Mike Joyce - The Drums

A Times Book of the Year 2025

By: Mike Joyce

Narrated by: Mike Joyce

A Times Book of the Year 2025

“A warm and engaging memoir” Guardian

“A beautifully told odyssey” Daily Express

“A brilliant book” Mark Ellen, Word in Your Ear

The long overdue reflection of life in The Smiths from their legendary drummer.

As a band, the Smiths need no introduction. Formed in 1982 and disbanded in 1987, all four of their studio albums reached the top five in the UK charts. They are widely lauded as one of the most influential groups of all time.

Mike is the last member of the band to release their autobiography and this is his no-holds-barred story of what it was like to play the drums in the Smiths. Throughout his honest and witty reflections, Mike answers the question he and bassist Andy Rourke used to often ask each other: ‘Where did it all go right?’

A lot of the Smiths’ past is already canonised. Rather than retelling those well-documented iconic moments, in The Drums, Mike conveys ‘the feeling’ of his time in the band. His off-piste, frank and witty perspective allows him to re-contextualise fan favourite moments through a beautifully vulnerable, human insight into his life.

The written history of the Smiths is not missing an encyclopedic account of everything that happened over the years; but Mike’s honest, entertaining and deeply human memoir is what Smiths fans have been waiting for. This book truly conveys what it felt like to be a member of the Smiths.

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.

Focus on positive

Great perspective, it was obvious that you truly enjoyed that unique time in your life. What an awesome experience. Thank you for sharing 💯🙏🏼🤘🏼

Outstanding on every level

I will admit that first, I am an unabashed Smiths dork and second, I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did. It is in no way an exaggeration to say the Mike Joyce's book is far superior to Johnny Marr's book and is indeed better than Morrissey's, if only because Morrissey spent FAR too much time on the infamous court case, which does not make for interesting reading. Joyce wisely gives a couple paragraphs to this ordeal and is surprisingly even-handed about it. Joyce truly captures the feel of the era and gives a precious inside view of one of the best bands ever, fully acknowledging the unique talents of each individual member. People may in fact be surprised at how often how often he notes that Marr and Morrissey and musical and lyrical geniuses. His narration of the book is also truly well done. *Highly* recommended for any fan of The Smiths.