Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

Speaking of Brits, as I do below, I've been on a bit of a Smiths bender lately. Simon Goddard's The Smiths: Songs That Saved Your Life is an amazing, exhaustive piece of work, examining every song Morrissey/Marr/Rourke/Joyce ever laid down - and not just their recorded careers, but the songs' lives in concert, on radio, and on the tube as well. "How Soon Is Now" gets 6 (well-warranted) pages. This book is full of insight and info, and is utterly splendid in its further illumination of the Smiths' legacy. Then there's the "Mojo Special Edition" on Morrissey & the Smiths, which is full of great storytelling, new interviews (with all but Mozzer), and fine critical evaluation. And, of course, there are all those brilliant albums.