The The

The The

The The are an English post-punk band from London, active from 1979 to the present. The group is centred on singer-songwriter Matt Johnson, who is the only constant member across its various formations. Their music sits within alternative rock, art pop, new wave, post-punk and synth-pop.

Formation and early activity

Matt Johnson begins the project in the late 1970s after placing advertisements in NME seeking musicians and referencing artists such as The Velvet Underground, Syd Barrett, The Residents and Throbbing Gristle. In 1978 he records a solo demo album, See Without Being Seen, which he sells on cassette at underground gigs. In 1979, with Colin Lloyd-Tucker, he records an unreleased first album, Spirits. The band makes its live debut at London’s Africa Centre in May 1979, using backing tapes created by Johnson. The early line-up includes Keith Laws on synthesiser and tapes, and Laws is credited with suggesting the name The The.

In the early period Johnson also works with the studio project the Gadgets. Peter Ashworth and Tom Johnson later join briefly on drums and bass, though they do not play on the debut single “Controversial Subject”/“Black and White”, which is recorded by Johnson and Laws and produced by Wire members Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis. The group then performs with Wire, Cabaret Voltaire, DAF, This Heat, the Birthday Party and Scritti Politti. In 1981 it contributes “Untitled” to the Some Bizzare Album and releases “Cold Spell Ahead” on Some Bizzare Records. Johnson then records Burning Blue Soul for 4AD as a solo album under the The name.

1980s releases and wider recognition

The The’s first official album is Soul Mining in 1983. It includes “This Is the Day” and a new version of “Uncertain Smile”, and features contributions from Zeke Manyika, Jools Holland, Thomas Leer and J.G. Thirlwell, also known as Foetus. During the group’s most active recording period, from Soul Mining through to Dusk, artwork for albums and singles is mainly created by Johnson’s brother Andrew Johnson, using the name Andy Dog. One of the covers, for the 1986 single “Infected”, causes controversy because of its imagery and is withdrawn and reissued in edited form.

Infected, released in 1986, is recorded with Johnson as the only official member, supported by session musicians and guests including Manyika, Neneh Cherry and Anna Domino. The album yields four UK chart singles, including “Heartland”, and is unusual for having a full-length companion film, Infected: The Movie, shot in Bolivia, Peru and New York and directed in part by Tim Pope and Peter Christopherson. Johnson tours with the film in cinemas rather than performing live for a period, and the film is shown on Channel 4 and on MTV’s 120 Minutes.

In 1987 Johnson returns to live performance through shows supporting Red Wedge, with Manyika joining him for stripped-down versions of political The The songs. This leads to the re-formation of the band as a full group.

Return as a full band

By 1988 The The again functions as a full band, with Johnny Marr on guitar, James Eller on bass and David Palmer on drums. This line-up records Mind Bomb, which reaches No. 4 in the UK and includes “The Beat(en) Generation”. Another single, “Armageddon Days Are Here (Again)”, is not released as planned because of concerns around its lyrics and the Salman Rushdie affair. In 1989 D.C. Collard joins on keyboards. Steve Hogarth had earlier been asked to join but chooses instead to become Marillion’s lead vocalist.

The band tours widely on The Versus the World, with a live film of the same name recorded at the Royal Albert Hall. The 1990 EP Shades of Blue includes versions of Fred Neil’s “Dolphins” and Duke Ellington’s “Solitude”, plus “Jealous of Youth” and a live version of “Another Boy Drowning”. A later remix EP, Dis-infected, is later combined with it for the North American release Solitude.

Dusk, released in 1993, features Johnson, Marr, Collard, Eller and Palmer and reaches No. 2 in the UK. It produces three UK top 40 singles, led by “Dogs of Lust”. The band tours on the Lonely Planet tour, during which Marr and Eller leave and are replaced by Keith Joyner and New York bassist Jared Michael Nickerson after Johnson relocates the group to the United States. Jim Fitting also joins on harmonica, and Palmer is later replaced by Andy Kubiszewski. The The headlines the main stage at the 1993 Reading Festival. Another Tim Pope film, From Dusk Till Dawn, accompanies the album.

Later albums and line-up changes

In 1995 the band, now based in New York, releases Hanky Panky, an album of Hank Williams covers. The line-up includes Johnson, Collard, Fitting, Eric Schermerhorn, Gail Ann Dorsey and drummer Brian MacLeod. Their version of “I Saw the Light” reaches No. 31 in the UK. An experimental album titled Gun Sluts is recorded in 1997 but not released after the label rejects it as too uncommercial.

The The leaves Sony after an eighteen-year relationship and moves to Interscope, on Trent Reznor’s Nothing Records imprint. In 2000 it releases NakedSelf with Johnson, Schermerhorn, Spencer Campbell and Earl Harvin, and tours for 14 months. This remains the group’s last studio album. Two further tracks, “Deep Down Truth” and “Pillar Box Red”, are recorded for the 2002 compilation 45 RPM: The Singles of The The, with Angela McCluskey on vocals on the first of those songs.

Live work and soundtrack releases

The band’s sole live appearance in 2002 is at the Meltdown Festival at London’s Royal Festival Hall, as guests of David Bowie. By this point the live setup includes Johnson, J.G. Thirlwell on tapes and loops, and a film and video component. This is followed by a long period without live performance, before later return appearances are issued as part of the group’s catalogue.

The The’s studio discography also includes soundtrack albums: Tony (2010), Moonbug (2012), Hyena (2015) and Muscle (2020). The group’s chart history includes 15 UK chart singles, seven of them in the top 40, and its albums Infected, Mind Bomb and Dusk are its best-known chart successes.