The Smiths’ Mike Joyce Announces Memoir The Drums

When it comes to The Smiths, both Morrissey and Johnny Marr often hog the bulk of media coverage. But lest we forget, drummer Mike Joyce was there the whole time, keeping time to all the wonderful, wonderful rock music and corresponding drama. Now, Joyce will get to tell his very own story with a forthcoming autobiography.

In what’s perhaps the mostly perfectly-titled book ever, The Drums will be published via New Modern ,an imprint of HMV from Putman Publishing (pre-orders are now ongoing). The “no-holds-barred story” will feature “honest and witty reflections” as Joyce attempts to address the “question he and bassist Andy Rourke used to often ask each other: ‘Where did it all go right?'”

As such, Joyce’s writings generally eschew more “well-documented iconic moments” in the band’s history and instead focus on his “feelings” as the band rose to fame before abruptly crashing down between 1982 and 1987.

“His off-piste, frank and witty perspective allows him to re-contextualize fan favorite moments through a beautifully vulnerable, human insight into his life,” reads the book’s description.

It’s seemingly a book not just about being a rock star, but what it’s like to get a behind-the-scenes look at the rise and fall of indie rock’s most shiny progenitors.

Or, as the description further read, “In The Drums, Mike Joyce finally gives us the perspective of the self-confessed biggest Smiths fan in the world who from the start was just some lad from the suburbs of Fallowfield who played the drums.” (Given the depths to which Joyce has had to go to defend Morrissey over the years, it’s likely best that he focus on his own role in The Smiths’ history.)

Joyce’s autobiography will be the last such tome released by the band’s four members. Morrissey unveiled the stupidly-titled Autobiography in October 2013; GQ said it was “dour, over-the-top, and frustrating as even the man’s staunchest devotees might expect.” From there, Johnny Marr released Set the Boy Free: The Autobiography in late 2016. The Guardian noted that it was a “breezy and smart memoir,” and that Marr had only included “the odd dig at Morrissey.”

And while technically not an autobiography, Rourke (who passed away in May 2023) was interviewed heavily (alongside Marr) for 2012’s A Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga of the Smiths. Slate deemed it an “exhaustive, exhausting book,” and that it would likely only satisfy the most hardcore of Smiths devotees.

The Drums will be released on November 6th. For pre-order info, head to Amazon. Check out the book cover below.

Depending on what this book adds to the “vibes,” could a modified Smiths reunion at last be a possibility?