Johnny Marr Popular Books
Johnny Marr Biography & Facts
John Martin Marr (born John Martin Maher; 31 October 1963) is a musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous other bands and embarked on a solo career. Born in Manchester, to Irish parents, Marr formed his first band at the age of 13. He was part of several bands with Andy Rourke before forming the Smiths with Morrissey in 1982. The Smiths attained commercial success and were critically acclaimed, with Marr's jangle pop guitar style becoming a distinctive part of the band's sound, but separated in 1987 due to personal differences between Marr and Morrissey. Since then, Marr has been a member of the Pretenders, The The, Electronic, Modest Mouse, and the Cribs, and he has become a prolific session musician, working with names such as Kirsty MacColl, Pet Shop Boys, Talking Heads, Bryan Ferry and Hans Zimmer. Having released an album titled Boomslang in 2003 under the name Johnny Marr and the Healers, Marr released his first solo album, The Messenger, in 2013. His second solo album, Playland, was released in 2014, followed by a third, Call the Comet, in 2018. Marr's autobiography, Set the Boy Free, was published in 2016. In 2010, Marr was voted the fourth-best guitarist of the last 30 years in a poll conducted by the BBC. Phil Alexander, editor-in-chief of Mojo, described him as "arguably Britain's last great guitar stylist", despite Marr not describing himself as British. In 2013, NME honoured Marr with its "Godlike Genius" award: "Not content with rewriting the history of music with one of the world's greatest-ever bands, the Smiths, he's continued to push boundaries and evolve throughout his career, working with some of the best and most exciting artists on the planet." Early life Marr was born on 31 October 1963 in Saint Mary's Hospital in Manchester, son of John Joseph Maher and Frances Patricia Doyle, Irish emigrants to England from County Kildare. The family lived in Ardwick Green and moved to Wythenshawe in 1972. Marr attended St Aloysius Primary School in Ardwick before moving to Sacred Heart Primary School. From 1975, he attended St Augustine's Catholic Grammar School, which in 1977 merged with other schools to form St John Plessington High School. Marr had aspirations to be a professional football player. He was approached by Nottingham Forest and had trials with Manchester City's youth team. Marr's said his family's move to Wythenshawe was "like we'd moved to Beverly Hills", and that the move led to him meeting "a bunch of guitar players" which "changed his life". The Cult guitarist Billy Duffy was in a high school band that practised across the street from Marr's new house, and Marr would hang out listening to them rehearsing. He learned to play the guitar with LP vinyl records and a guitar chords dictionary without a teacher. Marr formed his first band, the Paris Valentinos, at the age of 13, with Andy Rourke (who had gone to the same high school as Duffy) and Kevin Williams (later an actor, known as Kevin Kennedy), performing for the first time at a Jubilee party in Benchill in June 1977, playing Rolling Stones and Thin Lizzy covers. In 1979, he played a single gig at Wythenshawe Forum with a band called Sister Ray and re-united with Rourke in a band called White Dice. White Dice entered a demo-tape competition organised by NME and won an audition for F-Beat Records, which they attended in April 1980 but were not signed. Around the age of 14, he began spelling his name "Marr" to simplify the pronunciation for those who had difficulty with his birth name "Maher", and to avoid confusion with Buzzcocks drummer John Maher. In October 1980, Marr enrolled at Wythenshawe College, and was President of the school's Student Union. White Dice dissolved in 1981. Marr and Rourke then formed a funk band, Freak Party, with Simon Wolstencroft on drums. Around this time, Marr first met Matt Johnson, with whom he later collaborated. The Smiths By early 1982, Freak Party had fizzled out, being unable to find a singer. Marr approached Rob Allman, singer in White Dice, who suggested Steven Morrissey, a singer with the short-lived punk band the Nosebleeds. Marr approached a mutual friend asking to be introduced and they visited Morrissey at his house in Kings Road, Stretford, in May. Marr's jangly Rickenbacker and Fender Telecaster guitar playing became synonymous with the Smiths' sound. Marr's friend Andy Rourke joined as bass player and Mike Joyce was recruited as drummer. Signing to indie label Rough Trade Records, they released their first single, "Hand in Glove", on 13 May 1983. By February 1984, the Smiths' fanbase was sufficiently large to launch the band's long-awaited debut album to number two in the UK chart. Early in 1985, the band released their second album, Meat Is Murder. It was more strident and political than its predecessor, and it was the band's only album (barring compilations) to reach number one in the UK charts. During 1985 the band completed lengthy tours of the UK and the US while recording the next studio record, The Queen Is Dead. In 1989 Spin magazine rated The Queen is Dead as number one of "The Greatest Albums Ever Made". Spin was not alone in this designation—numerous periodicals rank the Smiths and their albums, especially The Queen is Dead, high on their best ever lists. NME, for example, has dubbed the Smiths the most important rock band of all time. A legal dispute with Rough Trade had delayed the album by almost seven months (it had been completed in November 1985), and Marr was beginning to feel the stress of the band's exhausting touring and recording schedule. He later told NME, "'Worse for wear' wasn't the half of it: I was extremely ill. By the time the tour actually finished it was all getting a little bit... dangerous. I was just drinking more than I could handle." Meanwhile, Rourke was fired from the band in early 1986 due to his use of heroin, although he was reinstated in short order. Despite their continued success, personal differences within the band—including the increasingly strained relationship between Morrissey and Marr—saw them on the verge of splitting. In July 1987, Marr left the group, and auditions to find a replacement for him proved fruitless. By the time Strangeways, Here We Come (named after Strangeways Prison, Manchester) was released in September, the band had split up. The breakdown in the relationship has been primarily attributed to Morrissey's becoming annoyed by Marr's work with other artists and Marr's growing frustration with Morrissey's musical inflexibility. Referring to the songs recorded in the band's last session together (B-sides for the "Girlfriend in a Coma" single, which preceded the album's release), Marr said "I wrote 'I Keep Mine Hidden', but 'Work Is a Four-Letter Word' I hated. That was the last straw, really. I didn't form a group to perform Cilla Black .... Discover the Johnny Marr popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Johnny Marr books.
