“Panic” by The Smiths

"Panic" is the Smiths at their most gleefully contrary, a Rough Trade single from 1986 with Morrissey's words and Johnny Marr's music, and John Porter in the producer's chair. It was also the first thing the band recorded as a five-piece, with new member Craig Gannon added to the lineup.

It's a tirade against the pop music of the day, and Morrissey doesn't do subtle here: he urges his listeners to torch the disco and string up the DJ who keeps spinning records that say nothing about their lives. Marr sets it all to a brisk, stomping glam-rock beat that's far catchier than a protest has any right to be, which is precisely the joke.

And the joke landed. It reached number 11 in the UK and number seven in Ireland, and Morrissey delighted in the irony of hearing it on daytime British radio, playing between the very records it mocked; he called it a small revolution of its own. The song later turned up on the compilations The World Won't Listen and Louder Than Bombs, both from 1987.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.