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The Sound Of The Smiths
''The Sound of The Smiths'' is a Smiths compilation released on 10 November 2008. It is available as both single and double disc editions. Morrissey is credited with having coined the compilation's title, while Johnny Marr was involved in the project's mastering. Early promotional material for the album originally saw it titled ''Hang the DJ: The Very Best of the Smiths'', but this was changed for the final release. The album charted No. 21 on the UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ... and No. 98 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The pictures on the covers of the original and deluxe editions were taken by Tom Sheehan. It is their only album featuring the band members on the artwork. Track listing * The iTunes release of the deluxe edition includes the bonu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerge from the 1980s British independent music scene. The Smiths signed to the independent label Rough Trade Records in 1983 and released their first album, ''The Smiths'', in 1984. They based their songs on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Marr. Their focus on a guitar, bass, and drum sound and a fusion of 1960s rock and post-punk was a rejection of the synth-pop sound that was predominant at the time. Several Smiths singles reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart, and all their studio albums reached the top five of the UK Albums Chart, including the number-one album ''Meat Is Murder'' (1985). They achieved mainstream success in Europe with ''The Queen Is Dead'' (1986) and ''Strangeways, Here We Come'' (1987), both of which en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater, visual arts, travel, and the Internet. History ''PopMatters'' was founded by Sarah Zupko, who had previously established the cultural studies academic resource site PopCultures. ''PopMatters'' launched in late 1999 as a sister site providing original essays, reviews and criticism of various media products. Over time, the site went from a weekly publication schedule to a five-day-a-week magazine format, expanding into regular reviews, features, and columns. In the fall of 2005, monthly readership exceeded one million. From 2006 onward, ''PopMatters'' produced several syndicated newspaper columns for McClatchy-Tribune News Service. By 2009 there were four different pop culture related col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shakespeare's Sister (song)
"Shakespeare's Sister" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths. Released in March 1985, it reached No. 26 in the UK Singles Chart. It is also featured on the compilation albums ''Louder Than Bombs'' and ''The World Won't Listen''. The front cover to the single features former ''Coronation Street'' star Pat Phoenix, dressed up as her character Elsie Tanner. Background The title refers to a section of Virginia Woolf's feminist essay ''A Room of One's Own'' in which she argues that if William Shakespeare had had a sister of equal genius, as a woman she would not have had the opportunity to make use of it. Sean O'Hagan says that the essay was "one of the many feminist texts Morrissey embraced as a sexually confused, politically-awakened adolescent". According to Simon Goddard, the lyrics also draw on Elizabeth Smart's novella ''By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept'' and the Billy Fury song "Don't Jump". The song's narrative has been compared to ''The Glass Menagerie'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meat Is Murder
''Meat Is Murder'' is the second studio album by English rock band the Smiths, released on 11 February 1985 by Rough Trade Records. It became the band's only studio album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart, and stayed on the chart for 13 weeks. The album was an international success: it spent 11 weeks in the European Top 100 Albums chart, peaking at number 29. It also reached number 110 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, in the United States. Writing and recording After the band's 1984 debut studio album, lead vocalist Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr produced the album themselves, assisted only by engineer Stephen Street. They had first met Stephen Street on the session for "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" and requested his contact number. Officially, the record's production is credited to "The Smiths". To build the album's soundscape, Morrissey provided Marr and Street with his personal copies of BBC sound effects records from which to source samples.Goddard, S, 2013 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
How Soon Is Now?
