Books: It's Time The Tale Were Told "A People's History Of The Smiths"

 

It's Time The Tale Were Told – A People’s History of The Smiths is the story of the UK’s most influential indie band. This book collects together 500 first-hand memories from fans, support acts, promoters, fanzine writers, record store owners and the band's lighting designer of the band in action. From the earliest club shows through to the final gig at London's Brixton Academy, and including memories of more than 20 North American dates, this is a portrait of The Smiths painted by those who were there. With personal photographs, memorabilia, anecdotes and first-hand accounts of over 150 gigs in total, readers get a front row view of Manchester’s indie music legends in action.

The Smiths were indeed a moment in time marking a point in the early 80s when "Indie" moved from being "small audience material on minor record labels" to a crossover into the mainstream.
This is not intended to be a definitive history but a history across 300 pages told by those who were involved, were there, bear the scars, and still hold the highest esteem for an outspoken (some would say odd-ball) singer, musical partner in crime and tune, plus backing from a solid if un-noticed (until the court case) rhythm section.

The stories range from their fist gig at The Hacienda when Morrissey got annoyed with the crowd and the poster stating “We are THE Smiths, not just Smiths”, to first appearances on The Tube and Top Of The Pops (not as many stories of people going home, buying a deaf aid and waving gladioli about as I though there may have been), to the last recording sessions in Streatham, before Johnny Marr quits and the NME publish the “Smiths To Split” headline.

The band's time was brief (effectively 1983 to 1987 as a recording unit), but in the same time it took Yes to go from 90125 to Big Generator, The Smiths had formed, released 4 albums, 2 compilations and 20 singles, and disbanded. Indeed, they started something that they couldn’t finish. Didn’t hang about to actually finish it, and have spent years fighting each other to make sure they don’t actually finish it.

 

Title: It's Time The Tale Were Told "A Poeple's History Of The Smiths"

Author: Iain Key & RIchard Houghton

Pages: 300

Publisher: Spenwood Books

Language: English

Format: Paperback 

News: Morrissey And Johnny Marr Have Worked On A New Rare Vinyl Released From The Smiths

 

Morrissey and Johnny Marr have both helped to create a rare new seven-inch release from The Smiths, as part of an upcoming Rough Trade boxset.

The legendary London independent label will release its second volume of newly printed classic singles, titled ‘Rough Trade 45s: Volume 2’, on October 30. It will comprise tracks from The Fall, Aztec Camera, Mazzy Star, Scritti Politti, Robert Wyatt and more, and the boxset will be limited to just 1000 copes, released on October 30. 

Among them is a new release from The Smiths, with "The Headmaster Ritual" on the A-side, and "I Want The One I Can't Have" on the flip side. Both songs originally appeared on the band’s second album "Meat Is Murder" in 1985, but they were never released as a single on Rough Trade.

Now, they will be available as a single for the first time, with Morrissey and Marr both requesting the two tracks. Morrissey has also overseen the creation of the new artwork, choosing a 1939 image of the American actor Billy Halop. It follows in the tradition of The Smiths' artwork throughout their career, with Morrissey having previously selected the likes of Truman Capote, Candy Darling, Alain Delon and Elvis Presley.

Both Morrissey and Marr have also both contributed sleeve notes for the release, and the booklet will also include writing from Elvis Costello, Stewart Lee, Green Gartside, Jonathan Richman and The Go-Betweens' Robert Forster.

You can pre-order here: Rough Trade 45s 

Albums: Make-Up Is A Lie

Officially released last March, "Make-Up Is A Lie" is Morrissey's 14th., studio album, considered one of the most unispired records on Mozza's carreer, this new album is just a scattered collection of tunes, although you can find some interesting and appealing cuts.

Morrissey announced the tentative production and release of a new album titled Without Music the World Dies on 8 December 2022. The album was recorded in January and February 2023 at La Fabrique Studios in St-Remy, France, and was produced by Joe Chiccarelli, making it his fifth collaboration with the singer. It was produced outside the bounds of a record contract, as Morrissey had parted ways with his former label Capitol Records in December 2022.

The album was initially scheduled to consist of twelve songs, collectively written by Morrissey and members of his band, but this was later reduced to ten songs with returning producer Joe Chiccarelli helping to accommodate a well-textured palette of contributions from players including Jesse Tobias, Alain Whyte, Gustavo Manzur, Camila Grey, Juan Galeano and Carmen Vandenberg.

On the new album's former and opener title track "You're Right, It’s Time,"  Mozza's opening missive is, "I wish to move away from those who stare at screens all day/I want to speak up and to not be trapped by censorship." In certain ways, he’s right and a quite tune to start. Continuing the brutal opening stretch are the songs released as advance singles "Make-up Is A Lie" comes next and tells a story about a poet in Paris who silently tells Morrissey an important message, even after her death.

Roxy Music cover Amazona is here but isn't the best example, suffering from a kind of turgid reverence that lacks both the panache a more daring interpretation might bring and the original's alien strangeness. But the pop idolatry Morrissey continues to admire – and, for some long-haul followers, to some extent embody – is better served elsewhere. The catchy "The Night Pop Dropped" would have made a more persuasive single than Make-Up, whether you read it as a reference to the loss of David Bowie or a non-specific star. Either way, the song's funky keys and new wave-ish jerk bring lively and unexpected twists to the board, a long way from Morrissey's sometimes lumpen chugabilly solo settings. 

With "Lester Bangs" he pays tribute to the rock journo almost touchingly, depicting how a life of squalor is ameliorated almost mystically when Bangs writes and "3,000 miles away, this nerd hangs on your word". If there’s mileage left in Morrissey’s revisits to Wilde's gutter-and-stars equation, this cheering valentine to a transatlantic writer/reader bond finds it.

