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| Johnny Marr on the making of "How Soon Is Now?" |
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posted by davidt
on Friday February 24 2006, @10:00AM
Belligerent Ghoul sends the link / excerpt:
'Born Slippy was a greyhound we bet on' - The Guardian
Interviews by Dorian Lynskey and Dave Simpson
Friday February 24, 2006
Every song has a story behind it. Every songwriter has their own way of working. We asked 12 artists, from a legendary lyricist to a freelance hit-making team, how they created one of their classic tracks
Excerpt:
The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?
UK chart position: #24, February 1985; #16, September 1992
Johnny Marr (guitarist, the Smiths): As a kid I was fascinated by Hamilton Bohannon's Disco Stomp and New York Groove by Hello, and I wanted to make something with that stomp. The first decent amp I got was the Fender Twin because the Patti Smith Group used it, and it had this amazing tremolo. Later when we'd had a few hits, a review of What Difference Does It Make said I'd written a riff that was instantly recognisable, which fascinated me. One night I was playing for my own pleasure and I suddenly got the riff. It all came together - the tremolo and the stomping groove - for what became How Soon Is Now, although my demo was titled Swamp. Because it was a groove track it originally appeared as an extra track on a 12-inch, but popular clamour forced its single release. I remember when Morrissey first sang: "I am the son and the heir ..." [Producer] John Porter went, "Ah great, the elements!" Morrissey continued, " ... of a shyness that is criminally vulgar." I knew he'd hit the bullseye there and then.
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