FRED GRETSCH MANUFACTURING, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, 1965

Johnny Marr acquired this 1965 Gretsch Country Club in late 1986 from The Who bassist John Entwistle via guitar tech Alan Rogan. In conversation with Martin Kelly for Marr’s Guitars, Marr recalled: Around [the] time when The Smiths started to have a run of hits - 1985, I guess - I became friends with a guy called Alan Rogan, who is sadly no longer with us. He was the guitar tech for Pete Townshend, and he'd also looked after Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and George Harrison among many other people over the years. Alan was one of the most respected guitar experts there'll ever be, and because he was working for The Who I got a few guitars from John Entwistle. Marr used the Country Club to record the main rhythm part on The Smiths’ glam-tinged single ‘Shoplifters of the World Unite’, which was the first to be produced solely by Marr, at London’s Trident Studios in November 1986. Following the single’s release on 26 January 1987, Marr used the Country Club for a handful of mimed television appearances in support of the record that February, including a performance on Top of the Pops on 5 February 1987 that has since been repurposed as The Smiths’ official music video for the song. The band next appeared at the Sanremo Festival in Liguria, Italy, on 7 February 1987, where they recorded a set of five songs for broadcast on the Italian channel RAI, as well as a second performance of ‘Shoplifters…’ for broadcast as part of the Primavera Festival on 10 March 1987 on Italia Uno, before hopping over to Ireland to perform the new single at Dublin’s Cathedral Club on 13 February 1987 for broadcast on the RTÉ television show Megamix on 27 February 1987. These would turn out to be some of the band’s last public appearances before their split that August.