ELEGANZA
The Smiths broke up recently. No need for tears. The Smiths were a fine band, sure, but I doubt they made your life—and if they did you’re in the minority. About the time the Smiths first came to the States, back in late ’83, Paul Weller broke up the Jam.
ELEGANZA
THE GREAT ENGLISH ROCK GROUP by Iman Lababedi
The Smiths broke up recently. No need for tears. The Smiths were a fine band, sure, but I doubt they made your life—and if they did you’re in the minority. About the time the Smiths first came to the States, back in late ’83, Paul Weller broke up the Jam. No need for tears. The Jam never made it big in the States; their fifth LP, The Gift, entered the English charts at #1 and didn’t make a dent Stateside.
There’ll always be bands who make it at home but don’t travel very well; yet not the way the Jam and the Smiths did. No less an authority than England’s legendary rock critic Nick Kent has dubbed the Smiths the only important new group of the ’80s. If you didn’t follow the Jam from mod-clad Who-influenced conservatives to social signifiers for white kids on liberalism, then trust me. Because they were. And they were very important.