"The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. The band consisted of vocalist Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce. Critics have called them one of the most important bands to emerge from the British independent music scene of the 1980s. ""NME"" named the Smiths the ""most influential artist ever"" in a 2002 poll. In 2003, three of the band's albums appeared on ""Rolling Stone""s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Marr, the group signed to the independent record"
"and Marr would hang out listening to them rehearsing. Marr formed his first band, the Paris Valentinos, at the age of 13, with Andy Rourke (who had gone to the same high school as Duffy) and Kevin Williams (who later became an actor, known as Kevin Kennedy), performing for the first time at a Jubilee party in Benchill in June 1977, playing Rolling Stones and Thin Lizzy covers. In 1979, he played a single gig at Wythenshawe Forum with a band called Sister Ray and re-united with Rourke in a band called White Dice. White Dice entered a demo-tape competition"
"the demo recording to Factory Records, but they weren't interested. In late summer 1982, Mike Joyce was adopted as the band's drummer after a successful audition. In October 1982 they then gave their first public performance, as a support act for Blue Rondo à la Turk at Manchester's The Ritz. Hibbert however was unhappy with what he perceived as the band's gay aesthetic; in turn, Morrissey and Marr were unhappy with his bass playing, and so he was removed from the band and replaced by Marr's old school friend Andy Rourke. After the record company EMI turned them down, Morrissey"
"later found himself being declared bankrupt following a petition of the Inland Revenue on 25 January 1999. Rourke, his then-manager Nova Rehman, his production company, Great Northern Productions, and others organised Manchester v Cancer, a series of concerts to benefit cancer research, later known simply as Versus Cancer. The initiative was prompted when Rehman's father and sister were diagnosed with the disease. The first Manchester v Cancer concert took place in January 2006. It featured a reunion between Rourke and his former Smiths bandmate Johnny Marr, who performed one song together. The second Manchester v Cancer concert took place in"
"effect that it was ""rubbish"". In June 2009, Marr told an interviewer on London's XFM, ""I think we were offered 50 million dollars for three ... possibly five shows."" He said that the chances of a reunion were ""nothing to do with money"", and that the reasons were ""really abstract"". The closest Marr or Morrissey has come to any kind of reunion was in January 2006 when Johnny Marr and The Healers played at Andy Rourke's Manchester v Cancer benefit concert. There were suggestions leading up to the show that Morrissey might also be involved. Marr made it clear that"
"rock and post-punk, were a rejection of the then-popular, synthesiser-based dance-pop. Marr's guitar work, using a Rickenbacker, had a jangle pop sound reminiscent of Roger McGuinn of the Byrds. Morrissey's complex, literate lyrics combined themes about ordinary people with mordant humour. On 31 August 1978, a 19-year-old Morrissey was briefly introduced to the 14-year-old Johnny Marr by mutual acquaintances Billy Duffy and Howard Bates at a Patti Smith gig held at Manchester's Apollo Theatre. In May 1982 Marr decided that he wanted to establish a new band, and subsequently turned up on the doorstep of Morrissey's house – 384 Kings"
"In December 2005 it was announced that Johnny Marr and the Healers would play at Manchester v Cancer, a benefit show for cancer research being organised by Andy Rourke and his production company, Great Northern Productions. Rumours suggested that a Smiths reunion would occur at this concert but were dispelled by Marr on his website. In an October 2007 interview on BBC Radio Five Live, Marr hinted at a potential reformation in the future, saying that ""stranger things have happened so, you know, who knows?"" Marr went on to say that ""It's no biggy. Maybe we will in 18 or"
"was removed from the band and replaced by Marr's old school friend Andy Rourke. Hibbert however denies that he had any issue with the band being perceived as a 'gay' band, and was unsure as to the reasons why he was asked to leave the band. In December 1982 the band recorded their second demo, this time at the Drone Studios in Chorlton-cum-Hardy; the tracks recorded were ""What Difference Does It Make?"", ""Handsome Devil"", and ""Miserable Lie"". This was used as their audition tape for the record company EMI, who turned the band down. During the rest of that month,"
"York, and having left high school, Mars began playing in various clubs in New York City. He signed a recording contract with Mercury Records whilst a member of the band Burning Bush, and they recorded several sides with the label. By the mid-1960s, Mars had moved to California and formed the Johnny Mars Band, which found work but no recognition beyond their North California base. However, they toured with Magic Sam and played on the same bill as Earl Hooker, B.B. King and Jesse Fuller. After advice from Rick Estrin (Little Charlie & the Nightcats), Mars toured the United Kingdom"