"Zoom Zoom The Litle Boy" offers another yearning reflection on youthful dreams, refreshing Morrissey's flair for careless pop as it provides the record’s requisite animal rights song. The record requires a revisit to life-is-rubbish territory, meanwhile, is "Headache," which wryly re-purposes marital vows in the service of a commitment to terminal anguish. If life was a pigsty, basically, now it's a migraine. But the song’s tinkly keys and liquid guitars bring some small succour at the altar of Morrissey's melancholy. "Boulevard" is another mid-album lamentation, replacing the elegant, Rome-combing yearning of Dear God Please Help Me with an almost defeated-sounding sense of despair: "Oh, the state I’m in." Morrissey croons here in superior parallel piece is "Many Icebergs Ago," which recounts a series of sexual or romantic misadventures across a series of pubs (Ten Bells, Sebright Arms) over moodily evocative backdrops, all now lost to murky memory as its narrator begins “to grow old”.

Still, age has not wholly sapped Morrissey's humour, much less his self-generated pique at sundry irritants. "Kerching Kerching" leavens a diatribe about the corrupting influence of fame’s pursuit with the nicely measured couplet, "You don’t joke enough/Because you just do not take coke enough." Infectious and gracefully arranged, "The Monsters Of Pig Alley" returns to the music business with a reflection on addictive fame and the industry’s “star-makers… leg-breakers”, those who might ask an ageing singer, “Why don’t you pack it in and come back home?” As if Morrissey would concur with any such advice. Sometimes predictably frustrating, sometimes pleasingly fresh, Make-up Is A Lie is a reminder that Morrissey probably couldn’t stop at this stage of the game, much less change.

 

Make-Up Is A Lie Track List:

 

1. You're Right, It's Time

2. Make-Up Is A Lie

3. Notre-Dame

4. Amazona

5. Headache

6. Boulevard 

7. Zoom Zoom The Little Boy

8. The night Pop Dropped

9. Kerching Kerching

10. Lester Bangs

11. Many Icebers Ago

12. The Monsters Of Pig Alley

New Music: Happy New Tears

           

Sire Records release "Happy New Tears" by Morrissey. The song will be available as a digital download. On May 22, Sire Records will globally release a Deluxe 12-inch vinyl disc of Notre-Dame, from the album Make-up is a Lie. The 12-inch will include both Hello Hell and Happy New Tears available for the first time on vinyl. Also, the disc will include a previously unreleased orchestrated version of Notre-Dame, with all strings recorded in Paris. The 12-inch is pressed on colored vinyl. The Notre-Dame live shot by Dave Mushegian. Apparently the shot was taken at Lucca, in Italia, 2025. Additional photographs by Ryan Lowry.

Rocktrospectiva: The Tougher And Lushy "Ringleader Of The Tormentors" Turns 10

Released on 3 April 2006 "Ringleader Of The Tormentors" was the 8th., studio album by the English alternative rock singer Morrissey.  The album was described as showcasing "a thicker, more rock-driven sound", which Morrissey attributed to new guitarist Jesse Tobias. Spawning four singles "You Have Killed Me", "The Youngest Was The Most Loved", "In The Future's When All's Well" & "I Just Want To See The Boy Happy."  The album debuted at number 1 in the UK Albums Chart and number 27 in the US, and also reached number 1 in Sweden, Malta, and Greece.

Recording for the album commenced in late August 2005 in Rome, Italy. Mixing began in late October 2005. Initially, Morrissey was to record the album with producer Jeff Saltzman; however, he could not undertake the project. Producer Tony Visconti, of T. Rex and David Bowie fame, took over the production role and Morrissey announced that Ringleader of the Tormentors is to be "the most beautiful—perhaps the most gentle—so far". Visconti wrote on his website: "We have been working on the music and each day it just sounds better and better. I find every musician in the band a joy to work with. Morrissey's vocals are passionate and confident. Right now I'm at the mixing stage and most of the musicians have gone home. I am two-thirds of the way through one of the best albums I've ever worked on, with not only Morrissey at his best, but the plot has twists and turns which somehow involve film composer Ennio Morricone and an Italian children's choir. That should whet your appetite, you Moz fans, you!"

The album opener "I Will See You in Far-Off Places" had grinding glam guitars and a couple of waspish one-liners. The second track "Dear God Please Help Me" proceeded with a stately, lovely piano figure, a funereal organ and the image of Morrissey strolling through his adopted hometown of Rome in the usual melancholy haze, "so very tired of doing the right thing". Thinking about the metaphor here of Mozza testicles, "Dear God," he adds, as indeed you might if you were trying to walk through the Eternal City while suffering from distended testicles, "please help me."

The brilliant "You Have Killed Me" where Mozza compared himself to film director Pier Paolo Pasolini, who compellingly illustrated the downside of trawling the vias for a shag, when a bit of rough trade he picked up in Ostia ran him over with his own Alfa Romeo. Much of Ringleader of the Tormentors was given over to fretting about the effect that admitting sexual satisfaction - or, apparently more disastrous still, love - might have on Morrissey's image. "I am the same underneath," protested the album's remarkable centrepiece for many, "Life Is a Pigsty," as if trying to reassure both his fans and himself. The following song titled "I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now." It's all a bit ridiculous - in the admittedly unlikely event that Morrissey was filmed throttling a kitten, thousands of fans would storm the chatrooms claiming it was the kitten's fault - but nevertheless, this seems to have inspired some of his most impressive songs in years.

Then the "At Last I Am Born" was a fabulously overblown, deliriously joyful closer. Here, as a way to separate from "You Are The Quarry", the violins are not only real, but scored by Ennio Morricone. T Rex producer Tony Visconti lends everything a muscular authority. They have even splashed out on a children's choir, who turn The Youngest Was the Most Loved's refrain - "there is no such thing in life as normal" - into something impossibly moving.

Ringleader of the Tormentors had a mystery and magic of its own and received positive reviews from most critics, stating the album was musically, it's both tougher and lusher than You Are the Quarry, with proper orchestrations replacing that album's nasty synthetic strings.

