Their rise and fall were rapid, but their output was almost Beatles-ish in terms of its sheer volume in a short amount of time: a new studio album each year from 1984-1987 with three other compilation LPs and 25 singles in that four-year span.
And while their popularity didn’t cross the pond in any sort of mainstream fashion until after they had disbanded, the quartet led by guitarist Johnny Marr and singer Morrissey was certainly a cult favorite in the U.S. during their U.K. heyday.
The Smiths were just getting rolling in 1984 with the release of their self-titled debut, and it included as a bonus track, a song that had become their first hit in their homeland the previous fall. Even early on, the blueprint was already in place. The song has everything you would want from a Smiths tune: a bouncy backbeat and bassline from the band’s rhythm section of Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce and Marr’s jangly noodling making sure the guitar never does anything as boring as just playing chords.
And then there’s Morrissey.
The notorious charisma of one of the original sadboys was there from the beginning. “I really like the idea of the male voice being quite vulnerable, of it being taken and slightly manipulated, rather than there being always this heavy machismo thing that just bores everybody,” Morrissey told British music publication Mojo.
For however problematic the man may be in 2026, there’s no denying that he and his band were a consistent highlight of the mid-80s music scene. And while this one wasn’t a huge hit on American shores, it’s a standout track that deserves a listen.
The Smiths have all the rizz at #21 with “This Charming Man.”