This performance is from a British music show called "Top of the Pops ." The show was a British version of "American Bandstand As to the band's reputation most considered them an alt rock band You make like New Order and Eraser
No. Us from the 80s are still obsessed with the music we were treated with. It is who we are. It's the most eclectic decade for music. Bands had finally learned how to take advantage of the synthesiser. So many different, and great sounds were recorded in the 80s.
The Smiths are incredible! Not many compare to Morrissey. The Smiths were the middle finger to the establishment band. TOP OF THE POPS is a British music show that showcased a lot of bands back in the day. The Smiths were negative and dark. They sang about the shit we deal with, the trouble we contend with and asks questions about the human experience.
I saw the Smiths in 1985 at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, where I'm from. To be clear, their outlook is most decidedly Mancunian. To make beauty of out ugliness, light out of darkness. Theirs is a music, like so many other Manchester bands, designed to raise you up with music and bring you down to earth with lyrics. See New Order, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, James and Inspiral Carpets.
My first serious girlfriend introduced me to The Smiths in 1989. A couple years after they disbanded. I still listen to them often and always think of her.
A little more about the Smiths: They had no radio airplay where I live. They were kind of a campus rock band and a friend of mine loaned me "The Queen is Dead" so it was about 86 or 87 when I first heard them. Initially, I was put off by the whiny, self-absorbed, teen angst-y tone of the lyrics but the melodies were fabulous and I got used to the lyrics. Morrisey got a lot of inspiration from Enlish 19th century literature, and he was not afraid to liit entire Iines from novels he was reading. He was so good at the that there are passages from his songs that make me breathless. But he's a jerk in person and old age is makng him absolute,y intolerable. Johnny Marr is a genius guitarist and I love the tone of the Rickenbacker guitar that he frequently used. The layered introduction to "How Soon is Now" is one of the most recognizable riffs from the 80s
Yep. The Smiths ARE about the negative. It’s the ying balancing the yang in the pop world… there wasn’t many bands like that and that’s why they were so popular. I love them - always full of dark humour and angst poetry
I don't think that there are any happy Smiths songs except maybe Cemetery Gates. In my small town, I never heard of them in the 80s until I saw Pretty in Pink. They were never on the radio so if you knew of them, you heard them through friends so they had some underground cred
They were alternative i guess. I graduated in 1987, the smiths were a huge part of my life then, being gay i was drawn to their mudic. I have seen Morrissey solo live,and he was awesome
Morrissey wore the cheapest clothes and charity glasses. No one made choices for him, he was notoriously obstinate. He did the lyrics and Johnny Marr, who was a great song writer did the (amazing) music. They didn't work together because their personalities were like oil and water.
Great reaction! There is a ot of humor and sarcasm in Morrissey's lyrics, along with literary references, so many of the things he sings are double-edged. Some lyrics are very bleak, but often there is a sarcastic bend to them. As far as uplifting, well..., two songs that are meant as mostly pure humor are 'Frankly, Mr. Shankly' and 'Vicar in a Tutu'. There are some points being made in them, but mostly Morrissey is taking the piss, as they say.
Glad to see you young'uns appreciate the best of the 80s and 90s. Yep, there was Top of the Pops in the UK. This was the appeal of the music is that it wasn't uplifting. They were super melanchiolic and said things in their lyrics that were what people truly felr. It wasn't until this modern era that everything is framed in a positive and uplifting way. The juxtaposition of the lyrics and the tone of the music was the whole point. Its pushing against the bubble gum pop msic. That was new wave ir alternative rock music as it was called
I saw The Smiths twice in the early days. It was a mosh pit and there would be a scrap to get a piece of Morrisey's shirt which he'd chucked into the crowd at the end. Listen to Oscillate Wildly.
I've been a Smiths fan since 1983. You have to understand that when the Smiths came out, there was NOTHING like them. They were commenting on a down side to life that wasn't allowed in pop music in those days. Pop stations were playing Dancing on The Ceiling and Oh Mickey-- those sort of empty-headed songs which "said nothing to me about my life," to quote Morrissey. If you want a happy Smiths song, try This Charming Man. I like you kids, by the way
The skaters and proto-goths loved them. The jocks and burnouts called them gay. The geeks and dweebs never heard of them. I ran with all of those cliques.
