Search and Destroy: Morrissey; Solo

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Be nice....

Stephen, Sunday, 11 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh good. Being a frequent visitor of the world of Moz fans, this will be quite fun.

Search: Viva Hate, Bona Drag and the singles of that time, Your Arsenal (hated by sterotypical Moz fans - why?), Vauxhall & I, Maladjusted (it's not all bad, honest) and a lot of B-sides.

Destroy: Kill Uncle (except for Our Frank, that's a good one), Southpaw (a drum solo on a Morrissey album - it'll never work) and some B-sides.

Phil Paterson, Sunday, 11 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

have to agree with phil though i haven't heard any of the records post vauxhall. the kill uncle tour was one of the saddest days of my life, who knew he could come back from that abomination. whatever happened to phranc, maybe she should have a search and destroy.

search - your arsenal, vauxhall and i, viva hate and bona drag destroy- kill uncle

keith, Sunday, 11 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Search: "Piccadilly Palare" - his poppiest single; "Everyday Is Like Sunday" - classic English morosity; "Disappointed" - actually *sounds* great, sadly a Moz rarity, plus every line would be another song's best; "Now My Heart Is Full" - magnificent when you're blind drunk, great otherwise; "The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils" - epic (in a corny way but so what) and empathic.

Destroy: quite a lot unfortunately but "Pregnant For The Last Time" has always annoyed me and that court-case revenge-track which got left off Maladjusted over here is one of the most tragic and horrible things anyone has ever recorded, let alone Morrissey.

I really rather like Kill Uncle. It's definitely his Scooby Doo album but to hell with that: I like the light skiffley touches.

Tom, Sunday, 11 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Search: "Every Day Like Sunday". Destroy: the rest is even worse than The Smiths.

Omar, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Search : All of "Your Arsenal", most of "Vauxhall and I" Destroy : Everything else. That was easy.

Dr. C, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well I don't know what you're all on about. Viva Hate is head and shoulders over all the other albums. OK, I'd given up listening by the time Southpaw Grammar came out. Also SEARCH: the Bona Drag collection, At Amber, I Know Very Well How I Got My Name, Pregnant For The Last Time (ignore Tom), The Loop.

Vauxhall and I and Your Arsenal are all right, but I don't really believe in 'returns to form' when it comes to Morrissey. He just got rich, ran out of inspiration and exhausted his note books.

Nick, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

you like "everyday is like sunday" but hate the smiths?

there may be a single or two worth salvaging but i really can't be convinced of it right now. and i'm an abject smiths fan.

sundar subramanian, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

What, who are all you people who post before me, the raving addict? ;-)

And being so it's hard for me to pick out things -- utter lack of critical faculties here. My AMG entries for all the singles probably say more in this regard. But everyone has to hear "The Edges Are No Longer Parallel," which only ever surfaced on a B-side. Destroy...*scratches head*...uh...

Ned Raggett, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

This is actually a special plea to Ned, who seems to get left out of S & D threads because he either likes it all (Moz) or hates it all (B & S) - tell us some artist you're half-and-half about so we can run a thread on that and you can join in ;)

Actually this raises an interesting question which I'll post elsewhere....

Tom, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Nick - Suedehead and Everyday is like Sunday apart, Viva Hate seems very, very drab to me. A horrid tinny Stephen Street production job and some REALLY boring tracks (Late Night, Maudlin Street' foe example. Vinny Reilly sounds like a square peg in a round hole. Wrong musician, wrong gig. Kill Uncle is one example of an album which is reputed to be crap, which is in fact every bit as bad as it's supposed to be. If anyone can defend this clunker, I'd be interested to hear it. I regard these first two albums as Moz floundering around trying to find a group of musicians and a producer who he could work with successfully. I think it came off spectacularly with Your Arsenal, the retro-glam feel to some of it (Bowie, T-Rex) just well, worked. I don't know why, it just sounds like everything is pulling in the same direction and there is a some kind of vision to the whole thing. Vauxhall didn't quite make it as a follow up, and then for me, it falls apart horribly, and I want no part of it. I don't know many blind devotees of Morrissey, thank god, but I know there are many of them out there. Ned - you sound like one. Here's a question - how can you defend something as fundamentally dire as 'Alma Matters'? Everything here is so stale, the feeble pun in the title, the complete lack of INSPIRATION...! Even worse than 'November Spawned a Monster'!!! It's over.

