Do you remember the first time you heard The Smiths or Morrissey

[Girl-with-the-Thorn]

There was a programme on a few years ago called The Story of the Guitar, and one night I was bored, my dad had recorded the last episode and I decided on a whim to watch it. I was fairly apathetic until Johnny Marr came on and a section started about The Smiths. I think they played 'Nowhere Fast' and 'How Soon Is Now', and from the moment I heard the lyrics, the guitar and Morrissey's voice I was intrigued- it was just so unlike anything I'd heard before.

Over the next few months I slowly gained more knowledge of the songs, and finally started to research Morrissey specifically (I hadn't heard any of his solo work at that point). The fascination with him really began with an article I found called 'Suffering Morrissey and the Romantic Hero'. Forgive me for becoming sentimental, but it seemed like I'd been waiting my whole life for someone with that kind of persona and massive presence to so closely and openly express the same kind of outlook on life as me, and to do it so beautifully. Even just through reading interview quotes and lyrics I could sense his massive force of personality, and it really launched me into full-on fandom. That was, I think, February 2009, and I've been obsessed ever since.

 

[Icy Cold Hands]

It was a couple of years back, I think I was 14 and my dad had a couple of tracks on his i-pod by The Smiths( I owe my dad so much for this); It was the boy with.., there is a light, cemetry gates, and heaven knows.. I loved the songs instantly but didn't, for some reason, look the band up. Anyway a year or so passed and one day I found my dad's old Louder than bombs album and decided to give it a listen.. from that point I gradually started to love them more and more and today I have reached a lovely state of obsession hah

 

[skinneemonkey]

The first time I listened to THE SMITHS was when a friend of mine said... I think you need to hear this song. The song was, ASK. I have and still do keep my feelings bottled up inside and never ask for a lending hand, shoulder to cry on or help. I was a troubled young teen forever fighting life and taking my anger out on those who didn't know me or didn't take the time to know and understand me. This song let me know that sometimes when you ask... there is someone willing to listen and answer. Some may find The Smiths/Morrissey lyrics to be depressing but I find them uplifting, real and true; hence why I will always hail Morrissey as the "Lyrical King".

 

[Shame]

I remember once hearing something years and years ago, only for the deeply disturbing line 'bludgeoned in your bed' to be taken out of context and get stuck in my head.
Last year, I was watching television with my lovelier half on Valentine's Day and There Is A Light That Never Goes Out came on, set to the bicycle video of Stop Me...

The song interested me, and I stumbled onto the internet (mainly to discover if Morrissey still had hair or not, based on his high hairline in the video - it was a time when I was vainly concerned about my own follicle produce), and discovered that the dark line of being bludgeoned in a bed came from The Smiths. The circle was complete and I became infatuated lyrically and musically.

 

[xMaladjustedx]

It was roughly seven years ago while living in Phoenix, Arizona. My curiosity had been peaked by some new-found friends' passionate words regarding the man. The song was "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" by The Smiths. I sought out the s/t record the very next day (and got into two car accidents that day listening to the record with a friend) and the next week, purchased the "Bona Drag" collection: If there had been any chance of turning back prior to this, which I can't bring myself to imagine, I had surely now endeavoured upon a personal-historical divide within my life and had discovered a solace hitherto unbeknownst to me.

"People see no worth in you
oh but I do"

 

[thekremlin]

i was doing a paper round in the 1987 and my walkman ran out of batteries so i had to put the radio on it instead (it needed less power for that) and shoplifters came on. i just thought it was a very strange sounding song, liked it though. it took me another couple of years before i really got into them.

 

[StrangeLilGirl!]

I can't quite remember the ery first time, since I probably was about half a year old or something. My mum is a pretty big fan of The Smiths so we've got some Moz and Smiths cd's. And a year or so ago I began stealing my mums cd's. So that's how I found out The Smiths, I do remember that the first Smiths cd I listened to by myself was Louder Than Bombs, but the first few songs got scratched so I couldn't listen to all. Anyways by now I got even a bigger fan as my mum, we sing Smiths songs together pretty often XD

 

[Patrick!]

after being expelled from my neighborhood school i found myself at an old grey catholic school where i didn't know anyone. less than two months into the year, i was in a daily habit of eating my lunch as quickly as possible and then hiding out the rest of the period in the library with a book and my ipod. someone had sent me the singles and i was just so stricken by how original and untypical a band formed in 1982 could still sound. i couldn't even pay attention to whatever book i was reading, so i went to a computer and read the lyrics along with the music and instantly fell in love with morrissey. within weeks i had picked up viva hate and you are the quarry, and i continue to become a bigger fan every day.

 

[Sox]

My earliest memory of hearing The Smiths was when I was watching The Wedding Singer years back. How Soon Is Now is playing in the club that Adam Sandler is in.