 

Ringleader Of The Tormentors Track List:  

 

1. I Will See You In Far-Off Places

2. Dear God Please Help Me

3. You Have Killed Me

4. The Youngest Was The Most Loved

5. In The Future When All's Well

6. The Father Who Must Be Killed

7. Life Is A Pigsty

8. I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now

9. On The Streets I Ran

10. To Me You Are A Work Of Art

11. I Just Want To See The Boy Happy

12. At Last I Am Born

New Music: The Monster Of Pig Alley

           

Morrisey has just released their brilliant new album "Make-Up Is A Lie" and a week later of the released of Roxy Music cover "Amazona", the icon released his new single with a video "The Monsters Of Pig Alley" with a video directer by Lewis Cater, the track is fantastic, you see this is what happens when Mozza and aAlain Whyte work together, a brilliant tune from the beginning 'til the end.  

Rocktrospectiva: The Pleasing "Kill Uncle" Turns 35

Released on 4 March 1991 "Kill Uncle" was the 2nd., studio solo album by the English alternative rock singer Morrissey. The title comes from the black comedy film Let's Kill Uncle (1966). The album was preceded by the single "Our Frank" & "Sing Your Life". 

Recorded during a transitional phase for Morrissey, having parted ways with record producer Stephen Street but not yet working with his future long-term team of guitarists Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer. The album was produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley with most of the music written by Fairground Attraction's guitarist Mark E. Nevin.

The album opened with the single "Our Frank", described "frank and open, deep conversations" that get the singer nowhere and leave him disheartened. "Asian Rut" told of the murder of an Asian boy by three English boys, in which Morrissey's vocals are backed only by strings, bass, and sound effects. The song continued the trope of Morrissey writing about English racism from a unique angle. "Sing Your Life" had Morrissey encouraging the listener to express themselves, as he sang, "Walk right up to the microphone and name all the things you love, all the things you loathe." A rockabilly version of the song also exists, recorded live at KROQ-FM in Los Angeles after Morrissey started working with new guitarists Boz Boorer and Alain Whyte. "Mute Witness" told of an attempt to get information out of a shocked witness who cannot speak at a trial, featuring piano backing composed by Clive Langer. "King Leer" followed, a relaxed tune with sardonic lyrical puns. "Found Found Found", another Langer track, was the only heavy song on the album. Morrissey sings that he's found "someone who's worth it in this murkiness" but ends complaining this person is "somebody who wants to be with me... all the time".

"Driving Your Girlfriend Home" was a ballad in which Morrissey tells of driving home the girlfriend of an unspecified person. He revealed she asks him, "'How did I end up so deeply involved in the very existence I planned on avoiding?'" and that "She's laughing to stop herself crying." These outpourings are interspersed with directional instructions. Morrissey told us "I can't tell her" the answer to her question and that the ride concludes with them "shaking hands goodnight so politely."  "The Harsh Truth of the Camera Eye", often cited as Morrissey's most misunderstood song. The lyric described the "pain because of the strain of smiling" and the dichotomy between one's public image and private personality. The music consisted of a carnival-like synthesizer and also features sound effects like a door slamming and a camera shutter snapping, along with piano accompaniment. In "(I'm) The End of the Family Line", the singer rued he will never have children, an insult into the "fifteen generations... of mine" that produced him. The lyric is complemented by a subdued guitar backing, and ends with a similar 'false' fadeout similar to such Smiths songs as "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore". The original album closed with "There Is a Place in Hell for Me and My Friends", a simple piano piece that reflected the existential longing of the album and showcases Morrissey's torch song influence.

The album was reviewed as a collection of songs that were both very good and like nothing much else in pop, a pleasing work that pleased everyone, althought other criticised the lack of creativity, Mozzas least dinstiguished record and the short running of the album.

 

Kill Uncle Track List:  

 

1. Our Frank

2. Asian Rut

3. Sing Your Life

4. Mute Witness

5. King Leer

6. Found Found Found

7. Driving Your Girlfriend Home

8. The Harsh Truth Of The Camera Eye

9. (I'm) The End Of The Family Line

10. There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends

New Music: Amazona

           

Taken from Mozza's upcoming new album "Make-Up Is A Lie", here's "Amazona" his third single  "Amazona" which actually is a Roxy Music cover with acoustic guitars strummed during the song’s main verse eventually give way to a guitar solo, actually for certain people the acoustic guitars here a part of the problem why this new single has been criticized, but the guitars solo offers a refreshing moment and almost put the track as one the most interesting of his latests single when the album is about to be release.

New Music Notre Dame

            

Morrissey has shared his new single "Notre-Dame", which omits a controversial lyric about “terrorism” that he previously sang during live performances. This is the second single to be released from Morrissey’s upcoming album, Make Up Is A Lie, set for release on March 6th, after he previously shared the title track for the record last month The new track sees Morrissey team up again with his longtime collaborator and former guitarist Alain Whyte, who is credited as co-writing and performing on ‘Notre Dame’. Notably, Morrissey had previously played ‘Notre Dame’ on several occasions during his tour in 2023, which later emerged online. In the live performances that surfaced on YouTube, Morrissey sings,  "Before investigations, They said, "It's not terrorism'."However, in the new single version, he instead sings, “Before investigations, They said, 'There's nothing to see here'." The single "Notre-Dame"  is inspired by the tragic fire of the historical Parisian cathedral, which took place on April 15th, 2019. Following a five-year renovation process, which cost over $700 million, it finally opened its doors to the public again in 2024.

New Music: Make-Up Is A Lie

           

Finally the so-called Morrissey comeback has finally arrived. A single, "Make-Up Is A Lie," arrived today. The song, co-written with keyboardist Camila Grey, leads an album of the same name that marks Morrissey's return to the Warner label Sire and his reunion with producer Joe Chiccarelli. That will be out on March 6. 

News: Morrissey Announces New Album And Title Track

Finally, Morrissey returns with a new track, "Make-up Is A Lie", ahead of his first album in over five years, The new album, which is released on March 6 by Sire. About this latest single, it was a song, co-written with keyboardist Camila Grey and includes a Roxy Music cover. 

The rest of the album was recorded at Studio La Fabrique in the Saint-Rémy-de-Provence region of Southern France by producer Joe Chiccarelli

The album – available to pre-order here– will be available on vinyl, CD and digitally. Vinyl album variants include Blue vinyl and a unique Zoetrope picture disc. A Red vinyl pressing will be available exclusively through all Indie retail stores.

