"Frankly, Mister Shankly" is such a great example of a British music hall pastiche it is the one song I thought might slightly baffle non-English listeners in its tone if not tune and lyric. "Shove your job up your arse" is obviously a much loved international theme and there is little to be lost in translation, but it got me wondering...
What did Americans, or any other nationalities for that matter, think when they first heard the Smiths? The Smiths are so resolutely English, and northern English at that, I wonder if they are to you what Lynyrd Skynrd or NWA are to me. Those bands aren't quite as vomit inducing as Huey Lewis & The News and I think I sort of get it, but I'm not entirely sure I really do because I don't live there and I haven't had those experiences growing up.
I'm prompted to asking in part by thinking about Aztec Camera's sterling efforts down the years to claim all the good things about England unto himself while eschewing the bad bits. While named after a Scottish band. Of how he uses our beautiful language gifted to him and my forebears centuries ago to claim we are somehow jealous of Oreos, Twinkies, Type 2 diabetes, Taylor Swift and Maxine Waters.
I speak, by the way, as a lover of America and most things American. Manys the argument I've had with people who claim there is no such thing as American musical culture and been delighted to reply: "Frank Sinatra... Elvis Presley... Maria Callas... Don't talk bollocks."
The Smiths are, perhaps, alongside the Kinks and the Wurzels, the most quintessentially English (as opposed to British) band this country has ever produced. As an Englishman my first reactions to those early singles was for the most part laughter. They were such a fascinating concoction of brand new and old fashioned. Melvyn Bragg summed it up rather well in his introduction to the South Bank Show special in 1987:
I'd be interested to know what some of you overseas types they have these days initially thought when you heard the Smiths for the first time?
Did you "get" it? And who do you think of when you hear the name "Mr. Shankly"?
Hi Johnny, as I sense you are really interested, to know what overseas type of Moz-fans, like I am one, though it's only a small sea dividing us, attracted, I want to say this:
The first song by The Smiths I ever heard on the radio was Bigmouth and it threw all kinds of hooks in my brain, heart and musical feelings. For one reason or another, it got to me.
The melancholy, the guilt, the regret of being once a Bigmouth myself touched me while at the same time I didn't actually regarded myself as one. At the same time I laughed for the lyrics felt hilariously funny.
And, it was, as Brian Eno later said, a hell of a good popsong. Great music and great lyrics. I didn't know anything about them.
First album I bought on vinyl was " The World Won't Listen".
Second one was "Strangeways" and at the time, to get more info I tried to buy the NME as much as I could.
So I knew they split even before "Strangeways" was released.
Then I bought all stuff from The Smiths available on CD.
I think there is a great universal appeal and quality to their music that is still there until this day.
Initially, there were many things in the lyrics I didn't understand completely but that made it even more attractive. The enigmatic thing, the strange persoñality as a pop singer Moz had. He was very different to any other pop singer and The Smiths were too.
It took me many years to understand a bit more and even now I think I am missing some of the meanings of the songs as English is not my first language.
I knew who Bill Shankly was cause though very young, I had seen Ajax beating Liverpool with 5-1 in the fog in Amsterdam and Bill Shankly was manager of Liverpool at that time. The goals were hardly visible.
So I thought WTF was Moz singing about in "Frankly Mr. Shankly".
But I liked the song very much, but didn't get all the references in the song and only very much later found out it was about Geoff Travis, the labelboss of Rough Trade. And the name Mr. Shankly was just a name to rhyme on Frankly, which was quite funny itself.
Due to my interest in The Smiths and Moz I also started to get interested much more in England, the South, the North and I always felt a bigger sympathy for the people from the North of England.
As a child I watched Coronation Street and really liked it very much.
As if it was so much easier to identity with the people being portrayed. I liked Elsie Tanner. I was afraid of Ena Sharples.
But it was also very, very funny. The way those people had to figh to survive and had a rough time but always had that humour, selfmockery complaints, one time taking things very, very serious and the next time laughing at themselves. I don't know for sure but I always considered that to be very Brittish and I still like that attitude.