"organised by the NME and won an audition for F-Beat Records, which they attended in April 1980 but were not signed. Around the age of 14, he began spelling his name ""Marr"" to simplify the pronunciation for those who had difficulty with his birth name ""Maher"", and to avoid confusion with Buzzcocks drummer John Maher. In October 1980, Marr enrolled at Wythenshawe College, serving as President of the school's Student Union. White Dice dissolved in 1981. Marr and Rourke then formed a funk band, Freak Party, with Simon Wolstencroft on drums. Around this time, Marr first met Matt Johnson, with"
"Manchester), guitar; Derek Quinn (born 24 May 1942, Didsbury, Manchester), guitar and harmonica; Peter Birrell (born 9 May 1941, Wythenshawe, Manchester), bass; and Bernie Dwyer (11 September 1940, West Didsbury, Manchester – 4 December 2002, Cheadle, Cheshire), drums. Although the band was grouped as a part of the Merseybeat sound phenomenon that the Beatles exploded around the world in the wake of Beatlemania, they came from Manchester. Prior to becoming a singer, Garrity had worked as a milkman in Manchester. They had four Top 10 UK hits: a cover of James Ray's hit ""If You Gotta Make a Fool of"
"runner, and completed the 2010 New York Marathon in a time of 3:54:18. He is a supporter of Manchester City football club and has been seen attending games. In the 1980s and 1990s, Marr played on three Billy Bragg recordings. In the late 1980s, he performed on albums by Bryan Ferry and Talking Heads. In the 1990s and 2000s, he performed on three Pet Shop Boys albums, and also plays guitar and harmonica on their Xenomania-produced album, ""Yes"", released in 2009. In the 1990s, he also performed on albums by M People, Beck and Tom Jones. In the 2000s, he"
"All the music and lyrics for The Courteeners' songs are written by Fray; he claims they are wholly autobiographical. Ex-The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr once called Fray ""an underrated lyricist"". With The Courteeners, he released five studio albums. All of them went Top 10 in the UK Albums Chart; ""St. Jude"" and ""Falcon"" reached Gold status. The band have achieved their highest chart position so far with their 4th album ""Concrete Love"" (2014) entering at number 3. On 27 May 2017, the band played their biggest headline gig to 50,000 people at Manchester's Emirates Old Trafford. Aside from the band,"
"World Is Yours"", 2007). In 2007 he formed Freebass with fellow bassists Peter Hook (New Order and Joy Division) and Mani (The Stone Roses and Primal Scream); he remained active in the group until 2010 and appears on its only album, ""It's A Beautiful Life"" (2010). Rourke co-founded the Manchester v Cancer concert series, later known as Versus Cancer, to raise money for cancer research. Concerts took place in January 2006, March 2007, February 2008, and December 2009. He has since concentrated on his radio career, beginning with a Saturday-evening show on XFM Manchester. More recently he has been a"
"trying to emulate the band's previous drummer Keith Moon. Both Townshend and Daltrey stated that Starkey was the best match for the band since the death of Keith Moon. In 2000, Starkey was a founding member of Johnny Marr & The Healers, although their first album ""Boomslang"", would not be released for another three years. On 14 April 2001, he featured in both of the backing bands for the ""Steve Marriott Tribute Concert"", whixh also featured Humble Pie, Rick Wills, Rabbit Bundrick, Bobby Tench, Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller. On 20 October 2001, he performed with The Who at the"
"rose to fame), which also includes The Smiths' Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke. In 2004, Arthurs teamed up with Sek Loso to play rhythm guitar alongside Loso's new English bandmates. The group toured Asia, Europe, and the US in search of a label deal. In early 2007, Arthurs had a visible presence in the North West of England for the first time since leaving Oasis eight years previously. His support for Andy Rourke's Versus Cancer fundraising concert saw the pair busking together in Manchester's Cathedral Gardens to raise cancer awareness and to fund raise for Manchester's Christie Hospital. On 30"
"Among the new personnel, included Mick Abrahams and Clive Bunker, founding members of the band, Jethro Tull. Paul Young became lead singer with Mike and the Mechanics and died of a heart attack in 2000. The Toggery Five The Toggery Five were an English freakbeat band from Manchester, England that was formed in the midst of the Manchester Beat scene. The band emerged as other popular British acts like The Hollies and The Dakotas were also coming to prominence in Manchester. They were the first band to record ""I'm Alive, which inspired The Hollies to also record the song. The"
