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The Smiths began life with charismatic singer Steven Morrissey recording poems in his bedroom. He would sit next to his tape recorder and sing lyrics he had written quietly so that his mother, who would be in the next room, could not hear. Morrissey grew up in Salford, near Manchester as a rather lonely and quiet boy with few friends. His shyness however would not show in either his songs or performances.
After hearing some of his songs, producer John Porter introduced Morrissey to Johnny Marr, an up and coming guitarist from Salford. Together with bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce, the pair formed The Smiths at the beginning of 1982. It was not long before the group recorded their first album entitled "The Smiths", and released it along with their first single "Hand in Glove". With the singles "This Charming Man" and "What Difference Does it Make" charting, "The Smiths" was quite a success. The Smiths were also to appear on Top of the Pops with "This Charming Man".
After appearing on John Peel's radio programme, along with other radio and studio appearances, the group compiled "Hatful of Hollow", which contained all of the tracks they had not released on "The Smiths", plus re-recorded versions of songs they had. The album introduced the song "How Soon is Now", a song that would appear on The Smiths next album "Meat is Murder". This album, released in 1984, contained some of the band's views on the society in which they lived. Tracks such as "How Soon is Now" and "Meat is Murder" made the group stars.
In 1985 the Smiths' finest hour came with the release of "The Queen is Dead", regarded by most as their best album, and by me as the greatest album ever recorded. The record spans the entire spectrum of the group, from sad and miserable ballad "I Know It's Over" to upbeat guitar anthem "Bigmouth Strikes Again". It defined The Smiths and captured the feeling of the young, depressed and unemployed everywhere. They went on to release "The World Won't Listen" a year later, in which they compliled more B-sides and unheard studio tracks together with re-recordings of Queen is Dead songs.
1987 saw the release of "Strangeways Here We Come", which Johnny Marr described as The Smiths best album. It contained the song "Girlfriend in a Coma" which became a hit. Despite demonstrating a new sound for the band, Morrissey's arguments with the various producers involved with The Smiths and Rourke and Joyce's demands for an equal share in the band's profits meant that the group would split up at the end of '87. They released a song from "The Queen is Dead" called "There is a Light That Never Goes Out", an appropriate ending for one of the World's best rock groups.
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