Morrissey signs to Sanctuary in the UK

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Finally, old Mozz has signed a UK deal. It was announced yesterday on Janice Long's programme after he sent her this fax:
Janice Long on BBC Radio 2 has just read out a fax from Morrissey (signed by him) to say words to the following effect (not precise transcription).

'To all 12 people in the UK who are interested, I would like to let you know that I have signed to Attack on the Sanctuary label. Have begun recording my first album in 40 years. Please dedicate (something) to my nephews Sam and Johnny and say hi to everyone that knows me.'

He may have kept his wit, let's just hope he hasn't kept that dog-eared rockabilly combo he inflicted on us for the last 12 years.....

Sanctaury.... really does seem to be a force to be reckoned with by signing still bankable but out of vogue acts. Kudos to them for realising people still actually want to buy records by the likes of Pet Shop Boys, Paul Weller, Alison Moyet and Bert Jansch. If only some of the majors were as forward thinking....

― RUSS T, Wednesday, 28 May 2003 08:40 (twenty-three years ago)

Lloyd Cole is on Sanctuary as well these days.

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 09:44 (twenty-three years ago)

If only some of the majors were as forward thinking....

Or backwards thinking, as the case may be...

― kate, Wednesday, 28 May 2003 09:46 (twenty-three years ago)

Hardly backwards thinking..... it's patently obvious people still wish to purchase material by these artists, but record companies are so blinkered and careers so shortlived these days, the only way these artists (who, incidentally, minus Jansch and Moz, have all had top 20 albums in the past 6-12 months) can get their material released is through an old independent company funded on heavy metal money.

If buying an album by any artist who, despite being on the scene for 20 years or whatever, still releases great music is 'backward thinking', then I'm all for it.

Both the Weller and the Moyet albums from last year were career highlights. And both rank among my favourites of last year.... as I'm (almost) sure the Morrissey one will this year.

Also - the rise of Sanctuaryseems to mirror the rise in fortunes of BBC Radio 2, which, while far from great, is the only major station that plays anything remotely listenable.

So thank God for Sanctuary who seem to be one of the few record companies actually making any money this year (there was an article on the rise of the company and the marked difference between them and the majors whose profits are all falling throughh the floor in, I think it was, the Times quite recently).

― russ t, Wednesday, 28 May 2003 10:18 (twenty-three years ago)

Touching that he still uses Janice Long as a conduit.

― the pinefox, Wednesday, 28 May 2003 13:00 (twenty-three years ago)

He may have kept his wit, let's just hope he hasn't kept that dog-eared rockabilly combo he inflicted on us for the last 12 years.....

you are a mentalist! Morrissey's backing band have been the best thing about him for many years now. Alain Whyte & Boz Boorer have written some cracking tunes for him (eg all of Vauxhall & I and Your Arsenal) and the band having an existence prior to their association with Morrissey gives them a great stage presence.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 13:24 (twenty-three years ago)

I know they have a history in 2-bit Polecat-type rockabilly bands.... but they're shite. Tired sounding, dated, ugly, clumpy riffs and cliched arrangements, ruining even the softest of the Moz catalogue. Hardly groundbreaking.... and live..... hmmmm.... not great whenever I saw them. They looked pretty fantastic in some of the early 90s videos, though, which is probably why Morrissey hired them in the first place.

Morrissey needs beautiful musicianship again, not a bunch of beautiful instrument abusing wideboys.

You're right about the songwriting, though...where Whyte and Boorer's strengths with Morrissey lie.

ps....Have you SEEN the size of Boz Boorer nowadays? Does he have a bicycle pump planted in his arse? Does he eat lard for breakfast? HUUUUUGE.

― russ t, Wednesday, 28 May 2003 13:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Can it be true? Not just another vicious rumour? How long will the wait be?

Very very good news.

