Synopses & Reviews
For five short years in the 1980s, a four-piece Manchester band released a collection of records that had undeniably profound effects on the landscape of popular music and beyond. Today, public and critical appreciation of The Smiths is at its height, yet the most important British band after The Beatles have rarely been subject to sustained academic scrutiny. Why Pamper Lifes Complexities?: Essays on The Smiths seeks to remedy this by bringing together diverse research disciplines to place the band in a series of enlightening social, cultural and political contexts as never before. Topics covered by the essays range from class, sexuality, Catholicism, Thatcherism, regional and national identities, to cinema, musical poetics, suicide and fandom. Lyrics, interviews, the city of Manchester, cultural iconography and the cult of Morrissey are all considered anew. The essays breach the standard confines of music history, rock biography and pop culture studies to give a sustained critical analysis of the band that is timely and illuminating. This book will be of interest to scholars and students in the fields of sociology, literature, geography, cultural and media studies. It is also intended for a wider audience of those interested in the enduring appeal of one of the most complex and controversial bands. Accessible and original, these essays will help to contextualise the lasting cultural legacy of The Smiths.
Review
"Written from a critical cultural and historical perspective, the scholarly essays are eminently readable. In fact, they represent some of the most incisive descriptions of the fey band from Manchester I have come across....Fans of The Smiths, and anyone personally or professionally interested in British popular culture, must read this book. This collection is really the epitome of what pop culture criticism can and should be." -- PopMatters.com "The best pieces...represent pop music criticism of a very high order, erudite yet (mostly) free of academic jargon. Joseph Brookers analysis of the bands radical politics, “Has the world changed or have I changed: The Smiths and the Challenge of Thatcherism,” is outstanding, as is Colin Coulters “A double bed and a stalwart lover for sure: The Smiths, the death of pop, and the not so hidden injuries of class.”" -- NewYorkJournalofBooks.com "Full of insights, the collection rightly and passionately takes The Smiths as seriously even as Morrissey takes himself, but there's room for fanciful analysis too. There's more than enough here to convince even a sceptical reader of the band's unique cultural contribution." -- Dave Haslam, critic, DJ, author of
Manchester, England"This excellent collection isnt just for Smiths lovers. Crucially, the essays bring out the extraordinary allusive breadth of the music, from the touching yet symptomatic way in which fans engage with it, to Morrisseys implicit philosophy of suicide. Whats more, the book convincingly shows how The Smiths critiqued class, race, sexuality and indeed the incipient neo-liberal conjuncture of the 1980s. An important book about an important band." --Jason Toynbee, The Open University
Synopsis
In this, the first academic text devoted to The Smiths, writers from a range of perspectives set out to consider the cultural significance and enduring appeal of one of the most influential and controversial bands of recent decades.
About the Author
Sean Campbell is Senior Lecturer in Communication and Media at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. Colin Coulter is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
Table of Contents
Why Pamper Lifes Complexities? An Introduction to the Book -- Sean Campbell & Colin Coulter
* Has The World Changed Or Have I Changed? The Smiths and the Challenge of Thatcherism --Joe Brooker * ‘Irish Blood, English Heart: Ambivalence, Unease and The Smiths --Sean Campbell * Heaven Knows Well Soon Be Dust: Catholicism and Devotion in The Smiths --Eoin Devereux * Sing Me to Sleep: Suicide, Philosophy, and The Smiths --Kieran Cashell * ‘A Boy in the Bush: Childhood, Sexuality and The Smiths --Sheila Whiteley * ‘This Way and That Way: Towards A Musical Poetics of The Smiths --Jonathan Hiam * I Dont Owe You Anything: The Smiths and Kitchen-Sink Cinema --Cecilia Mello * ‘A Double Bed and a Stalwart Lover For Sure: The Smiths, the Death of Pop and the Not So Hidden Injuries of Class --Colin Coulter * Last Night We Dreamt That Somebody Loved Us: Smiths Fans (and Me) in the Late 1980s --Karl Maton * ‘When were in your scholarly room: the Media, Academia, and The Smiths --Fergus Campbell * ‘So Much To Answer For: What Do The Smiths Mean to Manchester? --Julian Stringer * ‘Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty: Englishness, Pop and The Smiths -- Kari Kallioniemi * Guantánamo, Here We Come: Out Of Place With The Smiths -- Nabeel Zuberi