Happy Anniversary: The Smiths, “How Soon Is Now?”

31 years ago today, The Smiths released the single that would go on to become not only the most instantly recognizable song in their catalog but, indeed, one of the most instantly recognizable songs of the 1980s. The reason? Johnny Marr and his awesome guitar.

Okay, yes, and Morrissey's lyrics and vocal performance help as well. But come now: when you think of “How Soon Is Now?” let's not pretend that the guitar isn't the first thing that comes to mind.

Written by Morrissey and Marr, “How Soon is Now?” didn't start out as an A-side, believe it or not: it made its debut as the B-side of “William, It Was Really Nothing,” which led to its inclusion on The Smiths' compilation album Hatful of Hollow. DJs picked up on it and so, in turn, did their listeners, but it still wasn't released as a single. Marr told Uncut in 2007 that he considered the song to be “possibly our most enduring record,” but he felt pretty strongly about its quality even when it was first written, as did Morrissey, and neither were thrilled with the way it had been all but buried by their label, Rough Trade. Producer John Porter was surprised by the song's treatment as well, remarking in Johnny Rogan's The Smiths: The Visual Documentary, “I don't think the record company liked it. They totally threw it away, wasted it.”

“How Soon Is Now?” didn't do much better in America, even though the band actually agreed to allow a video for the song. Its failure to chart resulted in Morrissey mouthing off to Creem, “It's hard to believe that 'How Soon Is Now?' wasn't a top 10 single, but perhaps I'm being naïve.”

By the time the song finally did get its UK single release - which, just to remind you, took place 31 years ago today - it made it no higher than #24, breaking The Smiths' streak of three consecutive top-20 UK singles. Few were surprised, though: as Porter said, “Everybody knew the Smiths' fans already had it.” It did, however, finally earn a certain degree of redemption in 1992: when the song was reissued as a single in conjunction with the band's new best-of collections, it finally did make it into the UK top 20 at #16.