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Andy Rourke

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Andy Rourke
Rourke in 2007
Rourke in 2007
Background information
Birth nameAndrew Michael Rourke
Born(1964-01-17)17 January 1964
OriginManchester, Lancashire, England
DiedMay 2023 (aged 59)
GenresAlternative rock, indie pop
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Bass guitar, guitar, cello
Labels24 Hour Service Station
Formerly of
WebsiteOffical website

Andrew Michael Rourke (17 January 1964 – May 2023) was an English musician, best known as the bassist of the Smiths. He was known for his melodic approach to bass playing.

Rourke joined the Smiths after their first gig, having known guitarist Johnny Marr since school, and played on all four of their studio albums. After the group broke up in 1987, he performed on singer Morrissey's solo releases. Rourke recorded with Sinéad O'Connor and the Pretenders in the early 1990s, and was a member of the supergroup Freebass and the band D.A.R.K.. He also organised the Versus Cancer concerts from 2006 to 2009.

Life and career

Early life and career

Rourke was born on 17 January 1964.[1] His father was Irish and his mother was English.[2] He received an acoustic guitar from his parents when he was seven years old. At the age of 11 he befriended the young John Maher (soon to be Johnny Marr) with whom he shared an interest in music. The pair spent lunch breaks in school jamming and playing on their guitars. When Marr and Rourke formed a band, he invited Rourke (still then a guitarist) to try on bass, which he fell in love with and continued to play for the rest of his career.[3]

Rourke left school when he was 15[4] and passed through a series of menial jobs, playing guitar and bass in various rock bands, as well as in the short-lived funk band Freak Party, with Marr.[5]

The Smiths

Main article: The Smiths

Marr later teamed up with Morrissey to form the Smiths. Rourke joined the band after its first gig, and remained through most of its existence. Suffering from heroin addiction,[6] he was sacked from the band in early 1986, rejoining two weeks later just before they released The Queen Is Dead. In his absence, second guitarist Craig Gannon joined the band.[7] Marr described Rourke's contribution to that album as "something no other bass player could match". The Smiths released Strangeways, Here We Come in 1987 to critical acclaim, but split soon after.[8]

Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce started legal proceedings against Morrissey and Marr over royalties. Short on money due to his heroin addiction, Rourke settled out of court for £83,000 and 10% of future royalties while relinquishing all further claims; Joyce pursued the claim until 1996 and was awarded substantially more in court.[9] Having spent the settlement, Rourke later found himself being declared bankrupt following a petition of the Inland Revenue on 25 January 1999.[10]

Later career

Immediately after the break-up, Rourke and Joyce played with Sinéad O'Connor – Rourke (but not Joyce) appears on the album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (1990). Along with Craig Gannon, they provided the rhythm section for two singles by former Smiths singer Morrissey – "Interesting Drug" and "The Last of the Famous International Playboys" (both 1989). Rourke also played bass on Morrissey's "November Spawned a Monster" and "Piccadilly Palare" (both 1990) and composed the music for Morrissey's songs "Yes, I Am Blind" (the B-side of "Ouija Board, Ouija Board", 1989); "Girl Least Likely To" (a B-side on the 12-inch single of "November Spawned a Monster"; also released as a bonus track on the 1997 reissue of Viva Hate); and "Get Off the Stage" (the B-side of "Piccadilly Palare").

Rourke also played and recorded with the Pretenders[11] (appearing on some of the tracks on 1994's Last of the Independents); Killing Joke, Badly Drawn Boy (with whom Rourke toured for two years), Aziz Ibrahim (formerly of the Stone Roses), and ex-Oasis guitarist Bonehead as Moondog One, which also included Mike Joyce and Craig Gannon. Rourke also played bass for Ian Brown, both on tour and on Brown's album The World Is Yours.[12]

Rourke, his then-manager Nova Rehman, his production company, Great Northern Productions, and others organised Manchester v Cancer, a series of concerts to benefit cancer research, later known simply as Versus Cancer. The initiative was prompted when Rehman's father and sister were diagnosed with the disease. The first Manchester v Cancer concert took place in January 2006. It featured a reunion between Rourke and his former Smiths bandmate Johnny Marr, who performed one song together.[13] He organised further concerts in the three following years.[14][15][16]