The tracklisting for the album is:

"You're Right, It's Time"

"Make-up is a Lie"
"Notre-Dame"
"Amazona" (Roxy Music cover)

"Headache"

"Boulevard"
"Zoom Zoom the Little Boy"

"The Night Pop Dropped"
"Kerching Kerching"

"Lester Bangs"

"Many Icebergs Ago"
"The Monsters of Pig Alley"

News: Morrissey Is Seeking To Sell His Rights To The Smith's Songs

Morrissey is selling the rights to the Smiths’ name, likeness, and intellectual property to "any interested party/investor,"  the band's former frontman announced on his blog today. 

Morrissey has no choice but to offer for sale all of his business interests in The Smiths to any interested party/investor reads the announcement that includes:  

• The name ‘The Smiths’, as created by Morrissey.
• All Smiths artwork, as created by Morrissey.
• All Smiths merchandising rights.
• All Smiths songs lyrically / musically.
• All synchronisation rights.
• All Smiths recordings.
• All contractual rights for Smiths publishing.”

Morrissey adds: 

    I am burnt out by any and all connections to Marr, Rourke, Joyce. I have had enough of malicious associations. With my entire life I have paid my rightful dues to these songs and these images. I would now like to live disassociated from those who wish me nothing but ill-will and destruction, and this is the only resolution. The songs are me — they are no one else — but they bring with them business communications that go to excessive lengths to create as much dread and spite year after year. I must now protect myself, especially my health.

Around this time last year, a representative for Morrissey said that his ex-bandmate Johnny Marr — with whom he has a deeply-rooted beef — had successfully applied for the trademark rights of the Smiths name. 

The Guardian, however, reports that right now, Morrissey and Marr each share 50% of the band rights. So it's a bit unclear how this transfer of ownership will play out, but if anyone reading is interested, Morrissey has instructed investors to email eaves7760@gmail.com.

Rocktrospectiva: The Grumpy Noisy "Southpaw Grammar" Turns 30

Released on 28 August 1995 "Southpaw Grammar" was the fifth studio album by English alternative rock singer Morrissey. The album charted at number 4 in the UK and number 66 in the US. It received a mixed response from critics. The singles lifted from the album were "Dagenham Dave" peaked at 26 in the UK, and "The Boy Racer" peaked at No. 36.

 

Curiously, the nature of the album is different from past Morrissey releases, such as the inclusion of two tracks which surpass the ten-minute mark, the near two-and-a-half-minute drum solo courtesy of Spencer Cobrin which opens the track "The Operation" and the sampling of a Shostakovich symphony. In general, the album was described as a complete art rock album full of strings, drum solos, and of course the so-called two ten-minute songs, with certain rockabilly and glam styles, giving Mozza a harder rocker sound-a-like.

 

According to Morrissey, the album's title refers to the school of hard knocks, and the cover features the boxer Kenny Lane.  On 27 April 2009 Sony BMG released a remastered version of Southpaw Grammar in the UK. This version included a substantially altered running order, three previously unreleased tracks, "Honey, You Know Where to Find Me", "You Should Have Been Nice to Me" and "Fantastic Bird" 

 

The critical reception to Southpaw Grammar was mostly positive upon release, described it as "the most musically dynamic album from the Messiah of Moans since he revitalized British rock with The Smiths in the mid-'80s". His most powerful solo outing to date, although others called the record as an ugly, noisy, grumpy album, recorded while Britpop stole Moz's thunder. But in the end and in some ways the most daring thing the ex-Smith has ever put his name to and highlighted three key tracks – The Teachers Are Afraid of the Pupils', 'The Operation' and 'Southpaw', dark, sprawling semi-instrumentals dominated by the remarkable drumming of Spencer James Cobrin – with lightweight fluff like 'Dagenham Dave' and 'The Boy Racer'.

 

Southapw Grammar 2009 Expanded Edition Track List: 

 

1. The Boy Racer

2. Do Your Best And Don't Worry

3. Reader Meet Author

4. Honey, You Know Where To Find Me

5. Dagenham Dave

6. Southpaw

7. Best Friend On The Payroll

8. Fantastic Bird

9. The Operation

10. The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils

11. You Should Have Been Nice To Me 

12. Nobody Love Us

The Chronic: Behind The Smiths Cover Sleeves "Terence Stamp"

The English film star Terence Stamp had passed away at the age of 87, and although the headlines all mentioned his most popular role as the villain General Zod in the first two Superman films...from my point of view I will always remember him as the cover star sleeve of The Smiths' "What Difference Does It Make?" single. 

 

Originally released on January 16, 1984, 'What Difference Does It Make?' was the Smiths’ third single. The song was also featured on the Smiths'  eponymous debut album, which was released little more than a month later.  Peaking at No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart, the song was the Smiths' first significant hit.  

 

The song was released without an accompanying promotional music video at a time when a music video matters. At the time, Morrissey explained that he felt that the music video market was something that was going to "die very quickly" (yeah right), and that he wanted to "herald the death" of it. Morrissey’s usual prescience seems to have taken leave with respect to the continued popularity of music videos at this stage of the Smiths’ career. The video presents Morrissey and group performing the song in front on a small stage with a very colored background and in front of a great audience I assumed are from the Top Of The Pops show.

 

What Difference Does It Make?' was amongst the very first songs written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr (around late autumn 1982). The Smiths introduced the song to the world in a gig at Manhattan Sound, a gay club in Manchester, on January 25, 1983. Aside from being the Smiths’ second concert to date, it was the very first time they performed with their classic line up that included Andy Rourke (at their debut gig in October 1982 at the Hacienda in Manchester, Dale Hibbert played bass).

 

The song was initially recorded during the Smiths' second session at Drone Studios in Manchester in December 1982.  Along with  'Miserable Lie' and 'Handsome Devil', it was sent to EMI in the hopes of securing a record contract. The song was recorded again on May 18, 1983 for the Smiths' very first appearance on John Peel's BBC program, which was broadcast on May 31, 1983, with producer Roger Pusey.  This version of the song is included on the compilation album Hatful of Hollow. 

