This is why The Smiths are the best band ever

Morrissey had always been there or thereabouts, on the fringes of what was going on, but he didn't have that final ingrediant to take him that next level up. Until Johnny came along and took him there. YES they did it together, but on his own, he would never have made it past the front door.

Jukebox Jury
Hit the nail on the head :)
 
The Smiths are the best band ever because of Morrissey and Marr...

Morrissey alone is even better...

Mike and Andy, well...:sick:
 
The Smiths are the best band ever because of Morrissey and Marr...

Morrissey alone is even better...

Mike and Andy, well...:sick:

I don't understand why there's so much contempt for Rourke. Rourke played an important part in the success of a great band. Yet he spent much of the 90s living not-very-well and even signing on the dole for a period.

Despite that, he's been generally dignified. I'm disappointed at Morrissey's latest outburst about Rourke. Who cares if he wasn't fired by the method of a postcard under a windscreen wiper? It's a fine anecdote.
 
I don't understand why there's so much contempt for Rourke. Rourke played an important part in the success of a great band. Yet he spent much of the 90s living not-very-well and even signing on the dole for a period.

Despite that, he's been generally dignified. I'm disappointed at Morrissey's latest outburst about Rourke. Who cares if he wasn't fired by the method of a postcard under a windscreen wiper? It's a fine anecdote.

Yes..I agree.. Rourke is good bassist and good person indeed..
Now he's living very well but he had bad times.
 
I don't understand why there's so much contempt for Rourke. Rourke played an important part in the success of a great band. Yet he spent much of the 90s living not-very-well and even signing on the dole for a period.

Despite that, he's been generally dignified. I'm disappointed at Morrissey's latest outburst about Rourke. Who cares if he wasn't fired by the method of a postcard under a windscreen wiper? It's a fine anecdote.

I think the postcard/windscreen wiper story is brilliant. I'm disappointed that it's supposedly not true.
 
I think the postcard/windscreen wiper story is brilliant. I'm disappointed that it's supposedly not true.

Besides, Morrissey revealed on this very site the make and model of Rourke's then car and the startling fact it only had one wiper. Doesn't this suggest the kind of carnal knowledge one would expect of a man who placed a postcard under the wiper?
 
Besides, Morrissey revealed on this very site the make and model of Rourke's then car and the startling fact it only had one wiper. Doesn't this suggest the kind of carnal knowledge one would expect of a man who placed a postcard under the wiper?

Yes, Poirot...or, maybe Rourke gave Morrissey a lift to the blouse shop once or twice. Hmmmm.
 
Yes, Poirot...or, maybe Rourke gave Morrissey a lift to the blouse shop once or twice. Hmmmm.

Think about it Watson, old bean. If indeed Morrissey did potter off to the blouse shop in the Austin Allegro with Andrew Rourke, the wipers would have been the very last thing on his mind. He wouldn't have noticed how many of them the car had. Unless, of course, he was already planning.

Do you see how the mind of a brilliant detective works, old boy?
 
Think about it Watson, old bean. If indeed Morrissey did potter off to the blouse shop in the Austin Allegro with Andrew Rourke, the wipers would have been the very last thing on his mind. He wouldn't have noticed how many of them the car had. Unless, of course, he was already planning.

Do you see how the mind of a brilliant detective works, old boy?

There is really nothing you cannot turn your hand to, is there? A detective now too. Is there no end to your talents old boy?
What if it was raining heavily on that last trip to the blouse shop? And Morrissey was distressed as he couldn't gaze out upon the iron bridge (where he'd kissed), because young Rourke's wiper was missing on the passenger side? (Which, if I'm not very much mistaken, is where the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat). Then he'd have noticed, wouldn't he?
 
There is really nothing you cannot turn your hand to, is there? A detective now too. Is there no end to your talents old boy?
What if it was raining heavily on that last trip to the blouse shop? And Morrissey was distressed as he couldn't gaze out upon the iron bridge (where he'd kissed), because young Rourke's wiper was missing on the passenger side? (Which, if I'm not very much mistaken, is where the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat). Then he'd have noticed, wouldn't he?

One minor oversight on your part, Watson, old dear. Why would a man famous for his quiff go shopping when it was raining? Have you ever seen a picture of a wet Morrissey? No. That's because none exist. He rarely left his house during the Smiths period unless it was work-related. And on occasions he did leave, the weather was splendid and Andrew Rourke was nowhere to be seen ;)
 
And on occasions he did leave, the weather was splendid and Andrew Rourke was nowhere to be seen ;)

How do you know? Were you there?
Were you living in Morrissey's bins and collecting his half-eaten biscuits when nobody was looking? Perhaps he had industrial strength hairspray? Perhaps he sat in the car while Rourke went into the blouse shop with Mozza's list of 'Blouses what I want'?
 
How do you know? Were you there?
Were you living in Morrissey's bins and collecting his half-eaten biscuits when nobody was looking? Perhaps he had industrial strength hairspray? Perhaps he sat in the car while Rourke went into the blouse shop with Mozza's list of 'Blouses what I want'?

Oh dear, do I know you in real life? I smirked and rolled my eyes at the 'blouses what I want' comment. V. good.
 
Who cares if he wasn't fired by the method of a postcard under a windscreen wiper? It's a fine anecdote.

In other words: "So what if it's not true? It's *interesting.*" :lbf:

Sherlock Holmes, might you point your invaluable skills towards determining whether anyone actually posted a note onto young master Rourke's windscreen, and if not Moz, whom might have the unbridled temerity to do such a dastardly deed?
 
Oh dear, do I know you in real life? I smirked and rolled my eyes at the 'blouses what I want' comment. V. good.

There's no need to be coy my dear. We have already established who we are in 'real life', haven't we? Now stop pretending, there's a good girl.
 
From an interview with Johnny:

The Smiths had to break up because the pressure on me was intolerable.

By the time of our third album, The Queen Is Dead, my drinking had spiralled out of control and it was making me seriously ill. Basically I was using alcohol to lessen the unbearable strain I was under. Not only was I expected to keep knocking out hit single after hit single; I was effectively managing the band. Because the Smiths were run as a DIY enterprise, we never had proper management, so that side of things was left to me. As we got more and more successful, I had to take on more and more of the business side of things. The situation became absurd. During the recording of The Queen Is Dead, I was in the studio with Andy Rourke. We were on a deadline, under a lot of pressure to get his bass part right on There Is A Light That Never Goes Out. The phone rang and it was a guy from the record label saying that Salford Van Hire had been on to him and they were going to press charges because one of the roadies had brought the van back late from a previous session and it was scratched. The Smiths were one of the biggest bands in the world at this point, but the fact that a van-hire company were threatening to sue us for £62 took over everything. It was a case of, 'Stop everything you're doing - this is an emergency and needs to be attended to.' Looking back, I was having to take care of that side of the group far too much and something had to give.
 
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