Best Seller Johnny Marr Books of 2024
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Withdrawn Traces
Sara Hawys Roberts & Leon NoakesNew discoveries and a fresh perspective, with unprecedented access to Richey's personal archiveOn 1 February 1995, Richey Edwards, guitarist of the Manic Street Preachers, went mis...
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Paul Weller - The Changing Man
Paolo HewittPaolo Hewitt has known Paul Weller since they were both teenagers in the depths of Woking, through his ascent to fame with The Jam, the halcyon years of The Style Council and for a...
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Messing Up the Paintwork
Ebury Publishing‘If it’s me and your granny on bongos, it’s The Fall.’As legendary frontman of postpunk outfit The Fall, Mark E. Smith was known as much for his mercurial temperament as his except...
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Changeling
Mike OldfieldBorn without social instincts many people take for granted, brought up in a troubled environment and possessed with an extraordinary musical talent, Mike Oldfield was thrust into t...
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All to Play For
Matt Rogan & Kerry Potter'A timely, engaging and thoughtprovoking read from an ideal guide to explore what the future may hold.' Dan Roan, Sports Editor, BBC News'Matt shows with great insight and wisdom h...
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Essex Boys
Bernard O'MahoneyESSEX BOYS is the brand new edition of the shocking bestseller known as SO THIS IS ECSTASY?. It is the true story of the rise of one of the most violent and successful criminal gan...
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The White Island
Stephen ArmstrongThe White Island is, and always has been, a magnet for hedonists. Its history reads like a history of pleasure itself. It is also a story of invasions and migrations, of artists an...
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Clubland UK
Steven McLaughlinClubland UK is a story of violent men and the worlds they inhabit. At the height of the hedonistic ’90s rave era, Steven McLaughlin policed some of Blackpool’s busiest seafront cl...
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Coal Black Mornings
Brett AndersonEvening Standard Book of the Year. Observer Book of the Year. Guardian Book of the Year. Sunday Times Book of the Year. Telegraph Book of the Year. New Statesman Book of the Year. ...
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Rise Up
StormzyA 2018 BOOK OF THE YEAR‘An inspirational mustread.’ Evening Standard‘A very important book.’ Will Gompertz, BBC‘A motivational, inspirational oral history.’ Nikesh Shukla, iNews‘Do...
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The Charlatans We Are Rock
John RobbIn the crazed aftermath of the late '80s northern pop explosion there have been few survivors. The Charlatans, however, still prosper despite once being perceived as runts of t...
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Set the Boy Free
Johnny MarrThe longawaited memoir from the legendary guitarist and cofounder of the seminal British band The Smiths.An artist who helped define a period in popular culture, Johnny Marr tells ...
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Shadows
Alan BarkerIn the early hours of 30 April 2003, twelve armed and uniformed officers accompanied by four plainclothes detectives burst into Alan Barker's house. They stayed for hours, turning ...
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Pete Doherty
Alex HannafordPete Doherty, erstwhile singer with The Libertines, is a British icon. Whether he is playing impromptu gigs in his front room or performing at Live 8, he possesses a sense of drama...
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Brideshead Abbreviated
John CraceJohn Crace's 'Digested Read' column in the Guardian has rightly acquired a cult following. Each week fans avidly devour his latest razorsharp literary assassination, while authors ...
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Diaries Volume Two
Alastair CampbellPower & the People covers the first two years of the New Labour government, beginning with their landslide victory at the polls in 1997. This second voume of Campbell's unexpur...
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It Never Rains
Roger McGoughIt Never Rains by Roger McGough an expanded edition of comic verse and free line drawings, from the nation's favourite poetWhile up at MagdalenSpent the time dagdalen.Moved on to ...
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War Dogs
Keith Cory-JonesEqually courageous, equally deadly, the British mercenaries in Bosnia have a story to tell as amazing as 'The One That Got Away', but a story without official blessing. ...
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Renegade
Mark E. SmithThe only way to appreciate the legendary musician Mark E. Smith is to encounter the man in his own words.'May be the funniest music book ever written' ObserverThe Fall are one of t...
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Factory
Mick MiddlesFactory Records' fame and fortune were based on two bands Joy Division and New Order and one personality that of its director, Tony Wilson. At the height of the label's success ...
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Johnny Marr, Set the boy free
Johnny MarrUMA JORNADA NA MENTE CRIATIVA DE JOHNNY MARR, MÚSICO QUE INFLUENCIOU UMA GERAÇÃO DE GUITARRISTAS DESDE THE SMITHS. "Nunca descobri por que me sentia tão atraído pela guitarra ...
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Kicked into Touch
Fred EyreFred Eyre's sporting life began full of promise when he became Manchester City's firstever apprentice. He never made their first team. In fact, he seldom made anyone's first team. ...