TEE TIME – GETTING SHIRTY WITH THE SMITHS

Dickie: When did you get into The Smiths? 

Suzanne: My entry to The Smiths was ‘Strangeways Here We Come’ in 1987 when I was 14.

My older brother bought the album and I was a bit intrigued, although more by the aesthetics and fashion than by the music at that age. 

When I first saw Morrissey with his huge quiff, geeky glasses, turn-up jeans, blouses, beads, cardigans, I knew it spoke to me and I was invested.

By 17 I’d bought the ‘Hulmerist’ video and was watching it on a loop.

I loved Morrissey and the music.

But my fascination was as much with the fans: their fashion, palpable camaraderie and absolute worshipping of their hero.

It was the first time I’d heard anyone described as an “enigma”.

I was too young to see The Smiths live, but first saw Morrissey on his ‘Kill Uncle’ tour in 1991, aged 19 at The Capitol Theatre (a beautiful old art deco picture house) in Aberdeen.

He went off stage quite early and I thought he’d gone off in a huff because someone threw a daffodil in his eye but it turned out he’d lost his voice.

Anyway, I was hooked on Morrissey by then and started discovering his earlier Smiths stuff. This interest was heightened when I met my late husband in 1994.

Dickie: Tell us about your late husband – I’ve seen your tributes to him every year.

Suzanne: Steven Cowie was the biggest fan and had a similar style to Moz.

Steven Cowie

I remember him telling me the story about when he first actually saw Morrissey and got a shock at the likeness to himself – tall, gangly, slightly awkward with a “studenty” style (a Scottish phrase I think).

We’d make mix tapes for each other.

The Smiths and Moz became the playlist of our story and a very prominent part of our time together.

We went to multiple gigs on every tour in our short five years together and I have inherited every Smiths and Moz album (and many singles and 12”) on vinyl, CD (and the odd tape) from 1983 up to his death in 1999.

Steven died after a 10 month battle with cancer – hanging about just about long enough to meet Lucy. Steven was, as usual, ahead of his time and the first person I’d ever known to have a humanist funeral full of Smiths songs and relevance.

‘There is A Light That Never Goes Out’ became his anthem and is written on his grave which seems a little cliché now, but certainly wasn’t in 1999.

Suzanne and Steven

Steven would be over the moon to see Lucy and I running the page with such love for the community and that fuels me to keep it going forever.  

Suzanne: Lucy followed the page as a teenager as she found her own way to loving The Smiths/Moz music in her own time (all great things take time and shouldn’t be pushed). 

We were so excited to see her feature on the page when she was 15 and I guess that’s when I started following the page too. We both loved this little, but widespread, community of around 1000 people.

Fast forward to when she was 21 in lockdown and she’d noticed that the page had lapsed with no posts for around five years.

So she approached Rod with an offer to take it over and he happily agreed, still taking an interest but not in the creative or logistic running of the page.

A year or two later, Lucy was struggling to juggle it with all her work and life commitments and that’s when she got her old mum on board. 

The page deserved time, love and commitment and now I manage and run the page myself with some help from Lucy when I’m on holiday or need some time away from the screen.

I have evolved the page, trying to highlight people’s Smiths stories, fave songs / albums etc. The following has massively grown to over 3500 followers from all over the world. 

To date I alone have written nearly 500 posts and have loved listening and engaging with every single person.

Suzanne: There’s something about Smiths fans, their passion is just like nothing else. There’s a beautiful camaraderie at both concerts and in the cyber world and it’s wonderful to be a small part of it.

I remember the buzz Lucy got as a teenager featuring and being part of something that felt so special.

I keep that in mind with each post as I give people their platform to engage and tell us their Smiths story.

Our audience is global. In order the top five are from USA 46.2% (no shock that Moz Angeles is top), UK 20.1%, Brazil 4.2%, Indonesia 4.1%, Mexico 3.5%.

It’s both a joy and a privilege to connect people from all over the world in our common passion.

So many fans have a similar story of how they found The Smiths. Often its come from a time of sadness.

Dickie: The page seems to be about the people as much as the music…

Suzanne: I am so glad you have noticed that – thank you. I would go a step further in saying it’s much more about the people than the music. There are other pages who feature the albums and talk through the musicality, the lyrics etc.

I feel we’re the only page whose first priority is to give the fan the platform to tell their story and highlight their favourite songs and albums, whilst wearing their fave tee of course.

Dickie: Are you interested in the actual teeshirts too? 

Suzanne: Absolutely! I guess back to my earlier statement about it being a fashion and cultural thing for me as much as the music. I love when I see merch that hasn’t been seen before or original tees from special tours or just fantastic styling to be honest.

Dickie: How many Smiths/moz tees do you own? And do you have a favourite?

Suzanne: Currently I have 22 tees – these are a mixture of original and new. I gave some original tees and posters to Steven’s friends and family, I knew they’d be cherished. Also I’m guessing Lucy has stolen some which have now taken up residence in London!

Last May we attended the MozArmy Meet Up where we celebrated the life of Andy Rourke. We met loads of fab people, went on The Smiths tour bus and danced solid all evening. Our diaries sadly don’t align to go again this year.

Dickie: Finally, do you think Morrissey will ever release a new album?!

Suzanne: Well that’s the million dollar question. I think there’s so much chat and desire for ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ to be released that it will in some shape or form, especially now he has regained the rights. 

It’s got so much anticipation and expectation around it with him describing it as his best album yet and this gains more momentum the longer it goes unreleased. If I didn’t know better I’d think it was very clever marketing!

To be honest, if Moz just sat back and enjoyed his retirement, not releasing any more new material, the back catalogue is already a phenomenal collection and I think we’d all be content with the gift he’s given us.