Remembering 2023’s Music Losses: Andy Rourke

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I thought I might escape today, but my gate is frozen shut. So I’ll thaw it out and try again tomorrow. God lets things happen for a reason, and it might not be safe enough to venture out today. I’m glad to see people aren’t on the chairlift in Gatlinburg today, too! While we wait for the warm-up here’s another musician we lost in 2023. Andy Rourke A name you’ve probably never heard of, which is why I’m doing this. In this case, it may also be a band you’ve never heard of. The Smiths were a very popular band in the 80s…everywhere except in the United States. I have to say I respect the Smiths more now than I did in the 80s. Back then, Morrissey’s whinyass voice just annoyed me. He’s still the subject of jokes because of his reputation (Sparks did a song called “Lighten Up, Morrissey” ), but I “get it” now. Back then, I was more of a Marshall Crenshaw/BoDeans “come on, let’s feel good!” person musically. Andy Rourke was the bass player for the Smiths. They broke up over one of my favorite songs of theirs, their cover of Cilla Black’s 1968 song “Work Is a Four-Letter Word.” Guitarist Johnny Marr didn’t think they should be covering 60s pop, so he left. He didn’t get the joke. (Heck, I did even back when I didn’t care for the Smiths!) After the Smiths broke up Rourke played with Sinéad O’Connor, touring with her and playing on her massively successful I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got album. He also played with the Pretenders in the 90s. Andy Rourke was just 59 when he died of pancreatic cancer on May 19, 2023. Two months later, Sinéad O’Connor, whom he’d worked with, would also die. You may not know the name, but the hole he left in music is large. PS: tomorrow (January 17) would have been his 60th birthday. Andy Rourke Born Andrew Michael Rourke January 17, 1964 - May 19, 2023 (age 59) My favorite Smiths song, “Shelia Take a Bow”: