The Smiths were arguably one of the greatest bands in recording history and also one of the most revered. Forming under the vice like grip of Thatcher’s Britain, they counteracted the flash austere fascination with yuppie materialism of the time and told it as it really was. When Johnny Marr walked out of The Smiths in 1987, it signified the collapse of not only a band but a tremendous cultural landmark. This month sees the release of Inside The Smiths, an honest look at life within the band and how it all started, as told by their rhythm section Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce. It’s the first time they’ve properly spoken out together in twenty years. I catch up with Joyce to discuss this along with the troublesome inconvenience of court cases, threatening songs and the joy of …well… being a Smith. The most pressing question is, why now?

“Well we never really intended to make it to be honest,” he admits. “It kind of happened by accident really. Stephen Petricco and Mark Standley, who made this with us, are friends of ours. Me and Andy went to do a bit of DJing in America over a four week period and they came out with us and filmed it. We had a look it at and thought, this is actually really good, maybe we should do some more and it carried on from there. Because we knew them so well it never felt like an interview situation and we knew nothing was gonna get twisted. We were also sick of things being taken out of context. I did some work for the BBC and they stitched me up properly once, making me sound really bitter about what happened with The Smiths and this was one way of insuring we had total editorial control over content.”

And that’s certainly one thing that can be said about the documentary. It’s frank and very open, a series of one to one interviews that reminisce about the ups and downs good heartedly, without displaying any malice or ill will for the band’s other half. Both Rourke and Joyce come across as very affable endearing and tolerant people. One particular story that demonstrates this is the day the band performed on Top Of The Pops for the first time, a big deal in those days. Because they had a show in Manchester that evening the producers laid on a helicopter to fly them into Manchester. But Morrissey wasn’t happy and made them take the train. A good four-hour journey.

“Morrissey didn’t like flying, which is why we never played Japan, Australia or any far flung places like that, cos he just wouldn’t get on a plane, so when the helicopter arrived and Morrissey saw it……well it wasn’t to be.”

Speaking to Joyce it was obvious that despite the messiness that was to follow post Smiths, the band were a very tight and close unit of people, a fact sadly blighted by recent years.

”I wish the very worse for Joyce for the rest of his life” – Morrissey 2002

“It was soul destroying but I felt as though I had to do it. I was hoping things could have been resolved before I went in there but it became clear an agreement couldn’t be reached.”

Joyce is of course referring to the time he took Morrissey and Marr to court for unpaid performance and recording royalties. Just after the band split in 1987, Joyce’s accountant discovered he had only been receiving ten percent of earnings, as had Rourke. They had been under the misapprehension that the money had been split equally across all four members.

“I approached both Johnny and Morrissey about this just after the split and tried to get it resolved but they never got back to me and I felt they were dragging their feet a bit.”

Ten years later and Morrissey and Marr were still dragging their feet, so in 1997 it finally came to a head. Rourke made an out of court settlement but by now, Joyce wanted what was owed him and battle commenced. He fought and won a cool million. Judge John Weeks, in summary, branded Morrissey devious, truculent and unreliable, for which he took very personally. It’s fair to say Joyce isn’t on Mozzer’s Christmas card list and within twelve months became a target for his caustic lyrical pen.

“A mate told me about it and I thought, OK fair enough it doesn’t really bother me”, he claims. The song in question, ‘Sorrow Will Come To You In The End’, was omitted from the British version of Morrissey’s 1997 album ‘Maladjusted’, perhaps because of the following words: “As sure as my words are pure, I praise the day that brings you pain / A man who slits throats has time on his hands and I’m gonna get you.” Menacing stuff, but Joyce has taken it all in his stride.

“Somebody played it to me later on and I found it really funny. I know that sounds like a stupid thing to say but….well…. that’s just Morrissey, if he feels that upset about it then fine, I feel pretty upset too but I don’t need to write lyrics about how badly I was treated by being given that percentage.”

So has it been resolved now? Does Joyce have his million?

“No,” he admits wearily. “I’m still pursuing it.”

And for that reason a Smiths reunion is highly unlikely, despite Joyce saying if it were on the table at some point in the future he would probably say yes. Even the DVD’s summary intimates that it is a possibility, but the question is, do we really want them back now? Could it ruin everything the band stood for? I guess that’s a debate for another time…

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