Once I worked at an office that employed two guys that were big fans of Felt.

i hope that fans of the Smiths have never complained that reggaeton all sounds the same.

In grade 12 university English, we were doing 'Wuthering Heights'. And my teacher was this guy in his thirties who was pretty with it. He played Kate Bush's version of the track in class, despite being laughed at by everyone for doing so.

So anyway, during each chapter quiz, he would give a bonus question that would relate to England, but not to the book. So one was something like "Name the '80s British band who sang 'How Soon Is Now?".

I was the sole student of a class of 30 who knew the answer. Then we named off all the members of the band. Then I recited from memory the first half of the song. Still nothing.

And these were kids who were going to be in university in a year, many of whom would be majoring in english. And many of whom wore Radiohead shirts to class every day.


I think that might have been the exact moment I lost faith in highschool.

ive met plenty of seemingly 'hip' people who have never even heard of Radiohead, Pixies, Smiths, Velvet Underground, David Bowie. I mean how fucking stupid can you be?

Heh heh.

Damn, there were only four obvious anti-Smiths remarks.

Todd, what did he end up thinking about Louder Than Bombs?

Never met anyone except me who gave a shat about Lawrence until this board. Musical compatibility was like "quality" porn back then -- I knew it existed, but damned if I could find it.

Waiting to hear the final comments today.
By the time I left last night, he had only heard the first 2 songs and thought they were "Pretty cool."

the smiths aren't so much a whole genre.

Moz is beloved by many hispanics, though.

it's true. they have festivals.

I think I read it a couple of years ago in SPIN and recall being very puzzled to find that out. They seem very enthusiastic about the music.

exactly......i think everyone between the ages of 25 and up have heard this song.

heh heh

"They"

It's hard not to use that word when it comes to collective statements. But, yeah, I was suprised to read about how Morrissey's themes resonate with the male hispanic psyche, particularly Mexican psyche.

I wouldn't know a word to it. I could probably identify the particular brand of suck, tho.

You couldn't have listened to alternative radio in the 90s without hearing this:

"You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am huuuman and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does"

And we have five!

I don't think Loogs has ever seen Charmed before.

A shame cuz they some honkin whoody-haddas on some them wimmins.

I didn' then, nor do I now, listen to anything classifiable as "alternative radio"

In HS, it was gangsta rap and classic rock you'd hear at an average field party.
In college, we didn't really have a radio station in town, aside from the UGA one...and I mainly listened to CDs anyway.
If you knew how bad the radio was down here, you'd stick a chopstick in your ear.

And Dumpjack -- I think I had "one" in the beginning of this thread. But I would have trouble explaining to you how GAR I think this band is.

The year the first Strokes album came out I was a DJ at a local skater/punk/indie/coolie bad in Mtl.

I used to delight in confusing the kiddies by playing the Strokes and then throwing on some VU or Bowie.

They'd be all: "What is this? It sounds like the Strokes". No joke.

It was fun to try to eh-jew-ma-cate them.

For some reason, this thread makes me feel old. Maybe because I bought Louder Than Bombs on the day it came out.

But I can definitely believe someone aged 27 has not heard of The Smiths. Now if he/she is an indie-rock type, then it does seem a bit odd (especially not having heard of them), but there are a lot of bands that seemed to have slip through the cracks, and I've only recently discovered, on my alternative/indie/punk listening journey that started in 1984.

It's all relative since there are plenty of aging hipsters who refuse to acknowledge that anything good has happened musically since they were themselves "the kiddies."

Jesus, people. It's The Smiths. People have a lot more going on in their lives than fucking Morrissey and his jangly brand of mangina rock.

I'd be willing to bet that 75% of people you catch on the street wouldn't be able to recite lyrics from an Elton John song from memory. I would be willing to bet that 85-90% wouldn't recognize Bob Dylan as the songwriter of any of a dozen of his songs covered by another artist. And all that ignorance still don't mean shit. It just means that it's not that important and people don't care.

Remember, not far from this Thread Celebrating Good Taste at the Expense of Peons, there is a two page thread on "American Idol".




High school kids have no business wasting their youth on shit like The Smiths. At that time you should be into something loud, obnoxious and scares your parents, not something that makes them peep into your dresser to make sure you don't have a secret stash of panties to sleep in. Oh, and keep in mind that your stance on The Beatles, who probably had absolutely zero influence on the friggin' Smiths.

ok...senator...you may not know the lyrics but YOU KNOW the song.....not to mention its been in a bunch of movies

off the top of my head.....hmm...was it in wedding singer?

Just for the record, I don't hate The Smiths, I just don't have any interest in them. I've listened to them, and "How Soon Is Now" was on the radio yesterday, and I didn't turn it off. They are just sorta there.

They fell into that period of music late 1970s-mid 1980s period of music that I just don't have a lot of influence in. Most of my influence from my father end in the late 1970s (I was born in 1976), but his music searching had tamed considerably before Punk & New Wave. Then I got my first CD player in 1989, and was allowed to explore more on my own. I didn't have any older siblings to introduce me to music of that period, and didn't find it until much later, only to find that a lot of it doesn't age very well.