That was a common misconception, and still remains so. The Smiths are
regarded by some as depressing and morose but if people actually listen to
more than Morrissey's tone of voice they discover a whole slew of sparkling
melodies, some fantastic guitar playing and a whole load of humorous lyrics.

The Queen Is Dead may have I Know It's Over on it but it also has Vicar In A
Tutu.

They passed me by at the time but I now regard them as one of the best bands
of the 80's.
Mark

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Bennett" <mrhonorama@hotmail.com>
To: <audities@smoe.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2003 2:08 PM
Subject: Re: Bad First Impressions


> Morrissey's vocals were a tough nut for me to crack too -- while I liked
> some Smiths singles, his voice and what I, at the time, perceived to be
> pretentious attitude-filled lyrics, were a turn off.  However, upon
finding
> out what a major Sparks fan Morrissey was, I was able to realize that
lyrics
> like "Now I know how Joan of Arc felt" (from "Bigmouth Strikes Again")
were
> meant to be funny.  Totally turned things around for me.
>
> Mike Bennett
>
> p.s. -- Mark -- give the Sparks new one another chance -- it may be one of
> those that will need a few listens.  Of course, even then it might not be
> your cup of joe -- while it draws from a lot of things they have done in
> their past, it is a unique recording within their own peculiar history...
>
>
>
> Record reviews and more at http://fufkin.com
>
>
>
>
>
> >From: "Mark Eichelberger" <markeichelberger@comcast.net>
> >Reply-To: audities@smoe.org
> >To: "Audities" <audities@smoe.org>
> >Subject: Bad First Impressions
> >Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 08:40:12 -0400
> >
> >Mike Bennett wrote:
> >"Does anyone else have this happen -- a first impression so bad that you
> >have a hard time ever getting back to the artist's music -- Yo La Tengo
and
> >Nick
> >Cave are two other artists who immediately come to mind for me..."
> >
> >Great question Mike.  I clearly remember that when I heard the first
Smiths
> >album, I absolutely hated it.  I even referred to Morrissey as "Lettuce
> >Head" due to both his strident vegetarianism and simply because I thought
> >he was an insipid whiner.  It took a while, but with a few more albums
and
> >Johnny Marr's melodies, I really began to appreciate the band.  And I now
> >really enjoy both the sharp attack and the droll humor in Morrissey's
> >lyrics.
> >
> >Mark
>
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