Piano on "Uncertain Smile": Jools Holland. That is one line in the Soul Mining credits, and it is the only place his name appears across fourteen The The releases. A gift for The The fans has to earn its place on the wall, and this one does it by fitting all fourteen credit lists onto a single readable sheet.
Matt Johnson is the only name on all fourteen. Everyone else, including the very famous ones, is a passenger on a specific stretch of track. That is exactly what the print draws.
The The Discography Tube Map Art Print
Every release as a station, every credited musician as a line, with Matt Johnson running the length of the map.
Explore This Art PrintMatt Johnson Runs From 1979 to 2024 and Is Alone on Four of the Records
Johnson appears on every release in the grid, from See Without Being Seen in 1979 to Ensoulment in 2024. That is 45 years on one unbroken line, and it is the only line that never stops.
On four of those records he is the only credited name I could find. See Without Being Seen in 1979, then the whole soundtrack run of Tony (2010/2011), Cinéola, Vol. 2: Moonbug (2013) and Cinéola, Vol. 3: Hyena (2015).
Burning Blue Soul in 1981 adds only two more names, Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis of Wire, and neither ever returns. The map opens almost empty, which is what makes the middle of it land so hard.
Johnny Marr Joins on Mind Bomb and Is Gone After Solitude
Johnny Marr is credited on exactly three of these records: Mind Bomb (1989), Dusk (1993) and Solitude (1993). He is not on Infected (1986), which catches out people who assume he was there for the whole imperial stretch.
He also does not appear on Hanky Panky (1995) or on anything after it. His presence is a clean four-year block in the middle of the map rather than a spine running through it.
If you are buying for someone whose way in was The Smiths, that block is the bit to point at when they unwrap it. His own line-up history is a separate piece of research on the Johnny Marr and The Smiths discography map, so the two prints tell different halves of one story and work well as a pair.
James Eller Matches Marr Exactly, Then Reappears Thirty-One Years Later
James Eller is credited on Mind Bomb, Dusk and Solitude, the identical three albums as Marr. Then he leaves the grid entirely.
His name turns up again on Ensoulment in 2024, thirty-one years after Solitude. That is the sort of detail a serious fan will stand in front of and argue about, which is the whole point of hanging one of these.
Two names quietly outlast Marr without any of the attention. Ashley Slater and David Palmer are each credited across four consecutive albums, Infected in 1986 right through to Solitude in 1993.
Infected Puts 32 Names on the Map and Hanky Panky Cuts It to Six
Counting the credits album by album gives you the size of Johnson's ambition in each period. One name on the 1979 record, three on Burning Blue Soul, eighteen on Soul Mining, then thirty-two on Infected in 1986.
Then it contracts: twenty-five on Mind Bomb, fifteen on Dusk, fourteen on Solitude, and six on Hanky Panky in 1995. Naked Self in 2000 carries ten and Ensoulment in 2024 carries nine.
Infected is the widest point of the whole map, with brass players, the Astarti String Orchestra, Anne Dudley and Neneh Cherry all crowding into one record. Hanky Panky, the Hank Williams covers album, is the opposite extreme: Johnson plus five.
I counted the Infected sleeve twice, because thirty-two names on a single record looked like an error in my own grid until I went back and checked it line by line.
Thomas Leer Leaves After Soul Mining and Comes Back Thirty-Four Years On
Thomas Leer is credited with synthesisers on three Soul Mining tracks in 1983: "I've Been Waitin' for Tomorrow (All of My Life)", "The Twilight Hour" and "Giant". Then nothing for the rest of the eighties, the nineties and the two thousands.
His name surfaces again on the Radio Cinéola Trilogy in 2017. Thirty-four years is the longest gap and return anywhere in the grid, and it is my favourite thing on this print.
Anna Domino does the same trick on a slightly shorter clock. Credited on Infected in 1986, absent for three decades, back on Radio Cinéola Trilogy in 2017.
