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Fact #159571

When:

Short story:

Bassist Andy Rourke is fired from UK indie band The Smiths because his heroin problems have made him unreliable.

Full article:

Johnny Marr (guitarist, The Smiths) : I was in constant contact with Andy. There wasn't any specific moment, except that we were getting ready to go on this tour, Andy was out, and Andy had come round to mine. He left my house and went down the drive with his bass, and it was the saddest fucking day of my life. I was in tears. For him.

There was never any goodbye forever; it was kind of, ‘Get your shit together’, but our resolve on that lasted about a week. It just wasn't right. We’d met Craig; he'd come round to my place, he was young, I liked him - and I told him, ‘How do you fancy playing bass?' He said, ‘I think I can get my head round doing that'.

Craig Gannon : He played me the new single, Bigmouth Strikes Again, and also the b-side, Money Changes Everything. We went downstairs and I was then introduced to (drummer) Mike Joyce. We had something to eat and drink, then me and Johnny started playing guitar together. He showed me the song Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others. We then played a couple of Stones’ songs.

Johnny then told me about Andy’s drug problem, and that it was getting out of hand. He said, ‘If you want to play bass in The Smiths, the job is yours now, but I know you’re a guitar player, so we could find another bass player and you could play guitar.

Johnny Marr : And then, within what seemed like hours, Andy was back, which felt right - and very simply, I didn't have the heart to tell this young guy that he'd been in The Smiths for two weeks and now he was out. But it was like, ‘All right - the material's getting a little more complex for a guitar player, this could work out okay'.

Andy Catlin: I think Morrissey started to change quite substantially. I think he became a bit ... not power-mad, but a control freak. I think it was a difficult time for everyone. That period was a turning-point.

Johnny Marr : We told him to sling his hook and then, a week later he got himself busted.

Andy Rourke : I used to drive all the way to Oldham 'cos I thought it was safer than Moss Side. I'd just arrived at this dealer's house, and then the door came crashing down and about 20 undercover police dived in. Apparently, they'd been surveying the place for six months. It was a massive drugs ring that started in Nigeria, and this dealer was at the bottom of the ladder. The day before, I'd tried to dye my hair blonde, and it had gone orange. I looked like Cilla Black. When they arrested me, they put me in the cells. I always remember the little slot opening and The Police sniggering, 'Look at his hair!' It was about a week after Boy George had got busted. He stole the headlines, thankfully. But I was on News At Ten.

Johnny Marr : His girlfriend had been phoning during the night, which was very weird: ‘Andy's not come back. I'm really nervous; this is really heavy'. We just twigged that something had gone on. He phoned me Saturday morning, and came over Saturday night. He was completely in shock.

I think we all rallied round him because of the bust. He needed his mates. So he was back in. And we had the opportunity to expand our sound.

Morrissey : His leaving seemed more wrong than his staying. When he left he became even more depressed than when he was with the group … It was getting quite serious. So he really had to come back.

Johnny Marr : I didn't think of it betraying our classicism, or our aesthetic. It was a way of being able to move out of the constrictions that we'd imposed on ourselves. Plus, we had to be better in the states, 'cos they didn't get the event as much, And the venues were much bigger. We were playing arenas, and the sound needed to be expanded.

Johnny Marr : It didn't work out with Craig, but looking back, the novelty of having someone new in, and it breaking up the collective psyche of those people, it was quite a good thing; a breath of fresh air.