How did you become a Morrissey fan?

R

Razz

Guest
I had a few Smiths fan friends growing up in the 80's but I was never a fan myself. Just didn't connect with them. I liked Black Sabbath, Beastie Boys, Prince etc. I even refused a ticket to go to see The Smiths in Belfast. That would have been my first ever concert. I went to see Nik Kershaw instead. The shame....

Then one day in july 1989 I was in the Virgin Megastore in Oxford Street, trying to avoid a man dressed as a Cyberman giving out flyers advertising a new Doctor Who video, when There Is A Light That Never Goes Out played over the speakers. I thought it was the greatest song I'd ever heard (still do) and immediately bought The World Won't Listen on tape.

That whole summer I only had three tapes: TWWL, Green by R.E.M. and 101 by Depeche Mode. At the time, they were all I needed.
 
> I had a few Smiths fan friends growing up in the 80's but I was never a
> fan myself. Just didn't connect with them. I liked Black Sabbath, Beastie
> Boys, Prince etc. I even refused a ticket to go to see The Smiths in
> Belfast. That would have been my first ever concert. I went to see Nik
> Kershaw instead. The shame....

> Then one day in july 1989 I was in the Virgin Megastore in Oxford Street,
> trying to avoid a man dressed as a Cyberman giving out flyers advertising
> a new Doctor Who video, when There Is A Light That Never Goes Out played
> over the speakers. I thought it was the greatest song I'd ever heard
> (still do) and immediately bought The World Won't Listen on tape.

> That whole summer I only had three tapes: TWWL, Green by R.E.M. and 101 by
> Depeche Mode. At the time, they were all I needed.
---------------------
you come up with a lot of good ideas
 
> ---------------------
> you come up with a lot of good ideas

Before i was big on morrissey i was into reggea heavy-my brother was into the cure and morrissey-a girl i was seeing cheated on me-when i was sad i found my brothers tape ~~~~~~~and now my heart is full.
 
Thank goodness she cheated. You might be in music limbo as we speak...
 
> I had a few Smiths fan friends growing up in the 80's but I was never a
> fan myself. Just didn't connect with them. I liked Black Sabbath, Beastie
> Boys, Prince etc. I even refused a ticket to go to see The Smiths in
> Belfast. That would have been my first ever concert. I went to see Nik
> Kershaw instead. The shame....

> Then one day in july 1989 I was in the Virgin Megastore in Oxford Street,
> trying to avoid a man dressed as a Cyberman giving out flyers advertising
> a new Doctor Who video, when There Is A Light That Never Goes Out played
> over the speakers. I thought it was the greatest song I'd ever heard
> (still do) and immediately bought The World Won't Listen on tape.

> That whole summer I only had three tapes: TWWL, Green by R.E.M. and 101 by
> Depeche Mode. At the time, they were all I needed.

I was aware of The Smiths through John Peel playing "Hand In Glove". I liked it but in those days there were about 10 singles being released every week that you wanted to buy so I skipped on HIG.

I then heard "This Charming Man".Fell in love with it,bought it and after that I bought every Smiths single / album on the day of release.

That was not unique in anyway and buying singles on the release date was par for the course in Smithdom.

As was the tradition of playing the B sides first . Happy days.
 
I became a fan through my big brothers, as I was a baby when The Smiths were in existence. I remember seeing 'The More You Ignore Me' Video, back in 1994 and not being that impressed with with his performence (frankly it was homophobia).
I only became a serious fan when Maladjusted was released - when mid adolescence kicked in.

> I had a few Smiths fan friends growing up in the 80's but I was never a
> fan myself. Just didn't connect with them. I liked Black Sabbath, Beastie
> Boys, Prince etc. I even refused a ticket to go to see The Smiths in
> Belfast. That would have been my first ever concert. I went to see Nik
> Kershaw instead. The shame....

> Then one day in july 1989 I was in the Virgin Megastore in Oxford Street,
> trying to avoid a man dressed as a Cyberman giving out flyers advertising
> a new Doctor Who video, when There Is A Light That Never Goes Out played
> over the speakers. I thought it was the greatest song I'd ever heard
> (still do) and immediately bought The World Won't Listen on tape.

> That whole summer I only had three tapes: TWWL, Green by R.E.M. and 101 by
> Depeche Mode. At the time, they were all I needed.
 
Like a lot of people on here, I discovered the Miffs after they had split.

I was owed £10 by Kirsty from Media Studies, which bought you a lot of Silk Cut in those days. As she was rummaging through her handbag, I took the liberty of putting her earphones in, and to my astonishment, How Soon Is Now? came out of them. It was like being plugged in the National Grid. I was almost literally unable to speak, and with the £10 skipped English Lit, went to town and bought Hatfull of Hollow, and wandered around for about four hours, completely lost in every gorgeous moment. And that was that.
 
The summer of 1987, I heard 'Girlfriend In A Coma' and liked it cos it had unusual lyrics.

My next aural encounter with Morrissey was when 'Suedehead' was released. I liked that too. I was aware he was the singer in "that band who sang 'Girlfriend In A Coma'", but it wasn't until 'Everyday is Like Sunday' charted in June 1988 that I well and truely committed myself to being "a fan".

I was on a school trip in Wales. It was the end of a miserable week of camping (sadly, NOT the Kenneth Williams variety) and it had drizzled most of the time we were there. I remember standing in a field, waiting to go back to civilisation (ie Birmingham), listening to the Top 40 on my walkman. When EDILS came on, that was it. I had never heard lyrics that so accuratly summed up how I was feeling.

