Hi and welcome to my blog! 

I've been obsessed with The Smiths since stumbling across them by chance in December 1983. I was tuning in my small black and white portable TV when I came across what I now know to be The Smiths, live at the Assembly Rooms in Derby. It was a genuine life changing moment. I was transfixed, sitting cross legged and open mouthed on my bedroom floor trying to process what I was watching and hearing. Granted the vocals - guitar - bass - drums set up was nothing new but the sound and look bore no resemblance to anything I'd heard or seen before.

The camera was understandably focused on the singer. He was wearing an open baggy shirt, badly fitting jeans with beads around his neck. What struck me first was the way he was behaving on the petal strewn stage, contorting his body into a range of different shapes whilst at the same time waving a bunch of flowers around. This was a long, long way from those emotionless synth groups I had been used to watching on Top of the Pops every Thursday evening. Then there was the hair. I'd never seen anyone with anything vaguely similar. Not in Harrow anyway. 

My attention turned to the guitarist. He was, without a doubt, the coolest person I'd ever seen. He looked quite small behind a gorgeous black and white Rickenbacker. He appeared glued to the stage, occasionally glancing sideways at the singer. His dark mop of hair reminded me of Peter Tork of The Monkees (I'd yet to discover Brian Jones).

The bassist on the other side of the stage looked equally cool: great haircut, standing stock-still deep in concentration. I didn't get to see much of the drummer, all that I noticed was that he was wearing a vest. Most importantly, like all the great groups, they looked like a gang.

I couldn't place any obvious musical influences, but one thing I did know was that it sounded perfect, just perfect. The audience was full of people waving flowers, throwing them towards the stage. Arms were outstretched, desperately attempting to make some physical contact with the singer. You could see and feel the passion.

The programme flew by and before I knew it the crowd had invaded the stage. The group kept playing and the credits rolled. Suddenly there it was, the information I so urgently needed:

The Smiths

Morrissey - vocals

Johnny Marr - guitar

Andy Rourke - bass

Mike Joyce - drums

And my life changed forever. From that moment on The Smiths became a very important part of my life. My obsession hasn't wavered over the last forty-three years, if anything I think it's getting stronger as the years pass by.

A few years back I wrote a book about locations in London linked to The Smiths. It included venues, studios, homes and some obscure other spots that I hoped would be of interest to Smiths' fans. Since then I've also tracked down locations in Manchester.

My main driver behind discovering these places is a concern that as years go by, some of them may be forgotten. As you will discover there are numerous locations in and around Manchester and London where some incredible events occurred, but as I write, there doesn’t appear to be much, if any, enthusiasm for ensuring they are commemorated. I hope this blog goes a little way to ensuring that future generations don’t lose sight of where some life-changing events occurred.

I don’t intend to tell the Smiths story. Other people have done this and I’d point you in the direction of Tony Fletcher’s ‘A Light That Never Goes Out’ (Windmill Books) and Simon Goddard’s ‘Songs That Saved Your Life’ (Titan Books) both of which are great informative reads.

What I plan to do is update the blog once a week or so until I've included all the seventy plus sites that I've tracked down.

I hope you enjoy discovering or revisiting these places. There is something special about standing outside a building where you know an incredible event occurred, it still gives me a buzz and I don’t think that will ever stop.

Take care

Paul

June 2026