Live: Cemetry Gates

The Smiths: Cemetry Gates

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On account of me being a huge idiot I never saw The Smiths in concert even though I had two different opportunities to do so.

I can't tell you how much I regret missing those chances to see them.

This track is from a Los Angeles concert in the summer of 1986, right at the height of their powers. This is one of the two crowds that I could have and should have been in.

Clothes: Hand In Glove

The Smiths Hand In Glove

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From their outstanding debut album, Hand In Glove is a strange and dysfunctional love song. Morrissey sounds deeply smitten, so smitten in fact that the sun shines out of his behind; however, he knows his luck too well and believes that he'll probably never see the object of his love again.

1984: Girl Afraid

The Smiths: Girl Afraid

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This is my favorite song by The Smiths. Unfortunately it's buried deep in the band’s catalog and has received little acclaim. In 1984, it appeared on the British compilation Hatful Of Hollow, but was never pushed as a single and it’s not a tune you ever hear these days.

The main thing I love about Girl Afraid is Johnny Marr’s jangly guitar. From the twangy introduction right on through the entire song, Marr’s anxiously flitting riff drives the tune like few other guitar-based pop songs. His playing is the perfect compliment to Morrissey’s simple lyrics about two nervous teens afraid to make a connection.

Like BWR said already, the Smith's music epitomizes the sound of 1984.

1984: What Difference Does It Make

The Smiths: What Difference Does It Make

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At some point in the winter of 1984 I was at a friend's house listening to KFSR, the Fresno, California independent radio station, when all of a sudden I heard something that I had never heard before. It was an alienated, angst-ridden, almost-moaning, complaint of a croon. I hadn't paid enough attention to catch who it was that I was listening to so I called the DJ and asked. "It's The Smiths", he said. "We just got it a few weeks ago".

The next day, a different friend and I ditched school (which is something I do not condone, for all of you young readers out there) to stop by Tower Records and pick up The Smiths' eponymous debut album.

This band, with only a handful of others, epitomizes the sound of 1984 for me.