Smiths’ music gets a new lease of life with These Charming Men

Date Published: 16-Mar-2011

The Smiths were one of the most revered bands of the 1980s, a quartet whose influence is still felt today. Fans of their music check out These Charming Men when they come to the Róisín Dubh this Friday, March 18.

The tribute act has been playing together since 1995. Their formation sounds like it could have come from High Fidelity, Nick Hornby’s novel about music obsessives.

“Basically, I’m a huge Smiths fan,” says Gavin Murphy, who plays the guitar parts written by Johnny Marr. “The band has always been a labour of love – my brother [Des] is the bass player, and we’d always be jamming the songs together.

“I used to collect Smiths’ vinyl and there was a record shop in Dublin and the guy that used to own the shop put me on to Dick Cullen [the band’s first singer]. He became a good friend and he could sing quite well. I told him the idea that there was no Smiths tribute band around, myself and the brother knew all the songs and we were looking for a singer.”

In 2005 Lee Brady stepped into the Morrissey role, and Gavin is quick to praise These Charming Men’s lead singer.

“First of all, you’ve got to be a fan,” says Gavin. “You have to have a bit of musical talent as well. Lee, I always knew he was a good singer, but it did take him a while to master the voice, there’s no doubt about it. It’s not an easy voice to mimic; Morrissey has a very distinct, original voice.”

These Charming Men have put in the hours to do The Smiths’ music justice and it has paid off. Since 2001, they have been invited to play at the annual Smiths/Morrissey convention in Los Angeles.

“It takes place in the Henry Fonda Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard,” says Gavin. “It’s a gathering of huge Smiths fans, and over in the States they’re very fanatical. To the point that a lot of the fans have tattoos of Morrissey on their back, on their arms . . .”

“Two thousand people would show up to the convention, he continues. “There’d be non-stop Smiths music, there’d be a disco and they’d be selling memorabilia and rare vinyl. We would be the act of the night, the main entertainment.”

Lee’s attention to detail is such that it caused devoted American Smiths’ fans to party like it was 1985.

“It would almost be like being at a Morrissey concert, where you get fans running on stage to hug the singer, reaching out to shake his hand,” Gavin recalls. “The show that we do, Lee does costume changes and he has all the props that Morrissey used to use. Like the banner for The Queen Is Dead and the hangman’s noose for Panic.”

The documentary Is It Really So Strange? investigated Morrissey’s popularity in LA’s Latino community – something Gavin has also witnessed at first hand.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.