WHY I LOVE…
The Smiths Hand In Glove
“The very first piece of vinyl I bought for myself was the single for Hand In Glove by the Smiths. that’s really pretentious, isn’t it? Oh, The Smiths! But at the time, they shaped everything you wanted to do and be. that band was a world you just dove into; you couldn’t get enough of it. People have this image now that they were performing at Wembley Stadium back then, that they were huge; but they weren’t. They did one night at Brixton Academy. Radio 1 wouldn’t play them. Being a fan was a club, a very private club – that was part of the attraction.
“I first got into them through my brother. I’m the youngest of three boys. When I was growing up, I shared a room with the eldest one. It’s the stereotypical story.Through the 80s, he bought records: all of the Rough Trade releases, all of the Factory albums. He purchased them all, so I never had to get any of my own. He got older stuff, too: The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Miles Davis, Muddy Waters – all of that from the age of about 11 to 12. I was quite lucky to hear all of those artists early on.”