- 2 days ago
This documentary was originally given out to the press to support the release of the band's 'Best Of' compilation in 1992. The promo has now been released by Rhino, the UK label which is handling the re-issue, due for release on September 26.
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MusicTranscript
00:04Music is said to reflect or even inspire the culture of its time.
00:08The 50s had Elvis Presley, the 60s the Beatles and Bob Dylan,
00:12and so to England in the 80s and the Smiths.
00:30When in this charming car, this charming man,
00:39why can't the life's complexity when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat?
00:48I would go out tonight, but I haven't got a stitch to it.
00:57This man said it's gruesome, but someone so handsome should care.
01:08A younger pantry boy who never knew his place, he said, return the ring.
01:16He knows so much about this thing.
01:21He knows so much about this thing.
01:27Although they were courted by many major record companies,
01:30they chose to sign to one of the leading independent labels, Rough Trade.
01:34This, above all, allowed them their own space and time to grow
01:38and to develop their own very strong image.
01:40Morrissey was allowed the freedom to design all their record sleeves,
01:43which featured a series of cover stars
01:45and which were to become a very significant part of the imaging of the band.
01:49The band's rise to success was really quite unique,
01:52coming as they did from an independent label.
01:55The string of hit singles and hit albums was, at the time, unprecedented.
01:59And all of this, while their reputation as a live band was gaining in significance,
02:03as they quickly became regarded as one of the most popular
02:06and exciting bands on the British circuit.
02:09They first came to the attention of the British public
02:11with the wonderful debut single, Hand in Glove,
02:13which led to the often-repeated radio sessions
02:16and their first UK hits,
02:17This Charming Man
02:20and What Difference Does It Make.
02:23The much-anticipated debut album
02:25was greeted with the sound of many closing doors
02:27as the legion of fans took to their bedrooms
02:30to become immersed in
02:31and consumed by their hero and his sentiments.
02:34Two more hits,
02:36Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
02:37and William It Was Really Nothing,
02:39were followed at the end of 1984
02:41by the 16-track album
02:42Hat Full of Hollow.
02:44This was primarily a vehicle
02:46for the by now legendary radio sessions
02:48and a direct result of public demand.
02:51The last two singles were added,
02:53along with the collected B-sides,
02:54which included the new single
02:56How Soon Is Now,
02:57providing a worthy update
02:58of the band's prolific output.
03:03I am the sun and the air
03:11Are the shiniest that is
03:14criminally vocal
03:15I am the sun and air
03:19But nothing in particular
03:26You shut your mouth
03:28How can you say
03:30I go about things a long way
03:33I am human
03:36And I need to belong
03:40Just like everybody else does
04:04I am the sun and the air
04:09I am the sun and the air
04:16I am the sun and the air
04:20I am the sun and the air
04:21Are the sun and the air
04:23I care about everything in particular
04:39Just like everybody else done
05:34The second studio album, Meet His Murder,
05:36featured many Smith's classics, including one single,
05:40That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore,
05:41and the controversial title track,
05:43which overnight radically increased the number of young vegetarians everywhere.
05:47In their typically non-conventional style,
05:50the first single to be released after the album,
05:52Shakespeare's Sister, wasn't even on the album.
05:56However, this did not stop the album reaching number one in the UK charts,
06:00the first album Rough Trade had ever enjoyed a number one with.
06:03Indeed, this was the only Smith's album ever to reach number one,
06:06until their best compilation in August of 1992,
06:10some seven and a half years later.
06:12What followed Meet His Murder
06:13is one of the most prolific creative periods in the life of any band,
06:17with six hit singles and two albums in a little over a year.
06:24Shyness is nice, and shyness can stop you
06:29from doing all the things in life you'd like to.
06:36Shyness is nice, and shyness can stop you
06:40from doing all the things in life you'd like to.
06:46So is there something you'd like to try?
06:49So if there's something you'd like to try,
06:50if there's something you'd like to try,
06:53ask me, I won't say, no, how could I?
06:59Shyness is nice, and shyness can stop you
07:03from saying all the things in life you'd like to.
07:09Shyness is nice, and shyness can stop you
07:10So is there something you'd like to try,
07:12so is there something you'd like to try,
07:13is there something you'd like to try,
07:16ask me, I won't say, no, how could I?
07:20Shyness is nice, and shyness can stop you
07:21Spending warm summer days in dark,
07:27writing frightening verse,
07:30to a book-toothed girl in Luxembourg.
07:32But ask me, ask me, ask me
07:35Ask me, ask me, ask me
07:38Because if it's not love
07:41Then it's the bomb, the bomb
07:43The bomb, the bomb, the bomb
07:45The bomb that will bring us together
07:59Nature is a language, can't you read?
08:04Nature is a language, can't you read?
08:09So ask me, ask me, ask me
08:13Ask me, ask me, ask me
08:15Because if it's not love
08:18Then it's the bomb, the bomb, the bomb
08:21The bomb, the bomb, the bomb
08:23The bomb, the bomb
08:24That will bring us together
08:26This run started with the wonderful
08:28Boy with the Thorn in His Side
08:29and Big Mouth Strikes Again,
08:31both taken from the album many consider to be
08:34the Smith's finest hour, The Queen is Dead.