DR. C, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Defending Kill Uncle: back in my blind fandom days my argument used to go that it saw Moz branching out a bit, trying to write songs in character (suburbanites on 'Your Frank', police officer on 'Mute Witness'), trying vignette songs ('Driving Your Girlfriend Home') trying a very light, breezy musical touch, trying not to be so self- pitying ("Sing Your Life"), and at the same time contained a fair bit of same-old same-old, which is to be fair pretty awful. Not all the new stuff was effective but I thought it was a misunderstood album nonetheless.

Nowadays I wouldn't defend it quite as heartily but I'd still listen to it before the bombastic "Your Arsenal" - the glam stompers are all very well but the ballads are really directionless and tuneless and "You're The One For Me, Fatty" is just a disaster.

As for why the fans listen - I think fans think of Moz sometimes like a well-respected soul singer. You know that a new Aretha or Al Green album, for example, is likely to be poor but you might end up listening out of respect and a wish to hear their voice even on dreadful material. Apply that impulse to a different genre and perhaps you've got some idea as to why some people still love Moz.

Tom, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sundar, yes it's possible, even Mozzer could write a winning song that finally in one poetic image captured his ridiculous miserablism. That song is "Everyday like Sunday", not that it actually is great, but in the scheme of things it's the one song to seek out. Of course if this were a thread about The Smiths I would say even they made one good song "How Soon is Now". This all of course being my humble opinion.

Omar, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Didn't Rolling Stone critics say How Soon is Now was the only good Smiths song because the guitars were, like, cool and stuff?

Morrissey solo...a patchy affair at best. There's no one album I would even suggest, except for Bona Drag, which does a good job of collecting the early (and many of the best) singles.

He's simply too inconsistent -- usually at least one absolute gem per album, but the rest tends to be pretty extraneous. I like more than what most consider reasonable, though.

Definitely destroy Bengali in Platforms, Ouija Board, You're the one for Me Fatty, and some other ones that are awful but not memorable enough for me to think of right off bat.

Nicole, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's nice to see that folk are still interested in these things.

Nick Dastoor is absolutely right about one thing: VIVA HATE is by far the best 'proper' long-player.

But I am a tad confused about this 'S&D' concept: wasn't it meant to be about picking *one* thing for each category, not lengthily dividing the entire oeuvre in two?

the pinefox, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Viva Hate is bestest and bits of Bona Drag are good too. I haven't heard much between 92-97 but I wasn't impressed with Maladjusted. There does seem to be a general consensus that there was a point where things went wrong...exactly where though?

DG, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's quite simple: Search for 'Trouble Loves Me' from the unjustly neglected 'Maladjusted' - ("on the flesh rampage... at *your* age?") and destroy 'King Leer' from 'Kill Uncle'.

Stevie Troussé, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

To Tom's query...*thinks*...*scratches chin, stares up at sky*...I'll get back to you.

Regarding "Alma Matters" in response to the other query -- the pun is feeble, but the song's enjoyable, and when I saw him do it live in 1997, it was really grand and the audience went nuts. So sorry, I have to allow for that one. ;-)

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well I tried actually following this SEARCH advice literally and downloaded 'The Edges Are No Longer Parallel' in perhaps my last ever Napster download.

And it was absolutely awful, Ned! The worst kind of latter period Morrissey. It sounds like the only reason it goes on so long is he's still looking for a tune. And the lyrics! Morrissey's songwriting seems to have degenerated into singing the same banal line over and over again, or variants thereof, for want of anything resembling lyricism. This song seems to form part of his endless succession of non-specific moaning torchsongs, each of which sounds like a ham-fisted stab at an elegaic summation of his career. "My one big mistake is I'm hoping / My only mistake is I keep hoping etc etc." - yawn! And that "All of the things you said oh so meaningful / They are all so suddenly meaning-LESS". Wow, clever wordplay - cheers. I never thought Morrissey would end up making such artless miserablism. Is this Emo?

