Featured Artist for December 7: The Smiths

"The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey (vocals) and Johnny Marr (guitar), the band also included Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (drums). Critics have called them the most important alternative rock band to emerge from the British independent music scene of the 1980s. The group were signed to the independent record label Rough Trade Records, for whom they released four studio albums and several compilations, as well as numerous non-LP singles. Although they had limited commercial success outside the UK while they were still together, and never released a single that charted higher than number 10 in their home country, The Smiths won a growing following, and remain cult and commercial favourites. The band broke up in 1987 amid disagreements between Morrissey and Marr and have turned down several offers to reunite since then."  Source: Wikipedia

OK, that's the official story. And I'll spare you the gory details of the post-breakup lawsuits and general nastiness amongst the band members - you can all read that on Wikipedia anyway. What makes The Smiths arguably THE GREATEST BAND of the college radio era is their uncanny knack of blending dark, poetic (but often hilarious) lyrics with brilliant, melodic pop tunes of the like not seen since The Byrds. The fact that the band has more compilations, packages and greatest hits collections than actual albums (only 4 - in four years!) speaks to their incredible influence over a short recording career.

Further adding to their fame (or perhaps their infamy) is the notion that, like many great artists, their true talent was only partially recognized during their careers. [To wit: Contemporaries R.E.M., U2 and Elvis Costello went on to enjoy substantial fame from their humble college radio beginnings.] Since their breakup, the band's legend only continues to grow, and the hopes of a reunion of messrs. Morrissey and Marr remains high drama in both the UK and around the world. But today, more than anything, we can only wonder at what might have been had their talents interwoven for even a wee bit longer. Instead, we are left with four seminal recordings [The Smiths (1984), Meat Is Murder (1985), The Queen Is Dead (1986) and Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)] as lasting reminders of a band with almost unspeakable talent, incredible creativity, and a genre-defining sound and song catalog.

So to all fans of The Smiths, enjoy this week's special feature on Up All Night. I know I will!  -DJ Mark