08:37Another title steeped in controversy,
08:39but an album that displayed, more than any that had gone before,
08:43the wonderful wit and lyrical whimsy of Morrissey.
08:46And all played against a backdrop of Johnny Marr's bright melodies,
08:49with Morris's voice and Marr's sparkling guitar
08:52seeming to duel with one another
08:54and yet complement each other at the same time.
08:58And the old myth that the band's songs were miserable
09:01was at once exploded with the glorious
09:03There is a light that never goes out.
09:05A song where, more clearly than ever,
09:07the lyrics sought joy through tragedy
09:09and above all, the message was one of hope.
09:14Take me out tonight
09:20Where there's music and there's people
09:22And they're young and alive
09:28Driving in your car
09:30I never, never, never wanted to go home
09:34Because I haven't got one
09:38Anymore
09:43Take me out tonight
09:48Because I want to see people
09:50And I want to see life
09:56Driving in your car
09:58Oh, please don't drop me home
10:02Because it's not my home
10:04And I'm welcome
10:05And I'm welcome no more
10:12And if a double-decker boss
10:17Crashes into us
10:20To die by your side
10:24Is such a heavenly way to die
10:26And if a ten-ton shot
10:31Kills the both of us
10:35To die by your side
10:38Well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine
10:42Take me out tonight
10:47Take me anywhere
10:50Don't care, don't care, don't care
10:55And in the dark and underpass
10:58I thought, oh, God, my chance has come at last
11:02But then a strange fear gripped me
11:05And I just couldn't ask
11:11Take me out tonight
11:14Oh, take me anywhere
11:18Don't care, don't care, don't care
11:20And I'm scared
11:24To rising in your car
11:26I never, never wanted to go home
11:30Because I haven't got one
11:32All along
11:33Oh, I haven't got one
11:37Oh, oh, oh
12:05The prolific period continued with four more singles
12:08Panic, Ask, Shoplifters of the World Unite
12:12And Sheila Take a Bow
12:13Four of the most successful singles in the band's history
12:17Panic was directed squarely at those DJs
12:20Who had so far resolutely ignored the Smiths
12:22With its tongue-in-cheek chorus of Hang the DJ
12:25But once again, overwhelming irony was to play a part
12:28As Panic became one of the most played Smith songs on British radio
12:32These songs were again collected
12:34Along with other non-LP singles and B-sides
12:37To produce a sort of Hatful of Hollow 2
12:39With The World Won't Listen
12:41Panic on the streets of London
12:44Panic on the streets of Birmingham
12:48I wonder to myself
12:52Could life ever be sane again
12:55The lead side streets which have slipped down
12:59I wonder to myself
13:03Pops may rise in the grass mirror
13:06But honey pie, you're not safe here
13:10So you run down
13:12To the safety of the town
13:14Up to Panic on the streets of Carlisle
13:18Dublin, Dundee, Humbershire
13:21I wonder to myself
13:40Burn down the disco
13:43Hang the blessed DJ
13:47Because the music that they constantly play
13:50It saves nothing to me about my life
13:55Hang the blessed DJ
13:58Because the music they constantly play
14:01On the lead side streets which have slipped down
14:05The provincial towns you joke round
14:11By the middle of 87
14:13The band's problems with their label Rough Trade
14:15Became compounded by rumours that the band were to split
14:19Strange Ways' Here We Come was to be the last studio album
14:22Before the band moved to a new label, EMI
14:25But unfortunately for EMI, the Smiths had split
14:28Even before the album's release
14:30Displaying a richer, more polished, produced sound
14:33Strange Ways was a fitting, if rather sad way
14:36To end the Smiths' recording career
14:38The three singles ensured they finished on a high note
14:41Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me
14:43The ironically titled
14:45I started something I couldn't finish
14:47And the beautifully maudlin
14:48Girlfriend in a coma
14:50A song which itself was responsible
14:52For winning and converting many new fans
14:54A trend which was to continue years later
14:57With the release of Smiths' best
14:58Girlfriend in a coma
15:00I know, I know
15:02It's serious
15:07Girlfriend in a coma
15:09I know, I know
15:11It's really serious
15:16There were times when I could have murdered
15:24But you know, I would hate anything
15:27To happen to her
15:31No, I don't want to see her
15:34Do you really think she'll pull through?
15:39Do you really think she'll pull through?
15:42Ooh, ooh
15:49Girlfriend in a coma
15:51I know, I know
15:53It's sick
15:58Why, why, why, why
16:00Why, why, why
16:02Baby, you know
16:25So, the Smiths were no more.
16:27Finally, along with the six albums and countless fond memories,
16:30we were left with the live album, Rank.
16:33A rousing testament to the power of the Smiths in live performance.
16:37Recorded on what was to become their final tour,
16:40could that have been a prophetic sadness in Morris' final recorded words?
16:44Goodbye. Thank you. Goodbye.
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