Johnny Marr blames Curly Watts from ‘Coronation Street’ for the loss of his first guitar: “Never gave it me back”
Johnny Marr has revealed that Kevin Kennedy, the actor who played Curly Watts on Coronation Street, was responsible for losing his first guitar.
Prior to finding fame in their respective creative lanes, Marr and Kennedy knew each other from growing up in Wythenshawe, even attending the same primary school.
Then, before Marr formed The Smiths and Kennedy moved to the cobbles in Weatherfield, they played together in the band Paris Valentinos, which also included Marr’s future Smiths bandmate, Andy Rourke.
Now, in a new episode of Origin Stories on Apple Music in Stockport, hosted by Matt Wilkinson, Marr reflected on those early days, including revealing why Kennedy is to blame for the loss of his first-ever guitar.
When asked about his first guitar, Marr solemnly explained that it is long gone, revealing, “I’ve got a copy of it. Someone very kindly bought me a version of it, it’s an old Vox guitar. I don’t have my very first one.”
He elaborated on how it disappeared, “And what happened to it actually was a mate of mine back in the day, he borrowed it and never gave it me back. He says that it got damaged. I’m talking about you, Curly Watts from Coronation Street.”
Despite Kennedy being responsible for the guitar, which now would likely be worth a not-so-small fortune due to Marr’s history with it, there are no hard feelings between the pair, with the Manchester music icon adding, “Yeah, Kevin Kennedy had it from back in the day, but that’s alright, he’s a nice fella.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Marr discussed his relationship with Manchester, sharing, “The city’s really, really changed so rapidly in the last sort of ten years maybe. But the one thing I do know is that lots of young people are still flooding into Manchester and creating their own culture. And all things told, Manchester seems to be doing better than a lot of places.”
He also provided an update on his next studio album, which will be his first full-length record since Fever Dreams Pts 1–4 in 2022.
Marr explained, “I’m so old school, my head is like ‘I’ve made this record, this album’, but I’m all about the single, believe it or not. Does the single even… are they even a thing anymore? I think I’ve got a few singles on it which, you know, I’m such a creature of habit. I’m excited about possibly hearing on the radio, right?”
The former Smiths guitarist has a busy summer ahead, including a huge homecoming show at Castelfield Bowl on July 9th. Then, on October 12th, he’ll play the biggest solo headline date of his career at Wembley Arena.
Origin Stories on Apple Music is out now.
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