OTOTP was a British show.... all groups lip-synched.. there was no live music allowed. It went down the top 40 song in Britain each week, and had a handful of "live" acts performed their songs, lip-synching to their recorded song. Morrissey loathed that requirement but showed up and took advantage of the publicity on national BBC TV. Morrissey usually had flowers in his shirt pocket---early on they were The Smith's "thing" and crowds would come and throw flowers at him. The Smiths were only together a few years, from 1970-1985. They were gone by 1986 and Morrissey went on to his own solo career which took off and continues today. The Smiths' lead guitarist, Johnny Marr, is considered one of the best guitarists in rock history. Morrissey had a deep reservoir of angst on various topics (with an specially unhappy childhood), which were the foundation of his laments or sad odes to what he lacked in life (a gay man who had difficulty finding love). He perhaps was the first Goth--lyrically, anyway, and The Cure (with Robert Smith) took that mantle of the slow-lamentable Goth rockers, with the teased hair and eye shadow and lipstick--dressed in black.
The Smiths were edgy and different...not mainstream, and i mean that in a good way. If you walked into an alt/new wave bar, you would expect to hear some smiths...or really late at night in a regular bar.
In the 80s only kids who cared about music liked The Smiths. Everyone else was listening to shitty hair metal and bad American new wave and middle of the road rock.
You must understand that The Smiths and other British groups of the 80s had zero impact on American mainstream Radio. In the 1980s, American radio was heavy rock, classic rock, R&B, etc. (no Metal yet). You only heard The Smiths (and The Cure, Joy Division/New Order, Elvis Costello, etc) on College Radio and on an MTV Show called "120 Minutes" which aired late Saturday nights a 12AM for 2 hours. American Radio was dominated by Southern Rock,, Molly Hatchet, The Eagles, The Stones, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, etc. In America, no one even heard of The Smiths except for us--the denizons of independent College Radio. (The Smiths were big in England, but not America, and sill aren't big here). History has been re-written, as if The Smiths (and Morrsey) were played on mainstream commercial radio. They weren't. Ever.
Yes Yes Yes Soo Sorry U TOTALLY Miss Out Boys... Mid 70s 80 Totally OFF TOTALLY Chart All Most Everyday LMAO😅😂😜 The music was TOTALLY REAL whatever gender are a musically like ROCK, metal blues rock, blues Ect. It was all real all live music every instrument was vocals were live it was totally real at all times didn't have the crazy cell phones you're definitely doing something every single freaking day you are never bored concerts Keg Parties it was ALL REAL ALL happening all fun LOL.. You guys got the wrong song for The Smiths song the good songs "How Soon Is Now" Is the Smiths Song!! Be blessed PEACE ✌
Please react on bands like THE SWEET (Ballroom Blitz, Teenage Rampage, Fox on the Run, Action, Fever of love ...just 70s), all QUEEN-stuff, IRON MAIDEN (The number of the beast, Run to the hills), Judas Priest (Breaking the Law, Turbo Lover, ...) new bands like THE STRUTS, GHOST, GRETA VAN FLEET and YUNGBLUD. Thank you both. ❤
The north of England loved The Smiths. The south hated them. There's an adage about north and south England. The north is, deep and dark and true. The south is fickle and fair and false. The Smiths are very much northern in their sound and outlook. Most of the best, serious musician type bands are from the north. The south is much more about what's commercial. North, art for arts sake. South, money for gods sake. Credibility over cash.
This performance is from a British music show called "Top of the Pops ." The show was a British version of "American Bandstand As to the band's reputation most considered them an alt rock band You make like New Order and Eraser
No. Us from the 80s are still obsessed with the music we were treated with. It is who we are. It's the most eclectic decade for music. Bands had finally learned how to take advantage of the synthesiser. So many different, and great sounds were recorded in the 80s.
Suedehead is my favorite uplifting track
Every note of every song evokes a feeling/memory from a day gone by.
The Smiths are incredible! Not many compare to Morrissey. The Smiths were the middle finger to the establishment band. TOP OF THE POPS is a British music show that showcased a lot of bands back in the day. The Smiths were negative and dark. They sang about the shit we deal with, the trouble we contend with and asks questions about the human experience.
