The Smiths

The Smiths
Studio album by The Smiths
Released	20 February 1984
Recorded	Spring – Autumn 1983
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	45:36
Label	Rough Trade
Producer	John Porter, The Smiths
Professional reviews
Allmusic link BBC (favourable) link Blender link Q Robert Christgau (B-) link Rolling Stone link
The Smiths chronology
The Smiths (1984) Meat Is Murder (1985)
Singles from The Smiths
"Hand in Glove" Released: May 13, 1983 "This Charming Man" Released: October 31, 1983 "What Difference Does It Make?" Released: January 16, 1984

The Smiths is the debut album by English alternative rock band The Smiths, released on February 20, 1984. The album was well received by the critics as well as the public, and it established The Smiths as a prominent band in the 1980s music scene in the United Kingdom.

In 1989, the album was ranked number 22 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 481 on that magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Album history

In June 1983, The Smiths had just signed with indie label Rough Trade and were preparing to record their repertoire, which then had been 14 whole songs. Originally titled The Hand That Rocks the Cradle starting its studio session in London with producer Troy Tate. After a month, both creative forces behind the band, Morrissey and Johnny Marr were disappointed with how it turned out. Rough Trade head passed the master tapes onto John Porter who was assigned, and had a reputation as a 'clean-up-guy'. He later stated "that it would be easier, cheaper and quicker to do it again rather than try and fix it." This consequently created already mounting pressure on the band, because, the previously recorded single "Hand in Glove" had brought interest in the group. Producer John Porter also stated "We had very little money...seriously, I think we had something like £500 left."

Most of the shelved Troy Tate recordings are available only in bootleg form, although the Tate-produced versions of "Jeane" (which the Smiths did not re-record with Porter) and "Pretty Girls Make Graves" were used as B-sides on official Smiths releases.

The second and final version of the album was recorded at a faster pace between September and mid-October.

"This Charming Man" did not appear on the UK and European releases of The Smiths. It was, however, included on the American release because it hadn't been released as a single in the States, and was also on the original cassette release of the album. When WEA re-issued all Smiths albums in 1992, the American format was used.

"Reel Around the Fountain", the lead-off track the album, was pressed and due to be released as a single in the autumn of 1983, but was aborted because the tabloid The Sun accused Morrissey of condoning paedophilia. The song lifts a few lines from the film A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney.

Musically, the song "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" is indebted to Patti Smith's song "Kimberly" from the album Horses.^[1]

The song title "Pretty Girls Make Graves" is a quote from writer Jack Kerouac.

Cover

The sleeve for The Smiths was designed by Morrissey. It features American actor Joe Dallesandro in a cropped still from Andy Warhol's 1968 film Flesh.

Track listing

Personnel

• Morrissey - vocals
• Johnny Marr - guitars, harmonica
• Andy Rourke - bass guitar
• Mike Joyce - drums
• Annalisa Jablonska - vocals ("Pretty Girls Make Graves", "Suffer Little Children")
• Paul Carrack - keyboards
• John Porter – producer, remixer ("Hand in Glove")
• The Smiths – producers ("Hand in Glove")
• Phil Bush, Neill King – engineers

Notes

1. Goddard, Simon - Mozipedia, The Encyclopedia of Morrissey and The Smiths