Fact #159568
When:
Short story:
As The Smiths begin a short tour of Ireland at The National Stadium, Dublin, Eire, Europe, it becomes evident that bassist Andy Rourke’s heroin habit is damaging their performances.
Full article:
Andy Rourke (bassist, The Smiths) : Heroin had been there, on and off, since I was 18. But I was getting a decent amount of money, which made it easier to keep scoring. At one point, I was spending a couple of hundred quid a day.
I was a bit fucked up, but I also had the worst roadie in the world. Throughout the set, me and Johnny used two tunings: one in F sharp and one in E, 'cos of Morrissey's range. Out of four or five gigs, this guy got it right once. I'd say, Right … There Is A Light That Never Goes Out. Pass me the one in F sharp. He'd pass me the E bass, and I'd be a tone out. I'd try it, but it'd be like Les Dawson.
Johnny Marr (guitarist, The Smiths) : It was one of the reasons mine and his relationship went adrift and I ended up on my own, trying to form a group in the first place. It was around a street level; it was no longer, as happens with all substances, the domain of rock stars and tortured artists. But it wasn't a sinister presence; he wasn't a sinister person. I was upset about it, but not in a moral or judgemental way.
There comes a time when a line is crossed; when he's not playing the bass in the right tuning. I can understand him going, ‘How petty' - but with other people in other situations, it wouldn't have even got to two years, three years, four years - they would have taken some moral stance on it, which we didn't and wouldn't have done. It got serious because we were being told by a couple of people around the band, 'You don't really sound very good'. And he was off the case - you couldn't communicate with him.
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I was a bit fucked up, but I also had the worst roadie in the world. Throughout the set, me and Johnny used two tunings: one in F sharp and one in E, 'cos of Morrissey's range. Out of four or five gigs, this guy got it right once. I'd say, Right … There Is A Light That Never Goes Out. Pass me the one in F sharp. He'd pass me the E bass, and I'd be a tone out. I'd try it, but it'd be like Les Dawson.
Johnny Marr (guitarist, The Smiths) : It was one of the reasons mine and his relationship went adrift and I ended up on my own, trying to form a group in the first place. It was around a street level; it was no longer, as happens with all substances, the domain of rock stars and tortured artists. But it wasn't a sinister presence; he wasn't a sinister person. I was upset about it, but not in a moral or judgemental way.
There comes a time when a line is crossed; when he's not playing the bass in the right tuning. I can understand him going, ‘How petty' - but with other people in other situations, it wouldn't have even got to two years, three years, four years - they would have taken some moral stance on it, which we didn't and wouldn't have done. It got serious because we were being told by a couple of people around the band, 'You don't really sound very good'. And he was off the case - you couldn't communicate with him.