“Frankly Mr. Shankly” by The Smiths

"Frankly Mr. Shankly" turns up on The Queen Is Dead, the Smiths' third album, which Rough Trade released on 16 June 1986. The record took shape after Meat Is Murder, when Morrissey and Johnny Marr got out of London and away from the pressure of their label to write at Marr's house in Bowdon, then cut the songs between July and December 1985 at studios in London, Farnham and Manchester.

Marr wrote the music and Morrissey the words, and the pair produced it themselves, with Andy Rourke on bass, Mike Joyce on drums and Stephen Street and John Porter sharing the engineering credits. It's the Smiths at their most mischievous, Marr's guitar skipping along while Morrissey sharpens his tongue.

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