The Smiths

The Smiths, an English rock band, came together in Manchester in 1982. The core lineup featured Morrissey on vocals, Johnny Marr on guitar, Andy Rourke on bass, and Mike Joyce on drums. The songwriting partnership between Morrissey and Marr drove the group. Widely considered a pivotal British band, they helped pioneer the independent music scene of the 1980s.

1985–1986: Meat Is Murder and The Queen Is Dead

In 1983, they signed with the independent label Rough Trade Records, releasing their debut album The Smiths the following year. Their sound—built around guitar, bass, and drums—blended art rock and post-punk, deliberately rejecting the dominant synth-pop of the era. Several of their singles reached the UK top 20, and all their studio albums landed in the UK top five. Meat Is Murder (1985) hit number one, while The Queen Is Dead (1986) and Strangeways, Here We Come (1987) both made the European Albums Chart top 20.

The band briefly became a five-piece in 1986 with the addition of guitarist Craig Gannon, but internal conflicts led to their breakup the following year. After the split, highly publicized lawsuits over royalties ensued, and the members have consistently turned down offers to reunite. Rourke passed away in 2023. In May 1982, Johnny Marr and his friend Steve Pomfret visited Steven Morrissey’s home in Stretford to ask him to join a band.

1982: Formation and early performances

The two had first met at a Patti Smith concert in Manchester in August 1978, when Marr was 14 and Morrissey was 19, bonding over a shared love of poetry and literature. Marr, a fan of the New York Dolls, was impressed that Morrissey had written a book about the band. Inspired by how Jerry Leiber had formed his partnership with Mike Stoller by showing up at Stoller’s door, Marr decided to do the same. Morrissey later recalled, “We got on absolutely famously.

We were very similar in drive.” They discovered they admired many of the same bands; when Marr looked through Morrissey’s singles collection, he found the Monochrome Set, a group both liked. The next day, Morrissey called Marr to confirm he wanted to form a band. A few days later, they held their first rehearsal in Marr’s rented attic room in Bowdon. The first song they worked on, “Don’t Blow Your Own Horn,” used lyrics Morrissey provided, but they decided against keeping it.

Marr noted, “Neither of us liked it very much.” Their next effort, “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” again used Morrissey’s lyrics, with Marr basing the tempo on Patti Smith’s “Kimberly.” They recorded it on Marr’s TEAC four-track cassette recorder. The third track they worked on was “Suffer Little Children.” Morrissey also suggested covering “I Want a Boy for My Birthday,” a song by the 1960s American girl group the Cookies. Though Marr had never heard it, he agreed, enjoying the subversive idea of a male vocalist singing it, and they recorded it on the TEAC. By late 1982, Morrissey had chosen the band name the Smiths.

He later explained, “It was the most ordinary name and I thought it was time that the ordinary folk of the world showed their faces.” Around the band’s formation, Morrissey decided to be known publicly only by his surname; Marr called him “Mozzer” or “Moz.” In 1983, he forbade anyone from using the name “Steven,” which he despised. After several rehearsals, Pomfret left the band acrimoniously. He was replaced by bass player Dale Hibbert, who worked at Manchester’s Decibel Studios, where Marr had met him while recording a demo for the band Freak Party. Through Hibbert, the Smiths recorded their first demo at Decibel one night in August 1982.

With drummer Simon Wolstencroft—whom Marr had worked with in Freak Party—the band recorded “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” and “Suffer Little Children.” Wolstencroft wasn’t interested in joining, so after auditions, Mike Joyce came on board; he later revealed he was under the influence of magic mushrooms during his audition. Meanwhile, Morrissey took the demo to Factory Records, but Tony Wilson there showed no interest. In October 1982, the Smiths gave their first public performance, supporting Blue Rondo à la Turk at a student music and fashion show called “An Evening of Pure Pleasure” at Manchester’s Ritz. They played their own compositions and “I Want a Boy for My Birthday.” Morrissey arranged the gig’s aesthetic: the band came onstage to Klaus Nomi’s version of Henry Purcell’s “The Cold Song” playing over the venue’s sound system, and his friend James Maker stepped onstage to introduce them.

Maker stayed onstage during the performance, later saying, “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 saw as the band’s “gay” aesthetic; Morrissey and Marr were also unhappy with his bass playing, so he was replaced by Marr’s old schoolfriend Andy Rourke. Hibbert denies objecting to the band being perceived as gay and says he is unsure why he was asked to leave. In December 1982, the Smiths recorded a second demo at Drone Studios in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, including “What Difference Does It Make?”, “Handsome Devil,” and “Miserable Lie.” This served as their audition tape for EMI, who...