Song · The Smiths
“Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before” by The Smiths
From the album Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)
“Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before” by The Smiths appears on 19 radio countdowns from 11 stations between 1987 and 2021. It was first released in 1987 on the album Strangeways, Here We Come. Its best result is #12 on the John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1987. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #26 alternative song of 1987, #1,200 alternative song of all time and #197 of the '80s.
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"Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before", from the Smiths' 1987 album Strangeways, Here We Come, finds Johnny Marr going big. He drives it with a 12-string Gibson ES-335 that fills the room and even cuts loose with a guitar solo, something he rarely did in this band, while Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce push the rhythm hard underneath. Marr and Morrissey produced it with Stephen Street, and Morrissey's words circle drink and deceit with his usual sly wit.
It was lined up as a British single for August 1987 until the BBC balked at a line about mass murder in the wake of the Hungerford massacre. So it went out that October only in America, Australia and parts of Europe, with "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" taking its place at home. Critics have since ranked it among the band's finest.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 24 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1987 | 107 |
| 1987 | 90 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1987 | 91 |
| 1987 | 74 | WLIR / WDRE Long Island, NY | WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1987 | 99 |
| 1987 | 28 | Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium | Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1987 | 29 |
| 1987 | 12 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1987 | 50 |
| 1988 | 28 | Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium | Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1988 | 30 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 263 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) | 501 |
| 1989 | 410 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) | 500 |
| 1999 | 411 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
| 2002 | 705 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 650 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2007 | 479 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) | 2008 |
| 2008 | 479 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) | 2009 |
| 2009 | 492 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) | 2010 |
| 2010 | 506 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) | 2011 |
| 2011 | 501 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) | 2011 |
| 2013 | 508 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) | 2012 |
| 2014 | 512 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) | 2013 |
| 2021 | 392 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s | 909 |
Also listed as: Stop Me If You Think You've Heard this One Before; Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before; Stop Me if You Think You've Heard This One Before; Stop me if you think you've heard this one before.
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