Talk:Johnny Marr

Untitled
I thought Johnny Marr at least deserved to have a photo up along with his article so I uploaded this one I found on foreverill. I tried finding an email address on that site so I could ask if this photo was okay to use, but seeing as I couldn't find one I went ahead. If anyone (or Mr. Marr himself) have an issue with the photo, please change it! -- goldenorb82

Seems like whoever wrote this is defending Marr's guitar style by saying it's considerably more difficult to play than most "hair metal" solos. Is it necessary to say that, or is it fine to say that his guitar lines are considerably more difficult to play than they sound? --Domukaz

Hi Domukaz -- I did not write this article, but I do think it could use a bit of refinement especially since parts of it sound a bit more like a fan page than an objective biography of the artist. I think some historical info on Johnny Marr's formative guitar years (before he formed the Smiths) would be good to add and some expansion on his work after the Smiths might be nice too. I personally like the way you reworded the sentence on the comparison to hair metal bands; I would just go ahead and edit it if you want. --goldenorb82

The hair metal line sounds a bit POV to me, or at least slightly irrelevant. Marr's Smiths-era guitar playing, while indeed technically intricate, and perhaps much more so than hair metal guitar parts, was never actually intended to compete with metal anyway. His playing, being influenced by Chuck Berry, Keith Richards, et al, mainly harked back to 1960s pop acts, and eventually progressed to taking in 70s influences - MC5, Stooges, T Rex. It's worth bearing in mind The Smiths, featuring Johnny as chief composer, were more about consciously using pop as a communicative medium, which they felt was not being done at the time. So, in Marr's playing and composition, it'd be more accurate to state his sound was intentionally different from contemporary pop musicians, as that is who he was intending to be compared to rather than different from hair metal musicians, as - while true - that is merely incidental. --ToneLa

Agreed. The whole Musicianship section sounds POV to my ears. If no-one else wants to tackle it, I'll work on it when I have some time. It shouldn't be tough to dig up outside sources (e.g. guitar magazines) to support a more balanced description of his playing style and innovations. RedEarth 17:57, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Tagged for cleanup
I tagged this article for cleanup because of its pervasive errors of grammar, style, and punctuation, especially in the introductory paragraph.

I've now cleaned up the areas in question and removed the tag. It's no featured article but imo it doesn't require cleanup anymore. --Soulchild

I think another shot at cleanup needs to be taken here, especially the very last section. The grammar is so bad it's nearly incomprehensible. --mmoskwa

Discography
Have expanded the discography somewhat. Anticipating any comments about the length of it now, I do think that Johnny's odd-jobbing down the years is as noteworthy (and in some cases more so) than some of his "proper band material". However, perhaps it could be tidied up by using tables (I'd leave this to someone else though) and/or there may be a case for looking at whether some of it is needed or not (difficult to work out a consistent rule, though). --88.110.50.140 17:53, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Oasis
Article claims Mr. Marr played on Oasis' Heathen Chemistry album yet the album's article page doesn't show any indication that Johnny Marr played on it. Is there someone with a copy of the album who can verify this by looking in the sleeve notes?

Try googling "johnny marr" "heathen chemistry" --88.109.55.199 23:03, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

Split
I am thinking that now that the discography has been expanded that it warrants its own article. The simple fact that he has played on so many records i think explains why it is notable enough for its own article. I know that argument is a little cyclical but i think it works. He is clearly an in-demand guitar player and now that he is in Modest Mouse he will only be releasing more records. Thesloth 09:46, 27 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Split I agree. If the article was respectively lengthened, the discography would still warrant its own page by its length. As of now, it should be split just because it is so disproportionately long compared to the rest of the article. --76.214.226.199 02:43, 10 November 2007 (UTC)


 * I also agree, to all of the points stated above. Anyone against? Cambrant 01:41, 12 November 2007 (UTC)


 * I also agree, particularly with the proportional point. Johnny Sumner (talk) 15:44, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm against it, this is his page and why need two pages of him? Its one person, and if someone is so interested in him, wouldn't they read the whole thing? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.218.83.194 (talk) 07:37, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Is he a vegetarian?
Is there any evidence for this, other than the album Meat Is Murder, of which Morrissey chose the title? (Midnightblueowl (talk) 11:08, 11 May 2008 (UTC))

