"Bigmouth Strikes Again"

Uncut magazine recently did a cover story on the 20th anniversary of the Smith's "The Queen is Dead". Shortly before I heard about this issue I had been getting back into the Smiths.

I had forgotten what a fucking great band they were. Easy to do when you followed Morrissey's output over the last 18 years. While he's still putting out some great music, one can't help but miss Johnny Marr's presence.

I was always one of those kids who would seek out import records from England. I would seek out news from the British music press... New musical Express and Melody Maker. This was long before the internet and mp3s. If you wanted to discover new music, you had to take a chance and buy it. I was way into Duran Duran before they broke in the States.

I remember the first Smith's album I bought: "Meat is Murder" on vinyl (am I dating myself here?). I remember looking at the cover image and thinking that I'd taken quite a step up from Simon LeBon.

And Morrissey's lyrics! The way he crammed so many words into places where that many words did not belong. Marr's Bo Diddley guitar riff on "How Soon is Now"... this was all new territory. I still have the 45 with two songs on the b-side, "Shakespeare's Sister" and "The Headmaster Ritual".

Then came "The Queen is Dead". That inner sleeve photo... was that that guy's boner hanging out!?! The shock... like seeing the topless pre-pubescent girl on the cover of the Blind Faith album or those two semi-nude women on the cover of Roxy Music's "Country Life" or the naked John and Yoko... well, you get the idea.

Then there was the music that captured that teen angst so well. Your parents didn't understand you, but Morrissey and Marr sure did.

Who speaks for today's alienated, misunderstood teens? Fall Out Boy?

So iconic the image, the photograph of the Smiths that tops this post was recently added to the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The photographer, Stephen Wright, is selling numbered prints from the original negatives at his site. Naturally, I could not resist.

Other Smiths links:
The Salford Lads Club
The Smyths (Smiths cover band; including mp3's)
Classic Tracks: The Queen is Dead (interview with engineer Stephen Street)
The Smiths Wikipedia listing
Passions Just Like Mine
Ask Me, Ask Me, Ask Me
Shoplifter's Union