Ensoulment in 2024 Brings Back Four Players From the Nineties
There are twenty-four years between Naked Self in 2000 and Ensoulment in 2024, with only soundtrack work in between. When the studio album finally arrived, Johnson did not start from scratch.
Danny Cummings and James Eller both last appeared on Solitude in 1993. Dave Collard last appeared on Hanky Panky in 1995, and Earl Harvin last appeared on Naked Self in 2000. All four are on Ensoulment.
For a milestone birthday, this is the part of the map I would draw someone's eye to. Four lines that stop dead in the nineties and pick up again in 2024 is a good thing to have on a wall at sixty.
Jools Holland, Sinéad O'Connor and Lloyd Cole Each Turn Up Exactly Once
Several of the best-known names on this map appear on one record and never again. They make excellent talking points, and they are the reason a casual fan enjoys the print as much as a completist does.
| Guest | Album | Year | What the credit shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis | Burning Blue Soul | 1981 | The only two credited names besides Johnson |
| Jools Holland | Soul Mining | 1983 | Piano on "Uncertain Smile" |
| David Johansen | Soul Mining | 1983 | Harmonica on "Perfect" |
| Neneh Cherry | Infected | 1986 | One of the thirty-two names on the album |
| Sinéad O'Connor | Mind Bomb | 1989 | Credited on no other The The record |
| Gail Ann Dorsey | Hanky Panky | 1995 | One of only six names on the album |
| Lloyd Cole | Naked Self | 2000 | A single appearance across all fourteen releases |
Paul Hardiman Earns His Line With a Chant, Not a Production Credit
There is one rule I apply to every map I draw, and it keeps them honest. A producer only gets a line if they are also credited playing or singing something.
Paul Hardiman is the neatest example on this record. He shaped Soul Mining from the control room, but the reason he is on the map is four words in the credits: chant on "Giant".
Warne Livesey qualifies the same way on Infected and Mind Bomb. Without a playing credit a producer stays off, however much of the sound is theirs, and I would rather lose a famous name than bend the rule.
How Big a Gift for The The Fans Needs to Be
Match the print to what the person actually loves. If it is Soul Mining and Infected, the density around 1983 to 1986 is the draw, and A1 (594 x 841mm) gives all thirty-two Infected names room to be read from a chair.
If it is Marr, Mind Bomb and Dusk, the A2 (420 x 594mm) is plenty, because the story sits in one tight block you can take in at arm's length. Prints start from £42, and the black wood frame version arrives ready to hang without a trip to the framers.
For a fan who came back for Ensoulment, or for a milestone birthday, I would go A1 and framed. Everything is printed Giclée on 230gsm textured matte fine art paper, archival and acid free, so it holds up as a keepsake rather than a poster.
Clearing Up What Goes On the Sheet
Does the map show exactly which albums Johnny Marr played on?
Yes. His line runs across Mind Bomb, Dusk and Solitude only, and stops there.
Are the soundtrack records on it, or only the studio albums?
Tony, Cinéola, Vol. 2: Moonbug, Cinéola, Vol. 3: Hyena and the Radio Cinéola Trilogy are all included. Three of them carry Matt Johnson's name alone.
Why is there such a long empty stretch in the middle of the map?
Because there were twenty-four years between Naked Self in 2000 and Ensoulment in 2024. The gap is real, and I have not tidied it away.
Do session players get a line, or only band members?
Anyone with a credited playing or singing part gets a line, which is why Jools Holland and Harry Beckett appear alongside the regulars.
Where to Go Next if Matt Johnson Is Already on the Wall
The full design, both sizes and framing options are on the The The discography map art print page. Have a look at the close-up images before you choose a size.
If you are buying for someone with a wall to fill, the natural neighbours are the Johnny Marr and The Smiths map, the Lloyd Cole map, since Cole turns up on Naked Self, and the The Fall map for the same late seventies British underground.
Everything else I have researched and drawn is in the Music Wall Art Prints collection. I add to it whenever a discography turns out to have a shape worth drawing.