 

The single's cover art consisted of a photo-still of English actor Terence Stamp, taken on the set of the film The Collector from 1965, Repressed extremist Freddie Clegg holds a pad soaked in chloroform with which to overpower his prey.  Having acquired reproduction rights from the copyright holders of the film, Rough Trade discovered that Terence Stamp objected to his photograph being used. 

 

Stamp's formal permission to use his image had yet to be obtained when the initial pressings of the single were released. As it turned out, Stamp denied permission for his image to be used, which resulted in the use of a near-identical image of Morrissey re-enacting Stamp’s photo-still for a limited number of pressings. The Morrissey version of the cover art sees him holding a glass of milk, as opposed to a chloroform pad in the original. Stamp soon changed his mind and provided his authorisation to use his image, and the original cover art was reinstated for all future pressings.

 

About the incident Morrissey discussesd the cover art in his book, Autobiography: "I use a photograph of Terence Stamp as the sleeve image partly because I am assured that clearance can be gained from Stamp through Geoff's mutual friendship with Sandie Shaw. Once the single is issued, Terence Stamp objects and will say (years later) that 'Morrissey did not ask for approval.' A new shot is panicked together, wherein I imitate the Stamp shot, although I choose to hold a glass of milk in place of Stamp's strychnine-soaked muslin cloth. I am ugly against Stamp's glamor-handsomeness, but it will have to do, since the single has already risen to number 12. Evidently Rough Trade are quite pleased about the sudden censoring of the original sleeve, because it might mean that collectors buy the single with the new sleeve also, thus bumping up sales."

 

The first printings of the 12” sleeve front did not bear the group’s name, which was added later. 

Rocktrospectiva: The Sharp And Interesting "Live At Earls Court" Turns 20

Released on 29 March 2005 in the US and 4 April in Europe, "Live At Earls Court" was a live album by English singer Morrissey, it was recorded liv at Earls Court In London on 18 December 2004, in front of 17,183 people." The album spawned a single "Redondo Beach" and the Smiths classic "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out". 

Another cash-in, the moment it captures is indeed somewhat phenomenal and nearly documental on Mozza carrer, Morrissey's moving into an interesting and barely explored territory here: he is a pre-rock crooner commanding Beatle-level hysteria; a smooth, urbane party host backed onstage by anonymous young chord-bashers. He's grown distinctly comfy around the old hits-- or as comfy as one could possibly be in that jagged terrain his Smiths-era vocal lines careen against the chord progressions in astonishingly counterintuitive ways and the recent songs appear to have been written with a new vocal prowess in mind.

 

Morrissey's singing appears to have taken a giant leap over the past seven years or so. Listening to the newly velvety Moz tackle "How Soon Is Now" is a pleasure of an entirely confusing sort: the song is still a roaring, lurching Grendel, all rage and laser tremolo, but the listener can't help feeling luxuriously entertained. The frustration, the urgency, the hormonal madness of the original are politely disinvited; that stuff is, after all, a bit infantile. Morrissey may well be the world's first rock star to fashion a successful shtick out of enthusiastically embracing middle age.

 

For the record, middle age does become him. That face, oddly enough, is hitting the iconic stage just now, with the crow's feet and a bit of sag in the jowls, and the Yves Saint Laurent shirts feel a little more warranted. The uproarious chorus of the B-side "Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice" attests to this directly-- but a fatherly. 

 

At the same time, it is now harder than ever to imagine Morrissey settling into a Bacharachian loungy twilight-- not after the controlled squall of "Irish Blood, English Heart", the loudest, most pissed-off, and most direct song of his career.  

 

This is an excellent concert and overview of Morrissey’s career. He has a fascinating voice and is a terrific songwriter. A very good value with over seventy minutes of music. It's Morrissey and it's live. That's all you need to know.

 

Live At Earls Court Track List:

 

1. How Soon Is Now?

2. First Of The Gang To Die

3. November Spawned a Monster

4. Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice

5. Bigmouth Strikes Again

6. I Like You

7. Redondo Beach

8. Let Me Kiss You

9. Subway Train

10. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

11. The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get

12. Friday Mourning

13. I Have Forgiven Jesus

14. The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores

15. Shoplifters Of The World Unite

16. Irish Blood, English Heart

17. You Know I Couldn't Last

18. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me 

Rocktrospectiva: The Fairly Good "I Am Not A Dog On A Chain" Turns 5

 

Releaed on 20 March 2020, "I Am Not A Dog On A Chain" was the 13th., solo studio album by English singer Morrissey it was also his first album of original material since 2017's Low in High School. It was produced by Joe Chiccarelli, and lead single "Bobby, Don't You Think They Know?" features vocals from Thelma Houston, the album also spawned "Love Is On Its Way Out" and "Knockabout World".

The album was produced by Joe Chiccarelli and recorded at Studio La Fabrique in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, as well as Sunset Sound in Hollywood. In a press release, Morrissey called the album "the very best of me" and "too good to be true... too true to be considered good". Producer Joe Chiccarelli described it as Morrissey's "boldest and most adventurous album yet", claiming that he has "pushed the boundaries yet again – both musically and lyrically".

Significant parts of the album verge on the avant garde, and certainly mark a bold departure for an artist who could easily have continued appeasing his cult faithful with winsome torch songs, ennui-encased indie pop and rapacious rockabilly. For many Mozza fans, this is the equivalent of misdialling The Samaritans and getting through to Piers Morgan. But a man who was once a figurehead for society’s poetic outsiders is now proudly recasting himself as brave truth-teller staring defiantly down the barrel of media crucifixion and cancel culture, saying what ‘everyone’ is really thinking.

"Love Is On Its Way Out" is an electro-baroque throb redolent of Lana Del Rey or Lorde, albeit filtered through Morrissey’s concern for the death of humanity’s empathy and “the sad rich, hunting down, shooting down elephants and lions”. Now the Single ‘Bobby, Don’t You Think They Know’ berates an unspecified, drug-hungry singer over bursts of ‘90s Garbage electro rock, psychedelic sax solos and choruses of wailing gospel noir from Motown legend Thelma Houston. Playing it safe, both politically and musically, is clearly a thing of Morrissey’s past.

