Ellen Leerburger

Favourite track: 'Bigmouth Strikes Again'

I had spent the 1984-85 studying in Spain where I was introduced to the Smiths' music in the clubs of Madrid. So I was already a fan, but not yet a connoisseur. Late spring of 1986, I was graduating from college and "Bigmouth Strikes Again" shot into my universe as if out of a cannon. As soon as I heard those first glorious guitar licks, I HAD TO HAVE IT. When "The Queen is Dead" finally appeared in the record stores in June, I bought it first on vinyl, then immediately made a cassette tape of it for my walkman, (natch) and then a few years later, it was one of a handful of my first ever CD purchases - the only Smiths album I have in three formats and the first I learned by heart, spending much of that summer lying on my bed, reading liner notes and completely losing myself in the brilliance of Morrissey and Marr. A superfan was born.