Andy Rourke, the bassist who gave strength and impetus to the dark, poetic musings of one of the 1980s’ most influential bands, The Smiths, died Friday in Manhattan. he was 59 years old.
His representative said he died of pancreatic cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Center.
Mr. Rourke, along with the band’s drummer Mike Joyce, received only a fraction of the praise (and income), but his beefy bassline was Morrissey’s tearful veil between lament and dirge. It brought both weight and melody behind the vocals and Johnny Marr’s voice.complex, layered guitar workcan be almost symphonic in its complexity.
“The nature of the music we were playing at The Smiths required a little more kick in the sound,” Rourke said in a 2019 interview with Bass Player magazine. “And it’s me, so whenever I do something, I do it big,” he added.
Mr. Rourke’s playing, influenced by Paul McCartney and The Who’s John Entwistle, was always “unconventionally sung”. David Kavanagh, Irish journalistwrote in 1993, that it was also “the undisputed top drawer.”
Discerning audiences understood Mr. Rourke’s value. Morrissey once said Mr. Rourke was good enough to be in Elvis Presley’s band. “he never knew his own powerAnd nothing he played was never played by another,” Morrissey wrote in a tribute to his website after Mr. Rourke’s death.
Mr. Rourke’s lilting, often frenetic basslines were often foregrounded. landmark song Songs like “This Charming Man,” “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” and “Cemetery Gates” all turned The Smiths into a cult favorite in the United States and a chart-topping group in their home country. rice field.
Andrew Michael Rourke was born on January 17, 1964 in Manchester, England. He met Mr Mahr in 1975 at school in Manchester.
“We were best friends, let’s go” together anywhereIn a recent Instagram post, Ma added: “I quickly learned that my spouse was one of those rare characters that absolutely no one likes.”
The Smiths formed in Manchester in 1982. The group had several bass players until Mr. Ma brought in his childhood friend.
of 2012 interview with The GuardianRourke recalled playing his first show with the band at a small gay club. He said the Smiths were “rehearsing to death” all the time, so it’s no wonder their popularity soared.
As they became famous, the four Smiths became inseparable. “We were gang’” he told Mojo. “It’s a very tight-knit band of brothers. When we were at our peak, no one could top it.” It was the first UK Top 10 hit.
But success has brought problems, such as Roark’s heroin addiction. “I’m starting to get a lot of money, but I don’t know what to do.” In a 2011 interview, he recalled:. “I start spending money on drugs.”
In 1986, Morrissey reportedly fired Mr. Rourke in a postcard for drug use. However, he soon rejoined the band.
The Smiths disbanded permanently in 1987 after releasing four albums. Two years later, Rourke and drummer Joyce filed a lawsuit against their former bandmates, claiming they were equal partners and should have been paid a larger share of the royalties. (They were only given 10% of him.)
Rourke eventually dropped the case after being offered £83,000 (about $100,000). But Joyce appeared in court, and the judge found Morrissey’s case and ruled in Joyce’s favor. have to pay him about £1 million in compensationaccording to reports at the time.
As late as 2007, Mr. Rourke told the BBC He called the Smiths’ breakup “still a little bit wise.” Yet, not long after the breakup, he wrote bass tracks for Morrissey’s solo singles, including “Interest Drugs” (1989) and “Last of the Famous International Playboys” (1990). .
After Smith, he also appeared on the Sinead O’Connor & The Pretenders album and toured with Badly Drone Boy. In 2009, Rourke moved to New York City, where he played clubs with DJ Ole Koretsky in a duo called Jetlag, which later evolved into a band called Jetlag. dark When they enlisted Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries.
Information about survivors was not immediately available.
Long after the Smith days, Mr. Rourke was asked about the origins of his melodic style. “It just liked playing bass,” he said.
“If I hadn’t eaten or taken a bath, I would have had a bass in my hand,” he added.
