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.
