The Smiths Discussed Reuniting in 2008

Johnny Marr recently sat down with The Guardian for an interview that discussed the band’s history and his upcoming memoir Set the Boy Free, out November 15 via Dey Street Books (an imprint of HarperCollins). He also shared an excerpt from the memoir, which reveals that the Smiths were discussing a possible reunion in 2008.

While working on remastering the Smiths’ catalogue, he texted Morrissey and Andy Rourke of their music, “you can really hear the love in it.” He reveals that in September 2008, he met with Morrissey in a Manchester pub, and during the course of their meeting they began “talking about the possibility of the band re-forming.” Marr writes, “For four days it was a very real prospect.” He even talked to his band at the time, the Cribs, “about the possibility of [him] playing some shows with the Smiths.”

He continued to talk to Morrissey after the meeting, and they planned to meet up again, but after he and the Cribs went to Mexico, he says there was a sudden “radio silence” from Morrissey. “Our communication ended, and things went back to how they were and how I expect they always will be,” he writes. 

Elsewhere in the memoir excerpt, Marr talks about a brief period where he and Morrissey communicated about their mutual dislike of former Prime Minister David Cameron. Earlier this year, Cameron, a professed Smiths fan, misquoted the band in Parliament. You can read the memoir excerpt here. 

The Smiths broke up following the release of 1987’s Strangeways, Here We Come. Since then, most rumors of a possible reunion have been shot down by the band’s members. In a 2009 interview with BBC Radio 2, Morrissey said, “People always ask me about reunions and I can’t imagine why. It baffles me.” Marr acknowledges these reports in the memoir excerpt, writing, “There had been rumours for years that the Smiths were about to re-form, and they were always untrue. I had never pursued any offer.”

While the Smiths might not be reuniting anytime soon, unreleased music from Marr and Andy Rourke’s pre-Smiths band, Freak Party, is set to be released this year. 

Read our “5-10-15-20” interview with Johnny Marr, and “The Smiths Were Way More Subversive Than We (and David Cameron) Care to Remember” on the Pitch. 

Watch Pitchfork.tv’s “Liner Notes” for The Queen Is Dead:

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