finished reading. Orton describes coming home in December 1966, the day before his mother’s funeral: “As the corpse is downstairs in the main living room. It means going out or watching television with death at one’s elbow”. The lyrics warn the ex-lover of the narrator to not come over and visit, as the narrator is cross with his ex. Morrissey probably used Joe Orton’s end as an inspiration as well: he died on August 9, 1967, being bludgeoned to death by his lover using a hammer.
Oh, Glenn, oh, Glenn
Don’t come to the house tonight
Oh Glenn
Because there’s somebody here
Who really, really loves youStay home
Be bored
(It’s crap, I know)
TonightOh, Glenn
Don’t come to the house tonight
Because there’s somebody here
Who’ll take a hatchet to your ear
The frustration it renders me
Hateful, oh…© The Smiths, 1987
I Won’t Share You
An intimate acoustic song with a beautiful melody. The lyrics portray jealousy and self-centeredness, interpreted by many as a message to/about Johnny Marr.
I won’t share you, no
I won’t share you
I’ll see you somewhere
I’ll see you sometime
Darling…© The Smiths, 1987
The Smiths – Strangeways, Here We Come – Back cover
Cover
The cover was designed by Morrissey and contains a photo of actor Richard Davalos (who played a part in the 1955 movie East Of Eden with James Dean). The photo was a second choice, as Morrissey really wanted to use a Harvey Keitel photo from Martin Scorsese’s film I Call First (1967), but Keitel didn’t grant permission.
The album title is inspired by the infamous Strangeways Prison in Manchester (as it was still called at the time). The “here we come” stems from a quote from the novel Billy Liar (1959) by writer Keith Waterhouse.
The traffic sign, which is shown on the album’s back cover, was stolen shortly after the album’s release, and has never resurfaced again.
Review
For years my opinion on Strangeways, Here We Come wasn’t that positive. Maybe because it’s the successor to The Queen Is Dead, a masterpiece. Strangeways, Here We Come paled in comparison to that album. But, some 6 months before the publication of this article I started playing this album more often, partially as preparation for this article, but also because it pleased me more and more. The sound is completely different to other albums, the production is really impeccable and perfect. Maybe that’s the one real flaw of this album. It sounds perfect, too perfect perhaps, but the songs are fine, including the lyrics. Strangeways, Here We Come is much better than the reputation the album holds or, rather, held for me.
And, both Morrissey and Johnny Marr name Strangeways, Here We Come as their favorite Smiths album.
The Smiths – Strangeways, Here We Come – The singles
Singles
Four singles were culled from the album, with beautiful B-sides.
- Girlfriend In A Coma
B-sides: Work Is A Four-Letter Word, I Keep Mine Hidden
(released on August 10, 1987) - I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish
B-sides: Pretty Girls Make Graves (Troy Tate version), Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others (live), What’s The World (live)
(released on November 2, 1987) - Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before
B-side: I Keep Mine Hidden
(released in November 1987) - Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
B-sides: Rusholme Ruffians, Nowhere Fast, William, It Was Really Nothing (all John Peel session versions)
(released on December 11, 1987)
The Smiths – Strangeways, Here We Come & Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me – Ads
Songs
All music written by Johnny Marr, all lyrics by Morrissey.
- A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours
- I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish
- Death Of A Disco Dancer
- Girlfriend In A Coma
- Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before
- Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
- Unhappy Birthday
- Paint A Vulgar Picture
- Death At One’s Elbow
- I Won’t Share You
Musicians
- Morrissey – vocals, piano on Death Of A Disco Dancer
- Johnny Marr – guitar, piano, keyboards, harmonica, marimba on A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours, harmonium on Unhappy Birthday, autoharp on I Won’t Share You, synthesised string and saxophone arrangements, vocals on Death At One’s Elbow
- Andy Rourke – bass, keyboards
- Mike Joyce – drums, percussion
All: handclaps on Paint A Vulgar Picture. The album’s liner notes attribute the synthesised string and saxophone to Orchestrazia Ardwick, a reference to the Manchester area Ardwick, where Johnny Marr grew up.
