John Martin Maher was born in Manchester in 1963 and although he had
aspirations of being a professional footballer he chose music. During his
time at school he met many guitarists including Billy Duffy (the Cult) who
lived nearby. Marr regular attended rehearsals of Duffy’s early band and
that inspired him to take up the guitar.
He and his friend and bass player Andy Rourke formed their first band, the Paris
Valentinos, when he was 13. At the age of 14 he changed his surname to Marr to avoid confusion with John Maher of the Buzzcocks.
Their first full band gig was in 1977 at a Jubilee party playing mostly Rolling Stones and Thin Lizzy songs. In 1979 following a gig with his new band White Dice, which again included Rourke, the band had an audition with F-Beat Records but were not offered a recording contract. White Dice split in 1981 and along with Rourke they formed, Freak Party, a funk band playing at Wythenshawe College where Marr was President of the Student Union. Interest in their music waned and in 1982 they looked for a singer and a change of musical direction.
Morrissey, living in Kings Road, London was suggested by their friend Steven Morrissey, who was fronting, the Nosebleeds, a punk band. Later that year, Morrissey joined them and he moved to Manchester and along with their drummer Mike Joyce they renamed themselves the Smiths.
In May 1983 they signed to Rough Trade Records and their first single release was “Hand in Glove”. Several of their singles reached the Top 20 and their albums also charted in the Top 20 in the UK and they achieved mainstream success in Europe.
Marr's unique guitar sound became synonymous with the Smiths' sound and the songwriting partnership of Marr and Morrissey became a very successful collaboration.
Catch him while you can – you won’t be disappointed.
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BY-------Graham Sclater
TABITHA BOOKS