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The Latest Breaking News from Smiths

“I’ve got a friend in a well-known band, and he says Martins have unnecessary bottom-end. My retort was always: ‘Well, you need to learn to play properly’”: Johnny Marr on the magic of his 7-string signature Martin – and his fight with capo addiction

Since he rose to glory in the mid-’80s with The Smiths, Marr has been the king of crystalline chime. Now, he reveals how his new M-7 Martin – complete with octave Gstring – puts that shimmer at your fingertips

Guitar World

Pete Doherty adds 'very special guest' Mike Joyce of The Smiths to select dates of solo tour

Mike Joyce, former drummer of The Smiths, will perform in Pete Doherty's solo band at select shows this year.

BANG Premier

‘WH Smith wasn’t just a workplace’: ex-staff and shoppers on the high street chain

With the brand to disappear from town and city streets, readers share their memories of how it touched their lives

The Guardian - UK

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“We always thought it had something”: From Green Day to U2, here's 6 B-sides that became massive hits

They might have been initially maligned by their creators, but these songs were just too good to keep down

MusicRadar

Coronation Street’s Kevin Kennedy looks back: ‘I collapsed after going two days without alcohol. I knew I’d die if I carried on’

The actor on being ‘Curly’ Watts for 20 years, beating his addiction and playing the same festival as Johnny Cash

The Guardian - UK

“I wrote loads of the Smiths stuff on my first Martin. It was from some hire company – I just refused to give it back!” Johnny Marr on creating his 7-string Martin acoustic, his disdain for satin necks, and why the Smiths were really a folk band

Tearing up the blueprint with an octave G string, Johnny Marr’s new seven-string Martin signature model is a distillation of all the British icon’s most rebellious opinions on acoustic

Guitar World

‘If I’d written Happy Birthday, I wouldn’t be in comedy’: Josh Widdicombe’s honest playlist

The comedian gets a nostalgic rush from the Smiths and would have the Beatles soundtracking his funeral, but which Welsh indie classic can he no longer bear?

The Guardian - UK

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“People usually assume it’s a Rickenbacker, Telecaster or Jaguar. It’s often been this Les Paul”: Gibson and Johnny Marr have recreated the 1984 Les Paul that underpinned The Smiths legend’s entire career

Exclusive to the Gibson Garage London to mark the store's first anniversary, only 20 examples will be made, and each will be hand-signed by Marr himself

Guitar World

“It’s a privilege to be involved in this good cause… especially when it involves making a fantastic Les Paul”: Gibson and Johnny Marr team up for limited edition replica of his red 1984 Les Paul Standard in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust

Limited to just 20 units worldwide, Marr's Bigsby-equipped Les Paul will be available from the Gibson Garage London from 21 February with all proceeds going to charity

MusicRadar

“We feel that music should be used in order to make serious statements”: how The Smiths turned from a good band into a great one on Meat Is Murder

The indie trailblazers’ second album turns 40 this month and sealed their status as one of the best British guitar groups ever

Louder

Forget the Smiths, French pack could cause panic on the pitch in London

If England are blown away up front, Will Smith might as well be playing fly-half for all the difference it will make

The Guardian - UK

Industrial giant Smiths Group bows to investor calls for break-up

The FTSE 100 firm is to offload two of its main businesses, after a US activist investment group said it needs to boost its share price.

Evening Standard

Smiths Group hit by global cyber attack

The FTSE 100 firm said the hack had affected its internal systems worldwide.

Evening Standard

Woolworths, Wilko and now WH Smith – why Britain’s high-street stalwarts didn’t deserve to survive

IN FOCUS: With the news that another veteran retailer is officially shutting its doors, Helen Coffey asks whether any of the UK’s heritage chains can cling on amid the digital shopping storm

The Independent UK

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MusicRadar

“I don't think Morrissey liked me. I don't think he liked my friendship with Johnny”: Producer John Porter on shaping The Smiths’ most iconic tracks, and why he’s auctioning a treasure trove of original acetates

John found a huge collection of original acetates and mixes of many Smiths’ classics unplayed since the 1980s

MusicRadar

"Every year, pour a few pints of beer over it and empty a couple of ashtrays onto the strings. Finally, throw it out the back of the tour bus": Keane’s Tim Rice-Oxley on keeping the "character" of his Yamaha CP-70 and the ups and downs of being in a band

“Putting it simply, we’d sort of split up. We no longer felt we were on the same page musically and it looked highly unlikely that we’d ever be celebrating any kind of 20th anniversary”

BANG Premier

Morrissey reveals why he agreed to a Smiths reunion tour

Morrissey claims he was open to reuniting The Smiths because it felt like the last chance to make it happen.

MusicRadar

“He claims to find me completely indigestible, but whenever he walks on stage he sings my lyrics, vocal melodies and song titles - is this hypocrisy or self-deception?”: Morrissey hits out at Johnny Marr

The Smiths' former frontman gives a rare lengthy interview and indicates that a reunion is very unlikely to happen

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The Independent UK

Morrissey hits out at Wikipedia for failing to ‘set the record straight’

Singer shared a brief statement from his personal website about the apparent errors

Evening Standard

FTSE 100 Live 13 November: Smiths and Babcock shares surge, Just Eat sells Grubhub

Buyers targeted the engineering sector today after updates by Smiths Group, Babcock International and GKN Automotive business Dowlais.

BANG Premier

Morrissey's concert in Dallas cut short after stage invasion by fans

Morrissey's concert in Dallas on Saturday (02.11.24) ended early after fans invaded the stage and embraced the former Smiths frontman.

MusicRadar

“All of these things that I do on record using a few guitars, I've all got it in the one guitar that I can carry around with me”: Martin unveils 7-string Johnny Marr signature acoustic with an octave G string for added jangle

The M7 Johnny Marr is one seriously cool Grand Auditorium with an East Indian rosewood back and sides, solid spruce on top, and there is a six-string version available too

The Guardian - UK

Morrissey donates £50,000 to Salford Lads Club fundraiser

The Smiths singer’s contribution to the club, which featured on the artwork of The Queen is Dead album, is his third known effort to save it from closure

Guitar World

“Johnny Marr offered his services to the band. He said, ‘If you can’t find anyone I’ll step in for a while’”: When Oasis needed a new guitarist, Johnny Marr was ready to step up alongside Noel Gallagher

Marr and the Gallagher brothers go way back, with The Smiths guitarist famously lending Noel one of his prized guitars after an early Oasis gig

MusicRadar

“It’s a mixture of a jam band, me as a singer-songwriter, and programming with late ‘90s, early 2000s dance music technology of the day”: Johnny Marr on how “Moogs, Korg 101s and Space Echo” shared space with guitar to shape his sound with the Healers

With Johnny Marr and the Healers’ Boomslang receiving a deluxe reissue, the guitar icon reflects on the album's sessions and the impact technology had on writing and recording it

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