Archives for January 2022

Certain Songs #2282: The Smiths – “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle”

January 31, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: The Smiths
Year: 1984

. . .

“Ceiling shadows shimmy by”

In one of the great origin stories of any band, The Smiths formed when Johnny Marr knocked on the door of a guy he didn’t really know, Steven Morrissey, and basically said “here I am, let’s make records!”

That meeting was brokered by a mutual friend, and while Morrissey & Marr had met briefly before — at a Patti Smith concert of all things — they didn’t know how much they had in common until they started playing records for each other. In both of their autobiographies, they each describe the connection as instant and life-changing.

Certain Songs #2281: The Smiths – “You’ve Got Everything Now”

January 30, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: The Smiths
Year: 1984

. . .

What a terrible mess I’ve made of my life

And so, it came to pass that I purchased the purchased the eponymous debut album by The Smiths in early 1984. At the time, of course, I had no idea that what I held in my hands was actually their second attempt at recording it, having scrapped the original version as produced by Troy Tate.

And while John Porter’s production on The Smiths is kind of suspect, I think it’s still better than what they recorded with Troy Tate, as well as the BBC versions of the same songs that ended up on Hatful of Hollow later in the year. Your mileage may vary.

Certain Songs #2280: The Smiths – “What Difference Does It Make?”

January 29, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Single, 1984

. . .

Your prejudice won’t keep you warm tonight

Shortly after I bought “This Charming Man,” The Smiths put out their third single, “What Difference Does it Make?” which I once again procured from the import section at Tower Records, possibly helped by an employee who I only ever knew as “Steph.” That may or may not be true, but I do have a memory of her skipping down the aisles single along to this song, which is probably also false. Sorry, gang, but remember this was 1984, a very very very very long time ago.

Certain Songs #2279: The Smiths – “This Charming Man”

January 28, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Single, 1983

. . .

I would go out tonight, but I haven’t got a stitch to wear

“This Charming Man” just might be my favorite Smiths song.

I’m going to begin at the beginning. Or at least, my beginning, as “This Charming Man” was the second Smiths single, after “Hand in Glove,” but because it was the first Smiths song I ever heard, and they’re one of my all-time favorite bands, this is where we are starting. And the rest of these posts will be in order of how these songs came into my life, which from here on out, basically coincides with how they were released.

Certain Songs #2278: The Smithereens – “Drown in My Own Tears”

January 27, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Green Thoughts
Year: 1988

. . .

The Smithereens were a prime example of a band that I should have loved a lot more than I did. Specializing in riff-driven power-pop with big hooks, they should have been right up my ally. But they weren’t, even though I tried to get into them, I never did like one of the full-length albums from start to finish.

Certain Songs #2277: The Smashing Pumpkins – “1979”

January 26, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Year: 1995

. . .

The thing, of course, about sprawling double-albums — especially in the CD era where they were off the equivalent of a 3-disc vinyl record — is that you get a chance to stretch out, do tracks that aren’t necessarily what the fans expect.

And so with that freedom Billy Corgan wrote an absolutely tremendous pop single, which literally sounded like nothing his band had yet done, a song that was comparable to The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” especially in how it restricted a world-class inventive drummer to playing the simplest 4/4.

Certain Songs #2276: The Smashing Pumpkins – “Muzzle”

January 25, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness
Year: 1995

. . .

Probably because they’d written and recorded nearly 60 songs for Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness, it was a much more organic recording process than when they made Siamese Dream, as James Iha and D’arcy Wretzky got to contribute their own guitar and bass parts, though Billy Corgan would still obsessively overdub a zillion guitars on every song.

Certain Songs #2275: The Smashing Pumpkins – “Tonight, Tonight”

January 24, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Year: 1995

. . .

And so Siamese Dream was a smashing success, making it to #10 on the U.S. charts and #4 in the U.K. charts, and Billy Corgan became the latest of that early-90s trend of reluctant rock stars, who railed against the success they were having. All I can say is thank the gods for Oasis, who blew that shit right out of the water, but in the years before that, it was a real trend: artists selling millions of records getting really pissed off at the people who bought their records, even as they were taking full advantage of the artistic freedom all of those sales brought them.

Certain Songs #2274: The Smashing Pumpkins – “Spaceboy”

January 23, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Siamese Dream
Year: 1993

. . .

It must mean something, but I don’t exactly know what, that Billy Corgan got two of Siamese Dream’s most affecting ballads out of his fucked-up childhood, and each one is completely different from the other.

“Disarm,” the one about his abusive parents. is an absolutely anthemic piece of music, building inexorably towards its climax. But the other, “Spaceboy,” stays etherial and quiet throughout.

Certain Songs #2273: The Smashing Pumpkins – “Mayonaise”

January 22, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Siamese Dream
Year: 1993

. . .

As legend — not to mention a bunch of stories at the time — has it, the sessions for Siamese Dream were fraught, to say the least. In a lot of respects, it a miracle that they finished the record at all. Not only was Billy Corgan suffering from writer’s block and suicidal ideation, guitarist James Iha & bassist D’arcy Wretzky had recently broken up. Oh, and drummer Jimmy Chamberlain had become a heroin addict, often disappearing for days at time, which was a problem, since he was the only other member that the dictatorial perfectionist Corgan would let play on the record.