"The Smiths" by THE SMITHS - February 1984 UK Debut Album on Rough Trade Records (April 1984 USA on Sire Records) featuring Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce with Guest Keyboardist Paul Carrack of Ace and Mike & The Mechanics on Three Tracks and Vocalist Annalisa Jablonska on Two Tracks (March 2012 UK WEA CD Reissue Using The Smiths Complete Remaster of 2011 Overseen by Johnny Marr)

 

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B007F5S1FY&asins=B007F5S1FY&linkId=74d60602499481cd5419e4bf6dcdaf37&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

 

This Review And Many More Like It 

Available In my Kindle e-Book (June 2022 Version)

 

LOOKING AFTER NO. 1 

Volume 2 of 2 - M to Z...

 

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters 
For Music from 1956 to 1986

Over 1,760 E-Pages of In-Depth Information
240 Reviews From The Discs Themselves

No Cut and Paste Crap...

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B0B2BFFB62&asins=B0B2BFFB62&linkId=24792af4460cdf9fa1bbb2629c6b9aa5&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

 

"...These Charming Men..."
 

I was DJ'ing in Dublin doing a 21^st Birthday Party in the 80ts and it was in a very working class area of the Irish Capitol City. Being a boozy bash and knowing what the punters wanted – you kept it upbeat – you played the hits – the cool new tunes too that made bodies hit the floor (and there was a lot of chart innovation at that time). But you never ever played music that was in any way remotely perceived as a downer. Even in the slow sets, you didn't inflict Eric Carmen's "All By Myself" on the mob or any other "...I'd stick my head in the oven, but I can't afford the gas..." type-whinger for that matter. You learned early on that those were vibe killers and could slash an up night in two in a matter of seconds (a good time is a very fluid thing).

 

But at this gig there were three nerdy types constantly at my double-decks (when they weren't at their table with a sea of Smithwicks refusing to do anything as naff as dance with girls) – "Do ya have any Smiths man! The Smiths man!" Their eyes bulging like Dracula at the Elegant Necks Debutante's Ball.

 

These kids were demanding what they wanted to hear regardless of the cost to the populace and the parents paying for the shindig. But I (ears to the ground and phones in the lugs) knew enough to know that this Smiths group out of England had some whiny mopey elongated twisty eejet out front (Spaz Byron my mate used to call Morrissey) and music that made many want to slash their wrists. 

 

It was good mind – but party – no. Still, they pestered me at least three times more until I eventually had to tell them where the highway and my way was. They shuffled off broodily and daffodil violence was narrowly avoided.

 

This story is true. But I mention it because I also vividly remember thinking that I hadn't seen this kind of hero worship in a long while. The Jam had it of course in the late 70ts – The Clash too – Hell, even Jethro Tull had it and that Prog Rock British institution has remained so cult ever since (even if folks don't want to admit it). 

 

But nothing prepares a body for the sheer fanaticism that accompanies The Smiths. I swear to God that if Morrissey flattulated into an empty bottle of Bulmer's Cider and Diamond Dave of Dagenham put it up for sale on eBay at a starting price of half a million nicker (complete with trampled flowers and a receipt from the Co-Op it was bought in) – then some loon in Smiths-World would say – "That's a deal! I gotta have it!! God wills it!!!"

 

I remember when I worked as Rarities Buyer at Reckless Records in both Islington's Upper Street and Soho's Berwick Street – marvelling at the sheer length of The Smiths discography in the Record Collector Price Guide (absolutely everything they ever issued and more). It was longer than Johanna Lumley's Avengers legs and bigger than Kenny Everett's Rod Stewart bottom. 

 

And even now – in May 2022 – decades after their demise and with subsequently huge solo careers from both singer and wordsmith Morrissey and guitarist and music-man Johnny Marr – Manchester's The Smiths engender a sort of awe among fans that is rare. Which brings us to their extraordinary debut of February 1984 and its digital baby boomer. To the charming men of misery...

