2006 03 Q Classic Morrissey and The Story of Manchester - Part 10 - Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke

WHAT DO I GET?

Smiths drummer Mike Joyce wanted to be a Buzzcock, but fate had something even more extraordinary in store. Johnny Black discovers an amazing trip with a muted comedown.

MIKE JOYCE’S untutored, dynamic percussion gave The Smiths a propulsive core that was as imaginative and eccentric as any Morrissey lyric. He and Johnny Marr, close friends and bandmates long before the formation of The Smiths, maintained an unshakeable friendship until the band's demise. That relationship, however, crumbled in 1996 when Joyce sued Morrissey and Marr in a bitter but successful legal action which secured him a 25 per cent share of the group’s performing-rights royalties. He has recently secured a recording deal for his new band with Birmingham punk songsmith Vinny Peculiar, and is about to begin DJ-ingon Manchester radio station Revolution Active.2.

Were you aware of Manchester’s rock heritage when you were young?

Not until I was 15 or 16. Prior to that I was more influenced by whatever my sister Anne was into, which was Bowie, Northern Soul, Roxy Music. I remember once being shown where the original Top Of The Pops studio had been, in Dickinson Road, but it had become a post office by then.

What was it that first made you want to be in a band?

I got into the Buzzcocks when I was 16 and that’s why I started playing drums. As soon as I saw them I was smitten by the whole thing of being in a band, playing to a crowd, songwriting, drumming. I got a red drumkit, to be like John Maher of the Buzzcocks. I kept my rack-tom flat. And my cymbals too, no angled cymbals for me. I wasn't trying to create my own style. I wanted to be John Maher.

What was the path that led to The Smiths?

I’d was playing with a band called Victim when the lad I lived with, Pete Hope, told me his mate, Johnny Marr, was looking for a drummer, and did I fancy going down to Spirit Studios in Tariff Street to have a play with them? I took a handful of mushrooms about 20 minutes before going in. We had a bit of a jam, they’d start playing a riff and I’d have to just fit in. I thought it sounded really good. Then the mushrooms started to kick in and I could see the Saturn V escape rocket flying between my feet, in one side of the bass drum and out the other. I thought, Oooh, that’s interesting...

Then Johnny said, “That’s great. We'll be in touch.” So if we’d played a couple more songs I’d probably never have been asked to join The Smiths.

What were your first impressions of Morrissey?

Morrissey was at the far end of the room with a long coat on, the classic Manchester overcoat, pacing up and down, looking at the floor with the microphone in his hand, like a caged bear. It weirded me out. He didn’t really speak to me, just looked over and said hello. Johnny was the go-between. He did all the communication.

What was the high point of The Smiths?

Hand In Glove. Morrissey said his life began with recording that song, and it was like that for me. When we listened back to it at Strawberry Studios, it was like we’d put into practice everything we’d learnt so far. I was thinking, Fuckin’ ’ell, 'ow good are we? If the band had split up right then, it wouldn't have mattered. We’d made one of the all-time great records.

And a low point?

There never was a real low point for me, but it's a shame we never had a manager who could have taken hold of the whole thing. We might not have split up when we did.

How do you now feel about the court case?

I think justice was done. I was on Income Support because all royalties were stopped until the case was decided. I had no money coming in. I sold my car, my bike, video camera... there was nothing much left to sell, but I had good friends who were making meals for us. All the money I had was going into the case.

What’s your current musical project?

Me and Andy started working with Vinny Peculiar, but Andy left last year. We’ve just got a record deal, so we’ll be going in soon to do the album. I'm also just about to start doing a radio show at Revolution Active.2. I just hope they’re not planning to put me up against Andy’s Xfm show on Saturday night.

Any likelihood of a Smiths reunion?

