Favourite Smiths song and album

[rogerzilla]

Only angst-ridden 80s throwbacks need contribute.

I've got to go for "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" from "The Queen Is Dead", although I prefer "Hatful Of Hollow" as an album - it's not over-produced like some of the same songs on "The Smiths".

[Really Ancien]

I only really like 'How soon is now?' for its doppler like sounds and its suitability as a backing track. <a href="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1431701&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;fullscreen=1&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=01AAEA" target="_blank">http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1431701&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;fullscreen=1&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=01AAEA</a>

Damon.

[Thor]

Track - This Charming Man, which first brought them to my attention. Great, intricate guitar work.

Album - Meat Is Murder.

I don't go for all that Morrissey angst - I just liked some of the music 

[MSeries]

The Smiths weren't angst enough for me in the 80s, but I appreciated them in the 90s once I'd started to mellow after my world tour. Never listened to a Smiths album except a 'best of/singles' one. Favourite track, This Charming Man.

[Cyclops]

"The Boy With A Thorn In His Side" - favourite song.

The album was a trickier choice to make. I ignored the various compilations and rehashes that came out and after much deliberation opted for 'The Queen is Dead'.

In fact I'm going to make a cup of tea and listen to it now

[Baggy]

Oooh, it has to be "Ask", closely followed by "I Won't Share You".

"There is a Light..." is also another favourite.

[Baggy]

God, I just can't make my mind up.

"You Just Haven't Earned it Yet" is another favourite...

Having thought on, the album choice is "The World Won't Listen", even though it's a compilation...

[Nuncio]

Another vote for 'There is a light..'  followed by 'This charming man'.  That intro gets me every time.

[jellied]

Frankley Mr Shankley.....or How Soon is Now? or Panic.....or or or or.....

Listening to XFM a few nights ago - i don't often, i don't really get it. But the DJ [are they still called that?], played "Every day is like Sunday" which sent  a shiver through my spine, but then ruined the mood by saying it was her first ever indie CD she bought. suddenly i felt 90 years old.

[Noodley]

Oooh, it has to be "Ask"

That would be the correct answer 

Album - Meat is Murder.

[citoyen]

Another vote for 'There is a light..'  followed by 'This charming man'.  That intro gets me every time.

Whenever I hear This Charming Man, I think that's my favourite. Then I hear There Is  A Light and I change my mind... it's almost certainly between those two, but I can't choose.

What Difference Does It Make? also has strong personal resonances for me - it was 1991 and I was leaving my girlfriend's home having just acrimoniously split up with her. I put my walkman on and that was the song that came on...

Don't know if it's possible to choose between the albums - each has its merits. Headmaster Ritual is possibly the best opening track of any album ever, with one of the best opening lines of any album ever, but otherwise Meat Is Murder is my least favourite of the first three albums. I'd probably go for Queen Is Dead. Or The Smiths...

d.

[Andrew Br]

Best song has got to be "Bigmouth Strikes Again".

"And the flames rose to her Roman nose and her hearing aid started to melt" !
Brilliant.
Add the Marr guitar part and it's sublime.

Can't think of the best album but leaning towards "The Queen is Dead".

Saw them on the "Meat is Murder" tour in Bradford. Morrissey went off when the crowd started spitting. He came back on and it was excellent.
I'm glad I saw them, but it doesn't make my "top 5 gigs ever".
New thread title ?

[Hummers]

Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
How Soon is Now
This Charming Man
Hang the DJ

Not so much miserable as well observed if a bit sneery sometimes.

Great stuff.

H

[Noodley]

That would be the correct answer 

Album - Meat is Murder.

OK, I have now changed my mind.

There is no need to identify "favourite"....

[Woofage]

Reel Around the Fountain
This Night has Opened My Eyes
Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want

...in fact pretty much all of Hatful of Hollow

and:
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
There is a Light...

[Captain Zep]

Cemetery Gates
The Queen is Dead

I'm a little younger than some of you AhemNoodleyAhem.  I was the least cool boy in school  and  liked The Smiths and Led Zeppelin when everybody else wouldn't listen to anything except dance shite 

RJMcB

[Noodley]

I was the least cool boy in school 

So you claim.    

Anyway, as a Dundee lad I thought you'd be more inclined towards:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/8aNIv7h2s5g&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/8aNIv7h2s5g&rel=1</a>

Although there is a Smiths connection there as well...

[Captain Zep]

I was the least cool boy in school 

So you claim.    

Anyway, as a Dundee lad I thought you'd be more inclined towards:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/8aNIv7h2s5g&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/8aNIv7h2s5g&rel=1</a>

Although there is a Smiths connection there as well...

TBH I hadn't even heard of The Associates until I was at university and a friend of mine told me that Billy McKenzie had been her dad's best man.  Billy who?

[Noodley]

TBH I hadn't even heard of The Associates until I was at university and a friend of mine told me that Billy McKenzie had been her dad's best man.  Billy who?

That must be a lie.  Unless you are only 12 (which I know is not true). 

I used to drink with him (I was going out with a lovely young lady who sang with him) when I was at Uni.   

[Rhys W]

Don't make me choose!

The Queen Is Dead is obviously the masterpiece, and This Charming Man probably the most obvious single, what with that never-bettered opening riff.

The Smiths - I like because of it's frankness.
Hatful of Hollow - my first introduction to the band, such a varied collection.
Meat Is Murder - when Morrissey started getting really clever, but marred by horrible piezo-pickup DI'd guitar sounds.
The Queen Is Dead - see above.
Rank - a good attempt to capture the live experience.
Louder Than Bombs - because, 15 years later, I finally get round to reading the book that inspired the title. A must for any Smiths fan, not just those enduring a passionate transatlantic love affair.
Strangeways Here We Come - Johnny Marr's favourite album apparently...

[Noodley]

Billy who?

So what is the Smiths connection?

[Cyclops]

So what is the Smiths connection?

"William It Was Really Nothing" has wrongly been thought to be a tribute song to Billy McKenzie. The Associates's "Stephen, You're Really Something" was thought to confirm this except Alan Rankine wrote it.

[Woofage]

I saw The Smiths get canned off the stage at Glastonbury in 1984. Anyone else there?

[arry_b]

All of the above , plus "Sweet and Tender Hooligan".

[D0m1n1c Burford]

How Soon is Now
This Charming Man
Frankly, Mr Shankly

Album - Meat is Murder