One of the best bands of all time
The smiths was popular even in the 90s. Their songs in the 80s continued to be popular and well listened to! 🎶
I saw the Smiths in 1985 at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, where I'm from. To be clear, their outlook is most decidedly Mancunian. To make beauty of out ugliness, light out of darkness. Theirs is a music, like so many other Manchester bands, designed to raise you up with music and bring you down to earth with lyrics. See New Order, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, James and Inspiral Carpets.
My first serious girlfriend introduced me to The Smiths in 1989. A couple years after they disbanded. I still listen to them often and always think of her.
A little more about the Smiths:
They had no radio airplay where I live. They were kind of a campus rock band and a friend of mine loaned me "The Queen is Dead" so it was about 86 or 87 when I first heard them. Initially, I was put off by the whiny, self-absorbed, teen angst-y tone of the lyrics but the melodies were fabulous and I got used to the lyrics. Morrisey got a lot of inspiration from Enlish 19th century literature, and he was not afraid to liit entire Iines from novels he was reading. He was so good at the that there are passages from his songs that make me breathless. But he's a jerk in person and old age is makng him absolute,y intolerable. Johnny Marr is a genius guitarist and I love the tone of the Rickenbacker guitar that he frequently used. The layered introduction to "How Soon is Now" is one of the most recognizable riffs from the 80s
100% right
Yep. The Smiths ARE about the negative. It’s the ying balancing the yang in the pop world… there wasn’t many bands like that and that’s why they were so popular. I love them - always full of dark humour and angst poetry
I can remember seeing this TV broadcast back in 85.
Sheila Take a Bow is the most upbeat Smiths song I can think of
I don't think that there are any happy Smiths songs except maybe Cemetery Gates. In my small town, I never heard of them in the 80s until I saw Pretty in Pink. They were never on the radio so if you knew of them, you heard them through friends so they had some underground cred
They were alternative i guess. I graduated in 1987, the smiths were a huge part of my life then, being gay i was drawn to their mudic. I have seen Morrissey solo live,and he was awesome
Top of the Pops was a show on BBC in the 1970s-early 2000s
Why have I never heard this?? It’s so good
They were the cool alternative crowd band in the 80s, definitely not mainstream like Duran or Madonna. A band for musos or even some goths.
Morrissey wore the cheapest clothes and charity glasses. No one made choices for him, he was notoriously obstinate. He did the lyrics and Johnny Marr, who was a great song writer did the (amazing) music. They didn't work together because their personalities were like oil and water.
Great reaction! There is a ot of humor and sarcasm in Morrissey's lyrics, along with literary references, so many of the things he sings are double-edged. Some lyrics are very bleak, but often there is a sarcastic bend to them. As far as uplifting, well..., two songs that are meant as mostly pure humor are 'Frankly, Mr. Shankly' and 'Vicar in a Tutu'. There are some points being made in them, but mostly Morrissey is taking the piss, as they say.
Glad to see you young'uns appreciate the best of the 80s and 90s.
Yep, there was Top of the Pops in the UK.
This was the appeal of the music is that it wasn't uplifting. They were super melanchiolic and said things in their lyrics that were what people truly felr. It wasn't until this modern era that everything is framed in a positive and uplifting way.
The juxtaposition of the lyrics and the tone of the music was the whole point. Its pushing against the bubble gum pop msic. That was new wave ir alternative rock music as it was called
I saw The Smiths twice in the early days. It was a mosh pit and there would be a scrap to get a piece of Morrisey's shirt which he'd chucked into the crowd at the end. Listen to Oscillate Wildly.
The Smiths in the early 80's were considered indie and in the later 80's seen as iconic.
The Smiths had nu uplift songs 😂
I've been a Smiths fan since 1983. You have to understand that when the Smiths came out, there was NOTHING like them. They were commenting on a down side to life that wasn't allowed in pop music in those days. Pop stations were playing Dancing on The Ceiling and Oh Mickey-- those sort of empty-headed songs which "said nothing to me about my life," to quote Morrissey. If you want a happy Smiths song, try This Charming Man. I like you kids, by the way
GREAT SONG
Most Morrissey concerts are full of people 50 ish, we never stopped loving the smiths or Morrissey 🙏🐊❤️🦉👍
Fire!!!