 

UK released March 2012 - "The Smiths" by THE SMITHS on WEA 2564660488 (Barcode 825646604883) is a straightforward Single-CD Reissue that uses the 2011 Johnny Marr approved Remaster from The Complete Smiths Box Set of 2011. It plays out as follows (45:40 minutes):

1. Reel Around The Fountain [Side 1]

2. You've Got Everything Now 

3. Miserable Lie 

4. Pretty Girls Make Graves 

5. The Hand That Rocks The Cradle 

6. This Charming Man [Side 2]

7. Still Ill

8. Hand In Glove 

9. What Difference Does It Make?

10. I Don't Owe You Anything 

11. Suffer Little Children 

Tracks 1 to 11 are their debut album "The Smiths" - released February 1984 in the UK on Rough Trade Records ROUGH 61 and April 1984 in the USA on Sire Records 1-25065. Produced by JOHN PORTER - It peaked at No. 2 in the UK (didn't chart USA). 

 

THE SMITHS was:

MORRISSEY - Voice and Words 

JOHNNY MARR - Guitars, Harmonica and Music 

ANDY ROURKE - Bass 

MIKE JOYCE - Drums 

Guests: 

PAUL CARRACK (of Ace, Mike & The Mechanics) - Piano on "Reel Around The Fountain", "You've Got Everything Now" and "I Don't Owe You Anything" 

ANNALISA JABLONSKA - Female Voice on "Pretty Girls Make Graves" and "Suffer Little Children"

 

The 8-page booklet has the lyrics, a few photos and album/reissue credits - but is disappointingly slight for such a huge band and their important starting point. The famous cover photo of Joe D'Allesandro from Andy Warhol's Flesh film of 1968 adorns the front sleeve but not much else. 

 

The CD Remaster is the version readied for the 2011 Rhino/WEA Box Set "The Complete Smiths" - original tapes used and all overseen by guitarist and band founder member Johnny Marr. Given the ever-so-slightly down-on-itself mix on LP that we became so used to - this version (when cranked) suddenly gives these intelligent slices of British Inner City Indie Rock a subtle lift - not in yer face - but enough to hear the clarity. There's always been a musicality to the Side 1 finisher "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" - but here you hear those sliding Bass notes, the acoustic strums and Marr's so pretty electric guitar - no wavering shadows looming anymore. To the album...

 

"I would go out tonight, but I haven't got a stitch to wear..." Has to be the most played of Smiths anthems - the jumped-up pantry-boy that is "This Charming Man" - not so secretly disguised longing for someone out there someone else can't have. "Still Ill" has him spitting in the eye of England - it's mine to take - but I actually prefer "Hand In Glove" even if that weedy Harmonica warbling hasn't unfortunately improved with the Remaster. Guitars ahoy for the utterly brilliant "What Difference Does It Make?" - the perfect mixture of Marr and Morrissey doing what they did best - subliminally deep statements wrapped up in an incessant beat (the Devil finding work for idle hands to do). And on it goes to the unbearably sad missing-child song "Suffer Little Children" - Manchester with a lot to answer for.

 

You could argue (big time) that this CD Reissue missed a trick by not including the Non-LP B-sides of the four British 45-singles surrounding the album - "Hand In Glove" (May 1983, Rough Trade RT 131), "This Charming Man" (October 1983, RT 136), "What Difference Does It Make?" (January 1984, RT 146) and the withdrawn "Still Ill" (February 1984, R 61 DJ, Promo Only) - "Handsome Devil (Live)", "Jeanne", "Back To The Old House" and "You've Got Everything Now" in that order. How cool would they have been as Bonuses...

 

"All men have secrets and here is mine..." - Morrissey assured us all those decades ago - a flying bullet for you. "The Smiths" was a mind-meld of an album - a whole new sound that could only have come out of Blighty. 

 

So despite let downs with the basic-bones booklet and AWOL extras (when there was room) - this CD Remaster is still a rasper. Not looking too old tonight boys...not really...