The Smiths’ Mike Joyce on triumph, gladioli & Morrissey when he was still ‘Steve’
The Smiths’ Mike Joyce on triumph, gladioli & Morrissey when he was still ‘Steve’  
Podcast: Word In Your Ear
Published On: Sun Nov 02 2025
Description: Morrissey and Marr both wrote memoirs but Mike Joyce hasn’t read either, preferring to publish ‘The Drums’, his version of one of the great success stories of the ‘80s, a book about “the beauty we’d given to people – and to ourselves”. At one point he and Andy Rourke shout, ‘Where did it all go right?”. He looks back here at … … the fateful meeting in Geales fish bar when Johnny told them he was leaving – “none of us, not even Morrissey, saw it coming” … the first Smiths rehearsal and impressions of “Steve” the singer … how the songs were written - “we never asked what they meant” … and how they were arranged: “I locked with Johnny like Charlie with Keith, and Andy played a bass song over the top” ... memories of Johnny at X Clothes in Manchester and Morrissey in ‘82 - “funny, dark, so Manc” … the “almost anti-punk” appeal of the Buzzcocks and the urge for a John Maher red Premier drumkit … “Morrissey’s articulacy was both his strength and his Achilles heel” … echoes of Motown and James Honeyman-Scott in Marr’s guitar … “Singers need to feel they’re the most important person in the room” … on-stage gladioli versus “the austerity of the Hacienda” … and Morrissey today - “very angry” - and the legacy of the Smiths.   Order copies of ‘The Drums here: https://www.resident-music.com/product/joyce-mike-the-drumsHelp us to keep The Longest Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.