Mike Joyce Turns the Tables in The Drums: A Candid Beat from The Smiths’ Backseat

Manchester’s unsung pulse, drummer Mike Joyce, finally steps out from behind The Smiths’ jangly guitar riffs with his much-anticipated memoir, The Drums, due for release in November 2025.

While The Smiths need no introduction, they formed in 1982, disbanded in 1987, with each of their five studio albums charting within the UK Top Five, Joyce has long occupied the understudied heart of the band’s groove, keeping time where Morrissey’s melancholy vocals and Johnny Marr’s chiming guitars often took centre stage.

The Drums marks the final solo memoir from a Smiths member, following Morrissey’s Autobiography and Johnny Marr’s Set the Boy Free. Bassist Andy Rourke never had the chance to write his own book before his passing. Joyce’s memoir promises an intimate, witty, and deeply human lens on the band’s inner workings, less about rehashing iconic moments and more about conveying “the feeling” of being inside that frenetic, passionate, ultimately fractured four-piece.

As Joyce puts it, the question he and Andy Rourke used to ask each other was simple: “Where did it all go right?” That framing gives the book its heartbeat, nostalgic, reflective, and grounded in the humour and vulnerability of a lad from Fallowfield who wound up in one of the most influential bands of all time.

Born in Manchester in June 1963, Mike Joyce joined The Smiths in late 1982 and held the drum seat until the band’s split five years later. His drumming—unflashy, steady, but essential—steered the rhythm that underpinned many of the band’s most memorable tracks. His approach on songs like “How Soon Is Now?” showed his ability to create atmosphere with restraint, proving that purpose often outweighs technical flash.

Fans have long pointed out that his contributions were undervalued. While Marr and Morrissey often dominated the spotlight, Joyce’s style was the glue that kept the band’s angular sound together. His rhythms gave shape to Marr’s guitar lines and carried Morrissey’s dramatic delivery through to their audiences.

After The Smiths collapsed, Joyce and Rourke became an in-demand rhythm section. They played for Sinéad O’Connor and joined Morrissey’s early solo career, contributing to tracks like “Interesting Drug” and “The Last of the Famous International Playboys.”

Throughout the 1990s Joyce remained busy, recording and touring with a wide spectrum of artists including Suede, Buzzcocks, Public Image Ltd, Julian Cope, P. P. Arnold, and Pete Wylie. He continued to show that his drumming could adapt to punk aggression, indie melancholy, or pop craftsmanship without losing its identity.

He also built a second life in radio, hosting shows for various Manchester stations and guesting on BBC programs. His voice, like his drumming, was approachable, sharp, and rooted in his sense of humour. Along the way, he kept performing, working with Vinny Peculiar, Bonehead of Oasis, and more recently lending his groove to live projects celebrating the music that shaped him.

In 2007 he co-released Inside the Smiths with Andy Rourke, a DVD documentary that revisited their years in the band without the often-expected drama.

No recount of Joyce’s story is complete without acknowledging the famous High Court case of the mid-1990s. Joyce successfully challenged Morrissey and Marr for his share of royalties, with the court ruling in his favour. The case was a bitter chapter, but it secured him the recognition and financial equity he deserved for his contributions to The Smiths’ catalogue.

It was also a moment that underscored the band’s permanent fractures. Whatever hope existed for a reunion was dimmed even further by the ruling. With Andy Rourke’s passing in 2023, Joyce himself has said a full reunion is now impossible.

Unlike the confrontational public personas of Morrissey and Marr, Joyce has always been approachable, affable, and open with fans. His career since The Smiths has reflected that ethos, working steadily, contributing creatively, but never seeking the spotlight for its own sake.

With The Drums, Joyce finally tells his side of the story. But rather than another encyclopaedia of band disputes, he offers a deeply personal take: what it actually felt like to be there, hidden behind the kit, driving the music forward as it took over the world.

For fans who have long wanted the missing piece of The Smiths’ history, Joyce’s book is that final chapter. It’s a story of a drummer who started as “just some lad from the suburbs of Fallowfield” and ended up keeping time for a band that defined a generation.

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Tagged as: 80s, alternative, Mike Joyce, The Drums, The Smiths, UK