Andrew Michael Rourke (born on 17 January 1964) is an English musician, best known as the bassist for The Smiths, an English Rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. The band consisted of vocalist Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce.Critics have called them the most important alternative rock band to emerge from the British independent music scene of the 1980s. Q magazine's Simon Goddard argued in 2007 that The Smiths were "the one truly vital voice of the '80s", "the most influential British guitar group of the decade" and the "first indie outsiders to achieve mainstream success on their own terms". The NME named the Smiths the "most influential artist ever" in a 2002 poll, even topping the Beatles.The Smiths had several singles reach the UK top twenty and all four of their albums reached the UK top five, including one which topped the charts. The band broke up in 1987 and have turned down several offers to reunite. The band's focus on a guitar, bass, and drum sound, and their fusion of 1960s rock and post-punk, were a repudiation of synthesiser-based contemporary dance pop – the style popular in the early 1980s.
The Smiths, The Pretenders, D.A.R.K., Freebass, The Adult Net
Movies
Inside the Smiths, The Smiths: Still Ill
Star Sign
Capricorn
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Quote
1
At least our records didn't use any gimmicky sounds and so the tunes stand the test of time. I think that's why there's still the big interest in The Smiths.
2
[on The Smiths] I'm really proud of our stuff. No matter what's gone on in court rooms, people can't take that away from us. We were all great players and really good at what we did. That's something I can always be proud of.
3
When you learn an instrument when you're young, you try and take it to the limit, don't you? I started off going down the funk route because funk's the limit with the bass - it's all about how many notes you can play within three seconds. There was even some slapping involved, I'm afraid. The older I get, though, the less is more theory sits a lot better with me.
4
I trained classically from the age of eight, and I think all those scales did me a lot of good.
$12 Million
