Other Ex-Smiths

Johnny Marr distances himself from Morrissey's Brexit views - Sky News
The legendary guitarist says his bandmate's recent political proclamations suggest The Smiths are better off staying split up.

Excerpts:

He told Sky News that if reports Morrissey said he liked Nigel Farage "a great deal" and that the Brexit result is "magnificent" are true, they no longer share the same beliefs.

He said: "Yes that's probably right - I always forget about that, it's stuff I hear second hand and I don't believe everything I read but if that is the case that he's pro-Farage, there would be a slight drawback in that, as anyone would imagine."

"As far as Brexit goes, I'm proud again to be in the minority. No-one ever says the majority is right, I've been in the minority a lot - when I was younger and now," he said.

He said: "At the time when Thatcher came into power, young people were...

Johnny Marr reviews books on The Smiths - BBC Radio 4
Ahead of the publication of his autobiography, Johnny Marr gives his first broadcast interview to the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.

He met the BBC's Colin Paterson at Manchester’s Central Library, where he used to go when playing truant from school, and reviewed the books on the shelf dedicated to The Smiths.

(Photo: Johnny Marr standing next to a bookcase. Credit: BBC)

Release date:
31 October 2016
Duration:
2 minutes

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Also see forum post by Uncleskinny:

Johnny Marr's 'Set The Boy Free' Spotify playlist

“Set the Boy Free” – Johnny Marr : the in Depth interview on the Smiths, his book, Bowie and Brexit - Louder Than War

Johnny Marr interviewed by Fergal Kinney

“I THOUGHT it was important” explains Johnny Marr down the phone on a Wednesday afternoon, “to let people know what really happened”. To borrow a phrase, it’s time the tale were told – the Smiths story is one that’s been documented within an inch of its life but often with varying degrees of accuracy and never from Marr’s vantage point.

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Excerpt posted by an anonymous person:

Nice bit on the nearly 2008 reunion: " I’d thought anyway that if the Smiths were ever going to reform a big part of it would have been to make a new record, because on the one occasion – that I talk about in the book – that it may have nearly happened, I was one hundred per cent as excited about writing new songs as I was about playing in...

It's a big, wide-ranging interview and the book extract is revealing. Tons of stuff to interest folk here. Should have it up within an hour or two, when I get back.

**EDIT** Here we go. Don't say I never give you anything. I find the last page the most revealing and interesting.

**FURTHER EDIT** - weblink here...

Johnny Marr: ‘The conversation about re-forming the Smiths came out of the blue' - The Guardian
By Simon Hattenstone
It’s 29 years since the Smiths split up, and founding member Johnny Marr isn’t angry any more. So what happened when he and Morrissey met for a drink?

Johnny Marr felt like Yoko Ono - The List
Johnny Marr thinks the only person to have had as much a "hard time" over a band splitting as he did is John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono.

Full interview in Q (Dec. 2016) - info / digital download

Mike Joyce Interview - Don't Believe The Hype (May 6, 2016)

Plenty of Smiths content, including the court case:

"The politics of being in a band are scary; nobody knows what is going to happen in the future, and you don’t want to upset your mates. But looking back, it’s an awful lot easier than being in a room with someone in a wig and thinking ‘how did it come to this?’ At the time I didn’t appreciate how serious it was, I didn’t think it would be such a big deal. After the first day, it was all over the newspapers, and it hit home”.

Audio sample included on the MEN site.
A very tenuous use of the word 'Smiths'.
Very Style Council IMHO,
Regards,
FWD

A lost 'Smiths' song is being released 35 years after it was recorded - Manchester Evening News

Excerpt:
"Firefly is by Freak Party, the band that Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke, and Si Wolstencroft were working on before Morrissey arrived.

A lost cassette containing two songs written by the band that would become The Smiths has been unearthed - and it's about to get a national release.

The studio demo, called Kraak Therapy, contains two tracks recorded by Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke, and drummer Si Wolstencroft in an Ancoats studio in the winter of 1981.

It recently turned up in an old flight case in Si's cellar when he was moving house, and on Monday, October 24, he's...

Morrissey photography by Mike Joyce on new limited T-Shirt, funds going to Salford Lad's Club. Modelled by actors Christopher Eccleston, Maxine Peake, John Thompson and DJ Mac Radcliffe. (see photos posted on the Salford Lads Club shop page or posted by Famous when dead in the comments below.)

Our new fundraising t-shirt features an original photo of Morrissey taken by Mike Joyce taken whilst on a Smiths US tour in 1986. Mike has generously allowed us to use the photo to raise funds for the club.
Thanks also to our Manc icons models, Chris Eccelston, Maxine Peake, John Thompson and Mark Radcliffe and Mike Joyce for joining in the fun and supporting the club.
The t-shirt is in a classic 80’s yellow, we’ve printed a limited run of 1000 shirts which are available excl...usively on our Salford Lads Club shop page, from Midnight on Thursday.
From Saturday they will also be available to purchase at Salford Lads Club, and from next Monday Aflecks in Manchester are also supporting us...