| Author | Message | ||
     Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10376 Registered: 05-2005 |
He was just 59 https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/m ay/19/andy-rourke-bassist-for-the-smiths -dies-aged-59 | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1513 Registered: 04-2005 |
Far too young. It's no reflection on his death, but I can't help feeling that The Smiths have benefited from the great-revionist-history movement that magazines like Mojo kicked off and that has now been endlessly revisited by the internet. Didn't The Guardian have a "The Greatest 50 Songs of The Smiths" and someone pointed out that the band didn't actually record that many more than 50 ? There were an incredibly important band to me in their early days, but by "Strangeways.." were falling apart and that record is awful. If you read some of the writing about them they are portrayed as being The Beatles for a certain generation. Which is ludicrous. | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 738 Registered: 08-2005 |
I only appreciated The Smiths after they'd folded - though I did hear them live (from a distance) at Glastonbury in 1984 when they were booed off stage - but I think Strangeways has sone strong songs: A Rush and a Push...; I Started Something I couldn't Finish; Stop Me... That said, I tend to listen to Hatful of Hollow and The World Won't Listen, a couple of very strong compilations. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 10378 Registered: 05-2005 |
Andrew, it was Mojo that did the top 50 https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/the- mojo-list/the-50-greatest-smiths-songs-r anked/ and it was me who pointed out they didn’t have many more than 50 to choose from. I’m sure many others pointed that out too. Like Simon, I was a late convert to The Smiths, and also like Simon, I really liked Strangeways. But I can’t and don’t listen to them at all anymore. Morrissey ruined that avenue of pleasure. | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 740 Registered: 08-2005 |
Unlike Pádraig - and holding my nose because of Morrissey - I still listen to The Smiths. Panic; How Soon is Now; This Charming Man; Still ill etc I'm not letting those go just because Morrissey is a complete... fill in your choice of noun here! | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1518 Registered: 04-2005 |
Interesting article on their BBC sessions. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/m ay/31/the-glory-of-it-was-real-40-years- of-the-smiths-peel-sessions It must also be remembered how important their 1983 filmed performance in Derby's Assembly Rooms was. Shown by the BBC in December 1983 this was an amazing leap of faith by the Beeb in a band that hadn't even released their first album at this point. I taped the sound onto a cassette and listened to it several times a day ! The Guardian article doesn't mention the Troy Tate produced demos, which is a trifle surprising. A lot of people prefer these versions to the final John Porter produced ones. I listened to them last night and Andy Rourke's bass is pretty astounding ! |