Seymour Stein, who signed The Ramones, Talking Heads, and Madonna, called "How Soon Is Now" the "Stairway To Heaven" of the '80s. Seymour, you weren't just whistlin' Dixie. The lonesome electrified ballad didn't chart particularly well, but its clever opening lines, "I am the son, and the heir," have burned themselves into modern pop culture consciousness.
The lyrics, adapted from George Eliot's Brit-lit classic Middlemarch, survived in the Love Spit Love cover version of The Smiths' "How Soon Is Now" that famously scored The Craft and TV's Charmed.
The vintage video below is classic Morrissey. Emoting from under his trademark pompadour, the British icon's throaty warble is smoother than his velvet jacket.
Watch as the king of '80s new wave performs the decade's national anthem for a live audience in the latest release from the MTV Vault.
+ Celebrate Morrissey's 50th birthday with a month of indie covers!