The Smiths’ Strangeways, Here We Come turns 30 today.

I was on the verge of turning 16 when this album came out and it was my introduction to The Smiths. I remember buying it on cassette at Traxx near the mall in Asheville. Or had it changed over to being called Record Bar by that point? Regardless, for a while it was the go-to record store for alternative releases. Roger, myself and some co-workers from McDonald’s were there. I was so broke that I didn’t have the $6.99 (plus tax) to buy it. Someone in the group loaned me the change (somewhere around 35¢) so that I had enough to make the purchase. Yeah. I spent every single cent I had and then some. I remember having a lot of buyer’s remorse afterwards because I had spent all my money. But, I didn’t have any remorse when listening to the music. Strangeways, Here We Come became one of the essential albums during my junior year in high school. I still have that cassette and would listen to it in the Bug (which, strangely, had the factory cassette player in it).

Years later, Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me became my go-to song to listen to when I was feeling depressed/upset about the Evil One. I love this song (and thankfully don’t pine over the Evil One while listening to it anymore).