The Eureka Moment: What Got You Hooked?

[Reggie-Kray]

I bought the 12 inch single of Bigmouth after hearing it on a night out in Manchester during my late teens, although I was well aware of the Smiths I didn't own any of their stuff and was listening to other things. After a few plays of Bigmouth, I flipped over the record to give the B-side Unloveable a listen and that was "it". Something in the lyrics of Unloveable that grabbed me. I remember going on a mission the next day to find more stuff and I bought Hatful, Louder Than Bombs and Meat Is Murder all together and I played them over and over and over and over! Soon enough I had their entire back catalogue. The Smiths were suddenly my favourite band and still are to this day. Then I started on the bootlegs, b-sides and so on. What an adventure.

 

[mick ransommich]

Top Of The Pops - January '84.
'What Difference Does It Make?'

Skinny bloke with nerdy glasses.. this image being acceptable was unheard of then.

 

[Smige]

Hearing Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I want in Zavvi. I'd only heard the Muse version and I thought it was beautiful. They then went on to play more songs, I think from the Best Of. I bought Hatful of Hollow then on impulse.

 

[bored]

I was having a bad life and something in Rubber Ring struck me. 20 years later I'm not the fan I used to be.

 

[Velvis]

When I heard 'I would go out tonight but I haven't got a stich to wear'

I thought 'what the f***...?' It was like something my mum would say.

Funnily enough I didn't buy the single but when I heard 'What Difference Does It Make' I was hooked. I still have my copy with the picture sleeve

 

[Lemon]

I have a hard time remembering when I got hooked on most of the artists I like .
I remember seeing Moz and the Smiths on music TV when I was younger, but it wasn't until I was older that I truly discovered the music and fell in love with it.

 

[VacancyForABackscrubber]

Some time last year I found my dad's Strangeways tape in some dusty crevice in the car, and we played it on the way home. I got especially taken with 'Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before' and 'Girlfriend In A Coma'.We got home, I listened to it some more, and demanded more Smiths CDs for Christmas And that was it really, I then moved on to the solo stuff. It really amazes me that a couple of months onwards I have been listening to nothing else. I listen to the same songs over and over, they only sound better and more meaningful each time.

 

[Silke]

[youtube]z727wXHEJMg&hl[/youtube]

 

[Qvist]

The video to This Charming Man (the flower-waving one), aired on Swedish television on the night of May 1 1984 (or was it 83?), following an interminable evening of rubbish about youth clubs and worried-faced sociologists going on about accepting adolescent rebellion, following which we had been promised some actual videos, which duly arrived sometime well after midnight.

Back then, night of 1 May riots by bored kids were a yearly occurrence, which the powers that be attempted to solve by trying to keep them in front of the TV instead. And back then, at least in Scandinavia, the airing of music videos was a rare treat not to be missed at any cost.

Anyway, TCM just blew me away. I had never heard anything like it, and the irresistible jauntiness and harmonics of the music won me right over. Then there was this strange bloke who kept waving flowers about while wearing this much too large shirt. Somehow that didn't really register so much. This was the era of new romantics and Boy George after all, I'd seen stranger things. But above all it was the completeness of the thing. As somebody wrote, "The Smiths rose fully formed". They did.

Later I also got my first taste of The Pogues, whose "Waxie's Dargle" also made a lasting impression. It was a good night, all in all.

cheers

 

[Girl-with-the-Thorn]

Younger fans (Smiths AND Moz)

Hey, this is actually my first thread, so I thought I'd make it interesting, at least for me!
Anyway, my question is: for those who weren't alive when The Smiths were around, how did you get into The Smiths and/or Morrissey?

I'll go first.
I've only been a fan for a relatively short time. I actually first heard 'How Soon is Now' and 'Nowhere Fast' on the History of the Guitar last year (BBC 2 I think). There was quite a substantial section on The Smiths, and I was absolutely blown away the first time I heard them. I downloaded a load of stuff (although I do hope to get some CDs soon, when I have enough money! ) and have been a fan ever since.

Earlier this year (March-ish) I found out more about Morrissey, read a few articles on him and was fascinated by him as a public figure and lyricist, even though I hadn't heard any of his solo songs. I thought I'd give some of it a listen, and loved it too. The man is an absolute genius!

I m 16, and often wish I had been around in the 80s so that I could have heard the Smiths etc with everyone else for the first time. My parents and friends generally think I'm a bit of a throwback for some reason, but oh well. How about you guys?

EDIT: Yeah I really should read the rest of the board to check what other threads there are that bear a similarity before I make a new one.
But oh well, the question is still open

 

[Franzanna]

Re: Younger fans (Smiths AND Moz)

Hey, this is actually my first thread, so I thought I'd make it interesting, at least for me!
Anyway, my question is: for those who weren't alive when The Smiths were around, how did you get into The Smiths and/or Morrissey?

I'll go first.
I've only been a fan for a relatively short time. I actually first heard 'How Soon is Now' and 'Nowhere Fast' on the History of the Guitar last year (BBC 2 I think). There was quite a substantial section on The Smiths, and I was absolutely blown away the first time I heard them. I downloaded a load of stuff (although I do hope to get some CDs soon, when I have enough money! ) and have been a fan ever since.

Earlier this year I thought I'd give some of Morrissey's solo stuff a listen, and loved that too. The man is an absolute genius!

I m 16, and often wish I had been around in the 80s so that I could have heard the Smiths etc with everyone else for the first time. My parents and friends generally think I'm a bit of a throwback for some reason, but oh well. How about you guys?

Welcome.

I got into The Smiths from my older sister playing my mum's 'Singles' CD about three years ago now. I played it over and over again, and things have never been the same since.

