And finally …
At some point in July 1984, the Smiths went into the studio and totally reinvented themselves. They’d already reintroduced the guitar into British pop music and unleashed the torrent of jangly bands that followed in their wake. Now they wanted to do something completely different.
This mind-blowing track was the result. It’s totally unlike anything they’d recorded up to that point. It was initially released as a B-side, but the Radio 1 DJs Annie Nightingale, John Peel and Janice Long picked up on it a few weeks later.
I was eighteen years old, living away from home, and desperately related to Morrissey’s lyrics in this song. It would seem that I wasn’t the only one, as it became the most-requested record on late night Radio 1. It topped John Peel’s Festive 50 that year, and I think it’s by far and away the greatest record of their career. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that everything you’ve heard in this project was just leading up to this point. What a terrific note to finish on.
Morrissey – vocals; Johnny Marr – guitar; Andy Rourke – bass; Mike Joyce – drums
100 Songs in 100 Days 