I believe he is actually a vegan. However, here is an interview where he refers to himself as a vegetarian: http://foreverill.com/interviews/post87/johnnymarr.htm --78.148.64.243 (talk) 23:42, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Rickenbacker
http://foreverill.com/interviews/post87/antihero.htm I think it's a bit wrong for everyone to just assume that Johnny played a Rickenbacker all the time. He really played other guitars more, as a whole, than Rics. —Preceding unsigned comment added by BuddyOfHolly (talk • contribs) 01:08, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

I was under the impression that Johnny's main axe on the early Smiths albums was a vintage Telecaster. This may be an example of the 'jangle' meme meaning everyone assumes that someone with a clean, chiming guitar tone must be playing the same guitar as Roger McGuinn. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.106.169.33 (talk) 20:23, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

http://www.jmarr.com/johnny-marr/johnny-marr-guitars-archives.php <- This is Johnny's site, where he says he used a Ric 330 for all of the first album, which contradicts his statement I posted above. I believe it was a Tele, like he said before, especially since he said he was never crazy for McGuinn like people say. --BuddyOfHolly (talk) 20:17, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

http://foreverill.com/interviews/post87/guitar.htm Another interview where he says it was mostly Tele. Anyway, point made. --BuddyOfHolly (talk) 00:27, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

future projects
johnny please contact me 'bandaidsrcool' yahoo & 'upisdowndie2live' aol —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.215.160.226 (talk) 06:14, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

Maher vs. Marr
Shouldn't there be some discussion about the origin of his "Johnny Marr" moniker? I heard this was a play off a French phrase, but don't have a reference for this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.198.171.70 (talk) 18:09, 24 August 2009 (UTC)


 * - I think there definitely should be. I have read about him changing his name because of the Buzzcock's drummer, but the "J'en ai marre"-pun which you probably mean (translating to "I'm fed up") has also been floating around. --134.2.190.254 (talk) 13:04, 20 October 2009 (UTC)


 * FYI, in Ireland the surname "Maher" is basically pronounced as "Marr" -- the H is essentially silent. (Strictly speaking it's more like "Maar" -- the "a" is closer to the "a" in "man" rather than "mars").
 * So his choice of "Marr" as a pseudonym is probably nothing more than a phonetic approximation of his surname as it should be pronounced (and as he probably pronounced it himself -- his parents had both emigrated from Ireland in their teens so surely still retained their Irish accents). Not the first time a musician has done this -- see also Jon Bon Jovi (Bongiovi). Much more likely than the "French pun" idea mentioned above. Too Orangey For Crows (talk) 13:47, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Sources: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thecultureshow/2008/10/office-chat-johnny-marr.html http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Music/TheSmiths?from=Main.TheSmiths — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.160.164.33 (talk) 23:08, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Modest Mouse
In the Modest Mouse section, there is the text "The new album reached number one on the American Billboard charts in late March 2007." I think it should be stated which album that is - "new" is getting older over the years ... BNutzer (talk) 00:13, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

End of Marr's association with The Cribs
Just to say that this page seems out of date as it was revealed at Reading Fest this year that Marr was leaving the Cribs... Don't know if you want to research this further. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.244.81.20 (talk) 21:06, 11 October 2010 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070928031722/http://foreverill.com/interviews/1987/exile.htm to http://foreverill.com/interviews/1987/exile.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070427094304/http://foreverill.com/interviews/post87/marrview.htm to http://foreverill.com/interviews/post87/marrview.htm
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External links modified
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Date error - In August 1940, Marr left the group
Hi,

Never done this before so not really sure what to do. Anyway the sentence "In August 1940, Marr left the group" is an obvious error. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.240.185.194 (talk) 10:25, 2 June 2017 (UTC)

Missing a date
Does anyone have a date for:

Having resided in Portland, Oregon, for more than five years, the family returned to Britain for Marr to record his solo album in Manchester.

in Personal Life?

Thanks. SkagwayEntropy (talk) 11:28, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

Hi, COYS — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.137.152.194 (talk) 14:12, 14 January 2020 (UTC)

No Monochrome Set no Smiths
It is vital to include information on the Monochrome Set as Johnny Marr has stated in the past, no Monochrome Set no Smiths. https://www.cccb.org/en/participants/file/the-monochrome-set/214217 Aradicus77 (talk) 22:31, 27 April 2023 (UTC)