History Music / TheSmiths

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Alongside Music/TheFall, The Smiths are one of the few Manchester-based bands of their era not to have signed with Factory Records.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Morrissey was mouthy and pissed off a lot of music industry people all throughout The Smiths' rise in popularity.

!!! "I would go out tonight, but I haven't got a trope to wear...":

The Smiths were a [[OopNorth Manchester]]-based {{alternative rock}} band that formed in 1982 and broke up in 1987. Based on the songwriting partnership of Music/{{Morrissey}} (vocals) and Music/JohnnyMarr (guitar), the band also included Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (drums). Their sound was largely defined by the combination of Morrissey's witty, DeadpanSnarker lyrics and {{Camp}}y, {{Melodrama}}tic vocals, Marr's jangly, catchy pop-rock melodies (drawing a lot from Music/TheBeatles, PowerPop and ClassicRock), and the steady support of the Rourke-Joyce rhythm section, but they branched out beyond pop-rock and experimented toward the end of their career.

Following the band's breakup, Music/{{Morrissey}} went on to have a successful solo career. Marr formed Music/{{Electronic}} with Music/JoyDivision[=/=]Music/NewOrder guitarist Bernard Sumner, and also formed the short-lived Johnny Marr & the Healers. He also played with cult a,lternative rockers Music/TheThe, contributed to Music/TalkingHeads' final studio album ''Music/{{Naked}}'', and has done session work for too many artists to list. He was a member of the American indie rock band Music/ModestMouse from 2005 to 2008. After leaving Modest Mouse, he was a member of the British indie band The Cribs from 2008 to 2011, before setting off on a solo career of his own. Rourke, meanwhile, became a session musician and later formed the {{supergroup}}s Freebass (with Joy Division/New Order's Peter Hook and Music/TheStoneRoses' Mani) and Blitz Vega (with Music/HappyMondays' Kav Sandhu) before dying of pancreatic cancer in 2023.

* LongTitle: "Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before", "Please Please Please, Let Me Get What I Want", "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me", "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out", etc. It's safe to say that they were ''in love'' with this trope. Morrissey's solo work also uses ridiculously long song titles.

Widely regarded as one of the most important bands to emerge from the British indie music scene of TheEighties, the Smiths had a major influence on other artists, including Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/TheStoneRoses, and Music/{{Suede}}. The band's influence on British alternative and indie rock is often compared to the influence Music/{{REM}} had on American alternative rock.

After the break up, Music/{{Morrissey}} went on to have a successful solo career. Johnny formed Music/{{Electronic}} with Music/JoyDivision[=/=]Music/NewOrder guitarist Bernard Sumner, and also formed the short-lived Johnny Marr & the Healers. He also played with cult alternative rockers Music/TheThe, contributed to Music/TalkingHeads' final studio album, ''Music/{{Naked}}'' and has done session work for too many artists to list. He was a member of the American indie rock band Music/ModestMouse from 2005 to 2008. After leaving Modest Mouse, he joined the British indie band The Cribs which he was a member of from 2008 to 2011, before setting off on a solo career of his own. Rourke meanwhile became a session musician and later formed the {{supergroup}}s Freebass (with Joy Division/New Order's Peter Hook and Music/TheStoneRoses' Mani) and Blitz Vega (with Music/HappyMondays' Kav Sandhu) before dying of pancreatic cancer in 2023.

The Smiths were a [[OopNorth Manchester]]-based {{alternative rock}} band that formed in 1982 and broke up in 1987. Based on the songwriting partnership of Music/{{Morrissey}} (vocals) and Music/JohnnyMarr (guitar), the band also included Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (drums). Their sound was largely defined by the combination of Morrissey's witty, DeadpanSnarker lyrics and {{Camp}}y, {{Melodrama}}tic vocals, Marr's jangly, catchy pop-rock melodies (drawing a lot from Music/TheBeatles, PowerPop and classic rock) and the steady support of the Rourke-Joyce rhythm section, but they branched out beyond pop-rock and experimented toward the end of their career.

-->-- "The Queen is Dead"

* TheEighties

After the break up, Music/{{Morrissey}} went on to have a successful solo career. Johnny formed Music/{{Electronic}} with Music/JoyDivision[=/=]Music/NewOrder guitarist Bernard Sumner, and also formed the short-lived Johnny Marr & the Healers. He also played with cult alternative rockers Music/TheThe, contributed to Music/TalkingHeads' final studio album, ''Music/{{Naked}}'' and has done session work for too many artists to list. He was a member of the American indie rock band Music/ModestMouse from 2005 to 2008. After leaving Modest Mouse, he joined the British indie band The Cribs which he was a member of from 2008 to 2011, before setting off on a solo career of his own.

* CoverVersion: "Work Is a Four-Letter Word" by Cilla Black and "Golden Lights" by Music/{{Twinkle}} are infamous for incensing Johnny Marr to the point that he left the band, leading to their breakup.

* LesserStar: Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke. The band's contract apparently only listed Morrissey and Marr as the official members of the band. Joyce and Rourke even sued the other half of the band for royalties that were owed them. Although Rourke wound up settling amicably out of court with Morrissey and Marr, Joyce kept pushing his part of the lawsuit and received a 1 million pound settlement (which in turn alienated him from Rourke). Rourke eventually patched things up with his childhood friend Marr and found steady work as a session musician for bands like Music/ThePretenders. Joyce, meanwhile, left the music business and never reconciled with any of his old bandmates apart from Rourke. Morrissey claims that Joyce's lawsuit is the main reason why the Smiths will never reunite, moreso than his rift with Marr.

* WeUsedToBeFriends: This seems to be the case with Morrissey and Johnny Marr, and is often cited one of the reasons The Smiths broke up to begin with, and one of the other reasons why the Smiths won't have a reunion. That and [[LongList a wide range of ''reasons,'']] both Marr and Morrissey, state every time speculation of a reunion is said.

The Smiths were a [[OopNorth Manchester]]-based {{alternative rock}} band that formed in 1982 and broke up in 1987. Based on the songwriting partnership of Music/{{Morrissey}} (vocals) and Music/JohnnyMarr (guitar), the band also included Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (drums). Their sound was largely defined by the combination of Morrissey's witty, DeadpanSnarker lyrics and {{Camp}}y, {{Melodrama}}tic vocals, Marr's jangly, catchy pop-rock melodies (drawing a lot from Music/TheBeatles, PowerPop and classic rock) and the steady support of the Rourke-Joyce rhythm section, but they've branched out beyond pop-rock and experimented over the course of their career.

* AlliterativeTitle:
** "Death of a Disco Dancer", "Meat Is Murder", "Rubber Ring", "Rushholme Ruffians", "Shakespeare's Sister", "These Things Take Time",[[note]]Doubled down![[/note]] "Well I Wonder", "What's the World", "Wonderful Woman".
** In the consonance department, there's "Still Ill".

* Retraux: The band had a sound and image that hearkened back to the '50s and early '60s. To drive the point home, their "cover stars" were also typically from this era.