Andy Rourke

Andrew Michael "Andy" Rourke (born on 17 January 1964) is an English musician, best known as the bassist for the Smiths, an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. The band consisted of vocalist Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce.

Career

Rourke received an acoustic guitar from his parents when he was seven years old. At age 11 he befriended a young John Maher (the future Johnny Marr) with whom he shared an interest in music. The pair spent lunch breaks in school jamming and playing on their guitars. When Marr and Rourke formed a band, he invited Rourke (still then a guitarist) to try on bass, which he fell in love with and he stuck with ever since. At age 15 Rourke abandoned school. He passed through a series of menial jobs and played guitar and bass in various rock bands, as well as in the short lived funk band Freak Party, with his school friend Johnny Marr.

Marr later teamed up with Morrissey to form the Smiths. Rourke joined the band after its first gig, and remained through most of its existence. Rourke was briefly sacked from the band, allegedly receiving the news in a note left under the windscreen wiper of his car: "Andy, you have left the Smiths. Good luck and goodbye, Morrissey". Morrissey has denied this. In May 1986, Rourke rejoined the Smiths, just before they recorded The Queen Is Dead. Marr described Rourke's contribution to that album as "something no other bass player could match". The Smiths released Strangeways, Here We Come in 1987 to critical acclaim, but split soon after.

The Smiths

The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. The band consisted of vocalist Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce. Critics have called them the most important alternative rock band to emerge from the British independent music scene of the 1980s. Q magazine's Simon Goddard argued in 2007 that The Smiths were "the one truly vital voice of the '80s", "the most influential British guitar group of the decade" and the "first indie outsiders to achieve mainstream success on their own terms". The NME named the Smiths the "most influential artist ever" in a 2002 poll.

Based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Marr, the group signed to the independent record label Rough Trade Records, on which they released four studio albums, The Smiths (1984), Meat Is Murder (1985), The Queen Is Dead (1986) and Strangeways, Here We Come (1987). Four of their albums (including three studio albums) appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. They have also released several compilations, and numerous non-LP singles.

Johnny Marr

HIDDEN ERROR: Usage of "fansite" is not recognized

Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher; 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. Between 1982 and 1987 he was the guitarist and – with Morrissey – co-songwriter of The Smiths, an English rock band formed in Manchester. Critics have called them the most important alternative rock band to emerge from the British independent music scene of the 1980s. Q magazine's Simon Goddard argued in 2007 that the Smiths were "the most influential British guitar group of the decade" and the "first indie outsiders to achieve mainstream success on their own terms".NME named The Smiths the "most influential artist ever" in a 2002 poll, even topping The Beatles.

Marr has also been a member of Electronic, an alternative dance supergroup formed with New Order singer and guitarist Bernard Sumner; The The, an English musical and multimedia group led by singer/songwriter Matt Johnson; Modest Mouse, an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington; and The Cribs, an English three-piece indie rock band originally from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. As well, he has worked as a prolific session musician. In 2013, he released a solo album titled The Messenger (2013).

Andy

Andy may refer to:

Names

Places

Fictional characters

Music

Others

See also

Michael Joyce

Michael or Mike Joyce may refer to: