a b c d "The Smiths Uk Charts". Theofficialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2011 . Retrieved 20 October 2017.

a b Simon Goddard (1 February 2013). Songs That Saved Your Life. Titan Books. p.16. ISBN 9781781162590. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021 . Retrieved 27 September 2020. As stated in my review of the Smiths final album Strangeways Here We Come, the Smiths broke up in the summer of 1987, shortly after recording Strangeways, a few months before the album's release. Rank is a live recording taken from an October 23, 1986 concert in London, after the release of what is considered to be their greatest album, The Queen is Dead. Some state that Rank was nothing more than a cash grab before the Smiths popularity in England decreased; but as it was the last official "new" material that the band ever released (though several greatest hits collections have been issued over the years), most fans gladly accepted it. Sometimes, songs are your only friends. It’s a sentiment that’s probably familiar to anyone who’s invested significant emotional energy in a band like The Smiths and certainly one that Morrissey understood on a personal level. When he wrote “Rubber Ring” in 1985, Moz might’ve been speaking on behalf of all the comforting songs that he and his peers neglected as soon as their own clouds parted. When you listen to it now, it’s hard not to hear him as a prescient (if outgrown) confidant hoping that his own fans, though happier now, might remember to visit once in awhile. — T.C. a b c "Search Results". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015 . Retrieved 26 February 2009.Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. The catalyst for the song is said to have come from an instance when Radio 1 DJ Steve Wright followed a news report about the Chernobyl disaster with Wham!’s I’m Your Man, inspiring the lyric “Hang the blessed DJ”. Peak Morrissey: “Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking when I said/ I’d like to smash every tooth in your head” 18. “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me” Peak Morrissey:“A double-bed/ And a stalwart lover, for sure/ These are the riches of the poor” 38. “Frankly, Mr. Shankly” Released in November 1984, the fans were given an early Christmas present in the form of Hatful Of Hollow, a compilation album which featured two of their greatest non-album singles, William, It Was Really Nothing and Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now plus their B-sides, Girl Afraid and Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want as well as alternative takes on songs from radio sessions such as What Difference Does It Make?, These Things Take Time, You’ve Got Everything Now and This Charming Man, many of which bore the closest resemblance to the original live versions that fans first fell in love with.

Peak Morrissey:“I stole and I lied, and why?/ Because you asked me to/ But now you make me feel so ashamed/ Because I’ve only got two hands/ Well, I’m still fond of you” 11. “William, It Was Really Nothing” No, this is not a near-perfect record a la “The Queen is Dead.” No, the songs aren’t quite as good as on “The Smiths.” Written from the viewpoint of a man who suffered a puncture of his bicycle tyre while riding on a deserted hillside and the flirtation between him and the “charming man” who had come to his rescue, This Charming Man was released in place of the planned Reel Around The Fountain after it was so well-received following its broadcast during a John Peel session.

“What She Said” (1985)

In their early career, The Smiths were against the idea of music videos. Morrissey hated the idea of them and felt that they would be a short-lived phenomenon. By 1985, MTV was very popular in America, much to their record company’s chagrin, but they still refused to make them. They were incensed when Sire went ahead and made a video for How Soon Is Now? without authorisation from the band using performance footage. The Smiths And Rough Trade Records: How Soon Is Now?". Magnet Magazine. 4 October 2006 . Retrieved 25 July 2021. More controversy followed when " Suffer Little Children", the B-side to "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", touched on the theme of the Moors murders. This caused an uproar after the grandfather of one of the murdered children heard the song on a pub jukebox and felt the band was trying to commercialise the murders. After meeting with Morrissey, he accepted that the song was a sincere exploration of the impact of the murders. Morrissey subsequently established a friendship with Ann West, the mother of victim Lesley Ann Downey, who is mentioned by name in the song. [54] Interview With Stephen Street". HitQuarters. 27 September 2005. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012 . Retrieved 12 May 2010. Peak Morrissey:“Under the iron bridge we kissed/ And although I ended up with sore lips/ It just wasn’t like/ The old days anymore” 31. “Cemetry Gates”