I am a Ghost
New Member
Flashback: October 1986
The Smiths are on the road for the second leg of 'The Queen is Dead' tour. And sounding better than ever, despite the drama to come, as drummer Mike Joyce recalls
* Mike Joyce
* The Observer,
* Sunday October 12 2008
* Article history
We had just finished a long American tour and by the end we were absolutely rocking. We carried that into what turned out to be our last British tour. We were on fire. The introduction of Craig Gannon as a second guitarist to make the band a five-piece made a real difference - it gave Johnny Marr more freedom. It also became more of a show because we were playing much longer sets and we could dip into every album. I think we shocked a few people; they weren't expecting such a big sound. Our live album Rank was recorded on that tour, at the Kilburn National, and it sounds absolutely fantastic.
We even started being a bit cheeky, putting little medleys together - 'Rusholme Ruffians' and 'What She Said' with bits of '(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame', that sort of thing. We were pretty cocksure. If you think you're that good, you're really going to go for it. Morrissey really came out of himself on that tour; I loved the board he waved that said 'Two light ales please'. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!
We must have been exhausted by that point. If we weren't touring we would be in the studio, and if we weren't in the studio we would be doing TV. It was non-stop. It was hard, especially for somebody as un-rock'n'roll as Mozza. He would try and look after himself, drinking a cup of tea backstage and trying to take it easy, but that's not really on the cards when you're on tour. When I think about the mental gymnastics he was having to perform on the stage every night I can see how difficult it was. Mozza always had that added pressure of being cool and having to sing; it's such a strange thing, a lot more taxing than playing the drums. I didn't really appreciate that in the early years. Not that any of us were flippant about what we were doing. It was massively precious.
None of us knew it would be the last tour. We did one last gig at Brixton Academy that December, a charity gig for Artists Against Apartheid. We then recorded Strangeways, Here We Come, which I maintain is the best album we ever made. What would have happened next? I don't think the creativity would have dried up if we had carried on.
• A new double CD compilation The Sound of the Smiths (Rhino) is released on 10 November
The Smiths are on the road for the second leg of 'The Queen is Dead' tour. And sounding better than ever, despite the drama to come, as drummer Mike Joyce recalls
* Mike Joyce
* The Observer,
* Sunday October 12 2008
* Article history
We had just finished a long American tour and by the end we were absolutely rocking. We carried that into what turned out to be our last British tour. We were on fire. The introduction of Craig Gannon as a second guitarist to make the band a five-piece made a real difference - it gave Johnny Marr more freedom. It also became more of a show because we were playing much longer sets and we could dip into every album. I think we shocked a few people; they weren't expecting such a big sound. Our live album Rank was recorded on that tour, at the Kilburn National, and it sounds absolutely fantastic.
We even started being a bit cheeky, putting little medleys together - 'Rusholme Ruffians' and 'What She Said' with bits of '(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame', that sort of thing. We were pretty cocksure. If you think you're that good, you're really going to go for it. Morrissey really came out of himself on that tour; I loved the board he waved that said 'Two light ales please'. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!
We must have been exhausted by that point. If we weren't touring we would be in the studio, and if we weren't in the studio we would be doing TV. It was non-stop. It was hard, especially for somebody as un-rock'n'roll as Mozza. He would try and look after himself, drinking a cup of tea backstage and trying to take it easy, but that's not really on the cards when you're on tour. When I think about the mental gymnastics he was having to perform on the stage every night I can see how difficult it was. Mozza always had that added pressure of being cool and having to sing; it's such a strange thing, a lot more taxing than playing the drums. I didn't really appreciate that in the early years. Not that any of us were flippant about what we were doing. It was massively precious.
None of us knew it would be the last tour. We did one last gig at Brixton Academy that December, a charity gig for Artists Against Apartheid. We then recorded Strangeways, Here We Come, which I maintain is the best album we ever made. What would have happened next? I don't think the creativity would have dried up if we had carried on.
• A new double CD compilation The Sound of the Smiths (Rhino) is released on 10 November