Still, there are reassurances for the Smithsophiles. Johnny Marr-like piano riffs lurk beneath ‘Bobby…’’s electronic quivers and fizzes. The glowering title track is built on the same sort of heel-click rhythms as "Frankly, Mr Shankly" and "Girlfriend In A Coma" in "What Kind Of People Live In These Houses?" wittily imagines the sad, dull lives of the suburban sheep to the tune of a classic country folk jangle. That track is bedecked with some prime Moz wordplay: “What carpet-chewer lights up this sewer? / And which rough-trade strangers flail around these chambers?”. ‘Knockabout World’ places one of Moz’s euphoric swells of sunburst victimisation (“They kicked to kill you… They tried to turn you into a public target”) atop icy ‘80s beats reminiscent of Yazoo’s ‘Only You’.

Unfortunately, things slacken off sharply in the album’s back end. ‘Darling, I Hug The Pillow’, with its cheesy Mariachi trumpets, stuck-on squelches and Wedding Present-on-downers vibe, goes nowhere slowly. ‘Once I Saw The River Clean’ is what you might get if you programmed a 1970s AI to write a Morrissey song – a tale of walking around a windswept Manchester with his grandmother to buy 20 fags and a T Rex single, getting change from a quid and playing by some graves. And ‘The Secret Of Music’ is nigh-on eight minutes of plodding avant garde crankiness accompanied by disjointed phrases (“I am out-of-tune violin“, “pan-pipes save a life”, “fat bassoon clears the room”).

The album had favourable reviews althought the lyrical content was the weakest but that Morrissey displayed songcraft and "a great vocal performance". The album has its moments, but they are brief and virtually lost amid the more experimental forays", but at the end, Morrissey delivers his best musical performance in years. 

 

I Am Not A Dog On A Chain Track List:

 

1. Jim Jim Falls

2. Love Is On its Way Out

3. Bobby, Don't You Think They Know?

4. I Am Not A Dog On A Chain

5. What Kind of People Live In These Houses 

6. Knockabout World

7. Darling, I Hug A Pillow

8. Once I Saw The River Clean

9. The Truth About Ruth

10. The Secret Of Music

11. My Hurling Days Are Done

Rocktrospectiva: The Fairly "World Peace Is None Of Your Business" Turns 10

 

Released on 15 July 2014, "World Peace Is None Of Your Business" was the tenth solo studio album by English singer Morrissey, produced by Joe Chiccarelli. The album entered at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and peaked in the US at number 14 on the Billboard 200, the album spawned five singles "World Peace Is None Of Your Business", "Istabul", "Earth Is The Loneliest Planet", "The Bullfighter Dies", & "Kiss Me A Lot".

 

Came in the middle of a truly turbulent moment for the singer, an unfinished American tour leg due health issues, which turn the wrong way after Mozza accussed the female singer of his tour support band to conspired against him, nevertheless, the album became a fairly good record, under a curious title as an inspiration when the artist was invited to Nobel Award Gala in Norway, the álbum received full support from his label. Under Joe Chiccarelli production and recorded in La Fabrique Studios de Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in France, the album has a certain latino flavor, using references from Spain, Turkey, his commitment agains animal cruelty, and with certain sounds from trumpets, flamenco guitars, accordion and castanets. 

The album opened with "World Peace Is None Of Your Business", a long and boring track hard to love it, it takes several listening to embrace it, but then things change a little with "Neal Gassady Drops Dead", as ha hommage to Beat generation, with an acoustic guitar and intelectual lyrics, "I'm Not A Man" a melodramatic balad with a beautiful vocalization, "Istanbul" is a truly good one with impecable guitars and electronica, "Earth Is The Loneliest Planet" a harp, acoustic guitars, accordion and the brillian Boz Boorer's solo and Kristeen Young chorus, "Staircase At The University" another worthy tune, and then the Spaniard-influenced "The Bullfighter Dies" naming six Spanish cities that celebrate this evil tradition of bullfighting, in this case, the main character is the Bullfighter who eventually dies and there you go, celebrating the bull's dignified act. 

 

The final part arrives with "Kiss Me A Lot" a truly The Smiths sound-a-like with latino flavor, the rare "Smiler With A Knife" the grandiloquent "Kick The Bride Down The Aisle" with dramatic vivd style to finish with "Mountjoy" leaving the listener with a certain reflexion about the inspirational and demolishing, Morrissey's affirmation used to be, and then "Oboe Concerto" one of the most bizarre, pretencious and curious tracks in Mozza's career with a taste of electronica. 

There were certain controversy with Harvest Records, on 20 August 2014, Mozza announced the album would be dropped from the label only three weeks after its release, the album was available for download online music stores in 2015 but stopped getting supported after the drop, nevertheless, the critics loved the record and wrote things such as "Morrissey challenges pop and political orthodoxies", in some cases considered the album as a fair stuff not as great as the listener might have hoped but far better than expectations.

 

World Peace Is None Of Your Bussiness Tracklist:

1. World Peace Is None Of Your Business

2. Nea Cassady Drops Dead

3. I'm Not A Man

4. Istanbul

5. Earth Is The Loneliest Planet

6. Staircase At The University

7. The Bullfighter Dies

8. Kiss Me A Lot

9. Smiler With A Knife

10. Kick The Bride Down The Aisle

11. Mountjoy

12. Oboe Concerto

Rocktrospectiva: La Peculiar Recopilación "California Son" Cumple 5 Años

 

Lanzado el 24 de Mayo del 2019, "California Son" fue el 12avo., álbum de estudio en la carrera del singular Morrissey, una recopilación de grandes éxitos de los 60's y 70's, la mayoría son canciones de protesta y otras llenas de glam de los 70's. Morrissey quien se había  metido en problemas por un asunto de promover partidos de extrema derecha lo cual no había gustado a medio mundo, cambio el punto de vista con este disco, del cual se lanzaron dos singles "It's Over" y "Wedding Bell Blues". 

