These charming fans

It started with a meet cute: to be exact, the opening of (500) Days of Summer, a cult romantic movie released in 2009.

Alone in an elevator, the flirtatious Summer, played by Zooey Deschanel, notices hopeless romantic Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is listening to There Is a Light That Never Goes Out. "I love The Smiths," she blurts out.

Tom cannot believe the girl he fancies has started a conservation with him. Summer sings along to show her approval of his taste in music. "To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die … I love them." They share a look before she leaves.

That scene introduced The Smiths to Chaya Chomchuen, who was a high school student in Thailand when the film came out.

"I began to wonder who sang this song. I searched and found out about The Smiths and all their other songs," said Mr Chaya, now 24 and studying a master's degree for the music industry at the University of Liverpool.

"It was a hit among my group of high school geeks. It was like we were trying to find out our identity, coping with our broken hearts. The song said it all."

His friends were also curious to learn more about the The Smiths, their glory days in the 1980s and the frontman known as Morrissey.

After a while, interest faded for the others as the group grew up and moved on. But this was not the case for Mr Chaya, whose fascination in The Smiths has endured.

"Morrissey's vocals and Johnny Marr's guitar are the perfect combination," Mr Chaya said.

In fact, Mr Chaya was born after the indie rock band from Manchester broke up in 1987 after only five years together.

"But their songs lasted much longer even though the band stayed together only a short period of time," he said.

"The lyrics of The Smiths' songs are not just about broken hearts but they are also sarcastic about human nature, sometimes with dry humour. I think they are well written."

Mr Chaya's favourite is Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now. "The Smiths' songs are not bang-bang songs. The guitar flow is charming," he told Brunch.

After he graduated from Thammasat University, he decided to continue his studies in Britain, largely because of his fascination with England's indie rock bands from the '80s.

He even launched a blog specialising in '80s music. "I thought the songs at that time were classic. They happened during an interesting period."

LET ME GET WHAT I WANT

Morrissey is set to perform at Bangkok's Moonstar Studio on Oct 18. The former Smiths lead singer became a global icon thanks not only to the music, which combines great guitar and dry wit, but also his distinctive looks and anti-machismo style. Along with lyrics touching on themes from romance to politics and death, he has been forthright in his opinions on animal rights, royalty and British culture.

A strident vegan, Morrissey has long courted controversy and is notorious in Norway for remarks he made during a concert in Poland just two days after the July 22, 2011 massacre of 77 people -- most of them teenagers -- on Norway's Utoeya island. He compared right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik's victims' fate to that of animals bred for fast food companies.

"That is nothing compared to what happens in McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Shit every day," he said.

Two years later he again made headlines when Penguin published his autobiography under its Classics imprint, with many observing it was only Morrissey himself who thought it worthy of the status.

Morrissey has released 10 solo albums since The Smiths broke up, with the latest, World Peace Is None of Your Business, coming in 2013. It's from this that fans can expect to hear the most; a review in The Independent of his only British concert this year said the set list was heavily drawn from the album along >> >> with solo B-sides. "Morrissey and his band sound imperious, and during the set the band are given room to express their talents," the reviewer wrote.

Now 57, Morrissey may no longer be the charming young man he once was but a group of young hardcore fans are waiting to see him perform. Kinan Suchaovanich, an executive in his early thirties, is among them.

"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out is the first Smiths song I heard. I first heard the cover by Death Cab for Cutie," he told Brunch.

"The Smiths' debut album came out around the time I was a toddler. I had no direct exposure to their music, but the music I grew up with was certainly -- and heavily -- influenced by them, this entire generation of Britpop bands."

Mr Kinan said The Smiths' songs still resonate with him even though they are from a different generation.

"At a certain point in my life as a young man starting out in the corporate world, I was attracted to the sense of alienation found in Smiths songs," he said.

"I was grappling with my identity and my place in the grander scheme of things. It wasn't the happiest time then, I was also going through this very bad break-up, but Morrissey's words and Marr's jangly Fender guitar sounds accompanied me throughout this period. There is still a sense of miserable comfort every time I listen to their songs, though I try to avoid any melodrama. It reminds me of how much I have grown as a person. I am going to see Morrissey at his concert in Bangkok. But it would be nice if he and Johnny Marr could put the past behind them and regroup."

Thammchot Janson, 21, found The Smiths and Morrissey as a high school student while searching online for vintage T-shirts.

The liberal arts student at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said, "I came across a vintage T-shirt with a picture of Morrissey with The Smiths and I thought, wow, this guy is so cool."

Mr Thammchot googled The Smiths and Morrissey and soaked up the songs. "I thought his vocals were pretty something. They were very beautiful."

It sparked his interest in alternative rock and indie pop from the '80s. "I like the sound of that era. The songs are not just about love but also the grievances of society at that time."

Mr Thammchot said he was disappointed Morrissey overlooked Bangkok on his 2012 tour. This time, as soon as Morrissey's Bangkok leg was confirmed, he asked for money from his mother to buy a ticket.

Mr Chaya said Smiths fans may be disappointed if they expect Morrissey to sing old favourites. "I once went to a Morrissey concert in the UK and he sang only a couple of Smiths songs of the 16 he performed that night. He sang mostly songs from his solo albums. But it was still very entertaining. He is a powerful artist."

However, Mr Thammchot isn't worried. "I don't mind if he doesn't sing Smiths songs. I like many of Morrissey's songs from his solo albums." His favourite is The Last of the Famous International Playboys, a solo single with three former Smiths members (not Marr) that did not feature on a Morrissey album.

WASANA, TAKE A BOW

Older fans of The Smiths and Morrissey were introduced to their songs by a handful of Thai DJs who began playing international music in the 1980s.

Wasana Wirachartplee, one of the best-known DJs for international music, said she could not resist playing The Smiths even though they were not mainstream.

"They were part of Britpop in the late '80s but their popularity transcends three generations until today," she said. "Their songs are classic with exceptional lyrics and Johnny Marr's master melodies."

Wasana, also a concert promoter who worked on Morrissey antagonist David Bowie's Bangkok show, considered bringing The Smiths to Thailand in their glory days.

"It couldn't work out with their schedule," she said.

"Besides, there was only a small hardcore group of fans in Thailand. You need at least 1,000 audience members. If you can have 3,000 people like at a Radiohead concert in Thailand, that would be perfect. But I did not think the number of Smiths fans would be that much at that time."