Salon.com > Morrissey

Amanda Palmer to Morrissey: Let me help you crowdsource your next album

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 01:00:00 +0000

Dear Morrissey,

I will tell you: I am a passionate admirer of your songwriting, your singing and your recordings.

I've bought tickets to see you lots of times. You shaped my head and my heart as a teenager, and to this day continue to impact my various artistic forays.

You helped open me, you taught me that I could be brutally honest in my songs and that I didn't need to wait for anyone's permission.

You helped teach me that I could sing about anything I wanted to. So, no matter what you are, what you do or what you become, I'll feel forever indebted to you for your gifts to me.

I once had the chance to meet you. My band, The Dresden Dolls, were playing at a festival in Germany about eight years ago and you were in the dressing room next to us. Your keyboardist sat next to me and we started chatting over the very terrible backstage sandwich buffet. I told him how much I loved you, and he offered to take me back to your dressing room so that we could say hello to each other.

This is how much you mean to me: I couldn't stomach the idea of Morrissey meeting me and not liking me, even if the chances were small. In a move that shocked myself, I shook my head and declined the invitation. (I'll never know if I did the right thing...late at night, I have regrets.)

Morrissey on British media: A “source of insanity”

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:38:00 +0000

Morrissey has released another vitriolic statement inspired by Margaret Thatcher -- this time chastising the British media and government for its pro-Thatcher coverage of her death.

In his diatribe, Morrissey singled out Prime Minister David Cameron for only caring about "his personal gain," the BBC for its censorship of "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead," a song that rose in the U.K. charts upon Thatcher's death, and the government for using public funds to finance a lavish funeral, taking place today.

He compares the biased coverage to censorship normally associated with tyrannical governments, writing, "BBC News will scantily report on anti-Thatcher demonstrations as if those taking part aren't real people. Lordly scorn is shown towards North Korea and Syria, and any distant country ruled by tyrannical means, yet the British government employs similar dictatorship tactics in order to protect their own arrogant interests."

His note begins:

Margaret Thatcher, grotesque puppet

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:33:00 +0000

Of the many things for which Margaret Thatcher, who died Monday, will be remembered, surely one of her most enduring and oddest legacies will be role as a pop culture muse. She was a woman who could coax songs out of Elvis Costello and films from Stephen Frears and Derek Jarman. She was a television series plot point and a music video star. And she inspired, in part, because that lock-jawed, big-haired former British prime minister possessed that irresistible combination of being both easily imitable and widely loathed. The result was an astonishingly rich 35 years worth of rich inspiration.

Sure, if it weren't for Thatcher, we might not have had the miner's Strike and the poll tax riots, but give a woman credit for launching a whole lot of artists and their works. Almost four years ago to the day, when the U.K. Guardian reflected on her artistic legacy, Billy Bragg observed, "Whenever I'm asked to name my greatest inspiration, I always answer 'Margaret Thatcher.'"

Morrissey: “Thatcher was a terror without an atom of humanity”

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:27:00 +0000

In the wake of the death of former U.K. prime minister Margaret Thatcher, former "Smiths" frontman Morrissey has issued a scathing letter calling her "a terror without an atom of humanity."

The letter follows a message consistent with the Smiths, who were highly critical of Thatcher's policies and used their music and fame to publicly condemn the prime minister in the 1980s. In 1988, the politically vocal Morrissey released an especially controversial song fantasizing Thatcher's death with the track "Margaret on the Guillotine," on his album "Viva Hate."

Upon her actual death, Morrissey wrote:

Doctors advise Morrissey to retire from touring

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:17:00 +0000

Doctors are cautioning singer Morrissey to stop touring -- permanently. The news comes a week after the singer canceled his U.S. tour, citing increasing health concerns, "including a bleeding ulcer, Barrett's esophagus and double pneumonia," according to a press release.

From the Guardian:

"Morrissey had become anemic owing to his serious loss of blood, with a compromised immune system. 'The slightest gust of wind and I would have a terrible cold,' he recalled. Finally, arriving at Mexico's Vive Latino festival, 'the doctors … said 'No no no no, you cannot.' Not only was Morrissey still in poor health, he had apparently "soaked up all the insurance". 'I've had so much medical attention … [that] we couldn't actually continue any more, because we weren't insured to continue.'"

The former Smiths frontman said he has been 'cautioned' to stop touring. 'But it's difficult for me because, it's very engrained within me," he said. 'I know it's the best of life … when you tour and when you make music and when you sing … There is nothing better. Can you think of anything?' He still hopes to resume his live shows.' "

Morrissey believe his age is halting the production of what could be "three studio albums." "I have a lot of songs," he told the Guardian. "We could record three studio albums immediately, very easily. But none of the majors are interested.

"[Major record labels] are only interested in very young people who will fly by and ask for nothing in return," he said.

Morrissey has severe pneumonia

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:30:00 +0000

Less than two months after suffering from a condition known as Barrett’s esophagus, singer Morrissey has been diagnosed with double pneumonia, a form of pneumonia that spreads to both lungs. The BBC reports that he has not been hospitalized, however, and is expected to regain his health by Thursday evening.