 

[KenzieW]

My earliest memory of hearing The Smiths was when I was watching The Wedding Singer years back. How Soon Is Now is playing in the club that Adam Sandler is in.

I love that movie!

 

[Sox]

I love that movie!

Me too! It's one of my all time favorites. It also holds a special place in my heart because it was when I first heard The Smiths. If only my 9 year old ears knew at the time of the awesomeness!

 

[Sox]

And come to think of it, it wasn't the club scene. It was when Robbie (Adam Sandler) was drunk and lonely and Linda showed up at his place. That's when How Soon Is Now was playing

 

[Bruna Mirabilis]

I don't remember where, but the first song that I heard was "Suedehead", and I was 13 years old..., and until nowadays its my favorite song!!

Love, Love so much!! all the songs!!!

 

[the raytownian]

I got into them in high school... I've always loved them a great deal since then, but I've only become creepily-obsessive collector scum in more recent years.

I believe "Unloveable" was the first song I ever heard, but I probably heard some of their more popular songs in passing prior and just did not realize it (not counting the Love Spit Love cover that was so popular in the earlier part of the late 90's).

BTW, as lame as it probably seems (not that I care what you f***ers think! Hmph!!!), I think The Doom Generation was why Unloveable was the first song I heard, and Anal c*** played a part in influencing my interest in the band with classic songs like "ART FAG", which mentions The Smiths in the first line.

 

[Thesmithsmorrissey]

I was six or seven

My mom and I used to make frequent trips to her sister's place about an hour away

My mom's sister has a daughter who is a few years older than me, and every time we'd go over, if she wasn't there, I'd go into her room and look through her shit

always eventually going through her music, hearing stuff that was years before my time.

This is how I discovered bands like Depeche Mode, Jane's Addiction and Faith No More

on one trip, found and played her Smiths LPs and it was the most beautiful music I'd ever heard anywhere.

Spent over a year hoarding my allowance and doing odd jobs so I could buy my own actual copies of those records

I've been a Smiths/Morrissey obsessive/addict/apostle ever since and I am not repentant

 

[morrisseymarr]

When I was about 11 years old there was a show on Much More Music (the VH1 of Canada) that counted down the top 50 albums of the last 25 years or so. It was how I learned about the Smiths, Radiohead, Moby, Oasis and a lot of other great bands. Obviously they had The Queen is Dead on there, and I vaguely remember hearing them play Panic and The Boy With The Thorn in His Side. A couple years later I put How Soon is Now and Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want on my iPod, and then I realized I needed to hear more. On a whim one day I finally decided to buy a CD (the Sound of the Smiths) and I've been hooked ever since!

 

[alabamy]

About The Smiths I can only say that I have always perceived their sound and some of the songs as familiar and somehow reminding me of my own childhood, as if I had heard that silky guitar and that silky voice long time ago without knowing the name of the band. So, in a way, discovering and rediscovering them was like trying to find more about myself - The Smiths are mine (not as in "you cry and you want to die - me too" though) and I love their music.
But with Morrissey is another story. I remember that my better half was listening to Ringleader of the Tormentors, but I didn't pay much attention to it. Then, as a Sparks fan, I learned that Morrissey is their fan too... I listened him on KCRW (Morning becomes eclectic)... I was quite disappointed by That's How People Grow Up, while Paris and All You Need Is Me seemed so-so... but the real click came with the BBC concert in 2009, specifically with Seasick, Yet Still Docked, which helped me get acquainted to all the unusual combination of yearning, detachment, gnashing of teeth, dry humor, sweetness, self-deprecation and pride that I came to like about most of Morrissey's songs. I should add that don't get the "pope of the mope" label; I never found his songs depressing.

 

[Skylarker]

To all Moz fans new and old, Do you remember the first time you heard The Smiths or Morrissey? The emotions you felt?
Please share your experiences

As far as I can recall, it went pretty much exactly like this...

 

[lindsey1151]

OK once upon a time in June 2010 when I was 12 years old I was going to the country fair in medford NY and my dad played the smiths debut album in the car and I liked it the song reel around the fountain got stuck in my head then 3 months later in september 2010 I was going to check out a school in Manhattan on the way there my dad played The smiths the queen is dead album and when I heard cemetry gates and bigmouth strikes again I zoned out completely and got lost in the music and my eyes went wonky and that was the best songs I ever heard then I lost the smiths album the queen is dead didnt here the album for 5 months! Then I found the album again! and then I went on youtube to hear the song bigmouth strikes again and I zoned out completely and I got lost in the song and my eyes went wonky again! Then I discovered Morrissey and then went to his concert on December 17 in Chicago! THE END

 

[Anonymous]

I first paid attention to them in the summer of 1985. I might've heard them before that, but that was the first time I took any notice.