 

[Suedebread]

With The Smiths, my two housemates at University played me What Difference Does It Make? (Hatful Of Hollow version), and it snowballed from there. A switch had flicked in my brain, and I was a rabid Smiths convert. Didn't venture towards solo Moz though.

Around 18 months later... one of the same housemates puts on Pregnant For The Last Time... I fall instantly in love with it, and decide to seek out the solo material, starting with my friends copy of the Sudehead:Best Of and allmusic.com's reccomendation, Your Arsenal. PFTLT has remained my favourite Moz song, and my love for the (few and far between) rockabilly-type numbers done both as a solo artist and with the Smiths makes me wonder why I haven't further explored it as a genre.

This was around October/November 2007. I have been caning Morrissey almost non-stop ever since. I am a straight man, and almost all of my pre-uni friends regard Morrissey as either effeminate/gay or wrist-slittingly depressing, and are therefore perplexed at my devoted adoration for the man's gorgeous voice. They all happen to be musical ignoramues anyway.

 

[ray_afraid]

Around 18 months later... one of the same housemates puts on Pregnant For The Last Time... I fall instantly in love with it, and decide to seek out the solo material, starting with my friends copy of the Sudehead:Best Of and allmusic.com's reccomendation, Your Arsenal. PFTLT has remained my favourite Moz song, and my love for the (few and far between) rockabilly-type numbers done both as a solo artist and with the Smiths makes me wonder why I haven't further explored it as a genre

You really should. Most of the music I listen to is rockabilly from the early 50's to the early 60's.

 

[Suedebread]

You really should. Most of the music I listen to is rockabilly from the early 50's to the early 60's.

I know I should, it's just one of those things that only occurs to me when I'm not in a position to do anything about it.

Songs I love that I group in this category (some more loosely than others, I'm sure there'll be some purists jumping all over me about what is and isn't 'rockabilly'):

Pregnant For The Last Time
Born To Hang
Oh Phoney
Sing Your Life
Certain People I Know
Rusholme Ruffians
Nowhere Fast
Death At One''s Elbow
Shakespeare's Sister

plus a couple of others that I haven't mentioned due to not being entirely sure of their rockabilly 'credentials'. I don't want to look foolish

 

[Suedebread]

Most of the music I listen to is rockabilly from the early 50's to the early 60's.

Suggestions welcome

 

[blue jag]

I bought a Smiths video about 10 years ago.Then I read an interview with Moz and ever since I have considered him to be the wittiest coolest man on the planet.

 

[Interesting Thug]

Re: Younger fans (Smiths AND Moz)

Hey, this is actually my first thread, so I thought I'd make it interesting, at least for me!
Anyway, my question is: for those who weren't alive when The Smiths were around, how did you get into The Smiths and/or Morrissey?

I'll go first.
I've only been a fan for a relatively short time. I actually first heard 'How Soon is Now' and 'Nowhere Fast' on the History of the Guitar last year (BBC 2 I think). There was quite a substantial section on The Smiths, and I was absolutely blown away the first time I heard them. I downloaded a load of stuff (although I do hope to get some CDs soon, when I have enough money! ) and have been a fan ever since.

Earlier this year I thought I'd give some of Morrissey's solo stuff a listen, and loved that too. The man is an absolute genius!

I m 16, and often wish I had been around in the 80s so that I could have heard the Smiths etc with everyone else for the first time. My parents and friends generally think I'm a bit of a throwback for some reason, but oh well. How about you guys?

EDIT: Yeah I really should read the rest of the board to check what other threads there are that bear a similarity before I make a new one.
But oh well, the question is still open

I'm 18, born between Viva Hate and Kill Uncle, so you're not the only one who missed out on the beginning... Welcome to Morrissey! Are you going to any of the shows this summer?

 

[ray_afraid]

I know I should, it's just one of those things that only occurs to me when I'm not in a position to do anything about it.

Songs I love that I group in this category (some more loosely than others, I'm sure there'll be some purists jumping all over me about what is and isn't 'rockabilly'):

Pregnant For The Last Time
Born To Hang
Oh Phoney
Sing Your Life
Certain People I Know
Rusholme Ruffians
Nowhere Fast
Death At One''s Elbow
Shakespeare's Sister

plus a couple of others that I haven't mentioned due to not being entirely sure of their rockabilly 'credentials'. I don't want to look foolish

As far as "Moz-a-billy" goes, I'd say this is a good list:

Rusholme Ruffians
Shakespeare's Sister
Vicar in a Tutu
Death at One's Elbow
Sister, I'm a Poet
the Loop
Sing Your Life (KROQ version)
Pregnant for the last Time
Certain People I Know
You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side
Glamorous Glue

I could start listing suggestions of rockabilly bands, but as to not totally derail this thread, I'll make a good list and pm you soon.

 

[Suedebread]

Sister I'm A Poet (in my hypothetical top 10) and Vicar In A Tutu were the ones I considered but left out. Can't believe The Loop skipped my mind!

I love YGNSOYS, but don't see it as rockabilly myself. However, I'll concede to your superior knowledege.

 

[ray_afraid]

Sister I'm A Poet (in my hypothetical top 10) and Vicar In A Tutu were the ones I considered but left out. Can't believe The Loop skipped my mind!

I love YGNSOYS, but don't see it as rockabilly myself. However, I'll concede to your superior knowledege.

haha. Well, YGNSOYS my not be real rockabilly, but that main riff is used in countless rockabilly tunes. It is influenced by Link Wray. The music sounds identical to a few of his songs. If you were to put that or Glam Glue on in a rockabilly bar, I don't think you'd get any complaints, just lots of dancin.