____

Nick, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Dastoor is about right about 'The Edges', though I haven't heard it in years. In my day we had 'compact discs'. Really!

Troussé seems to me to have caught the spirit of the 'Search & Destroy' concept better than most - his answer would actually require a 'search' and justify a 'destruction'.

Could I request a spot of editorial clarification of 'S&D' procedure?

the pinefox, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Search: Vauxhall & I, particularly the last track because I like the last lines...I never mentioned your name, I never dragged you in...that's a fantastic song. I think I should still have that album lying around, I might look for it later to listen to that song. What's it called, Speedway? I love that song.

Destroy: EVERYTHING ELSE HE EVER DID. And hopefully the man himself too. God I loathe Morrissey.

Ally, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Heavens, man, did I ever say I cared about "The Edges" because of the *lyrics*? I most certainly did not. ;-) I hate lyrics pretty much, certain writers aside. I like it because it starts quiet, gets big and dramatic and swoops along. His voice sounds just right in context as a result. If that was emo, I'd like emo a lot more. ;-)

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

EDITORIAL CLARIFICATION: (also clarified in Afghan Whigs thread)

Pick one (1) thing you would recommend searching for and one you want destroyed. A thing can be an album, track, single, tour, whatever. It must be musical!

If you pick an S you have to pick a D. And vice versa.

There you go!

Tom, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Search: "Last of the Famous International Playboys"

Destroy: Loathsome 8 minute cover version of "Moon River".

Tim Baier, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Search: "Suedehead" (just edging out "Vauxhall & I"; not much to pick over here lyrically [but it's a fabulous vocal; for such a revered wordsmith, his wordless vocalising is/was one of his best features], but nothing puts the heart in the mouth from his post-Smiths career like that blinking-into-the-morning-sun intro).

Destroy: "Such A Little Thing Makes Such A Big Difference" (sticking to things that I know - I've never heard the last two studio albums, though I was tempted to put in "Sorrow Will Come In The End" purely on the basis of the words. SALTMSABD is terribly weak lyrically, with a feeble over-fussy arrangement and little in the way of a tune).

Michael Jones, Wednesday, 14 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

why is this called Search/Destroy? why not Bless/Blast?

Anyway, I say: Search: "Vauxhall & I", "Bona Drag", Morrissey live with the Polecats, lots of songs off "Viva Hate" but not the album itself Destroy: [that song he did with Siouxsie Sioux], er that's it - although I don't like much of Morrissey's solo career I don't have the antipathy that so many others do to it.

pihkalboy, Wednesday, 14 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Search: that fellow Michael Jones' ability to encapsulate different varieties of parentheses within each other and still watch his sentences land on two feet.

Oh, sorry, this is the MORRISSEY thread, isn't it? Well, I have decided to have another crack at it.

Notes.

- I had forgotten about that cover of 'Moon River' - it really was a woefully wasted opportunity.

- It's true, 'Such A Little Thing' isn't great - and Steady M does a masterful job of naming - and indeed shaming - its shortcomings. But I still don't think it's quite *that* bad.

- I would agree with Stevie T, really, that 'King Leer' is probably as bad as it gets; and 'Asian Rut' strikes me as pretty awful too. But I've heard neither for years, and can't even remember how the former goes. So my final answer, with respect to all the other fascinating ones given, is:

SEARCH: "Sister, I'm A Poet" - one of those cases of an unaccountably good track being a B-side; really Smiths-vintage material, and the stonking video performance from '88 has a couple of old Smiths on it, if I'm not mistaken. One more run at that old scenario, 'malcontent youth in a dead-end provincial town', with details to remember and reuse: 'All over this way / outside the prison gates / I love the romance of crime / And I wonder does anybody feel the way I do?'. It's so unpredictably predictable, it's irresistible. And that's not to mention the music.

DESTROY: I think I have to plump for "Have-A-Go Merchant". The idea that it was about Natalie Merchant is not much sillier than the 'song' itself.

the pinefox, Wednesday, 14 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

four months pass...
Well, I have the typical 'Viva Hate' as one of the keepers along with 'Your Arsenal', but...I also would have the (oh so atypical choice) of 'Kill Uncle' on the list of keepers.

