How and when have you discovered Smiths/Moz music?

[Ambrosia]

I've realized I've never introduce me and I don't know how and when you became Moz fan too. There are a lot of newbies just like me, that have been writing here just since May or so. So, I'd like to know more about you and tell you more about my fan story. I dunno whether there have already been threads like this recently, I didn't notice them or reply to.
So, I start, if you don't mind .
I listened to Smiths songs for the first time of my life (as far as I remember!) in 1997 or something. A friend of mine, a Cranberries fan, bought the best of(Best I), 'cause also Dolores O'Riordan has been influenced by Smiths someway(like million people on earth! ), and made me listen to it. To be frank, I didn't like it, dunno why and which tracks precisely I listened to. The only song impressed me then was "Stop me if you think...". In 1998 or 1999 I found "Hand in Glove" in a compilation about rock history and I fell in love with it. Then, in 2001 I became R.E.M. fan and read some Morrissey sentences about the band in a Q special issue. I found Smiths name everywhere and everyday I became more and more curious. So, in January 2002 I spotted in a shop almost the whole collection of Smiths albums at a nice price and I decided finally to buy something. I started with their first record (my first Euro purchase!) and...it was a revelation. Immediately Moz's extraordinary, plaintive, virtuoso voice, Marr's jingle-jangle guitar, the intimist and "daring" lyrics, the simple, ancient fourcefulness of that music stroke me. So I bought the other Smiths records and my first Moz's album, "Vauxhall and I". Then, I bought YATQ, Live at Earls Court,Who Put the M in Manchester, ROTT, Live in Dallas, but I still have to buy the previous ones: I want to savour every song and...I need money to buy every cd too . But I already know a lot of old songs, because I've listened to bootlegs, live recordings and so on. That's my story. What's yours?

 

[wolve]

I think there is a thread like this already.

Anyway I don't mind sharing it too.
I was studying outside, with the radio around May 2004 I think. And suddenly they played "Irish Blood, English Heart". I was astonished. What a bomb of a song!! They said it was from an artist called "MorrissAY" (yes, they pronounced it in a wrong way, and so did I for the first time). I was shocked that I didn't know that artist, so I wrote the name down in my school book (I remember, it was chemistry, I was easily distracted ) Then I immediately bought YATQ. But that album didn't really 'enter me'. I didn't listen a lot to it. Then, when I was on the computer, I saw a few Smiths-songs on my brothers part. And I asked him what it was. And he said that he didn't really know, that he just randomly downloaded songs because he liked How Soon Is Now. So I listened to How soon is now, and I recognised it (from 'Charmed', yes yes). And then I began dugging. I read a lot about the Smiths, and how they were time-changing in there days, and suddenly I read that the singer was called 'Morrissey'. And that made me even more curious! I was then a big Smiths-fan, and I wanted to share it with my peers (I was 15 then) but they didn't like it. I know have all the Smiths-cd's, and a few Morrissey-cd's.
It has only been for a good year and a half that I realised how good Morrissey was in his solo days. I haven't got enough money yet for the rest of his records and compilations (I sometimes work, hither and tither)
It's amazing that he (and the Smiths) have grown in a period of two years to just a name I knew from 'hearing', to the greatest band ever(in my world).
Thank God for that afternoon in 2004 that I was for once studying...

 

[Ambrosia]

I wanted to share it with my peers (I was 15 then) but they didn't like it. I know have all the Smiths-cd's, and a few Morrissey-cd's.

Oh, I forgot this: I never succeed in promoting Smiths or Moz music. It seems like everyone loves or hates them on instinct. I can't do anything about it, I'm afraid. Some persons think Moz voice is dull and/or Smiths music has got nothing special. Anyway, a friend of mine has really enjoyed Rome's show and another one is curious now to listen to Moz solo albums. Is it possible instead that someone who doesn't like Moz voice in Smiths album could like his present singing style, that's more simple sometimes?I'd like to do this experiment too .

 

[jossu]

Okay, I'll just tell my story very briefly because I don't have much time right now..
first I heard some songs from Bona Drag but didn't like them (except The Last Of....) A month later I heard them again and immediately fell in love with them! So I bought the album. Shortly after, I heard Still Ill and fell in love with it, also. All this happened a year ago and now I own all The Smiths' records and almost all of Moz's records.

 

[DeliciousDemon]

I think the first Smiths track I've ever heard were the "Shoplifters". It was back in 1986 and I loved it but didn't know who it was and had abs no idea that it was going to be the band that would change my life.

Three years later my brother went to the UK and, since he was due to come back on my birthday, he didn't know what to bring me as a present so, on his way to the airport, he went into a record shop and brought me "The Queen Is Dead".