From then on, I vowed to find more out about Morrissey. Thanks to my Engligh teacher at school, who taped me the Smiths albums, I had progressed to die-hard Smithsdom by the age of 13 !
 
I think I discovered them in 1987 or '88. A schoolmate of mine came to class wearing a Smiths shirt (i believe it was 'The Queen Is Dead' cover) and I asked him who the Smiths were and he began telling me about this wonderful band and promised to bring me a copy of one of their albums in the next day. He did, and ever since then -- I've been hooked. Thank you Steve L.
Funny part is, he probably NEVER listens to them anymore. He's now the lead singer of a popular punk band around here and is into all things punk.
 
> The summer of 1987, I heard 'Girlfriend In A Coma' and liked it cos it had
> unusual lyrics.

> My next aural encounter with Morrissey was when 'Suedehead' was released.
> I liked that too. I was aware he was the singer in "that band who
> sang 'Girlfriend In A Coma'", but it wasn't until 'Everyday is Like
> Sunday' charted in June 1988 that I well and truely committed myself to
> being "a fan".

> I was on a school trip in Wales. It was the end of a miserable week of
> camping (sadly, NOT the Kenneth Williams variety) and it had drizzled most
> of the time we were there. I remember standing in a field, waiting to go
> back to civilisation (ie Birmingham), listening to the Top 40 on my
> walkman. When EDILS came on, that was it. I had never heard lyrics that so
> accuratly summed up how I was feeling.

> From then on, I vowed to find more out about Morrissey. Thanks to my
> Engligh teacher at school, who taped me the Smiths albums, I had
> progressed to die-hard Smithsdom by the age of 13 !

Awwwwwwww ! Great story Bluenose but you really shouldn't contradict yourself.
One minute you say you were heading back to civilisation and the next you say you were heading home to Birmingham !

Hee ,hee. God I am so funny. I am off for a wee snooze in the sun
 
Everyone talks about discovering them in the 80s, clearly i am the baby here...

Actually (and almost embarassingly) my first knowing brush with The Smiths was on the "Wedding Singer" soundtrack. It had "How Soon is Now?" on it, and ironically i used to always skip it because i didn't like the sound of it. One day i bothered to let it play through and was thrilled at how romantically depressing a song it was. The next week i saw their "Singles" release being advertised in a flyer for $14, so on a whim i went out and bought it. While i was a bit unsure at first listen, never once did i regret it (I mean, i was unemployed and 16 at the time.)

Now, i make it my mission to expose everyone i know to The Smiths. I've actually converted a few people, so my efforts are not in vain
 
> Thank goodness she cheated. You might be in music limbo as we speak...
----------lol i like you ,you are very witty and creative
 
> Awwwwwwww ! Great story Bluenose but you really shouldn't contradict
> yourself.
> One minute you say you were heading back to civilisation and the next you
> say you were heading home to Birmingham !

*yawns*

Yes, I knew either your or Patrick would pick me up on that one. In fact, I set it up deliberately.
 
> ----------lol i like you ,you are very witty and creative

say, is that a new form of treatment telling everyone how nice and clever
they are and how much you love them?
 
> *yawns*

> Yes, I knew either your or Patrick would pick me up on that one. In fact,
> I set it up deliberately.

No you didn't. Anyway, I only posted to save Patrick time as when he is at work he actually works...........unlike me
 
> No you didn't. Anyway, I only posted to save Patrick time as when he is at
> work he actually works...........unlike me

Yeah, I had noticed you've been dossing somewhat this afternoon. Does someone keep distracting you?
 
> The summer of 1987, I heard 'Girlfriend In A Coma' and liked it cos it had
> unusual lyrics.

> My next aural encounter with Morrissey was when 'Suedehead' was released.
> I liked that too. I was aware he was the singer in "that band who
> sang 'Girlfriend In A Coma'", but it wasn't until 'Everyday is Like
> Sunday' charted in June 1988 that I well and truely committed myself to
> being "a fan".

> I was on a school trip in Wales. It was the end of a miserable week of
> camping (sadly, NOT the Kenneth Williams variety) and it had drizzled most
> of the time we were there. I remember standing in a field, waiting to go
> back to civilisation (ie Birmingham), listening to the Top 40 on my
> walkman. When EDILS came on, that was it. I had never heard lyrics that so
> accuratly summed up how I was feeling.

> From then on, I vowed to find more out about Morrissey. Thanks to my
> Engligh teacher at school, who taped me the Smiths albums, I had
> progressed to die-hard Smithsdom by the age of 13 !

Wales miserable? birmingham civilized? What on earth......
 
> Yeah, I had noticed you've been dossing somewhat this afternoon. Does
> someone keep distracting you?

I don't doss but have such fantastic brain power I can cram an eight hour shift into 1 hour. Amazing.
 
> Wales miserable? birmingham civilized? What on earth......

You blinking tell her mate.I think she's been smoking Camberwell carrots again.
 
Right, you two...

> You blinking tell her mate.I think she's been smoking Camberwell carrots
> again.

David - I'm sorry, but my experiences in Wales have always been bad, particularly weather-wise. As for Birmingham...that was a slightly tonge-in-cheek comment, although, now I don't live there anymore, I miss the place madly.

Johnny - I shall deal firmly with you later.
 
Back
Top Bottom