Song:How Soon Is Now?
Album:Singles
Though The Smiths were only around for a few years in the 80s, their music seems to hold up much better than other bands of the era. They had chart success in England but never broke through in the US. I guess they are a sort of cult band. The Smiths were formed in 1982. Guitarist Johnny Marr had been in several bands but none of them could get a record deal. Singer Steven Morrissey was not even a musician but could write. He was president of the British New York Dolls fan club and wrote a book about them. Marr was looking for a lyricist and the two started working together. They recruited Marr's school mate Andy Rourke to play bass and Mike Joyce to play drums. They started performing locally and released a couple of singles. They finally got a contract with Rough Trade Records when legendary BBC DJ John Peel started hyping them on his show. And Morrissey was getting a lot of notoriety for his interviews. In the US, they signed with Sire Records. The Smiths' albums did very well in England but the singles hovered around the bottom of the top ten. They never had a number one hit single even in England. How Soon Is Now? reached #16 on the British Singles chart. It's their best known song in the US as it did well on the dance chart. It was originally released as the B-side of William, It Was Really Nothing in 1984. It was re-released a few times and Sire added it to the US release of the 1986 album Meat Is Murder. It likely would have performed better if it had a more focused release. The Smiths started having problems in 1986. Andy Rourke was fired for heroin use and was replaced by Craig Gannon. Marr was burned out by the tour schedule and was bickering with Morrissey. The band's contentious relationship with Rough Trade led to a lawsuit and then a move to EMI. They never broke through in the US because they never toured here. Marr left the group in 1987 and the band split shortly afterwards. You can get all their singles on this budget comp. Morrissey went solo and has had a lot of success. In 1989, Marr formed Electronic with Bernard Sumner of New Order and Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys. They had success and Marr has also worked with other bands and as a session musician and producer. Mike Joyce successfully sued Morrissey and Marr for back royalties in 1996. Rourke is a DJ in Brooklyn, NY. Attempts to reunite The Smiths have been rebuffed by Morrissey. Rumours surface occasionally and he has always denied them. Here's the video for How Soon Is Now? by The Smiths.
the smiths - how soon is now.. by robertjgunn
No comments:
Post a Comment