The Smiths File Online

The Smiths File Online attempts to provide some critical perspective on a band increasingly regarded as one of the greatest of all British rock groups. Original articles and interviews, album and single reviews, live reviews, news items, interview excerpts and quotes have been combined into distinct sections or 'chapters' similar to a regular book. (Consider The Smiths File Online as a kind of 'e-book'.) The intention has been to reconstruct a more or less chronological account of the varied opinions of a wide number of rock music critics. Visitors to this site are therefore encouraged to read each 'chapter' in sequence; or, as with any regular book, the reader may wish to jump in and out of each section as they see fit. Close reading of the material, as well as cross-reading between sections, will reward the inquisitive reader and help build a cumulative picture of the Smiths' changing critical and commercial fortunes. (In keeping with this approach, editorial comment has mostly been kept to a minimum.) Additional reading in the form of supplemental material and transcripts of various audio and video interviews can be accessed through the menu. Memorabilia such as album and single covers, photos, ads, promotional posters and lyric sheets has also been included throughout the site.

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A dedicated teenage Smiths fan, I religiously cut out and kept every article and interview, review and news item from the various pop magazines and rock papers I bought and devoured on a regular basis. The best have been compiled here, along with other key articles and reviews sourced from other Smiths sites.

The first piece of rock journalism I read on The Smiths, 'Fanfare for the Common Man', appeared in the New Zealand music paper Rip It Up, the source of some of the material here. The bulk of articles and reviews is taken from British pop and rock publications New Musical Express, Melody Maker, Sounds, Time Out, Record Mirror, Jamming! and The Face. Some material from American magazines Rolling Stone and Creem has also been included. The inclusion of items from the decidedly teen-oriented publications No. 1 and Smash Hits serves to highlight the Smiths' considerable crossover appeal to a larger, pop audience than was usual for an indie band at the time.

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I was fortunate to have been a teenager while The Smiths were still together and putting out records. How thrilling it was following them in the music press! An interview with Morrissey was an event to look forward to as much as the next bracing new single or stellar LP. My hope is that The Smiths File Online will allow visitors a sense of the excitement which surrounded this remarkable band while they were still with us - these charming men, Vivid And In Their Prime!

Notes on Content and Referencing

In putting together The Smiths File Online the best possible effort was made to reference all articles, reviews and photographs. When I originally cut out and collected these items, I never imagined I would one day attempt to compile them in any way. No conscious effort was made to record the date items appeared in their respective publications, nor the names of writers. (News items were usually not credited to a particular writer, while parody pieces were probably written anonymously.) In a lot of cases, more by accident than design, this information has survived. In many other cases the information is incomplete, or is simply not available. In the case of live reviews, when the original publication date was not known I was at the very least able to source the date of the actual concert itself and record it alongside the review. With respect to articles and single and album reviews, when the original date of publication was known it was included as a reference even when the name of the writer/reviewer was not known. (When this was the case I wrote 'Unknown author' or 'Reviewer unknown'.) In all other instances the date of publication was arrived at as the result of an educated guess based on available release date information for singles and albums, or contemporaneous articles or reviews. Consequently these are somewhat vague, referring to the month and year of publication only. In the case of some of the material taken from Australasian publications (Australian Smash Hits and the New Zealand music paper Rip It Up) dates are even more vague still as it was typical for singles and albums to be released several months after the UK release. (Complicating the matter somewhat, some Smiths singles were only available in Australasia as imports!) In these instances, when even the month was difficult to ascertain, I cite time of year (eg, early 1985) only.

Cover Stars

1983:'Hand In Glove', unknown model photographed by Jim French, taken from Margaret Walters' book 'The Male Nude'; 'This Charming Man', Jean Marais, from the Cocteau film 'Orphee' (1949); 1984: 'What Difference Does It Make?', Terence Stamp, outtake from the film 'The Collector' (1965); 'The Smiths' LP, Joe Dallesandro in the film 'Flesh', directed by Paul Morrissey; 'Hand In Glove' (with Sandie Shaw), Rita Tushingham in the film 'A Taste of Honey' (1961); 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now', Viv Nicholson, from her book 'Spend, Spend, Spend; 'William, It Was Really Nothing', anonymous model from a US advertisement for A/D/S loudspeakers; 'Hatful Of Hollow' LP, unknown Cocteau model, from a French magazine, 1966; 1985:'How Soon Is Now', Sean Barrett in the film 'Dunkirk' (1958); 'Meat Is Murder' LP, a still taken from Emile de Antonio's film 'In the Year of the Pig' (1969); 'Shakespeare's Sister', Pat Phoenix, from her personal collection; 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore', unknown Italian child actor, taken from 'Film and Filmmaking' magazine; 'The Boy With The Thorn In His Side', Truman Capote, photographed by Cecil Beaton in 1949; 1986: 'Bigmouth Strikes Again', James Dean, photographed by Nelva Jean Thomas in 1948; 'The Queen Is Dead' LP, Alain Delon in the film 'I'Insoumis' (1964); 'Panic', Richard Bradford, in the 1967 ATV series 'Man in a Suitcase'; 'Ask', Yootha Joyce, on the set of the 1965 film 'Catch Us If You Can'; 1987: 'Shoplifters of the World Unite', Elvis Presley, photographed by James R. Reid; 'The World Won't Listen' LP, from the book 'Rock and Roll Times' by Jurgen Vollmer; 'Sheila Take a Bow', Candy Darling, from the film 'Women In Revolt' (1971); 'Louder Than Bombs' LP, Shelagh Delaney, the 'Saturday Evening Post'; 'Girlfriend in a Coma, Shelagh Delaney; 'Strangeways, Here We Come' LP, Richard Davalos, on location during the filming of Elia Kazan's 'East of Eden'; 'I Started Something I Couldn't Finish', Avril Angers in the film 'The Family Way' (1966); 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me', Billy Fury; 1988: 'Rank' LP (Live), Alexandra Bastedo, taken from the book 'Birds of Britain', photographed by John d' Green.

Home page photograph of the Smiths by Paul Slattery, 1983. Group photos (top & bottom) by Paul Slattery. Group photo (above) by Joelle Depont. All photographs reproduced WITHOUT PERMISSION for non-profit use only.

All material included at The Smiths File Online has been reproduced without permission

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Thanks

A special thanks to my dear friend Nicholas Wright for his encouragement and advice

And thanks to Matthew Duffy for the special photographic tour of Morrissey's Manchester

Many thanks to Keiko Kondo for her donation of rare Smiths interview discs, photos, interviews and postcards (not to mention the odd autographed Morrissey t-shirt!) to the Smiths File Online archives. Your kind generosity will not be forgotten

Thanks also to Warren King (boffin extraordinaire, butt-kicker), Henri Shustak (good vibes, backup), Michael Fantham (occasional technical advice, partner in crime), Donna Robertson (peepholist, the odd contribution), Ryan Skelton (a triumph, I think), Mark Catley (Blessed DJ), and the guy who runs the secondhand book store in magic Sydenham - the place where Smiths vinyl and musty-smelling old copies of NME seem to flow like water

And a special thanks to Ms Sandie Shaw for being such a good sport

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Cheers to Pete & Emma Ogden (Mancunians)

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A big 'hi' to Josh Harrison (handsome devil)

And a special 'hi' to the Tokyo Rockabilly Club (Jamie, David, Kyle, Philip and 'Vosk')

This site is dedicated to the memory of my late father Norman Collins. Twist and shout indeed

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