"The Del Mar Trio with singer Jimmy Marsh (born James Marsh, 9 April 1941, Salem, Carmarthenshire, Wales), guitarist Allen Bevan and bass player Tony Rowland. In February 1965, the group recorded 4 tracks for EMI at Abbey Road under the supervision of Bob Barratt. Two months later, the band changed name to James Deane & The London Cats and headed for southern Germany where the band spent a year playing clubs, including in Furth, Munich and Nuremberg. The drummer also spent three months working with a German band. In June 1966, Tomlinson and Marsh joined forces with two members of"
"Johnny Marr joined the backing band for ""The Right Stuff"" at the Manchester show. Former Roxy Music musician Andy MacKay also joined the backing band for a few numbers at the London Palladium and Wembley Arena dates. Several of the songs from the Glasgow show were included on several Bryan Ferry CD singles between 1993–95. The Bête Noire Tour movie was released 10 November 2008 by the EMI Productions studio. The DVD features a pair of solo performances by Bryan Ferry, the first performance previously released as ""New Town"", was filmed during his 1988–89 Bête Noire European Tour. The bonus"
"the Pretenders (appearing on some of the tracks on 1994's ""Last of the Independents""); Killing Joke, Badly Drawn Boy (with whom Rourke toured for two years), Aziz Ibrahim (formerly of the Stone Roses), and ex-Oasis guitarist Bonehead as Moondog One, which also included Mike Joyce and Craig Gannon. Rourke also played bass for Ian Brown, both on tour and on Brown's album ""The World Is Yours"". In March 1996, Rourke and Mike Joyce started legal proceedings against Morrissey and Marr over royalties. While Joyce continued with the action, Rourke settled out of court for £83,000. Having spent the settlement Rourke"
"western rock band to play the country for 20 years. ""The Terror Of Modern Life"" was released by Overground Records] (OVER132) on 20 May 2013. Goldblade Goldblade are an English punk rock band from Manchester, England. The band formed in early 1995 when ex Membranes frontman, John Robb, put the band together with Wayne Simmons and former Membranes and A Witness vocalist Keith Curtis on bass, Rob Haynes (ex Houndgod and Killing for Pleasure/K.F.P.) on drums and Jay Taylor on guitar. The band signed to Ultimate Records and released their first single, ""Soul Power"", before releasing several more singles and"
"Freebass Freebass were an English rock supergroup consisting of, originally, three bassists Andy Rourke (formerly of The Smiths), Peter Hook (formerly of Joy Division & New Order) and Gary ""Mani"" Mounfield (of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream) and singer Gary Briggs (formerly of Haven).<ref name=""BBC6Music19/02/2008"">Hooky's leading man </ref> Rourke subsequently left the line-up. The band's sound has been described as ""a heady mix of modern rock, dub, and Northern soul."" The idea to form a band centralised around three bass players came out on a drunken night, and was started by Hook and Mani as ""a reaction because our"
"or alternatively through an Edinburgh-based social media site. The Cribs The Cribs are an English indie rock band originally from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The band consists of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The Smiths and Modest Mouse guitarist Johnny Marr who was a formal member of the group from 2008 until 2011. The band, who first became active on the concert circuit in 2002, were initially tied to other like-minded UK bands of that time, most notably The Libertines, by a British music press that were looking for a"
"that inspired deeper devotion than any British group since The Beatles"". Marr's guitar playing ""was a huge building block for more Manchester legends that followed The Smiths"", including The Stone Roses, whose guitarist John Squire has said Marr was an influence. Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher also cites the Smiths as an influence, especially Marr. Gallagher has said that ""When The Jam split, the Smiths started, and I totally went for them."" Singer Davey Havok of the band AFI cites the Smiths as an influence. ""Q"" magazine's Simon Goddard argued in 2007 that the Smiths were ""the one truly vital voice"
"Shooting Party"" and """". Top musicians who played on Nirvana sessions include: Lesley Duncan, Big Jim Sullivan, Herbie Flowers, Billy Bremner (later of Rockpile/Dave Edmunds fame), Luther Grosvenor, Clem Cattini and the full lineup of rock band Spooky Tooth, Pete Kelly (also known as Patrick Joseph Kelly)(Keyboards) who also co-wrote the 'Modus Operandi'track on the 'Local Anaesthetic' album. Nirvana (British band) Nirvana is an English pop rock band, formed in London, England in 1965. Though the band achieved only limited commercial success, they were acclaimed both by music industry professionals and by critics. In 1985, the band reformed. The members"
