4 album covers in our archive
The Smiths is featured in Behind the Covers' archive with 4 album covers from the 1980s. Released across Sire Records, Rough Trade and Rough Trade Records labels, the artwork sits in the alternative, indie, rock, pop tradition. Each cover is documented in our archive with design notes covering black and white, portrait, vintage, mysterious, minimalist, film still. Below you'll find the full story behind each The Smiths cover — designers, photographers, label history, and the visual choices that defined the release.
Cover evolution
Morrissey hand-picked a haunting 1960s photograph of actor Shelagh Delaney for this compilation cover, continuing his obsession with forgotten British cultural figures. The stark black and white portrait became one of The Smiths' most enigmatic sleeves.
Morrissey selected a still from the 1964 French film L'Insoumis showing Alain Delon — placing a symbol of Continental glamour on an album attacking the British monarchy was characteristically provocative, a snub to Thatcher-era British institutions.
The young Marine staring past you never agreed to become the face of a vegetarian anthem. His helmet once read 'Make War Not Love.' Morrissey changed two words, cloned him fourfold like a Warhol print, and turned a Vietnam still into the Smiths' only UK number one.
Morrissey's obsession with 1960s French New Wave cinema birthed one of indie rock's most mysterious covers. The frontman personally selected this enigmatic still from Jean Cocteau's 1946 film Beauty and the Beast, featuring actor Jean Marais in romantic profile.