― Mary (Mary), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 15:00 (twenty-three years ago)

This is probably bad news for Morrissey. You have to assume the new songs he played on his recent tour are among the best he's got just now, and they're mostly mediocre. Unless he comes up with much better stuff quickly, I doubt anyone will let him make another record again. Even the hardcore supporters won't be able to summon up the enthusiasm in 2009, 15 years after he last made a good one.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 15:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Over on morrisey-solo, some hopefuls are thinking that he has saved his best songs for the album, and that a lot of the recent songs will be b-sides. I really like First of the Gang to Die. Some are even predicting a double album chock full of new material! Anyway, lots are predicting a fall release date. Meanwhile, Morrisey recently turned 40.

― Mary (Mary), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 15:30 (twenty-three years ago)

''Hardly backwards thinking..... it's patently obvious people still wish to purchase material by these artists, but record companies are so blinkered and careers so shortlived these days''

its pop maaan so ppl are meant to have short careers. its terrible to think that awful garbage like morrissey and pet shop boys still have a record deal.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 15:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Nerrrr, for me what has made the last few Mozz gigs I've seen has been how kickarse the Polecats are.

and Morrissey himself.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 15:33 (twenty-three years ago)

I really like First of the Gang to Die.

Yeah, same here. I await whatever results with content desire.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 15:36 (twenty-three years ago)

I think Sanctuary might be the way the record business has to survive in the future, if they can't come with a way to come up with a viable commercial model for digital downloads, i.e. signing long-running, respected acts with strong cult followings to fair, but not exhorbitant deals. I'm sure that you can still count on selling a quarter of a million Morrissey CDs worldwide.

Obviously, downloading is going to hurt acts with younger, more tech savvy audiences, so Sanctuary can probably survive selling to devoted fanbases that want the CD art, liner notes, packaging, etc., not just the MP3s.

― Matt Helgeson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 19:44 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, damn, only american idols contestants should be allowed to release albums. everyone else has been around too long.

― g (graysonlane), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 20:21 (twenty-three years ago)

Has anyone read the interview in Word magazine? Made me realise how much I miss his prescence.

Word. Did you hear Tatu's version of How soon is now?
Moz. Yes, it was magnificent. Absolutely. Again. I don't know much about them.
Word. they're the teenage Russian lesbians.
Moz. well aren't we all.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 21:03 (twenty-three years ago)

Word.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 21:08 (twenty-three years ago)

That would be great if they started all their interview questions with "Word".

― o. nate (onate), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 21:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Make the dream real.

― Mary (Mary), Thursday, 29 May 2003 02:05 (twenty-three years ago)

Moz looks seriously old on the cover of Word....Grecian 2000 anyone?

― russ t, Thursday, 29 May 2003 10:50 (twenty-three years ago)

''yeah, damn, only american idols contestants should be allowed to release albums. everyone else has been around too long.''

yup.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 29 May 2003 10:52 (twenty-three years ago)

Julio -
how long have you been deaf?

― russ t, Thursday, 29 May 2003 10:53 (twenty-three years ago)

I prob have a better ear than most russ.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 29 May 2003 10:59 (twenty-three years ago)

from your two droll comments on this thread (it's pop maaaaan).... err.. I think not.

― russ t, Thursday, 29 May 2003 11:01 (twenty-three years ago)

hey you are the one that seems to want a new morrissey record.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 29 May 2003 11:06 (twenty-three years ago)

err...yeah.... me and probably everyone on this thread.

Bar you.

Why? Because he's probably the best songwriter the UK has ever produced.... and also because he was in the greatest band of all time. Simple, really.

― russ t, Thursday, 29 May 2003 11:19 (twenty-three years ago)

''err...yeah.... me and probably everyone on this thread.''

and they are all wrong.

''Why? Because he's probably the best songwriter the UK has ever produced.... and also because he was in the greatest band of all time. Simple, really.''

erm, no. even so, doesn't excuse his solo career.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 29 May 2003 11:30 (twenty-three years ago)

'Your Arsenal' and 'Vauxhall and I' were two of the best albums of the 1990s.

You're probably too young to remember them.

