The Smiths discography explained

Artist:The Smiths
Studio:4
Live:1
Compilation:10
Video:1
Music Videos:13
Ep:3
Singles:24

The English alternative rock band the Smiths released four studio albums, one live album, 10 compilation albums, three extended plays (EPs), 24 singles, one video album and 13 music videos on the Rough Trade, Sire and WEA record labels. The band was formed in 1982 in Manchester by vocalist Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, bass player Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce.

The Smiths' debut single was "Hand in Glove" (May 1983); it failed to chart. Its follow-up, "This Charming Man" (October 1983), met with critical approval and reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1984 the band reached number 12 in the UK with the single "What Difference Does It Make?" and went to number two on the UK Albums Chart with their debut album, The Smiths. Their next three singles all went into the top 20 of the charts in the UK, helping to consolidate their previous chart success. The next studio album, Meat Is Murder (1985), reached the top of the British charts; the only single to be released from the album, "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" (1985), failed to break into the UK Top 40. The Smiths' next six singles all made the top 30 in the UK, and their third album, The Queen Is Dead (1986), climbed to number two in the UK.

Despite the Smiths' chart success, Marr left the group in August 1987 because of a strained relationship with Morrissey. Failing to find a replacement, the Smiths disbanded by the time of the release of their final studio album, Strangeways, Here We Come, in September that year. Strangeways, Here We Come climbed to number two in the UK and became the band's highest-charting release in the United States when it reached number 55 on the Billboard 200. During their time together, as well as four studio albums, the Smiths also released three compilation albums (Hatful of Hollow, The World Won't Listen and Louder Than Bombs), while a live album Rank, recorded in 1986, was released in 1988 a year after the band split. In early 1992 WEA acquired the entire back catalogue of the Smiths and produced two compilations – Best I and Best II – the first of which went to the top of the UK Albums Chart. The following year, 1993, WEA re-released the four studio albums, Rank and the three earlier compilation albums. WEA released two further singles compilations in 1995 and 2001, with a further compilation, The Sound of The Smiths, released in November 2008.

Albums

Studio albums

Title! scope="col" rowspan="2"
Album detailsPeak chart positionsCertifications
UK
UK
Indie

[1]
AUS
[2]
CANGER
NL
NZ
SWE
US
US Cash Box
[3]
The Smiths
  • Released: 20 February 1984
  • Label: Rough Trade
  • Formats: LP, cassette, CD
217765
28944150129
  • UK: Gold
Meat Is Murder
  • Released: 11 February 1985
  • Label: Rough Trade
  • Formats: LP, cassette, CD
115840
4539132711073
  • UK: Gold
The Queen Is Dead
  • Released: 16 June 1986
  • Label: Rough Trade
  • Formats: LP, cassette, CD
213029
331117397059
  • UK: Platinum
  • US: Gold
Strangeways, Here We Come
  • Released: 28 September 1987
  • Label: Rough Trade
  • Formats: LP, cassette, CD
212827
332014135529
  • UK: Gold
  • US: Gold

Live albums

Title! scope="col" rowspan="2"
Album detailsPeak chart positionsCertifications
(sales thresholds)
UK
UK
Indie

AUS
CAN
GER
NL
NZ
SWE
US
US Cash Box
Rank 213382474225327754
  • UK: Gold

Compilation albums

Title! scope="col" rowspan="2"
Album detailsPeak chart positionsCertifications
(sales thresholds)
UK
AUS
CANGER
IRE
NL
NZ
NOR
SWE
US
Hatful of Hollow
  • Released: 12 November 1984
  • Label: Rough Trade
  • Formats: LP, cassette, CD
791
2128
  • UK: Platinum
The World Won't Listen
  • Released: 23 February 1987
  • Label: Rough Trade
  • Formats: LP, cassette, CD
2254115161719
  • UK: Gold
Louder Than Bombs
  • Released: 30 March 1987
  • Labels: Rough Trade, Sire
  • Formats: LP, cassette, CD
3830
62
  • UK: Gold
  • US: Gold
Stop Me
  • Released: 21 January 1988 (Japan only)
  • Label: RCA Victor
  • Formats: CD
Best I
  • Released: 17 August 1992
  • Label: WEA
  • Formats: LP, cassette, CD
16436
5674153545139
  • UK: Gold
Best II
  • Released: 2 November 1992
  • Label: WEA
  • Formats: LP, cassette, CD
29190
  • UK: Gold
Singles
  • Released: 20 February 1995
  • Label: WEA
  • Format: CD
513426
  • UK: Platinum
The Very Best of The Smiths
  • Released: 4 June 2001
  • Label: WEA
  • Format: CD
3034
  • UK: Platinum
The Sound of The Smiths
  • Released: 10 November 2008
  • Label: WEA
  • Format: CD
21
1142898
  • UK: 2× Platinum
The Smiths Singles Box
  • Released: 8 December 2008
  • Label: WEA
  • Formats: 12 × 7" vinyl, 12 × CD
Complete
  • Released: 26 September 2011
    3 October 2011
  • Label: Rhino
  • Formats: 8 × CD, 8 × LP, 8 × CD + 8 × LP + 25 × 7" vinyl + DVD
6375
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Extended plays

