The David Bowie song Johnny Marr considered perfect: “Genius performance”
The Smiths were never a perfect rock and roll band, but in the 1980s, that is exactly what music needed.
By the time they emerged onto the scene in the mid-80s, the world had grown somewhat tired of the established brand of rock and roll. Crunching guitars and soaring vocals collided to display this grand and opulent idea of musicality that seemed somewhat antiquated by the time Johnny Marr and Morrissey’s minds met.
Instead, they turned rock into a corner of angular obscurity, fitting the somewhat fragmented culture that existed in the ‘80s. The Smiths, for all intents and purposes, were the perfect band for that time, but by no means were they perfect rock and roll.
But Marr knew that fully. He was actively rebelling against the music that preceded him and chose to create something that spoke directly to his generation. But that didn’t mean the music bypassed his creative upbringing. No, he feasted on a diet of bona fide rock and roll in the years he came of age, and cited one particular David Bowie track as the true quintessence of rock and roll.
Speaking of ‘The Jean Genie’ from Bowie’s 1973 record Aladdin Sane, Marr said, “If this came out now I don’t think it’d have any chance on mainstream radio and I think that’s because – and this might be incredibly subjective – he does this amazing thing where he manages to be completely remote whilst leading this band. It’s a really genius performance, the way he pitches his vocal and his persona, it’s cold and remote, but yet really sexy and it’s got no earnestness in it whatsoever. It’s not inciting you to get up and rock like ‘Jailhouse Rock’ or any of the Elvis Presley records, which is someone wanting to dance with you or encouraging you to do that”.
He continued, “To use an obvious comparison about Bowie, this has a really alien position because the voice is so cold, but it’s perfectly Rock and Roll. And it’s really white I think, probably because I can picture him in my mind when it came out and you’d never seen anyone more white, but it’s also as low down and Rock and Roll as any of the blues records that came out. It’s interesting, it’s got that sexuality in it.
“There was a very urban, street Rock and Roll that was quite illicit; the threat of drugs, danger, confused sexuality and super-androgyny and the character he’s singing about personifies that in the mind.”
Bowie’s performance on ‘The Jean Genie’ completely contradicts anything Marr created with Morrissey during The Smiths, and that’s ultimately why it’s so alluring. That caustic sound of rock and roll was something Marr’s band deliberately rebelled against, but would have similarly struggled to make, given the sensibilities of Morrissey’s voice.
But Bowie’s unique performance on the track represents something creatively elusive for Marr, which both perplexed and inspired him. Ultimately, that was the genius of Bowie entirely – his ability to evolve and shapeshift in a way that made him the constant envy of his music peers.