Rourke formed Freebass with bass players Mani (ex-the Stone Roses) and Peter Hook (ex-New Order) in 2007 and remained active in the group until August 2010. Early in 2009, he moved to New York City,[17] where he had a programme on East Village Radio[4] and worked as a club DJ with Olé Koretsky under the name Jetlag. This led to Rourke and Koretsky forming the band D.A.R.K. with singer Dolores O'Riordan from The Cranberries.[18][19] The trio released their debut album, Science Agrees on 9 September 2016.[20]

On 19 May 2023 it was reported that Rourke had died from pancreatic cancer, at the age of 59.[21]

Equipment

Throughout his career, Rourke used a Fender Precision Bass, Squier Precision Bass, Fender Jazz Bass,[11] and a Yamaha BB2000; for amplification, he used Peavey Mark III Head with Ampeg SVT cabinet and Trace Elliot GP-11.

Discography

The Smiths

Main article: The Smiths discography

Morrissey

Singles

Albums

FreeBass

Singles

  • "Live Tomorrow You Go Down" – 2010 – 24 Hour Service Station

EPs

  • Two Worlds Collide – 2010 – 24 Hour Service Station
  • You Don't Know This About Me (The Artur Baker Remixes) – 2010 – 24 Hour Service Station
  • Fritz von Runte vs Freebass Redesign – 2010 – 24 Hour Service Station
  • Two Worlds Collide (The Instrumental Mixes) – 2010 – 24 Hour Service Station

Albums

D.A.R.K.

Sinéad O'Connor

The Pretenders

Ian Brown

References

  1. ^ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2023/05/19/andy-rourke-melodic-bassist-smiths-died-obituary/
  2. ^ "Paddy English man". The Irish Times. 20 November 1999.
  3. ^ "Andy Rourke Interview", YouTube. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Catching Up With Andy Rourke of The Smiths". HuffPost. 8 February 2011.
  5. ^ Simpson, Dave (23 January 2012). "How we made: Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce on the Smiths' first gig". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  6. ^ Michael Moynihan (13 October 2013). "Andy Rourke Tells All". The Daily Beast.
  7. ^ Barnett, David (30 January 2018). "I started something I couldn't finish: the Smiths reunion that wasn't". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  8. ^ https://www.nme.com/features/music-features/andy-rourke-the-smiths-bassist-obituary-3445484
  9. ^ Garner, Clare (12 December 1996). "Devious, truculent and unreliable". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  10. ^ "The London Gazette" (PDF). The London Gazette: 1363. 4 February 1999. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  11. ^ a b "Bass guitar news, reviews and tutorials". MusicRadar. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Ian Brown: 'The World Is Yours'". NME. 27 September 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  13. ^ Ando, Jeff (29 January 2006). "Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke reunite". Gigwise. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  14. ^ "Versus Cancer wows crowds". Manchester Evening News. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Versus Cancer in 2008 return". Manchester Evening News. 30 November 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  16. ^ "Happy Mondays Latest Act Added to Versus Cancer Charity Gig". Live4Ever. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  17. ^ "About JetLag", Jetlag. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  18. ^ "About D.A.R.K."
  19. ^ "Members of the Smiths, the Cranberries Form New Band D.A.R.K., Share "Curvy"". Pitchfork. 26 March 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  20. ^ Galbraith, Alex (6 September 2016). "Cranberries/Smiths supergroup D.A.R.K. share gothic club track 'The Moon'". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  21. ^ Blakey, Ashlie (19 May 2023). "The Smiths bassist Andy Rourke dies after battle with pancreatic cancer". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  22. ^ "Single Stories: Morrissey, "Piccadilly Palare"". Rhino. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  23. ^ a b c York, Alan (19 May 2023). "Best Andy Rourke Basslines: 10 Classics From The Smiths and beyond". Dig!. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  24. ^ Plagenhoef, Scott (15 October 2010). "Bona Drag [20th Anniversary Edition]". Pitchfork. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  25. ^ Healy, Pat (3 September 2016). "Science Agrees". Pitchfork. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  26. ^ Heller, Jason (4 February 2014). "Sinéad O'Connor got what she didn't want: mainstream acceptance". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  27. ^ York, Alan (9 May 2021). "Last Of The Independents: How Pretenders Roared Back Into Battle". Dig!. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
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