"have the utmost respect for him as a person and musician. Have none of you ever fallen out with somebody you love?"". Freebass Freebass were an English rock supergroup consisting of, originally, three bassists Andy Rourke (formerly of The Smiths), Peter Hook (formerly of Joy Division & New Order) and Gary ""Mani"" Mounfield (of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream) and singer Gary Briggs (formerly of Haven).<ref name=""BBC6Music19/02/2008"">Hooky's leading man </ref> Rourke subsequently left the line-up. The band's sound has been described as ""a heady mix of modern rock, dub, and Northern soul."" The idea to form a band centralised"
"Spirit UK Tour in May 2017 to celebrate the music of Free by performing songs strictly from the Free catalogue. Free (band) Free were an English rock band formed in London in 1968, best known for their 1970 signature song ""All Right Now"". They disbanded in 1973 and lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become a frontman of the band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums. Lead guitarist Paul Kossoff formed Back Street Crawler in 1975, but died from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 25 in 1976. Bassist Andy Fraser formed Sharks. The band became"
"Manchester v Cancer Manchester v Cancer was a benefit concert that was held on 28 January 2006 at Manchester's MEN Arena, in aid of cancer research at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, Europe's largest cancer research and treatment centre. The concert was organised by ex-Smith Andy Rourke , Nova Rehman, Tom Smetham and Steven Chapman when his manager Nova found out that his sister and father had both been diagnosed with cancer. Rourke aimed to raise £1 million from the concert. Nova paid for all costs in the set up of the first three concerts and was repaid after each"
"High School (including the old Burnage Grammar School) include Roger Byrne, captain of the Manchester United ""Busby Babes"" and England international who was one of the victims of the 1958 Munich air disaster; Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, noted international architect; Wes Brown, current Kerala Blasters FC and England player; Ian Wilson, guitarist and member of 70s rock band Sad Cafe. Dave Rowbotham, former guitarist of local post-punk groups Durutti Column, The Invisible Girls and The Mothmen, lived there in a flat, where, in November 1991, his dead body was found, after being killed by an axe murderer."
"and Marr visited London to hand a cassette of their recordings to Geoff Travis of the independent record label Rough Trade Records. Although not signing them to a contract straight away, he agreed to cut their song ""Hand in Glove"" as a single. Morrissey chose a homoerotic cover design in the form of a Jim French photograph. It was released in May 1983. It was championed by DJ John Peel, as were all their later singles, but it failed to chart. The band soon generated controversy when Garry Bushell of tabloid newspaper ""The Sun"" alleged that their B-side ""Handsome Devil"""
"The Cribs The Cribs are an English indie rock band originally from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The band consists of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The Smiths and Modest Mouse guitarist Johnny Marr who was a formal member of the group from 2008 until 2011. The band, who first became active on the concert circuit in 2002, were initially tied to other like-minded UK bands of that time, most notably The Libertines, by a British music press that were looking for a 'British rearguard' to the wave of popular US"
"as the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, the Charlatans, the Inspiral Carpets and James mixed alternative rock, psychedelic rock and dance music to create a sound which led to commercial success in the indie rock field and a wider musical influence nationally. The '90s brought forth arguably Manchester's most popular band, Oasis. The Chemical Brothers (from Southern England) formed in Manchester. Also, ex-Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown has forged a successful solo career, as has ex-Smiths' leadman Morrissey. Among the others born in the Manchester area are Richard Ashcroft, front man of alternative rock group the Verve, and Jay Kay, the"
"name was based on the clothing store, ""The Toggery"". The store became a place for groups to acquire clothes, like several other bands, including the Beatles. The band began playing around Manchester, gaining a local following by playing R&B standards. Renshaw sang the majority of the vocals as Smith could not sing to the style of music, limiting his role to tambourine player. Smith became dissatisfied with losing his spot as lead vocalist and left. In 1964, the band replaced him with Paul Young, who was only 14 years old at the time. Still, with the lack of rehearsals, Young"