History Music / TheSmiths

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 {{Radiohead}}, TheStoneRoses, and Suede. The band's influence on British alternative and indie rock is often compared to the influence [[{{REM}} R.E.M.]] had on American alternative rock.

After the break up, {{Morrissey}} went on to have a successful solo career. Johnny formed Electronic with JoyDivision and NewOrder guitarist Bernard Sumner, and also formed the short-lived Johnny Marr & the Healers. He also played with cult alternative rockers The The and has done session work for too many artists to list. He was a member of the American indie rock band Modest Mouse 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. Oh, and if you ''ever'' have to pick him up at the airport, make ''sure'' you use a car with cloth seats.

* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: "The Headmaster Ritual", written about the horrors of the BritishEducationSystem as corporal punishment was still legal at the time. The song was released in 1985, and corporal punishment was banned in state schools and state-funded private schools in 1987, and then for all other private schools in 1999 (England and Wales), 2000 (Scotland) and 2003 (Northern Ireland).

The Smiths were a [[OopNorth Manchester]]-based {{alternative rock}} band that formed in 1982 and [[TooGoodToLast broke up in 1987]]. Based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey (vocals) and Johnny Marr (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.

* SelfDeprecation

** "Death of a Disco Dancer" is among the very few Smiths songs where Morrissey plays an instrument (the piano).

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: The Smiths never went very high up it, pushing a 4 or 5 at most in their most aggressive moments. However, when asked in an [[http://www.avclub.com/articles/johnny-marr-has-no-negative-thoughts-about-the-smi,73276/ AV Club interview]], Johnny Marr [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] the trope by mentioning how he felt that bands that drew inspiration from the Smiths like Belle and Sebastian were too lightweight compared to them:

The Smiths were a [[OopNorth Manchester]]-based {{alternative rock}} band that formed in 1982 and [[TooGoodToLast broke up in 1987]]. Based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey (vocals) and Johnny Marr (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 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.

* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: "The Headmaster Ritual".

* ExecutiveMeddling: The [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b1/Smithshowsoonisnow.jpg original sleeve]] of the "How Soon Is Now?" single was rejected by their American distributor Sire Records for looking too much like a man holding his cock, who instead used a [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/Hsin-us12.gif photo of the band backstage at the 1984 Glastonbury Festival]] which Morrissey called "an abhorrent sleeve — and the time and the dedication that we put into the sleeves and artwork, it was tearful when we finally saw the record...". Sire also cobbled together a video without the band's involvement which the band hated, with Morrissey describing the result as "We saw the video and we said to Sire, 'You can't possibly release this... this degrading video.' And they said, 'Well, maybe you shouldn't really be on our label.' It was quite disastrous."

* BlackComedy
* BlackSheepHit: Their best known song, "How Soon Is Now?", doesn't sound like their usual style.

* MadLove

* MyGreatestFailure: Marr once mentioned that not writing down the way he achieved the slide guitar sound in "How Soon Is Now?" was "the bane of my existence!". (He guessed it was recorded with multiple overdubs through a harmoniser, with every overdub set to a different interval.)

* MoneySong: "Frankly, Mr. Shankly"

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: The Smiths never went very high up it, pushing a 4 or 5 at most in their most aggressive moments. However, when asked in an [[http://www.avclub.com/articles/johnny-marr-has-no-negative-thoughts-about-the-smi,73276/AV Club interview]], Johnny Marr [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] the trope by mentioning how he felt that bands that drew inspiration from the Smiths like Belle and Sebastian were too lightweight compared to them:

-->'''Johnny''': [...] but "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.

* ''[[MagnumOpus The Queen Is Dead]]'' (1986)

* {{Anvilicious}}: "Meat Is Murder"

* DumbassDj: "Panic" was inspired by one at the BBC who played Wham's "I'm Your Man" after announcing the Chernobyl disaster.

* EpicRiff: "How Soon Is Now?". Doubles as EpicRocking since, hey, 6 minutes.
* EpicRocking: "How Soon Is Now", "The Queen Is Dead" and "Barbarism Begins At Home" all exceed the 6-minute mark.

* HoYay: Plenty of lyrics, and let's not get started on Morrissey and Johnny. (Moz being AmbiguouslyGay didn't hurt.)

* BigNameFan: EmilieAutumn was inspired by The Smiths and has covered several of their songs.

* Anvilicious: "Meat Is Murder"

* {{Bishonen}}: Johnny, back in TheEighties.

After the break up, {{Morrissey}} went on to have a successful solo career, albeit one subject to a definite case of YourMileageMayVary. Johnny formed Electronic with JoyDivision and NewOrder guitarist Bernard Sumner, and also formed the short-lived Johnny Marr & the Healers. He also played with cult alternative rockers The The and has done session work for too many artists to list. He was a member of the American indie rock band Modest Mouse 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. Oh, and if you ''ever'' have to pick him up at the airport, make ''sure'' you use a car with cloth seats.

The Smiths were a [[OopNorth Manchester]]-based {{alternative rock}} band that formed in 1982 and [[TooGoodToLast broke up in 1987]]. Based on the songwriting partnership of {{Morrissey}} (vocals) and Johnny Marr (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 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.

After the break up, Morrissey went on to have a successful solo career, albeit one subject to a definite case of YourMileageMayVary. Johnny formed Electronic with JoyDivision and NewOrder guitarist Bernard Sumner, and also formed the short-lived Johnny Marr & the Healers. He also played with cult alternative rockers The The and has done session work for too many artists to list. He was a member of the American indie rock band Modest Mouse 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. Oh, and if you ''ever'' have to pick him up at the airport, make ''sure'' you use a car with cloth seats.

The Smiths were a [[OopNorth Manchester]]-based {{alternative rock}} band that formed in 1982 and [[TooGoodToLast broke up in 1987]]. Based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey (vocals) and Johnny Marr (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 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.