How existentially important bassist Andy Rourke was for the band of his life can be seen from the fact that they only survived a few days without him. In the spring of 1986, The Smiths were England’s premier independent rock band, adored by misfit youngsters and poor poets around the world. But Rourke had a heroin problem, rock star syndrome. The band decided to kick him out.
“But the thought of replacing him just seemed ridiculous and unnatural to us,” Smiths singer Morrissey later said. After two weeks, they brought Rourke back. Supposedly the shock was enough to get him into drug withdrawal.
Rourke was not noticed until the exegesis began
The appreciation didn’t change the fact that Andy Rourke always played the role of backbencher. The fate that many bassists live with was even harsher for The Smiths: eccentric Morrissey and guitar prodigy Johnny Marr drew attention with their brilliance and love-hate relationship. Rourke, born in Manchester in 1964, dropped out of school, smart, blond guy, mostly stood in the shadows on the left. And was only noticed when the exegesis began. The basis of the Smiths was the sound of British post-punk and US rockabilly – and to this day there is no other bassist who has mastered the mixture of rhythmic split ends and warm swinging lines as well as Rourke.
After the band broke up, his résumé remained a patchwork quilt. Rourke played for Sinéad O’Connor, Killing Joke and Badly Drawn Boy, often working with the notoriously beastly Morrissey. In 1989, he and Smiths drummer Mike Joyce filed a lawsuit against the two heads of the band over stolen assets. Since Rourke needed the money urgently, he had it paid out. Joyce went through with the lawsuit and got a multiple.
British Postpunk and US Rockabilly: The Smiths with drummer Mike Joyce, singer Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr and bassist Andy Rourke (from left).
(Photo: imago images/LFI)
Like Johnny Marr on Friday via Twitter announced that Andy Rourke has died in Manchester aged just 59 from pancreatic cancer. Anyone who wants to pay tribute to this great, rather unappreciated musician should hear his finest bass lines again: “Rusholme Ruffians” by The Smiths, “The Queen Is Dead” and “Cemetery Gates”.