I asked Andy if he wanted me at the Manchester v Cancer gig, but he didn’t. I was a bit upset. He said, “Well, Johnny's gonna be there.” So I wrote to Johnny asking if he’d like me to play with them, just to put our past behind us just for the seven minutes of How Soon Is Now. He replied to my letter, but he didn't mention the gig. Then, when he was interviewed in The Times, they asked why he hadn’t given me a call. He said, “Well, there’s the court case.” So there’s not much chance of a reunion, no. ■

PRECISION TOOLED

He started out jamming with Curly Watts and ended up as a crucial element of the finest group of the ’80s. Johnny Black gets to grips with Andy Rourke, Smiths bassist and dark horse.

A SCHOOLMATE OF Johnny Marr’s, Andy Rourke was recruited to provide The Smiths’ throbbing but melodic pulse. He was sacked in 1986 because of heroin problems but soon returned to active duty. After the band’s demise, Rourke worked with Sinead O’Connor, The Pretenders, Badly Drawn Boy and others, and recently hit the headlines by organising the Manchester v Cancer concert, which saw him share the stage with Johnny Marr - fuelling (over-optimistic) rumours of a full reunion.

Were you very aware of Manchester’s rock heritage when you were young?

I remember 10cc being popular in the 70s, and I was aware of great Manchester bands like The Hollies, but what was more important when I was 15,16, was that I heard things like Joy Division and the Buzzcocks. I was a hippy, hair down my back, listening to Neil Young and folk music - Planxty, people like that. Johnny Marr was the same. We were the misfits at school.

What made you want to get into a band?

Every Christmas or birthday I'd always get a musical instrument, a plastic trumpet or a keyboard. The first thing I played along with was my mum’s Best Of The Beach Boys album. I switched to bass at 14, and I learnt everything on the pop side of Low by David Bowie.

What was the path that led to The Smiths?

The first band Johnny and me had was The Paris Valentinos. We had Kevin Kennedy, who became Coronation Street’s Curly Watts, on bass. He wasn't very good, so Johnny asked if I’d have a go. Then we had a funkier band, Freak Party, who used to rehearse in a room in the Sankey’s Soap building but we never found a singer and Johnny got bored with it.

I lost contact with him for about a year. He'd gone and knocked on Morrissey's door and they did one gig at The Ritz, with a bass player called Dale, but he didn't work out. I got a phone call from Johnny saying they were going to do a demo at Drone studio in Manchester and did I fancy coming down. I went down and we recorded Handsome Devil and Miserable Lie. I was winging it. I didn't know the songs at all.

Your first impressions of Morrissey?

He didn’t say much, seemed a pretty shy character, long Manchester overcoat. He was reading a book.

What was the high point of The Smiths?

The Albert Hall was one highlight. There was a great sense of occasion because of the history of the place, but it was a nightmare to play. The sound just whistles round and round because it was designed for classical music, for orchestras.

And a low point?

Getting busted and my departure from the band. I lived right on the edge of a big housing estate in Ashton-on-Mersey, which had a big problem with heroin. All my friends were doing it, my brothers were doing it, and I became curious about it. I totally understood why I got thrown out, and I was incredibly lucky to be given the chance to come back.

If you could pick just one thing, what ended The Smiths?

I don't think we allocated enough recovery time off after recording and stuff like that. Everyone got a little bit manic and out of control.

What got you involved in Manchester v Cancer?

My manager’s sister and father were both diagnosed with cancer in the last year, and they were both treated at Christie Hospital. I got the idea of trying to raise some money for them. The obvious thing was to put a gig on, so I rang up every musician I know and put the bill together.

What’s your current musical project?

I’ve started a new band with Peter Hook and Mani called Freebass. It sounds mad, three bass players, but it does actually work. Hooky does lead bass, Mani does the growly deep stuff and I tinkle around in the middle. We have about 18 tracks recorded without vocals, but I think we've found a singer we can work with, so we’ll be rehearsing with him shortly.

Anything else?

I start DJ-ing a show on Xfm in April. It’s Saturday nights, seven till 10, so I’ll be playing music to get people vibed up before they go out. I DJ all over the world but there's never a fixed plan to what I’ll play.

Any likelihood of a Smiths reunion?

I think we’ve all moved on. I’d never say never but I’m not going to hold my breath. ■