It was love at first sight and I never let go to this day.

And yes, I've managed to get some of my friends "infected" too. Quite a success, really

 

[half a person]

I first heard the Smiths when I was in the car coming back from Tescos one evening, and 'There is a light...' was on. My dad was laughing and saying, 'Listen to this stupid song,' Or words to that effect. I laughed along for about a verse, then halfway through suddenly started really listening to it. My dad told me he had some more Smiths songs on the computer (so he could put them on a CD to laugh at), I downloaded 'Heaven knows...' and fell in love from there. I have had only one success in converting my friends, although another friend did download 'Vicar in a Tutu' when she heard me singing it to myself in school.

 

[hatfull]

I have to admit, the first Smiths song I heard, I hated. One of my friends had the 2 'Best Of...' albums, and my teeth gritted every time she played them. It was made even worse by the fact she used to play 'This Charming Man' really badly on a mouth organ. Anyway, I spat fire every time they were mentioned, and then one day, I woke up with 'This Charming Man' in my head. And it wasn't going anywhere. I tried ignoring it, but I ended up sloping off and buying both of the 'Best Of..' albums, and I havn't looked back.
After I fell in love with The Smiths, none of my friend liked them, and I remember standing outside HMV waiting for a friend, when this in store DJ started blaring out 'The Boy With The Thorn In His Side' into the street. my friend appeared, and accused me of requesting it!!! My love for Morrissey followed pretty quickly after.

 

[Slip-In]

For me it was around the time of "Louder Than bombs" back in 86 and I've never looked back since. I clearly remember my best friend's Sister playing the vinyl 2 record set one evening as Johnny and I got ready to go out that night, the music, the words, I was hooked immediately. Rubber Ring stuck to mind and I kept asking Sylvia to play it over and over again,

I was 17 and quite broke but it didn't stop from buying that first Smiths Record. Of course I had to go back a couple of years and research their previous releases and sure enough I found them. Even till this day I have those albums on vinyl, my most treasured album indeed.

It was in 1992 after graduating from College that I had enough money to start my Smiths/Morrissey collection from around the world, today I have all the official releases from US, UK, Japap and other countries. I still have to find several Rough Trade Smiths CDs but maybe one day soon,

 

[gaz217]

well i only just started listening to the smiths/ moz in the last year! it started with a fifa game which had morrissey-irish blood english heart. i liked this song and thought He was a They and thought He was very modern! then just before christmas i was watching the legendary VH2 and The Smiths- Charming Man came on- as it had done a few times without me noticing too much- and all of a sudden i loved it. i decided to download some more smiths songs and then found morrissey ones. i am now hooked and listen to an album a day and have got a friend interested in them as well!

 

[andy_fozzy]

I've been here before, and I really don't think anyone was interested then so..... But here goes!

I was introduced to The Smiths some 15 years ago, when I was 15. Panic, Ask etc. I fell in love with them straight away, and still to this day.

I was heavy into drugs then, but I gave it all up 10-11 years ago, and left everything from those days behind. Drugs, 'friends', habbits etc.....
But The Smiths and Morrissey stayed with me through all those times, and more.

Moz is one drug I am 100% addicted to, and I'll never give it up.

He (and they) were with me through all the hard times I've ever faced, and this (amongst others) are the reason I love him so much.
(And I do REALLY believe I love him, is this possible...?????)

Some cool stories, nice topic.

 

[bm20950]

I stood on a copy of Louder Than Bombs cd about a year ago cracking the case, meaning i had to take it down and get a new case, while shoving the CD in he player because i'd heard of this band before.

Best mistake i ever made

 

[Despair & I]

I was taking my daily constitutional along the banks of the Westborne with Mrs. Hopeworth-Smythe when the clouds parted and an angel descended from on high with a golden box. "Not again," we whispered, our faces pressed into the pavement, frightened the Seraphim might hear. This does tend to happen to us frequently. But I digress. The angelic messenger opened his mouth, coughed, and out flew a copy of Hatful of Hollow (on cassette). We listened to it when we got home, and we liked it very much. Never did find out what was in that intriguing looking box, however.

 

[Angel_Dust]

Well, I started liking Morrissey when he visited Chile the first time, year 2000. I was 13 back then and (I'm ashamed to admit it now) I didn't who the hell he was!! I had only heard a coupple of Simths songs, but that was it.

The radio station I listened to at the moment played Morrissey and the Smiths all the time, and that's how I began to get familiar with Mozz' music. Every since then I haven't stopped liking him!! (Despite I hardly know anyone who likes him as well...)

