June 8, 2009 13:46

Johnny Marr reveals secret of Smiths' success - video

Guitarist says why he thinks the band were so successful

Johnny Marr, former guitarist with The Smiths, has revealed why he thinks the Manchester legends were so successful.

Marr was speaking in a video interview with NME Radio as the station counted down the top 30 Manchester anthems as voted for by NME.COM users. Watch it by clicking below.

"For a start they're [Smiths songs] quite strong tunes," he said. "There's a lot of emotion in them. I think emotive music shoots through trends and fashions and changes in style because it's something people can relate to. Emotion's emotion whether you dress it up or not.

"We didn't dress up the records in fashionable sounds and production," he added. "We tried to keep it classic. Guitar music, basically, which rarely goes out of style.That combination of strong tunes, emotion and the overall sounds of the records means it dates very well.

"We meant it, there's no faking it in there. That always stands the test of time."

Watch the full video interview with Marr, who currently plays in The Cribs, by clicking below.