Johnny Marr reveals The Smiths' 'most enduring song'

The Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr has declared the band’s 1985 single ‘How Is Soon Is Now?’ the “band’s most enduring record”.

But the star, talking about the seminal track in this month’s issue of Uncut, doesn’t like Russian pop duo T.A.T.u.’s 2003 version, calling it “plastic music”.

Marr said of the song: “It’s possibly our most enduring record. It’s most people’s favourite. And it’s the guitar track I’m still most asked about.

"When we'd done 'How Soon Is Now?', we knew it was something else."

The new Healers (Marr’s sometime band) do a really good job of it. I know Morrissey still does it live, too. But T.A.T.u.’s version was just silly. Plastic music.”

The interview is part of a look at The Smiths’ 30 greatest songs, chosen by the likes of REM, Ian Brown, Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand.

Uncut is on sale via UK newsstands now, priced £4.20.

See Uncut.co.uk for more information.