So good!
I really hope you vibe with the Smiths! NO ONE LIKE THEM, EVER! Almost every Alt band today was influenced by the Smiths! Keep this sound alive.
The skaters and proto-goths loved them.
The jocks and burnouts called them gay.
The geeks and dweebs never heard of them.
I ran with all of those cliques.
We are the same as you except you have phones we had music music music
Love your reactions
If anyone likes the Smiths, I recommend buying Louder than Bombs... An amazing greatest hits 🎯
OTOTP was a British show.... all groups lip-synched.. there was no live music allowed. It went down the top 40 song in Britain each week, and had a handful of "live" acts performed their songs, lip-synching to their recorded song. Morrissey loathed that requirement but showed up and took advantage of the publicity on national BBC TV.
Morrissey usually had flowers in his shirt pocket---early on they were The Smith's "thing" and crowds would come and throw flowers at him. The Smiths were only together a few years, from 1970-1985. They were gone by 1986 and Morrissey went on to his own solo career which took off and continues today. The Smiths' lead guitarist, Johnny Marr, is considered one of the best guitarists in rock history.
Morrissey had a deep reservoir of angst on various topics (with an specially unhappy childhood), which were the foundation of his laments or sad odes to what he lacked in life (a gay man who had difficulty finding love). He perhaps was the first Goth--lyrically, anyway, and The Cure (with Robert Smith) took that mantle of the slow-lamentable Goth rockers, with the teased hair and eye shadow and lipstick--dressed in black.
I don't think I remember The Smiths.
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The Smiths were edgy and different...not mainstream, and i mean that in a good way. If you walked into an alt/new wave bar, you would expect to hear some smiths...or really late at night in a regular bar.
In the 80s only kids who cared about music liked The Smiths. Everyone else was listening to shitty hair metal and bad American new wave and middle of the road rock.
Uplifting and The Smiths 🤔 not many! How about ‘ask’ or ‘the boy with the thorn in his side’
You must understand that The Smiths and other British groups of the 80s had zero impact on American mainstream Radio. In the 1980s, American radio was heavy rock, classic rock, R&B, etc. (no Metal yet). You only heard The Smiths (and The Cure, Joy Division/New Order, Elvis Costello, etc) on College Radio and on an MTV Show called "120 Minutes" which aired late Saturday nights a 12AM for 2 hours. American Radio was dominated by Southern Rock,, Molly Hatchet, The Eagles, The Stones, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, etc. In America, no one even heard of The Smiths except for us--the denizons of independent College Radio. (The Smiths were big in England, but not America, and sill aren't big here). History has been re-written, as if The Smiths (and Morrsey) were played on mainstream commercial radio. They weren't. Ever.
Yes Yes Yes Soo Sorry U TOTALLY Miss Out Boys...
Mid 70s 80 Totally OFF TOTALLY Chart All Most Everyday LMAO😅😂😜
The music was TOTALLY REAL whatever gender are a musically like ROCK, metal blues rock, blues Ect. It was all real all live music every instrument was vocals were live it was totally real at all times didn't have the crazy cell phones you're definitely doing something every single freaking day you are never bored concerts Keg Parties it was ALL REAL ALL happening all fun LOL..
You guys got the wrong song for The Smiths song the good songs
"How Soon Is Now"
Is the Smiths Song!!
Be blessed PEACE ✌
Jam🎉🎉
Have you done Girlfriend In A Coma? A good song but so weird...
Please react on bands like THE SWEET (Ballroom Blitz, Teenage Rampage, Fox on the Run, Action, Fever of love ...just 70s), all QUEEN-stuff, IRON MAIDEN (The number of the beast, Run to the hills), Judas Priest (Breaking the Law, Turbo Lover, ...) new bands like THE STRUTS, GHOST, GRETA VAN FLEET and YUNGBLUD. Thank you both. ❤
On Top of the Pops the bands just lip synced to their own songs.
The north of England loved The Smiths. The south hated them. There's an adage about north and south England. The north is, deep and dark and true. The south is fickle and fair and false. The Smiths are very much northern in their sound and outlook. Most of the best, serious musician type bands are from the north. The south is much more about what's commercial. North, art for arts sake. South, money for gods sake. Credibility over cash.
Fire!!!