The Smiths’ fourth single, Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now, arrived in stores in May 1984. The first new song the band issued following the release of their acclaimed self-titled debut album in February of that year, it was immediately snapped-up by their ardent fan base, gifting The Smiths their first UK Top 10 hit. However, while this blissful yet bittersweet song sounded effortless, it was actually the end result of the band’s first trip to the US: an ill-fated midwinter sojourn which didn’t go as planned.
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The backstory: “I was like, Where the hell did this come from?”
The Smiths had flown to New York City late in December 1983. As one of the UK’s fastest-rising bands, they were due to play a series of introductory East Coast dates, but while they were able to perform at New York’s Danceteria on New Year’s Eve, drummer Mike Joyce was struck down with an especially debilitating flu, forcing the group to cancel the remainder of their scheduled shows.
Guitarist Johnny Marr, however, was determined to salvage something from the group’s first trip to the Big Apple – and he did so by holding Sire Records’ boss Seymour Stein to a promise he’d made while courting The Smiths just weeks earlier.
“Seymour Stein took us out to dinner, to wine and dine us,” Marr told NME in 2013. “He was telling me about when he took [The Rolling Stones’] Brian Jones to get a guitar in New York, so I saw my opportunity right there.”
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Marr replied to this anecdote by agreeing to sign The Smiths to Sire in the US if the record mogul also bought him a guitar. “In a moment of weakness, he took the bait and he said, ‘Sure. I’ll get you a guitar.’” Marr recalled. “So, true to his word, although I had to wait around all day, we went over to 48th Street.” Known locally as “Music Row”, 48th Street was where such legendary shops as Manny’s Music, Sam Ash Music and Greco’s Custom Guitars could once be found – and it was where Marr saw a striking, red Gibson ES-355 practically “glowing” in a store window.
Stein duly purchased the guitar for Marr, who felt he ought to repay his new label boss’ trust by writing a song on it. Taking the instrument back to his Manhattan hotel room, Marr got to work instantly: the first thing he played after lifting the guitar from its case was the intro and main riff to Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now. “I was like, Where the hell did this come from?” he later said. “I’d better turn it into a song.”
