The internet is filled with things. Here is one of them.
Bo Diddley's influence on Johnny Marr2025 Dec 24radiox.co.uk
I've been poking my way through the Blues and it's leaving me dumbstruck how much Blues influence is obvious in the later generations of music I grew up with. There's a Bo Diddley song called Mona (I Need You Baby) from 1957 and when I first heard it last week, I immediately said, that's How Soon Is Now by The Smiths! So I looked it up, and whaddya know, I'm right. Turns out that just this last April (in the linked interview), Johnny Marr himself confirms that back in 1984, when he was composing the song, Bo Diddley was a direct influence.
I've been poking my way through the Blues and it's leaving me dumbstruck how much Blues influence is obvious in the later generations of music I grew up with. There's a Bo Diddley song called Mona (I Need You Baby) from 1957 and when I first heard it last week, I immediately said, that's How Soon Is Now by The Smiths! So I looked it up, and whaddya know, I'm right. Turns out that just this last April (in the linked interview), Johnny Marr himself confirms that back in 1984, when he was composing the song, Bo Diddley was a direct influence.