THAT MYSTICAL AIR

My first reaction to The Smiths was uniformly positive.

Hand in Glove was self-serious, furtive, and capital R Romantic:

“And everything depends upon
How near you stand to me.”

What Difference Does it Make? was fat with dramatic overstatement:

“But still I'd leap in front of a flying bullet for you.”

I chuckled each time I heard that line, but gave them points for commitment. Points for making such a cool/dark Motown/glam racket, too…

So when I saw the first album on sale as an import at Titus Oaks in the early spring of ’84, I jumped at the chance to own it.

I didn’t have a record player, so I had a friend make a cassette copy for me.

A week later I was back at Titus Oaks looking to sell the slightly used album. Soon after, I recorded over the tape— I don’t recall what. Probably one of those radio mixes that still has Make a Circuit With Me and Love Will Tear Us Apart running together in my head.

So what went wrong?