The Smiths
16 vinyl records found
The Smiths were Manchester's defining post-punk guitar band of the 1980s, built on the distinctive songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr. Their four studio albums blended sixties rock sensibilities with post-punk intensity, rejecting the synth-pop excess of their era and achieving rare mainstream success on their own terms.
About The Smiths
Formed in 1982 when Johnny Marr sought out Steven Morrissey at his Stretford home, the pair bonded immediately over shared musical influences and literary interests. Their working method took shape quickly: Morrissey wrote lyrics while Marr composed arrangements, recording early versions on a four-track cassette recorder in Marr's attic. After cycling through initial members, the rhythm section solidified with Andy Rourke on bass and Mike Joyce on drums, giving them the lineup that would define the band's recorded output.
The Smiths signed to Rough Trade Records in 1983 and released their self-titled debut in 1984, establishing their guitar-driven approach as a direct counter to the synthesizer-dominated pop charts. Meat Is Murder topped the UK charts in 1985, while The Queen Is Dead and Strangeways, Here We Come extended their reach across Europe. Internal friction led to the band's dissolution in 1987 after a brief five-piece expansion with guitarist Craig Gannon. The subsequent decades brought legal disputes over royalties and repeated reunion refusals, cementing their status as a band that ended decisively rather than fading. The Groove Hunter currently tracks 12 different editions of their work, including pressings of The Smiths, Meat Is Murder, The Queen Is Dead, Hatful of Hollow, and their compilation Louder Than Bombs, giving collectors multiple versions to explore.