― russ t, Thursday, 29 May 2003 11:31 (twenty-three years ago)

I like the smiths. the morrissey solo I've heard has been mediocre.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 29 May 2003 12:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I heart Morrissey but Vauxhall isn't so much a great album as three or four great songs and some OK ideas

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Thursday, 29 May 2003 12:48 (twenty-three years ago)

'Now My Heart Is Full' sounds like a standard - something Sinatra or Bassey would've killed for.... and I truly love the rest of Vauxhall and I - it's a triumph of a record.

But then, I adore Kill Uncle, too, so best to ignore what I say...

― russ t, Thursday, 29 May 2003 12:52 (twenty-three years ago)

Ah, but surely 'Maladjusted' is unforgivable.. How bland can an indie hero become?

― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Thursday, 29 May 2003 13:13 (twenty-three years ago)

Maladjusted is, admittedly, a shameful record.... as is the majority of Southpaw Grammar (even the sleeve looks like a bootleg).

I reckon he has one more great album in him.

― russ t, Thursday, 29 May 2003 14:03 (twenty-three years ago)

There is no shame in Maladjusted.

http://www.cinerhama.com/britalent/bogardeyum!.jpg

― Mary (Mary), Thursday, 29 May 2003 23:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Or in Southpaw for that matter.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 29 May 2003 23:49 (twenty-three years ago)

"Lawyer!/Liar!/Lawyer!/Liar!"

oh yes, there are things about which one rightly might feel ashamed in the matter of Malajusted.

― J0hn "Sorrow Will Come to You in the End" Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Friday, 30 May 2003 00:56 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm in agreement with J0hn on this one.

― Nicole (Nicole), Friday, 30 May 2003 11:33 (twenty-three years ago)

I bought 'Word' today - the interview is fantastic - his comments about Mike Joyce are pretty unforgiveable, but the man still stands head and shoulders above any other singer songwriter in the world today.... just someone get him a great producer and a different backing band.....

― russ t, Friday, 30 May 2003 11:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Talk to the face, the Southpaw ain't listening.

― Owen, Saturday, 31 May 2003 10:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Being rhetorical, when what I really want to be is free.

― Owen, Saturday, 31 May 2003 10:16 (twenty-three years ago)

Russ I think you are harshin' on Mozz's band way too hard, when they've been good (the sublime "Nobody Loves Us") they're really great

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Saturday, 31 May 2003 11:57 (twenty-three years ago)

But too often they are middling, and not entirely an interesting backing for Morrissey. I would really like to see him work with a new band, and new producer. He needs a bit of change of sound... of course, the Whyte/Boorer band have come up with some very good material from 1992-97, but it was periodic of nature. I don't particularly dislike any of the four albums, but stuff like _Maladjusted_ and _Southpaw Grammar_ could have been excellent and were muffled a bit... why weren't "Nobody Loves Us", "Lost", "The Edges...", "Swallow on My Neck" etc. and so many good B-sides included, instead of some weaker tracks on those two albums? Like "Do Your Best and Don't Worry" and a few on _Maladjusted_. To be fair to _Maladjusted_ it contained some very fine material: "Wide to Receive" and "Trouble Loves Me" particularly.

― Tom May (Tom May), Saturday, 31 May 2003 13:22 (twenty-three years ago)

For instance; see *how well* he worked with Vini Reilly on _Viva Hate_, which is still to my mind his finest solo work. Morrissey could do with working with a very inventive, unconventional musician like Reilly (indeed Marr proves this!).

― Tom May (Tom May), Saturday, 31 May 2003 13:24 (twenty-three years ago)

on a recent interview on Xfm, Vini Reilly mentioned he would like to work with Morrisey again.

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Saturday, 31 May 2003 13:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Which indeed *would* be something to anticipate. Let's hope it happens, though all would depend on whether the man himself wanted to work with Reilly again.

― Tom May (Tom May), Saturday, 31 May 2003 15:09 (twenty-three years ago)

eight years pass...

Entertaining Morrissey interview about his difficulties in getting signed to any labels:

http://pitchfork.com/news/43002-morrissey-talks-label-troubles-glastonbury/

― Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats, Tuesday, 28 June 2011 03:14 (fourteen years ago)

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