With help from
- Stephen Street – additional drum machine programming on I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish, Paint A Vulgar Picture, Death At One’s Elbow, sound effects on Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me, Death At One’s Elbow
The Smiths – Rank
After Strangeways, Here We Come
Following Johnny Marr’s departure, the band wanted to soldier on. Easterhouse guitar player Ivor Perry was supposed to replace Marr. The sessions, organized to produce a B-side for the Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before single, were quickly aborted. The recordings were very uncomfortable for Perry, “it was like they wanted another Johnny Marr”. The band swiftly realized that The Smiths could never exist without Marr and the band was officially disbanded. Sometime later, one of the songs worked on with Perry, Bengali In Platforms, would appear in an altered form on Morrissey’s debut solo album.
On September 5, 1988, the live album Rank was released, containing recordings of a Smiths concert on October 23, 1986, which had been broadcast by BBC Radio 1 when the band was still together. The album was compiled by Morrissey.
The Smiths 1987
After The Smiths
Following the collapse of The Smiths, Morrissey started a solo career, which yielded its first result in March 1988: Viva Hate, which raced to the first position on the UK charts, a feat The Smiths had never achieved. By now, he has released 13 studio albums as a solo artist.
Johnny Marr returned in 1989 as part of the group Electronic, working with New Order’s Bernard Sumner and Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant. Electronic released 3 albums. Marr was also a member of The The, recording 2 albums with them. He regularly did sessions work for artists like The Pretenders, Bryan Ferry, Pet Shop Boys, Billy Bragg, Black Grape, Talking Heads, Crowded House, Oasis and Beck. After stints in his own band Johnny Marr And The Healers and as part of the groups 7 Worlds Collide, Modest Mouse and The Cribs, Marr released his first solo album in 2012, launching a successful solo career. He still cooperated with others as well, artists like Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams, Davis Stewart, Noel Gallagher, Blondie, The Killers and Lindsey Buckingham.
Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce worked together often. In 1988 and 1989 they recorded a number of singles with Morrissey. They worked with artists like Sinéad O’Connor, The Adult Net, Aziz Ibrahim (The Stone Roses), Moondog One, Jeep and Vinny Peculiar. In 2007 they released the DVD Inside The Smiths, a loving memory of their time with The Smiths (striking, given the lawsuits, see below) without image material of Johnny Marr and Morrissey or The Smiths music. They also were active separately. Joyce worked with Suede, Buzzcocks, Julian Cope, Public Image Ltd, P.P. Arnold, Pete Wylie, Vinny Peculiar, Paul Arthurs and Autokat. He is now a radio presenter and a club DJ in New York. Rourke played with the likes of The Pretenders, Badly Drawn Boy, Proud Mary and Ian Brown. In 2009 he moved to New York, remaining active through the years.
The Smiths In Court 1996
Royalties dispute
After the breakup of The Smiths, Morrissey and Johnny Maar were busy with other things rather quickly, but the group’s rhythm section, drummer Mike Joyce and bass player Andy Rourke, wasn’t immediately employed, and subsequently had no/little money. The Smiths’ royalties were divided using the distribution key 40:40:10:10, leaving Morrissey and Marr with 40% of the proceeds each, and Joyce and Rourke with 10% each.
The rhythm section decided to go to trial against Morrissey and Marr. The accusers’ lawyer rather humorously concluded the rhythm section were treated as sessions players and therefore were “readily replaceable as the parts in a lawnmower”. Rourke was in debt and quickly settled on an amount of £83,000 and the previously allotted 10% of the royalties. Joyce continued the lawsuit, all the way to 1996 when the case landed at the High Court of Justice. Joyce proposed he wasn’t treated as an equal partner in The Smiths and realized he only received 10% after The Smiths had disbanded.
Marr and Morrissey were summoned to provide the court with legal evidence that the 40:40:10:10 split had been agreed upon and explained. They couldn’t. Result: Joyce won the case, he was awarded £1 million in back payments and was to receive 25% of the royalties from then on out. Entertainment wise, this wasn’t all. The judge volunteered to characterize the band members. Marr was named the most intelligent, after he had called Rourke and Joyce “unintellectual”. He had more to add on the characters, Joyce and Rourke were “straightforward and honest”, Marr was “willing to embroider his evidence to a point where he became less credible”. Morrissey was typecast as “devious, truculent and unreliable where his own interests were at stake”.
In 1997 Morrissey stated (using the third person) in Melody Maker:
The court case was a potted history of the life of the Smiths. Mike, talking constantly and saying nothing. Andy, unable to remember his own name. Johnny, trying to please everyone and consequently pleasing no one. And Morrissey under the scorching spotlight in the dock being drilled. “How dare you be successful?” “How dare you move on?” To me, the Smiths were a beautiful thing and Johnny left it, and Mike has destroyed it.
