KEY POINTS:
They're all at it. Crowded House, James, All Saints, Police, the Spice Girls, The Verve. For their own, unique, compelling reasons - "the love of the music", "a laugh" (and, perhaps, the van loads of cash that accompany sell-out tours) - these bands have decided to patch up old arguments and hit the road again.
Even Led Zeppelin were said to be considering a reunion this year. Lively readers will note that Led Zeppelin can never, actually, reform. The death of their drummer, John Bonham, in 1980 saw to that. But they can do the next best thing. Bonham's son, Jason, has been pencilled in for his place.
So what's got into everyone? Why can't bands just break up and fade away?
Of course, some do. The Stone Roses, for instance, flamed out in a series of cocaine-fuelled disputes in 1996 and will never, say the former bandmates' spokespersons, reform. Ian Brown and John Squire - the band's two most influential characters - hate each other so virulently that a reunion will never happen.
Paul Weller's mod punk outfit The Jam parted company in 1982 under circumstances that were less fiery but equally terminal. Although Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler are said to be considering a tour of old Jam material, Weller has vowed not to join them.
Last year, Weller told BBC 6Music: "Me and my children would have to be destitute and starving in the gutter before I'd even consider that ... [The Jam] still means something to people, and a lot of that's because we stopped at the right time."
At least he is still on speaking terms with his old band mates. If you want an example of a band who would need Kofi Annan, a blank cheque and a team of world-beating lawyers to even consider reforming, try The Smiths. The 1980s Manchester miserabilists hate each other. Or, more specifically, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce hate Morrissey. Rourke has mixed feelings about Joyce. And Morrissey hates them all. The singer has said of a possible reunion that "I would rather eat my own testicles than re-form The Smiths, and that's saying something for a vegetarian."
Indeed, Morrissey revealed last year that The Smiths were offered $6.5 million to reform and had declined. "We are not friends, we don't see each other. Why on earth would we be on stage together?"
The Smiths' troubles are deep-rooted. Two big personalities, Morrissey and Johnny Marr, formed The Smiths in 1982. Morrissey and Marr were joined on bass by Rourke and on drums by Joyce and for two years enjoyed a swift rise, with three landmark albums: The Smiths, Meat is Murder and The Queen is Dead.
All this time, though, The Smiths were imploding. By 1985, the band's schedule was overbearing, and Marr came close to a breakdown. Rourke's adventures with heroin led to his dismissal in 1986 - a fact he learned from a Post-It note on his car windscreen that read "Andy - you have left The Smiths. Goodbye and good luck, Morrissey."
Rourke was reinstated after a fortnight, but the seeds had been sewn. In 1987, Marr and Morrissey argued frequently. Marr began to work with other artists, while Morrissey became fixated on 1960s pop artists. Marr left, and The Smiths ceased to exist soon afterwards.
In 1996 - with Morrissey's solo career well-established, and Marr, Rourke and Joyce carving out good work as musicians - Joyce brought a lawsuit against Morrissey and Marr. In The Smiths, the two leading players had claimed most recording and performance royalties, while Joyce and Rourke had received only 10 per cent. The drummer wanted a fairer cut. The court found in favour of Joyce, awarding him £1 million ($2.6 million in today's money) and 25 per cent of royalties thereafter. Rourke settled for a lump sum and 10 per cent of royalties after that.
The Smiths had a partial reunion in 2005, when Marr and Rourke played one song on stage together.
Could the other two be persuaded to let bygones be bygones? "Morrissey and Marr... earned most of the money," says Peter Hook of New Order, who now plays with Rourke. "So they're the people least likely to need [a reunion]. They'd only do it if their egos needed it, and because Morrissey plays all The Smiths' stuff with his own band, he gets that satisfaction anyway."
If The Smiths were ever to make it on stage together, it would be one of the more remarkable turn-arounds in rock history. Still, there are precedents. American country stars The Eagles fell out so spectacularly that towards the end of a live performance in 1980 at Long Beach, they were planning their backstage fight. After the show, a mass brawl broke out and The Eagles were over. But, 14 years later The Eagles toured again. It was called the Hell Freezes Over tour. What price a Smiths' Flying Pigs Tour for 2008?
- THE INDEPENDENT
