Editing The Smiths (section)

=== 1983–1984: Rough Trade, "Hand in Glove", and debut album ===

Marr and Rourke visited London to hand a cassette of their recordings to [[Geoff Travis]] of the independent record label [[Rough Trade Records]].{{sfn|Marr|2016|pp=275–276}} Travis agreed to cut their song "[[Hand in Glove]]" as a single.{{sfn|Goddard|2006|p=42}} For the cover, Morrissey insisted on a homoerotic photograph by [[Jim French (photographer)|Jim French]] which he had found in Margaret Walters' ''The Nude Male''.{{sfn|Goddard|2006|p=42}} The single was released in May 1983,{{sfn|Goddard|2006|p=38}} and sold well for the next 18 months, but did not chart in the [[UK Top 40]].{{sfn|Goddard|2006|p=43}} Among the audience at the Smiths' second London concert, at the [[University of London Union]], was [[John Walters (broadcaster)|John Walters]], the producer of [[John Peel]]'s BBC Radio 1 show: he invited the band to record a session for the programme. Peel said: "You couldn't immediately tell what records they'd been listening to. That's fairly unusual, very rare indeed... It was that aspect of the Smiths that I found most impressive."{{sfn|Goddard|2006|p=43}} Following this radio exposure, the Smiths gained their first interviews, in the music magazines ''[[NME]]'' and ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]''.{{sfn|Goddard|2006|p=43}}

Travis travelled to Manchester to meet the band at their Crazy Face rehearsal space and sign a record contract with Rough Trade.{{sfn|Goddard|2006|pp=46–47}} Morrissey and Marr signed it on behalf of the band, and there was no discussion of how earnings would be divided.{{sfn|Goddard|2006|p=47}} Travis brought in [[Troy Tate]] of [[the Teardrop Explodes]], and under his supervision the band recorded their debut album, at the Elephant Studios in [[Wapping]], [[East London]].{{sfn|Goddard|2006|pp=47–50}} Rough Trade were unhappy with the album and Tate's production, insisting the band rerecord it with a new producer, [[John Porter (musician, born 1947)|John Porter]].{{sfn|Goddard|2006|pp=50–51}} The singles "[[This Charming Man]]" and "[[What Difference Does It Make?]]" reached numbers 25 and 12 respectively on the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref name="guinness book">{{Cite book|editor-last=Roberts|editor-first=David |title=British Hit Singles & Albums|publisher=[[HIT Entertainment]]|year=2006|edition=19th|pages=509–510|isbn=1-904994-10-5|title-link=Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums}}</ref> Aided by praise from the music press and a series of studio sessions for Peel and [[David Jensen]] at [[BBC Radio 1]], the Smiths began to build a dedicated fanbase.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

The Smiths generated controversy when [[Garry Bushell]] of ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' tabloid alleged their B-side "Handsome Devil" was an endorsement of [[paedophilia]].{{sfnm|1a1=Simpson|1y=2004|1p=108|2a1=Goddard|2y=2006|2pp=35–36}} The band denied this, with Morrissey stating the song "has nothing to do with children, and certainly nothing to do with child-molesting".{{sfn|Goddard|2006|p=37}}[[File:The Smiths (1984 Sire publicity photo) 001.jpg|thumb|The Smiths in 1984]]
In February 1984, the Smiths released their debut album, ''[[The Smiths (album)|The Smiths]]'', which reached number two on the [[UK Albums Chart]].<ref name=album>{{cite web|url=http://www.theofficialcharts.com/artist/_/smiths/#albums|title=The Smiths Uk charts albums|website=Theofficialcharts.com|access-date=20 October 2017|archive-date=17 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217193040/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/artist/_/smiths/#albums|url-status=live}}</ref> "Reel Around the Fountain" and "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" met with controversy, with some tabloid newspapers alleging the songs were suggestive of [[paedophilia]], a claim strongly denied by the group.<ref name=":1" /> In March 1984, the Smiths performed on [[Channel 4]] music program ''[[The Tube (1982 TV series)|The Tube]]''.{{sfn|Goddard|2006|p=45}}

The album was followed the same year by the non-album singles "[[Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now]]" and "[[William, It Was Really Nothing]]", which featured "[[How Soon Is Now?]]" on its B-side. Securing the band's first top ten placing, "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" was also significant for marking the beginning of engineer and producer [[Stephen Street]]'s long-term working relationship with the band.<ref name="hitquarters.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.hitquarters.com/index.php3?page=intrview/opar/intrview_StephenStreet.html |title=Interview With Stephen Street |publisher=[[HitQuarters]] |date=27 September 2005 |access-date=12 May 2010 |archive-date=14 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314061930/http://www.hitquarters.com/index.php3?page=intrview/opar/intrview_StephenStreet.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

More controversy followed when "[[Suffer Little Children]]", the B-side to "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", touched on the theme of the [[Moors murders]]. This caused an uproar after the grandfather of one of the murdered children heard the song on a [[pub]] [[jukebox]] and felt the band was trying to commercialise the murders. After meeting with Morrissey, he accepted that the song was a sincere exploration of the impact of the murders. Morrissey subsequently established a friendship with Ann West, the mother of victim Lesley Ann Downey, who is mentioned by name in the song.<ref>See the discussion of [http://foreverill.com/disc/heaven.htm "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926031909/http://foreverill.com/disc/heaven.htm |date=26 September 2008 }} at ''Forever Ill''; and the [http://www.passionsjustlikemine.com/lyrics/smiths-slc.htm "Suffer Little Children"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206003624/http://passionsjustlikemine.com/lyrics/smiths-slc.htm |date=6 February 2012 }} lyrics at ''Passions Just Like Mine''. Both retrieved 8 January 2012.</ref>

The year ended with the release of the compilation album ''[[Hatful of Hollow]]'', a collection of singles, B-sides and tracks recorded throughout the previous year for the Peel and Jensen radio shows.