The Smiths

Johnny Marr and Stephen Morrissey (the 80s equivalent of John Lennon and Paul McCartney) were the genius behind The Smiths' influential brand of romanticized kitchen sink fatalism which saw their albums and singles become the preferred soundtrack for a generation of undergraduates and their tentative and fumbling sexual encounters throughout the 80s. 

The band formed in 1982 when Morrissey (the ex-president of the UK New York Dolls fan club, and author of the book James Dean Isn't Dead) teamed up with guitarist Marr, a veteran of several Manchester bands. They played their first show at a local club called The Ritz. Their self-titled debut album in 1984 struck a chord with a generation of alienated and disaffected youth and went to Number 2 in the UK. Later that year, Sixties superstar Sandie Shaw was coaxed out of retirement by her biggest fan, Morrissey, and backed by The Smiths she reached Number 27 in the UK with her version of Hand In Glove.

The Smiths also achieved their first UK Top 10 hit in 1984 with the single Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now , with lyrics which were the very essence of Morrissey miserablism. A renowned celibate, Morrissey had a morbid dread of sex (Pretty Girls Make Graves), and an obsession with child killers (Suffer Little Children). 1985 saw the Meat Is Murder album enter the UK chart at Number 1. The album did not fare so well in the red meat-loving USA where the album peaked at Number 110.

Many pop records have attempted to address what the point of England is, but on The Queen Is Dead (1986), The Smiths did it with delicious, melancholy, barbed humor and righteous fury. Death was all around on this album, but Johnny Marr's golden melodies and Morrissey's sarcastic, insightful lyrics seduced the listener into enjoying the spiritual bankruptcy - with lyrical nods to Billy Liar, Victoria Wood, saucy seaside postcards, Carry On films, music hall, The Daily Mail, George Formby, Keats, Yeats, Oscar Wilde and Shakespeare. The record release was delayed for eight months by management, line-up and record company difficulties.

After telling the NME "whoever says that The Smiths have split shall be severely spanked by me with a wet plimsoll" after reports of battles with Johnny Marr, Morrissey announced in 1987 that the band had indeed split up. The singer signed a solo deal with EMI while Marr hooked up with The Pretenders.

The Smiths' final studio album, Strangeways Here We Come, went to Number 2 in the UK.