Call The Police! - Terry Bickers' Favourite Albums | Page 10 of 14 | The Quietus

Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

9. The SmithsHatful Of Hollow

Being a guitarist, I’m a huge admirer of Johnny Marr but I also love Andy Rourke’s bass playing. Maybe he’s not cited as much but wow – what a bass player! This compilation has my favourite Smiths songs on it. I can remember hearing The Smiths in session on the radio and then listening to their debut album and thinking, where’s the reverb? I prefer these versions. It’s a combination of radio session versions and B-sides but even the B-sides were amazing; songs like ‘How Soon Is Now?’ It also has ‘This Night Has Opened My Eyes’ which is one of my favourites, as is ‘What Difference Does It Make?’ As a collection of songs, it’s a winner.

I teach guitar and some of my students asked me to teach them some of the songs here and that’s testament to how good these songs are.

Selected in other Baker’s Dozens: Andy Burnham, Rick Astley, Nicky Wire, Alex Kapranos
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