Other Ex-Smiths

NB:
Thread title subject to change when the 'chance to own' is clearer.
Regards,
FWD.

(S, HWC - released September 28, 1987).

It's just been voted the 56th best bass part of all time in BassPlayer Magazine.

'The Smiths were a group at least a decade ahead of their time, doomed to be more read about than listened to during their active career, and only fully appreciated several years after the band members had gone their separate ways.

Bassist Andy Rourke is the group's unsung hero , complementing the guitar wizardry of Johnny Marr in a way that most of us could never hope to do.

The fast fingered line on This Charming Man is his masterpiece'.

Lovely to see Andy getting some long overdue praise for his bass work in The Smiths.

From AO Arena, Manchester.......did she forget the words or just start in late?

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Text reproduction of his interview in "Record Collector presents: The Smiths" special (April 21, 2022).

"ACE OF BASS

It all began with a Neil Young badge pinned to his school blazer. In this brand new interview, Andy Rourke tells Lois Wilson about the call from an old mate that would change his life forever...

I met Johnny at school when I was 11. I was really into Neil Young at the time and he was wearing a Neil Young Tonight's The Night lapel badge. This was when everyone else seemed to be into Jethro Tull and heavy metal, so Neil Young was a conversation opener and pretty soon we were spending all our spare time together, either playing music or listening to music or talking about music. We formed a band together, Freak Party. It was me on bass, Johnny on guitar and funky Si Wolstenscroft on drums, and the music did get funky. The Clash's Sandinista! had just come out and we were jumping on that vibe. We rehearsed every night until kicking out time, we got stoned a...

NME interview about the fallout from the Rick Astley/Blossoms cover project:

“We knocked on his dressing room door and said, ‘Look… We probably should have told you, but we were just too scared.’
“How do you turn around to one of your heroes and go, ‘I’m starting a covers band with Rick Astley playing your songs?’ There’s no easy way to say that. Even the most f***ing confident person in the world would struggle to say that. He was like, ‘It’s water under the bridge – let’s hug it out’.”

https://www.nme.com/news/music/blos...SiWBcYqinqoVztftBOmWnmaxKL36HfIq9guV6Y0b_WSf8

Give me your top 5 Smiths songs?

-How Soon Is Now?
-The Headmaster Ritual
-Bigmouth Strikes Again
-There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
-Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

And finally, what are the top 5 songs you’ve been involved with since the Smiths?

-Get The Message - Electronic
-Dashboard - Modest Mouse
-Slow Emotion Replay - The The
-City Of Bugs - The Cribs
-No Time To Die - Billie Eilish

It was a strange little interview on Steve Wright on Radio 2 this afternoon, with Johnny. Aside from Steve mentioning The Smiths once at the very start, in his intro about Johnny, they were not mentioned at all, even when Johnny was talking about his early years as a musician, etc. And then there was a brief exchange near the end that went something like this:

Steve Wright: Now, are you OK with me asking you the question that you probably don't want me to ask you about? You know the one.
Johnny: Sure, go for it.
Steve Wright: When did you last talk to Morrissey, or have any contact with him?
Johnny: I guess, 18 years ago. Maybe 15?
Steve Wright: Wow. And so, what are the chances of you ever maybe working together in the future?
Johnny: Zero.

And that was that.

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Clarification (March 1, 2022):
The exact wording of Steve's question to Johnny was:

"So what do you see in the future for any kind of personal professional relationship with Morrissey? Could that ever happen?"...

Johnny Marr interview - The Times

Johnny Marr tells his side.


Excerpt:

A month on the guitarist explains his decision to come out fighting. “When you’re attacked out of the blue, particularly in public, you have to defend yourself. The letter was designed to be insulting, wasn’t it? That has to have been the idea. If it’s something that’s not based in fact, you have to react in kind, which is just” — he curls his lip — “with ridicule.” Tellingly, he doesn’t use the M word.

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Related items:

• Johnny Marr responds to Morrissey's open letter via Twitter (January 26, 2022)
• Morrissey Central: "OPEN...