 

[helmoz]

as a kid/teen, i saw a few smiths clips on TOTP2 and was intruiged (but couldnt hear much cos of parents talking over the TV whenever i watched it... sigh...) and i knew a little about them from a music book so i knew some basic stuff like who morrissey was. for years they were a band on my list of "bands to check out sometime" but i took years to get round to checking them out! shame on me i guess :S

P.S. (edit) - should have added that i got round to checking them out about 18 months or so ago, when i bought a smiths tribute CD and saw "how soon is now?" and "first of the gang" on MTV2, so i borrowed "the very best of the smiths" from a library and bought "you are the quarry" and "suedhead" off eBay... fell in love with those records and the rest is history as they probably say. anyway it's a good thing that TV, libraries and eBay exist, otherwise god knows how long i would have dillydallied around before getting those records!

 

[davdavon]

I never liked the Cure. And for a long time I thought that the Smiths are more-or-less the same thing so I wasn't very interested in them. I knew a couple of songs that were occasionally played here on mainstream radio (namely Panic, Bigmouth Strikes Again, and Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me), and didn't think too highly of any of them. Then, I think it was around 2002 or 2003, well, I was at that record shop, and I saw Strangeways Here We Come was very cheap, and I liked the name of the album, so I thought, why not, I'll give it a try.

And, well, at first I wasn't too impressed with it either, though I thought that it's better than what I expected. Around that time I was mainly into American, 'masculine' music - Tom Waits, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, etc. Nevermind. After some time, I heard There Is A Light That Never Goes Out on the radio, and thought that it's really brilliant, so I went and bought The Queen Is Dead. I quickly fell in love with it, and bought the other Smiths albums soon after. Still, I was, for some reason, under the impression that Morrissey's solo work was boring and embarrassing (though I didn't really know any solo song of his except for Everyday Is Like Sunday). I remember one day, while driving to university, I heard First Of The Gang To Die on the radio. I recognised Morrissey's voice but I was sure that it's a rare Smiths song, or something like that, since it was so good.

Around that time I had a job which included ripping a lot of CDs (to MP3s). And one of the discs I got to rip there was You Are The Quarry, which was just released. So I said, why not, I'll give it a listen. After hearing First Of The Gang To Die for the second time, I immediately realised that my mission on Earth is to hear anything ever recorded by Morrissey.

That's what I've been doing ever since.

 

[celibate cries]

Let me point this out first i always knew who Morrissey and The Smiths were!
but blah blah i was watching Jonathan Ross one evening and Morrissey was there talking and i could not take my eyes of him (proberly to do with the red jacket )but anyway i loved the two songs he played and basically i had everything in the space of a few months, a sad fact but i now see my life before and after morrissey

 

[Ambrosia]

I think your answers are v. interesting, not only because they include a lot of particular details about your life (job, music, books, there's your life in every story!), but also because they show the different role media has or has not played to "convert" you. So for some it has been a strange coincidence a Dj played a Smiths songs, for others (in Chile!) the radio was broadcasting a lot of Smiths or Moz tracks...Some watched video at TOTP or other tv programmes, others didn't know who Moz was. Well, I guess anyway media haven't promoted and don't promote Moz in the same way in the same years everywhere...Here in Italy I almost never listened to Smiths or Moz songs on the radio and I don't like radio programmes either: I've always discovered good, not commercial artists in other ways, for example reading reviews on the web or on the magazines. On tv I've watched some videos, but v.v.seldom. The first video I saw was Panic on Polish Viva channel.

 

[Lilac 1]

Very interesting to read all these stories. I'm supposed to be working so mine will have to be quick...Heard "The boy with the thorn in his side" on whistle test back in 1985 and fell in love with the song, the image the band had, the vocals ..oh just everything really. Obviously I brought the single and that kick started my obsession and desire to purchase everything released before and after. Over 20 years down the line I'm still the same. Moz's work totally stands the test of time to me and his work has been a soundtrack to my life , I guess , really.

 

[Denia]

Didn't know who The Smiths were until my second year of middle school. My math teacher at the time (who became my social studies teacher the next year) was a big fan. I remember him talking about them- then sometime later about Mozzer and became interested. When I told him of my new discovery in the world of music, he gave me a hug. I was like "alright, if it really means that much..." lol At the time I really didn't know how much meeting a fellow fan meant.

 

[Seasick]

It was 1984 and listening to KROQ in L.A. when HSIN came on the radio. I followed by going to the record store and bought the single. Girl Afraid was on the B side. Both songs spoke to me. At the time it seemed like everyone had a mate but me. The girls I did meet always sent me mixed signals, that is why Girl Afraid really caught my attention. It was a difficult time in my life and his words seemed to soothe me. In the years since I've bought all the tapes and later upgraded everything to CD's. No other artist comes close. Ioved his music at first listen and loved everything since.