The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, consisting of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's principal songwriting partnership. The Smiths are regarded as one of the most important and influential British bands of the 1980s, and as pioneers of indie rock and independent music.
The Smiths signed to the independent label Rough Trade Records in 1983 and released their debut studio album, The Smiths, in 1984, reaching number two on the UK Albums Chart. Their second album, Meat Is Murder (1985), adopted more political themes and became their only studio album to reach number one in the UK. The band's third album, The Queen Is Dead (1986), received widespread critical acclaim and has since been included in several publications' lists of the greatest albums of all time. Their final studio album, Strangeways, Here We Come (1987), incorporated a broader range of instrumentation and was released amid the band's breakup. Compilation albums include Hatful of Hollow (1984), The World Won't Listen and Louder Than Bombs (both 1987). The Smiths' most popular songs include "This Charming Man", "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", "How Soon Is Now?" and "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out".
In 1986, the Smiths briefly expanded to a five-piece with the addition of the guitarist Craig Gannon, before returning to their original four-member lineup. Internal tensions, particularly between Morrissey and Marr, contributed to the band's breakup in 1987. The split was followed by widely publicised legal disputes over royalties involving the band members. Morrissey and Marr subsequently pursued successful solo careers. Despite repeated speculation, the band members have rejected multiple offers to reunite. Rourke died in 2023.
The Smiths pursued a back-to-basics guitar, bass and drums sound, fusing elements of jangle pop, post-punk and art rock. Marr's bright, melodic guitar playing contrasted with Morrissey's baritone vocals and literate, sardonic lyrics, which explored themes including social alienation, unrequited love and anti-establishment stances. The band's understated clothing and distinctive cover artwork, often featuring images of vintage film and popular culture figures, contributed to a visual identity that distinguished the band amid the popular new wave and New Romantic movements of the 1980s. The Smiths have been credited as widely influential on subsequent generations of musicians and on genres including indie rock, indie pop, jangle pop and Britpop.
History 1982: Formation and early performances In May 1982, Johnny Marr and his friend Steve Pomfret went to the home of Steven Morrissey in Stretford to invite him to form a band. Marr and Morrissey had met at a Patti Smith gig at Manchester's Apollo Theatre on 31 August 1978, when Marr was 14 and Morrissey was 19. They bonded through their love of poetry and literature. A fan of the New York Dolls, Marr had been impressed that Morrissey had written a book on the band and was inspired to turn up on his doorstep following the example of Jerry Leiber, who had formed his working partnership with Mike Stoller after turning up at Stoller's door. According to Morrissey: "We got on absolutely famously. We were very similar in drive." The two found that they were fans of many of the same bands. When Marr looked through Morrissey's singles collection, he found the Monochrome Set, a band they both admired. The next day, Morrissey phoned Marr to confirm that he would be interested in forming a band with him.
A few days later, Morrissey and Marr held their first rehearsal in Marr's rented attic room in Bowdon. Morrissey provided the lyrics for "Don't Blow Your Own Horn", the first song that they worked on; however, they decided against retaining the song, with Marr commenting that "neither of us liked it very much". The next song that they worked on was "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle", which again was based on lyrics produced by Morrissey. Marr based the tempo on the Patti Smith song "Kimberly", and they recorded it on Marr's TEAC four-track cassette recorder. The third track that the duo worked on was "Suffer Little Children". Alongside these original compositions, Morrissey suggested that the band produce a cover of "I Want a Boy for My Birthday", a song by the 1960s American girl group the Cookies; although he had never heard of the song before, Marr agreed, enjoying the subversive element of having a male vocalist sing it, and the song was recorded on his TEAC machine.
By late 1982, Morrissey had chosen the band name the Smiths. He said later that "it was the most ordinary name and I thought it was time that the ordinary folk of the world showed their faces". Around the time of the band's formation, Morrissey decided that he would be publicly known only by his surname, with Marr referring to him as "Mozzer" or "Moz". In 1983, he forbade those around him from using the name "Steven", which he despised.
After remaining with the band for several rehearsals, Pomfret departed acrimoniously. He was replaced by the bass player Dale Hibbert, who worked at Manchester's Decibel Studios, where Marr had met him while recording Freak Party's demo. Through Hibbert, the Smiths recorded their first demo at Decibel one night in August 1982. Aided by drummer Simon Wolstencroft, whom Marr had worked with in Freak Party, the band recorded both "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" and "Suffer Little Children". Wolstencroft was not interested in joining the band, so following auditions Mike Joyce joined; he later revealed that he was under the influence of magic mushrooms during his audition. Meanwhile, Morrissey took the demo recording to Factory Records, but Factory's Tony Wilson was not interested.
