Johnny Marr gave Jo Whiley's listeners a genuine lump-in-the-throat moment on Thursday night, revealing the story behind his new single Beyond the Rain. Marr explained he was in the studio, headphones on and about to record the track, when he took a call telling him his close friend Manny had died. "I could hear sort of Manny… come on, get it down, Mr Marr," he said, describing how he pushed through to finish the song, which became an unplanned tribute, with a lyric altered afterwards in Manny's memory.
It wasn't all heavy going, though. Marr happily admitted he still owns a childhood toy monkey called Mickey ("I've got him outside"), that he went to his first gig alone aged 12 to see Slaughter and the Dogs, and that his Top of the Pops debut was overshadowed by fears of sliding over in Marks and Spencer moccasin slippers. He also spoke warmly about touring and writing with Damon Albarn, name-checked Chloe Slater and Fontaines D.C. as current favourites, and picked Shannon's Let the Music Play as his disco request for Radio 2's dance and disco week.
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