John Martin Marr is a musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous other bands and embarked on a solo career.
The Queen Is Dead is the third studio album by the English rock band the Smiths. It was released on 16 June 1986 through Rough Trade Records.
Strangeways, Here We Come is the fourth and final studio album by the English rock band the Smiths. It was released on 28 September 1987 by Rough Trade Records, several months after the group disbanded. All of the songs were composed by Johnny Marr, with lyrics written and sung by Morrissey.
Hatful of Hollow is a compilation album by English rock band the Smiths, released on 12 November 1984 by Rough Trade Records. The album features tracks from BBC Radio 1 sessions, their first single "Hand in Glove" and two new singles and their B-sides. It was eventually released in the United States on 9 November 1993 by Sire Records, who had initially declined to release the album in the US. Sire instead released Louder Than Bombs in the US in 1987—which is effectively a hybrid of Hatful of Hollow and a subsequent UK compilation album The World Won't Listen plus some tracks which do not appear on either.
The World Won't Listen is a compilation album by English rock band the Smiths, released on 23 February 1987 by Rough Trade Records. The album is the second of three compilation albums—the others being Hatful of Hollow and Louder Than Bombs—released by the Smiths while they were still an active band. It reached No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart, staying on the charts for 15 weeks. In the United States Louder Than Bombs was released in place of The World Won't Listen.
Louder Than Bombs is a compilation album by English rock band the Smiths, released as a double album in March 1987 by their American record company, Sire Records. It peaked at number 62 on the US Billboard 200 album chart. Popular demand prompted their British record company, Rough Trade, to issue the album domestically as well. Upon its release in the UK in May 1987, it reached No. 38 on the British charts. In 2003, the album was ranked No. 365 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and ranked No. 369 on a 2012 revised list. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1990.
Best... I is a compilation album by the Smiths. It was released in August 1992 by the new owner of their back catalogue, WEA. It reached number one on the UK Albums Chart; it reached No. 139 on the US Billboard 200. Warner UK used a photograph taken by actor Dennis Hopper titled "Biker Couple, 1961" for the artwork of the two 1992 "best of" compilations by The Smiths.
Singles is the seventh compilation album by the English rock band the Smiths, pitched as a compilation of previously issued singles. It was released in February 1995 by the new owner of their back catalogue, WEA. Its highest British chart position was #5; it did not chart in the United States. Blender magazine listed the album among the "500 CDs You Must Own" on their website.
The Very Best of The Smiths is a compilation album by English rock band The Smiths. It was released in June 2001 by WEA in Europe, without consent or input from the band. It reached number 30 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was not released in the United States.
"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths, written by guitarist Johnny Marr and lead vocalist Morrissey. Featured on the band's third studio album The Queen Is Dead (1986), it was not released as a single in the United Kingdom until 1992, five years after their split, to promote the compilation album ...Best II. It peaked at No. 25 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 22 on the Irish Singles Chart. The song has received considerable critical acclaim; in 2014, NME listed it as the 12th-greatest song of all time. In 2021, it was ranked at No. 226 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
"This Charming Man" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths, written by guitarist Johnny Marr and singer Morrissey. Released as the group's second single in October 1983 on the independent record label Rough Trade, it is defined by Marr's jangle pop guitar riff and Morrissey's characteristically morose lyrics, which revolve around the recurrent Smiths themes of sexual ambiguity and lust. A different version, from the John Peel Show on BBC Radio 1, was included on the compilation album Hatful of Hollow in 1984.
"Bigmouth Strikes Again" is a 1986 song by the English rock band the Smiths from their third album The Queen Is Dead. Written by Johnny Marr and Morrissey, the song features self-deprecating lyrics that reflected Morrissey's frustrations with the music industry at the time. Musically, the song was inspired by the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and centres around a guitar riff that Marr wrote during a 1985 soundcheck.
"Sheila Take a Bow" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths, written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr. Featuring a glam rock-style beat and guitar riff, the song was originally planned to feature Sandie Shaw on backing vocals, but Shaw's distaste for the song and Morrissey's illness during her session resulted in the vocals not being used.
"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. It appears as the sixth track on the band's final album Strangeways, Here We Come (1987). It features a backdrop of crowd noises from the miners' strike of 1984–85. The song is a favourite of both Morrissey and Marr.
"Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. The song was first released on the group's 1987 album Strangeways, Here We Come. Marr's music features a larger sound, courtesy of a 12-string Gibson ES-335, and one of his few guitar solos with the Smiths. Morrissey's lyrics allude to alcohol and deception.
The Sound of The Smiths is a Smiths compilation released on 10 November 2008. It is available as both single and double disc editions. Morrissey is credited with having coined the compilation's title, while Johnny Marr was involved in the project's mastering. Early promotional material for the album originally saw it titled Hang the DJ: The Very Best of the Smiths, but this was changed for the final release.
The English alternative rock band the Smiths released four studio albums, one live album, 10 compilation albums, three extended plays (EPs), 24 singles, one video album and 13 music videos on the Rough Trade, Sire and WEA record labels. The band was formed in 1982 in Manchester by vocalist Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, bass player Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce.
"How Soon Is Now?" is a song by English rock band the Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. Originally a B-side of the 1984 single "William, It Was Really Nothing", "How Soon Is Now?" was subsequently featured on the compilation album Hatful of Hollow and on US, Canadian, Australian, and Warner UK editions of Meat Is Murder. Belatedly released as a single in the UK in 1985, it reached No. 24 on the UK Singles Chart. When re-released in 1992, it reached No. 16.
Complete is a box set compilation by English rock band the Smiths, released by Rhino Records on 26 September 2011. The standard CD and LP versions contain the band's four studio albums The Smiths, Meat Is Murder, The Queen Is Dead and Strangeways, Here We Come, their only live album Rank and the three compilation albums released while the band were still active–Hatful of Hollow, The World Won't Listen and Louder Than Bombs–on eight CDs or eight LPs. A deluxe version contains those eight albums on both CD and LP formats, as well as 25 seven-inch vinyl singles and a DVD.