"How Soon Is Now?" is a song by English rock band the Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. Originally a B-side of the 1984 single "William, It Was Really Nothing", "How Soon Is Now?" was subsequently featured on the compilation album ''Hatful of Hollow'' and on US, Canadian, Australian, and Warner UK editions of ''Meat Is Murder''. Belatedly released as a single in the UK in 1985, it reached 24 on the UK Singles Chart. When re-released in 1992, it reached No. 16. In 2007, Marr said "How Soon Is Now?" is "possibly he Smiths'most enduring record. It's most people's favourite, I think."''Uncut'', March 2007: p.48 Despite its prominent place in the Smiths' repertoire, it is not generally considered to be representative of the band's style. Although a club favourite, it did not chart as well as expected. Most commentators put this down to the fact that the song had been out on vinyl in a number of forms before being released as a single in its own right. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William, It Was Really Nothing
"William, It Was Really Nothing" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths. It was released as a single in August 1984, featuring the B-sides "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" and "How Soon Is Now?", and reached No. 17 in the UK Singles Chart. The song is featured on the compilation albums ''Hatful of Hollow'' and ''Louder Than Bombs'', as well as other best of and singles collections. In 2004, the song was ranked No. 425 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. When the band performed the song on ''Top of the Pops'', Morrissey ripped open his shirt to reveal the words "MARRY ME" written on his chest ("Would you like to marry me?" is one line of the song). Lyrics and background Morrissey has said of the song: "It occurred to me that within popular music if ever there were any records that discussed marriage they were always from the female's standpoint, female singers singing to women. There were never any songs saying 'do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" is a song by English rock band the Smiths. Released as a single in May 1984, it reached No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart, making it the band's first top ten single. It was later included on the November 1984 compilation album ''Hatful of Hollow''. The song is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Background The music was written by Johnny Marr in an hour in a New York hotel room on 2 January 1984, using a red Gibson ES-355 guitar that was bought for him that day by Seymour Stein. After finishing the song, he wrote the music for B-side "Girl Afraid" the same evening. Marr considers the two songs "a pair". The song is notable for marking the beginning of producer Stephen Street's working relationship with the band. As one of his first roles as "in-house engineer" at Island Records' Fallout Shelter studios, Street engineered the session. He was aware of the band and excited by the prospect, saying in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Smiths (album)
''The Smiths'' is the debut studio album by English rock band the Smiths, released on 20 February 1984 by Rough Trade Records. After the original production by Troy Tate was felt to be inadequate, John Porter re-recorded the album in London, Manchester and Stockport during breaks in the band's UK tour during September 1983. The album was well received by critics and listeners, and reached number two on the UK Albums Chart, staying on the chart for 33 weeks. It established the Smiths as a prominent band in the 1980s music scene in the United Kingdom. The album also became an international success, peaking at number 45 in the European Albums Chart, remaining in the chart for 21 weeks. After its exit of the European chart, it then re-entered in the Hot 100 Albums from September for another run of three weeks. Production After signing with independent record label Rough Trade, the Smiths began preparations to record their first album in mid 1983. Due to the suggestion of Roug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Still Ill
"Still Ill" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths. It was written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. It was featured on the debut album, ''The Smiths'', in February 1984. Another version of the song was included on the compilation album ''Hatful of Hollow'' in November 1984. Overview "Still Ill" has been described both as Morrissey's "deeply personal realisation that his old dreams and freedoms were dead" and also as a reflection on his sexual orientation, in the Thatcher era. In 2018 ''The Independent'' described it as "infused with a bitterness at the country’s political failings". It is a moody and poignant song which worries that life will never again be simple and carefree. The lyrics of the song reference a nostalgia for the past ("We cannot cling to the old dreams anymore"), Morrissey's dislike for working at regular jobs, and his feelings about someone he had kissed "in the old days" but feels differently towards when kissing them in the present. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hatful Of Hollow
''Hatful of Hollow'' is a compilation album by English rock band the Smiths, released on 12 November 1984 by Rough Trade Records. The album features BBC Radio 1 studio recordings and two contemporary singles with their B-sides. It was eventually released in the United States on 9 November 1993 by Sire Records, who had initially declined to release the album in the US. Sire instead released ''Louder Than Bombs'' in the US in 1987—which contains several of the same tracks as ''Hatful of Hollow''—as well as many from the UK compilation ''The World Won't Listen''. ''Hatful of Hollow'' reached No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart, remaining on the chart for 46 weeks.David Roberts ''British Hit Singles and Albums'', Guinness World Records Limited In 2000, '' Q'' magazine placed the album at No. 44 on its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever". Cover The current sleeve for ''Hatful of Hollow'' is the CD issue sleeve, featuring a cropped photograph of the otherwise unknown Fabrice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
What Difference Does It Make?
"What Difference Does It Make?" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. It was the band's third single and is featured on their debut album, ''The Smiths''. A different version, recorded for the John Peel Show on BBC Radio 1, is included in the compilation album ''Hatful of Hollow''. The song was one of the band's first significant chart hits, peaking at No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart. Background The character Ray Smith in the Jack Kerouac novel ''The Dharma Bums'' repeatedly says "What difference does it make?" as well as "Pretty girls make graves", the title of another track featured on ''The Smiths''. "What Difference Does It Make?" was released without an accompanying music video. Speaking to Tony Fletcher on '' The Tube'' in 1984, Morrissey remarked that he felt that the video market was something that was going to "die very quickly", and that he wanted to "herald the death" of it. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
This Charming Man
"This Charming Man" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths, written by guitarist Johnny Marr and singer Morrissey. Released as the group's second single in October 1983 on the independent record label Rough Trade, it is defined by Marr's jangle pop guitar riff and Morrissey's characteristically morose lyrics, which revolve around the recurrent Smiths themes of sexual ambiguity and lust. Feeling detached from the early 1980s mainstream gay culture, Morrissey wrote "This Charming Man" to evoke an older, more coded and self-aware underground scene. The singer said of the song's lyrics: "I really like the idea of the male voice being quite vulnerable, of it being taken and slightly manipulated, rather than there being always this heavy machismo thing that just bores everybody." Although only moderately successful on first release—the single peaked at number 25 on the UK Singles Chart—"This Charming Man" has been widely praised in both the music and mainstream press. R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