The Importance Of Being Morrissey, Melody Maker, August 9, 1997
Marr resigned himself to the verdict, but Morrissey appealed. He was of the opinion that Rourke and Joyce “were lucky. If they’d had another singer they’d never have got further than Salford shopping centre” (not a word on Johnny Marr…), let alone that Morrissey was made to give up on money he believed was his to begin with. In November 1998 Morrissey was heard, but his plea was rejected. A part of the £1 million was paid in 1997, and Marr paid the rest in 2002, but Morrissey didn’t. Joyce sued Morrissey again in order to obtain the rest of the money, which has been paid since.
Morrissey felt like he was the victim, but there’s only one real loser here, Andy Rourke, who filed for bankruptcy in 1999.
The Smiths – Reissue! Repackage!
Reissue! Repackage!
Despite Morrissey’s clearly sung resentment in Paint A Vulgar Picture against the music industry’s modus operandi to keep on (re) selling music with clever tricks, The Smiths happily participated. Compilations appeared regularly, all Smiths albums were remastered in a (fair is fair, beautiful) boxset and The Queen Is Dead even received the “collectors edition” release. The resentment had a lucrative side to it. The following re-releases and compilations have been released so far.
- Best… I (August 17, 1992)
- …Best II (November 2, 1992)
- Singles (February 20, 1995)
- The Very Best Of The Smiths (June 4, 2001)
- The Sound Of The Smiths (November 10, 2008)
- The Smiths Singles Box (December 8, 2008)
- Complete (September 26, 2011)
- The Queen Is Dead Collectors Edition (October 20, 2017)
During the band’s existence 3 compilations had already been released:
- Hatful Of Hollow (November 12, 1984)
- The World Won’t Listen (February 23, 1987)
- Louder Than Bombs (March 30, 1987)
Epilogue
Even though the band was offered many millions, the band never reunited. Both Morrissey and Johnny Marr don’t see the point, and why should they? Maybe when money problems arise, but at this time that doesn’t seem very likely. Besides, The Smiths will never play in the original line-up. Mike Joyce will never be accepted as drummer. Morrissey in 2006: “I would rather eat my own testicles than reform the Smiths, and that’s saying something for a vegetarian”. Still, in 2008/2009 there was some talk about a reunion, but nothing came of it.
The Smiths – UK versus The rest of the world
The Smiths in the UK and the rest of the world
However big The Smiths were in the UK, particularly in the press, they, for example, never sold as well as that other typical English band The Jam. Where The Jam was highly valued outside of the UK by reviewers and press, that was not bestowed upon The Smiths. Holland was no exception, no Smiths album ever made the end of year list of the (back then) leading music magazine Oor. Up to 2014 The Smiths didn’t even enter several ‘top 100 of all time’ lists. In the UK The Smiths are always in the race for the top position of such lists. Real appreciation for The Smiths in the US, and their place and importance in the development of indie, got under way much later.
The lawsuit, Morrissey’s ridiculous recent statements and in band discussions played out in the press, didn’t help The Smiths’ legacy. However, that’s not entirely fair. The Smiths existed for a mere 5 years and during that time they made a huge number of timeless singles and albums. The lack of success during their existence (particularly outside of the UK) is in no way connected to the esteem that is bestowed upon the band nowadays. The Smiths are regarded as the most influential indie bands of the 1980s and as one of the most important bands of all time. The Queen Is Dead is widely regarded as the band’s masterpiece and as a highlight in 1980s indie.
In closing
The Smiths said goodbye in 1987 with Strangeways, Here We Come. A fitting swan song, or a letdown? Please let me know, comment in the section below!
Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: The Smiths say goodbye with Strangeways, Here We Come. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.
Tony Fletcher – A Light That Never Goes Out
More Smiths?
- The Smiths release their first masterpiece: Hatful Of Hollow
- The Smiths release their second masterpiece: Meat Is Murder
- The Smiths release their third masterpiece: The Queen Is Dead
On December 4, 2012, A Light That Never Goes Out, the enduring saga of The Smiths by Tony Fletcher was published. A superb biography of The Smiths, one of the best books I have ever read in this particular genre. Should you want to know more about The Smiths: buy, borrow and read that book!