 

Era una rara colección de temas inéditos y otros medio conocidos pero olvidados en el tiempo de parte de luminarias como Roy Orbison, ó Jobriath, famoso músico glam del cual siempre había sentido admiración y no es la primera vez que lo mencionaba, fue uno de los primeros en confesar su homosexualidad en los 70's y uno de los primeros músicos en morir de SIDA a principios de los 80's, de él se extrae el fabuloso "Morning Starship" un tema de corte glam que tenía ciertas pinceladas del Bowie o los New York Dolls de aquel entonces, luego se viene Joni Mitchel "Don't Interrupt The Sorrow" un tema rebelde en contra del patriarcado, la 3era., pista tiene que ver con un tema de Dylan relacionado con el asesinato del activista negro Medgar Evers, "Only A Pawn In Their Game", luego se venía "Suffer The Little Children" que no tenía nada que vef con el de los Smiths, ya que este habla sobre los niños explotados criticando el sistema educativo. 

El otro tema era "Days Of Decision" un tema normal, para dar paso a la emotiva "It's Over" que fue el primer track promocional a cargo de Roy Orbison y una de las más famosas del set, el siguiente es "Wedding Bell Blues" de la 5th. Dimension lo cual sorprendió muchísimo por el tipo de música que era, y sin embargo no era mala y fue una de las que más gustó del set, "Loneliness Remebers What Happiness Forgets" de Dionne Warwick otra curiosidad por el tipo de música que se trata y que uno no creería que Mozza escuchara, otra joya es "Lady Willpower" de Gary Puckett and the Union Gap también versionada en su momento por Engelbert Humperdinck y que es otro de los buenos temas del set, termina con un tema de Carly Simon "When You Close Your Eres" y terminaba con "Lenny's Tune" de Tim Hardin y "Some Say (I Got Devil)" de Melanie para finalizar una recopilación basta inusual

El sonido y la producción corrió a cargo de Jo Chiccarelli quien cumplió como debía ser, y fiel a la tradición de los últimos discos de Morrissey, donde incluyó lo clave y básico que era batería, bajo, guitarras y teclados y sacar un sonido fabuloso, con Mozza reviviendo viejos recuerdos y costumbres, la crítica fue variable, algunos aplaudieron el hecho de que el cantante alcanzaba nuevas dimensiones tanto como cantante como en las canciones, además que su manera de interpretar los temas eran buenos y con sentimiento, pero desgraciadamente para otros, sus tendencias políticas arruinaron mucho del bagaje de este disco.

California Son Track List:

1. Morning Starship (Jobriath) with Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear
2. Don’t Interrupt The Sorrow (Joni Mitchell) with Ariel Engle of Broken Social Scene
3. Only a Pawn In Their Game (Bob Dylan) with Petra Haden
4. Suffer the Little Children (Buffy St Marie)
5. Days of Decision (Phil Ochs) with Sameer Gadhia of Young The Giant
6. It’s Over (Roy Orbison) with LP
7. Wedding Bell Blues (The Fifth Dimension) with Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day & Lydia Night of The Regrettes
8. Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets (Dionne Warwick)
9. Lady Willpower (Gary Puckett)
10. When You Close Your Eyes (Carly Simon) with Petra Haden
11. Lenny’s Tune (Tim Hardin)
12. Some Say I Got Devil (Melanie)

Rocktrospectiva: El Revitalizante "You Are The Quarry" Cumple 20 Años

 

Lanzado el 17 de Mayo del 2004 "You Are The Quarry" fue el 7mo., álbum de estudio en la carrera del mítico y legendario crooner Inglés, Morrissey, fue su primer disco en siete años, por lo que marcó la resurrección de su carrera, lo cual le vino muy bien, ya que el disco alcanzó el No. 2 en el Reino Unido y el No. 11 en los Estados Unidos covirtiéndose en su entrada más alta en aquel país, del disco se lanzaron tres singles "Irish Blood, English Heart", "First Of The Gang To Die", "Let Me Kiss You", & "I Have Forgiven Jesus". 

 

Fue el álbum que revitalizó la carrera del icono para retomar su sitio como esa gran figura que era, previo a la llegada de este disco, nos había dejado como el raro "Maladjusted" bajo el sello Mercury que no hizo mucho por impulsar su carrera, además que el disco tuvo una crítica negativa y ya no sonaban en la radio, por lo que decidió retirarse argumentando un declive creativo, entonces se fue del Reino Unido y se mudo a Los Ángeles, siete años después, sin sello consiguió firmar con Attack que era parte de Sanctuary e inicio dos giras sin promoción pero que fueron exitosas, pero no hay mal que por bien no venga, ya que a pesar de todas las eventualidades, salio beneficiado y mejorando su imagen y reinvidicandose en todo sentido y eso se hizo notar al lanzar el primer single "Irish Blood, English Heart" acogiéndole de maravilla y llegando al No. 3 de las listas, un tema viejo que databa de 1998 con otro nombre, pero que mejoró bajo los parámetros de Mozza.

 

El álbum comenzó a grabarse en el 2003 bajo la producción de Jerry Finn, productor de bandas de punk Estadounidenses, pero contaba con miembros en su banda como Alain Whyte, Boz Boorer, Gary Day,  a los que se les unieron Dean Butterworth y Roger Manning, con todo y todo y gracias a la gran acogida del primer single, la expectativa creció y las críticas fueron muy buenas, pero no pudo llegar al No. 1 porque antes se les interpuso el gran "Hopes And Fears" de Keane, el siguiente single "First Of The Gang To Die" se volvería en un clásico y llego al No. 6 acerca de la historia de un líder de la Calle 18, una peligrosa pandilla de Los Ángeles llamado Hector, cuyo estilo de vida al limite lo llevo a la muerte, con un toque glam y potentes riffs, el tema tenía el toque pop perfecto que gusto mucho, pero el álbum tenia otros cortes como el cover de Nancy Sinatra "Let Me Kiss You", la flagelante "Friday Mourning", el homenaje al Manchester United en "Munich Air Disaster 1958", aunque algunos de esos temas venían en la edición de lujo, otros temas destacados eran "I'm Not Sorry" o la nostálgica "Come Back to Camden", de las que daba buena cuenta en su autobiografía. Sus años entre juicios y disputas, habían generado cierto sentimiento de venganza reprimido y destacaban en temas como "How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?", "The World Is Full of Crashing Bores" y "You Know I Couldn»t Last", demostraron que las heridas aún no habían cicatrizado. Tampoco podemos dejar de mencionar la bella "All the Lazy Dykes".

