GREAT OPENING TRACKS ON LPs (Parts 6, 7, 8 and 9)
This occasional series aims to look at some of the greatest opening songs on LPs that were never released as singles, and therefore perhaps are not so well known.
That however, is not really the case with the four truly exceptional works of art coming your way today, as all of them are as well-known, if not more so, than most of their singles.
I really don't think I need say too much more, except that each of these songs, and indeed the LPs from which they are taken, bring back so many different memories for me. They make me think of people, places and situations that helped to shape my whole outlook on life. Many of those memories make me smile, while others make me cringe. And yes, there are even some memories which, more than 20 years on, fill me with sadness.
mp3 : The Smiths - Reel Around The Fountain (from the LP The Smiths)
mp3 : The Smiths - The Headmaster Ritual (from the LP Meat Is Murder)
mp3 : The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead (from the LP The Queen Is Dead)
mp3 : The Smiths - A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours (from the LP Strangeways, Here We Come)
It was talking to some 20-somethings one night last year in Toronto that made me realise just how lucky I was to be around when The Smiths were in full flow. They were an astonishing phenomena, whether live on stage, on your TV screen, in the pages of your magazines or newspapers, but especially from the speakers of your stereo.
Oh and I always wanted to be Johnny Marr rather than Morrissey. What about the rest of you???
13 comments:
Thanks for the Smiths! And no I *always* wanted to be Morissey, even tho I was/am a girl, lol! His sex appeal was/is ungodly! But your question and their music brightened my morning :) ty!
a tart
I always wanted to be Jim Reid
Billisdead
I always wanted to be Mike Joyce.
Not really.
nice site! some really cool music...
we just started a members only MP3 blog for rare vinyl (mainly funk and jazz stuff), drop us an email for an invite code. myrarevinyl at gmail dot com...
:)
Johnny Marr's talent is undeniable, but the way he left The Smiths was not so admirable. I'm also not too keen on the choices he's been making lately as a guitarist-for-hire in bands far beneath him (ie: Modest Mouse, The Cribs, etc.). And in the end, I think I would have rather been the wordsmith that Morrissey was than the guitar genius Marr was.
Of course The Smiths were that alchemy between Marr and Morrissey, and couldn't have happened without either of them, and neither have topped it on their own. I do envy you for being around when they still existed. I often wonder if any of the current bands that I'm into now and able to see live will ever be as iconic to me as bands/artists from the past.
I didn't really want to be Johnny Marr but he was/is without a doubt my favorite part of The Smiths. Not that I don't admire and respect Morrissey, but that guitar...
I tried to send you an email, VV, not sure if it got stuck in the spam folder...
Hi Greer,
It hasnt arrived yet...but it could be snail mail this evening....
The Smiths were one of the best bands for opening a record. It's amazing how all three of these songs set the tone for rest of the record that followed. Could you imagine The Queen is Dead anywehre else but opening a record.
Also, I would probably lean in the Marr camp of the debate. But I agree that, with exception of the first ELECTRONIC album, he has degraded himself by traveling from band to band.
You know, I understand your point but I think it's cool that he still wants to play live and work with different people.
Well,
I always wanted to be Sharleen Spiteri out of Texas, if only to be able to stand in front of the mirror and touch my wonderful body and play around with it ... oh boy!
Dirk....you've a filthy mind. If you had said Clare Grogan, I'd have understood....
Re Johnny Marr and his guitar for hire approach, I think folk get het-up on this mainly as he did seem to float around a lot straight after he left The Smiths.
But its a fact that he was a member of The The longer than he was in The Smiths, and Electronic also had a longer shelf-life than The Smiths.
Johnny was still a very young man when he walked out on Morrissey and co, and if it is true that he was having to cope with being far more than just the guitarist and tunesmith (eg, more or less the business manager), as well as having a deteroriating relationship with Morrissey (as evidenced by some of the appalling b-sides that were insisted upon at the end of the band's recording career), well I'm not going to say he did anything wrong.
And what else can he do nowadays?? The stuff with The Healers on which he sings lead vocals is OK but would be mostly ignored and probably derided if it was someone else but him. So he has to find other bands to play with....yes, they might be, in the words of anglopunk, 'beneath him', but is there a really decent band out there willing to ask him to join as inevitably, they would be outshone.
PS to davy H. There's many of us wouldnt mind having Mike Joyce's bank account....
I actually didn't like The Smiths when they first came along. Gawd knows what was wrong with me. But then when I got to about 15 I suddenly "got" them.
All these years later though I can't imagine how great it must be for youngsters discovering this band for the first time now. I'm quite jealous actually!
Looks like you've got the daily trivia quiz in the bag today, by the way, JC!
Johnny Marr is a wonderful composer and guitar player, and producer, and all round creative whirlwind who has never stayed still artistically since walking away from the black hole of Morrissey's ego...
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