In October 1982, the Smiths gave their first public performance as a support act for Blue Rondo à la Turk during a student music and fashion show, "An Evening of Pure Pleasure", at Manchester's Ritz. During the performance, they played both their own compositions and "I Want a Boy for My Birthday". Morrissey had organised the gig's aesthetic; the band came onstage to Klaus Nomi's version of Henry Purcell's "The Cold Song" playing through the venue's sound system before his friend James Maker stepped onstage to introduce the band. Maker remained onstage during the performance, relating that "I was given a pair of maracas – an optional extra – and carte blanche. There were no instructions – I think it was generally accepted I would improvise... I was there to drink red wine, make extraneous hand gestures and keep well within the tight, chalked circle that Morrissey had drawn around me." Hibbert was allegedly unhappy with what he perceived as the band's "gay" aesthetic; in turn, Morrissey and Marr were unhappy with his bass playing, so he was replaced by Marr's old schoolfriend Andy Rourke. Hibbert denies that he objected to the band being perceived as gay, and said he was not sure why he was asked to leave.
In December 1982, the Smiths recorded their second demo, at the Drone Studios in Chorlton-cum-Hardy; the tracks recorded were "What Difference Does It Make?", "Handsome Devil" and "Miserable Lie". This was used as their audition tape for the record company EMI, who turned the band down. The band continued to practice, this time at the upstairs of the Portland Street Crazy Face Clothing company, a space secured by their new manager Joe Moss. By Christmas, they had written four new songs: "These Things Take Time", "What Do You See in Him?", "Jeane" and "A Matter of Opinion", the last of which they soon scrapped. Their next gig was Manchester's Manhattan in late January 1983, and although Maker would again appear as a go-go dancer, this was the last time that he did so. In early February, they performed their third gig, at the Haçienda.
1983–1984: Rough Trade, "Hand in Glove", and debut album
Marr and Rourke visited London to hand a cassette of their recordings to Geoff Travis of the independent record label Rough Trade Records. Travis agreed to cut their song "Hand in Glove" as a single. For the cover, Morrissey insisted on a homoerotic photograph by Jim French which he had found in Margaret Walters' The Nude Male. The single was released in May 1983, and sold well for the next 18 months, but did not chart in the UK Top 40. Among the audience at the Smiths' second London concert, at the University of London Union, was John Walters, the producer of John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show: he invited the band to record a session for the programme. Peel said: "You couldn't immediately tell what records they'd been listening to. That's fairly unusual, very rare indeed... It was that aspect of the Smiths that I found most impressive." Following this radio exposure, the Smiths gained their first interviews, in the music magazines NME and Sounds.
Travis travelled to Manchester to meet the band at their Crazy Face rehearsal space and sign a record contract with Rough Trade. Morrissey and Marr signed it on behalf of the band, and there was no discussion of how earnings would be divided. Travis brought in Troy Tate of the Teardrop Explodes, and under his supervision the band recorded their debut album, at the Elephant Studios in Wapping, East London. Rough Trade were unhappy with the album and Tate's production, insisting the band rerecord it with a new producer, John Porter. The singles "This Charming Man" and "What Difference Does It Make?" reached numbers 25 and 12 respectively on the UK singles chart. Aided by praise from the music press and a series of studio sessions for Peel and David Jensen at BBC Radio 1, the Smiths began to build a dedicated fanbase. The Smiths generated controversy when Garry Bushell of The Sun alleged their B-side "Handsome Devil" was an endorsement of paedophilia. The band denied this, with Morrissey stating the song "has nothing to do with children, and certainly nothing to do with child-molesting".
The Smiths signed with the American record label Sire Records in late 1983, after its owner, Seymour Stein, agreed to buy Marr an electric guitar, as Marr had heard Stein had for Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. Marr bought a 1960 Gibson ES-355 at a shop on 48th Street in Manhattan.
In February 1984, the Smiths released their debut album, The Smiths, which reached number two on the UK Albums Chart. "Reel Around the Fountain" and "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" met with controversy, with some tabloid newspapers alleging the songs were suggestive of paedophilia, a claim strongly denied by the group. In March 1984, the Smiths performed on Channel 4 music programme The Tube. The album was followed the same year by the non-album singles "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" and "William, It Was Really Nothing", which featured "How Soon Is Now?" on its B-side. Securing the band's first top ten placing, "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" was also significant for marking the beginning of engineer and producer Stephen Street's long-term working relationship with the band.
More controversy followed when "Suffer Little Children", the B-side to "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", touched on the theme of the Moors murders. This caused an uproar after the grandfather of one of the murdered children heard the song on a pub jukebox and felt the band was trying to commercialise the murders. After meeting with Morrissey, he accepted that the song was a sincere exploration of the impact of the murders. Morrissey subsequently established a friendship with Ann West, the mother of victim Lesley Ann Downey, who is mentioned by name in the song.See the discussion of "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" at Forever Ill; and the "Suffer Little Children" lyrics at Passions Just Like Mine. Both retrieved 8 January 2012.