 

El single "Let Me Kiss You" hacían referencia a Montgomery Cliff y su filme "A Place In Te Sun", lleno de noticias trágicas y la búsqueda de afecto, también estaba la flagelante "I Have Forgiven Jesus" un tema sobre la redención católica llena de ingenio y mucha angustia y con esto el gran Morrissey recuperaba su trono en la escena, ganado el beneplácito de la crítica, éxito en las listas y conciertos vendidos por todos lados, y del cual se grabo aquel en el Earls Court de donde salio la edición en DVD de "Who Put The "M" In Manchester?".

 

You Are The Quarry Track List: 

 

1. America Is Not The World 

2. Irish Blood, English Heart

3. I Have Forgiven Jesus

4. Come Back To Camden

5. I'm Not Sorry

6. The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores

7. How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?

8. First Of The Gang To Die

9. Let Me Kiss You

10. All The Lazy Dykes

11. I Like You

12. You Know I Couldn't Last

Rocktrospectiva: El Exitoso Y Destacable "Vauxhall And I" Cumple 30 Años

 

Lanzado el 14 de Marzo de 1994, "Vauxhall And I" fue el 4to., álbum de estudio del legendario Morrissey. El disco es considerado una de las mejores producciones en la carrera en solitario de Mozza, además que tuvo bastante éxito dentro del Billboard en Estados Unidos, se lanzaron tres singles "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get" alcanzó el NO. 46 en el Billboard Hot 100 y el No. 1 en el Modern Rock Tracks, también se lanzaron "Hold On To Your Friends" y "Now My Heart Is Full". 

En plena efervescencia por el grunge en los Estados Unidos y el britpop en el Reino Unido, Morrissey aún gozaba de buen éxito gracias a su anterior placa, "Your Arsenal" la cual le permitió recobrar cierto sentido y seriedad tras el flojo lanzamiento de "Kill Uncle" en 1991. El disco tenía una elegante y soberbia portada con Morrissey observándonos con cuidado, pero que contrastaba con el material dentro del mismo, un disco sobrio y muy calculador a la vez, y que incluía uno de los mejores temas en su historia como solista, como lo era el himno al acosador "The More You Ignore The Closer You Get" que se convirtió en la única canción en la discografía de The Smiths/Morrissey en participar dentro del Billboard, pero también venían otras genialidades como "Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself".

El disco abría con "Now, My Heart Is Full" con una increíble orquestación y una voz fabulosa de parte de Morrissey, decantándose por lo emocional y sublime que ofrece el disco al oyente, también se destacada la oscura "Spring-Heeled Jim" que aunque no era del agrado de muchos, esta tenía algo extraño y curioso a la vez, también estaba la animada y acelerada "Billy Budd" cuya línea final era un sample del filme "Dickens" de 1948 a cargo del director David Lean. Pero sin duda, el grueso del disco venía después con el increíble trío de temas que estaban conformadas por "Hold Onto Your Friends", de ritmo lento, decreciente y con una nostalgia decadente y Morrissey muy apagado aunque ese era el chiste de la canción, luego se viene el gran momento con el increíble single que ya habíamos mencionado "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get" tema de amor no correspondido y en donde deambulan por algún momento esos viejos espectros de The Smiths, de corte rockero y con un riff increíble que ganó mucho gracias también a la alta rotación que gozó el tema en la MTV, y luego "Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself", para cerrar esa trilogía que muchos considera el núcleo del disco. 

Pero también hay otras canciones fantásticas como "I Am Hated For Loving" que daba inicio a la parte más relajada del álbum, para pasar al sarcástica y oscura "Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning, a manera de narración Mozza cuenta una triste historia y que para muchos era la anticipación de lo que se iba a venir a finales de los 90's en la carrera del ilustre Morrissey, y entonces comenzaba el disco a fallecer con "Used To Be A Sweet Boy" de corte inofensiva, tierna y hasta amable, luego la relajada y placentera "The Lazy Sunbathers", y finalmente la majestuosa "Speedway" de corte épico en cuanto a sonido en donde se refiere a ciertos aspectos de su vida, desde rumores falsos, esas molestas confirmaciones, cuestionamientos y cosas por el estilo.

El disco fue apreciado por la crítica y el público en general y aunque quizás no tuvo el mismo nivel de éxito que "Your Arsenal" que hasta gozo de nominación al Grammy, no era un disco malo, al contrario, el tiempo ha puesto el disco en su lugar logrando más repercusión que durante su lanzamiento original, además marco el inicio de la asociación con Boz Boorer y Alain Whyte, y eso ayudo a pesar de todo, que el disco entrara en el top 20 de los Estados Unidos, mientras que en el Reino Unido fue el 2do., disco que alcanzaba la cima de los charts desde "Viva Hate".

Esto marcaría el final de una etapa increíble para Morrissey, luego se vendrían ciertos lanzamientos criticados como la recopilación"Southpaw Grammar" y para terminar el infame y criticado "Maladjusted" de 1997 con lo cual cerraría un ciclo, y no regresaría renovado sino hasta el 2004 con "You Are The Quarry".

Vauxhall And I Track List:

1. Now My Heart Is Full

2. Spring-Heeled Jim 

3. Billy Budd

4. Hold On To Your Friends

5. The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get

6. Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself

7. I Am Hated For Loving

8. Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning

9. Used To Be A Sweet Boy

10. The Lazy Sunbathers

11. Speedway