Title! rowspan="2"
EP detailsPeak chart positions
UK
Indie

GIV 1
The 12" Mixes
  • Released: 1988
  • Label: Rough Trade
  • Formats: cassette, CD
The Peel Sessions 9

Singles

Title! scope="col" rowspan="2"
YearPeak chart positionsCertifications
Album
UK
UK
Indie

AUS
IRE
NZ
[4]
US Dance
"Hand in Glove"19833Non-album single later included on Hatful of Hollow
"This Charming Man"2515215
  • UK: 2× Platinum
Non-album single later included on Best I
"What Difference Does It Make?"198412112
  • UK: Silver
The Smiths
"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"10111
  • UK: Gold
Hatful of Hollow
"William, It Was Really Nothing"1718
"How Soon Is Now?"198524153936
  • UK: Platinum
"Shakespeare's Sister"26111Non-album single later included on The World Won't Listen
"Barbarism Begins at Home"Meat Is Murder
"The Headmaster Ritual"
"That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore"49120
"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"231154649
  • UK: Silver
The Queen Is Dead
"Bigmouth Strikes Again"198626140
  • UK: Gold
"Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others"
"Panic"1117
  • UK: Silver
The World Won't Listen
"Ask"1419
"Shoplifters of the World Unite"19871217
"Sheila Take a Bow"1013Louder Than Bombs
"Girlfriend in a Coma"1311229Strangeways, Here We Come
"I Started Something I Couldn't Finish"23213
"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me"30217
"Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before"9131
"This Charming Man" 199281089
  • UK: 2× Platinum
Best I
"How Soon Is Now?" 16190
  • UK: Platinum
"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"2517622
  • UK: Platinum
Best II
"Ask" 199562Singles
"Sweet and Tender Hooligan"Louder Than Bombs
"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" 2017The Queen Is Dead
"The Queen Is Dead"85

Other certified releases

Title! scope="col"
YearCertifications
(sales thresholds)
Album
"Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want"2019
  • UK: Gold
Hatful of Hollow / Louder Than Bombs
"This Night Has Opened My Eyes"2024
  • UK: Silver
"Back to the Old House"2024
  • UK: Silver

Other album appearances

Title! scope="col"
YearAlbum
"Bigmouth Strikes Again" (Live)2013The Old Grey Whistle Test: The Anthems

Video albums

Title! scope="col"
Album detailsCertification
The Complete Picture
  • UK: Platinum

Music videos

Year! scope="col"
TitleDirector(s)Notes
"How Soon Is Now?"1985Paula Grief and Richard Levine
"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"Ken O'Neill
"The Queen Is Dead"/"Panic"/"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"1986Derek JarmanA short film made for the 1986 Edinburgh Festival.
"Panic"A promo video for the "Panic" single was made using a mixture of concert footage and footage from Jarman's film.
"Ask"
"Shoplifters of the World Unite"1987Tamra DavisCombines footage of The Smiths on The Tube in April 1987 with footage from the film A Place in the Sun.
"Sheila Take a Bow"
"Girlfriend in a Coma"Tim Broad
"Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before"Video produced for a single whose release was cancelled.
"I Started Something I Couldn't Finish"Promo video released after The Smiths had split, which recycles footage from the "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" video.
"Ask" (live)1988Peter FowlerPromo video produced to promote the Rank live album.
"This Charming Man"1992UnknownUses footage originally shot for the Tyne Tees Television show The Tube in 1983.
"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"Tim BroadRecycles footage from the "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" promo video.

Sources

. Tony Fletcher. A Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga of the Smiths. 2012. Random House. London. 978-1-4090-3860-3.

. Simon Goddard. Songs That Saved Your Life. 2002. Reynolds & Hearn. London. 978-1-903111-47-5.

. Simon Goddard. Mozipedia: The Encyclopaedia of Morrissey and the Smiths. 2009. Ebury Publishing. London. 978-0-09-192709-7.

. Kent Music Report: Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6.

. Colin Larkin (writer). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. 2011. Omnibus Press. London. 978-0-85712-595-8.

. Johnny Rogan. Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance. 1993. Omnibus. London. 978-0-7119-3000-1. registration.

. Martin C. Strong. The Great Rock Discography. 2004. Canongate Books. Edinburgh. 978-1-84195-551-3.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Lazell, Barry. Indie Hits 1980–1989'. Cherry Red Books. 1997. 0-9517206-9-4.
  2. Australian chart peaks:

    . David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 279. N.B. The Kent Music Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 5 June 1988.

    • Top 50 (ARIA) peaks from 6 June 1988: Web site: Discography The Smiths. australian-charts.com. 5 July 2024.
    • Top 100 (ARIA) peaks from January 1990 to December 2010: Book: Ryan, Gavin. Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. 2011. Moonlight Publishing. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia. PDF. 257.
    • All ARIA-era peaks to 27 May 2021: Web site: The Smiths chart history, received from ARIA on 27 May 2021. ARIA. Imgur.com. 5 July 2024. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column indicates the release's peak on the national chart.
  3. Web site: CASH BOX MAGAZINE: Music and coin machine magazine 1942 to 1996. 2020-07-21. worldradiohistory.com.
  4. https://charts.nz/search.asp?cat=s&artist=the+smith&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts charts.org.nz - New Zealand charts portal