the Smiths - Meat Is Murder (30th anniversary)

Tomorrow (February 11th) is the 30th anniversary of Meat Is Murder, the second studio album from the Smiths. It went to number 110 on the US Billboard Album chart (with a thirty-two week total run on the chart), number 58 in Australia, number 45 in Germany, number 40 in Canada, number 39 in the Netherlands, number 27 in Sweden, number 13 in New Zealand, and number 1 in the UK.

For my full review, click here.

Happy Birthday, Andy Rourke

Happy forty-eighth birthday today (January 17) to bass guitarist Andy Rourke.

Born in Manchester, England, Rourke received his first guitar at age 7. At age 11, he made friends with a young John Maher (who would later use the studio name Johnny Marr). At age 15, Rourke dropped out of school to work and play in music; one of the first bands he belonged to was a funk group called Freak Party.

the Smiths - Meat Is Murder

Meat Is Murder was the second studio release from British alternative band the Smiths. This 1985 album (from February 11th of that year), produced by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr, was the band's only number one charted UK album. And while its sales in the US were marginal (it only reached number 110 on the Billboard Album chart), it was a critical favorite. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at number 295 on its 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time list.