The 53-year-old is currently in San Francisco, and previously canceled much of his U.S. tour due to health issues. However, as of now he plans to perform in Mexico City March 14 and then continue touring the U.S. in Lawrence, Kansas.

As of late, when not burdened by health problems, the former Smiths frontman has spent much of his time in the spotlight condemning celebrities like Beyoncé and the Queen of England for wearing animal fur, the latter of whom "wears enough fur to blanket most of Russia."

Morrissey bashes Jimmy Kimmel!

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:25:00 +0000

There is an argument that will never go out? Jimmy Kimmel started something he couldn't finish? That joke isn't funny anymore?

Morrissey and Jimmy Kimmel continued their battle of words on Wednesday, after the former Smiths singer canceled an appearance on Kimmel's show because the longtime vegetarian and animal rights activist did not want to appear on the same broadcast as the stars of A&E's "Duck Dynasty."

"I can't take the risk of being on a show alongside people who, in effect, amount to animal serial killers," Morrissey said.

Kimmel addressed the issue on his show last night with a video showing the duck hunters heading out in search of vegetables. He then cracked that he chose the hunters over Morrissey because they have guns, and Morrissey just depresses people.

But Moz fired back in a statement today which charged Kimmel of mocking depression and the parents of Sandy Hook, then blasted Kimmel for hosting a show with "an overwhelming loss of meaning."

David Bowie won’t let Morrissey use his photo

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 17:53:00 +0000

Morrissey is reissuing his single "The Last of the Famous International Playboys," off of the 1991 album "Kill Uncle," on April 8, but there seems to be a snag with the cover art. The singer had originally planned to use a previously unpublished photo of himself and David Bowie, but the pop icon won't let him. From Morrissey fan site True to You:

David Bowie has ordered EMI UK not to run the proposed artwork for Morrissey's April 8th issue of the remastered "The Last of the Famous International Playboys" single and CD. The sleeve featured a previously unseen private photograph of Bowie and Morrissey taken by Linder Sterling in New York in 1992. Although Bowie has no legal rights to the photograph, most of his back catalogue is presently licensed to EMI

Meanwhile, Bowie is preparing to release his own record "The Next Day" in March — his first in nearly a decade.

h/t Pitchfork

Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr releases video for new single

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:18:00 +0000

Known in recent years for work with Modest Mouse and The Cribs, the legendary former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has been hard at work on a new type of project: a solo album called "The Messenger." Boasting 12 tracks, the album is written and produced by Marr alone, who also supplies the vocals and guitar. Today, NME.com has released a video for "Upstart," the fourth track on the album. Give it a listen below:

"The Messenger" is due out on Feb. 26.

Johnny Marr: I don’t talk to Morrissey

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:05:00 +0000

If Morrissey's continued insistence that the Smiths will never reunite hasn't convinced you, perhaps this will: Johnny Marr tells the Guardian that the two have not spoken in years.

"We don't have any reason to, to be honest," he says, with a touch of glumness. When Marr remastered the Smiths' back catalogue two years ago, he emailed Morrissey (along with all his ex-bandmates) saying he could hear the love in the music, but didn't hear back. "It was a nice way to leave it, I think," he considers, tiptoeing carefully around too much discussion of his former partner. "You can only try and be friendly with someone for so long without getting anything back. ...

When Marr started Electronic with Bernard Sumner, Morrissey opined: "He's replaced me. I'm not sure what with." Does Marr think he still feels betrayed? "You never know. I don't have any weirdness about it, or any of them."

Marr, who has a new solo album out later this year that embraces his distinctive sound, after years of hiding from his legacy, says the band did not necessarily have to split when it did in 1987. A meeting that ultimately led to his departure from the band, he says, was really only a plea for a vacation.

The Smiths: Best band ever?

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 20:00:00 +0000

They lasted just five years. They made just four proper albums. They've been ignored by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The American pop charts wanted nothing to do with them.

But the legacy and legend of the Smiths only grows. As teenagers in Manchester, England, few would have predicted Steven Patrick Morrissey and Johnny Marr would become the next great British songwriting teams, and one of the very best of all time. Morrissey was most comfortable in his childhood bedroom, firing off biting missives to music magazines; awkward and sexually ambiguous, he seemed neither frontman nor poster boy. Yet one day in 1982, Marr knocked on his door, on a hunch that this 23-year-old misfit might become this charming man.

The partnership that ensued led to arguably the most important music of the decade, and some would say even longer. It's a nearly note-perfect catalog that endures because it sounds like no other, and speaks directly to the vulnerable, romantic heart of all ages. Marr's as an inventive a guitarist of his generation, whether providing the jangle and bounce to "This Charming Man" or "Hand in Glove," the siren squall to "How Soon Is Now?" and "The Queen Is Dead," the cinematic scope of "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me," or the delicate solo to "Shoplifters of the World Unite." And Morrissey's lyrics followed in the tradition of Oscar Wilde and Philip Larkin -- lovelorn, yes, but funny, literate, smart, alive.