'Kill Uncle': Personaly, I find this album a vastly underappreciated album from Mr. Morrissey. It has long since been my belief that it's a case where too many people have followed the opinions of others to decide it's unjust fate. Sure, there are a couple of throwaways to be within 'Kill Uncle', but...no more than most any other pop/rock album. The solid tracks clearly and easily (in my mind) outweight those filler/throwaway tracks. The fact remains that, within 'Kill Uncle' can be found some of the most interesting tracks of Morrissey's solo career, along with some of the most weirdly bouncy/up tracks (such as "King Leer"). Out of the 10 official tracks (not counting "Tony the Pony") I count 7 from that 10 to be keeper quality tracks (with only "Our Frank", "Sing Your Life" and "Found Found Found" as being the weaker tracks) and...7 out of 10 ain't bad. Ain't bad, at all, for a pop/rock album.

The rest of Morrissey solo? Destroy. Sure, keep a single here and a single there, but.

michael g. breece, Sunday, 1 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I liked Kill Uncle also, tho I have no idea if I still would. SPM needed the tension of a partnership with a true-born (albeit scholarly) rockist.

Tom — abt a thousand years upthread — called it his "ScoobyDoo" alb. What mean this?

mark s, Sunday, 1 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Maybe I should add (in my "defense" of 'Kill Uncle') that:

I'm one of those freaks who actually enjoy the sounds of a lost soul. Such as The Cure 'The Top' or Prince 'Around The World In A Day' or Leonard Cohen 'Death Of A Ladies Man' or the late 60's Brian Wilson tracks (and the album 'Love You') or some might even add Scott Walker 'Climate Of Hunter' or the ultimate sounds of a "lost soul" collection William Shatner 'The Transformed Man' (which, I know, is a different case altogether than the rest, but still...that Shatner album is the BigDaddy of "lost soul" albums, whoa) - such is the case with Morrissey 'Kill Uncle'.

So, there you have it. Just in case you were wondering "How in the hell could someone actually listen to, much less enjoy listening to, an album like 'Kill Uncle'."

michael g. breece, Sunday, 1 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Scooby Doo album" - coined by Tanya a while ago. The idea being that in Scooby Doo it would always be the 'least likely' suspect who did the dirty deed - predictable unpredictability, in other words. Applied to rockcrit this means critics saying that their favourite record by a certain artist is the most critically reviled or unlikely.

A classic example of this and probably what she had in mind is my liking Metal Machine Music, Trans and Dazzle Ships bestest out of their creators' respective careers. (Though I do like the OMD singles stuff too)

Tom, Sunday, 1 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Excellent term :) And very true also. I feel a Scooby Doo album thread in the air....

Omar, Monday, 2 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

one year passes...
search: live renditions of "speedway". i was listening to the olympia bootleg from last year over the weekend and this just sounds like the best "me versus the world" song ever; the studio version is rubbish in comparison.

toby (tsg20), Monday, 27 January 2003 09:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I actually quite like "The Teachers are Afraid of the Pupils" on SOUTHPAW GRAMMAR, an album which everyone else seems to loathe.

Otherwise, search: VIVA HATE, YOUR ARSENAL.

destroy: KILL UNCLE

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 27 January 2003 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

an album which everyone else seems to loathe

Not quite.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 27 January 2003 16:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Search: The Smiths
Destroy: Morrissey

I hate to be predictable, but...

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 27 January 2003 16:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I've found all his efforts to be uneven, so:

search: Individual songs
destroy: Albums
double destroy: All his worthless repackaging

christoff (christoff), Monday, 27 January 2003 18:31 (twenty-two years ago)

I haven't heard that much Morrissey solo but I'm sad to say so far it's:
Search: Suedehead
Destroy: Everything else

Vinnie (vprabhu), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 03:35 (twenty-two years ago)

search: Bona Drag, Your Arsenal, Vauxhall And I, Southpaw Grammar, World Of Morrissey

destroy: viva hate (only if you have to choose between that and Bona Drag), Kill Uncle, Maladjusted, My Early Burglary Years (save "Cosmic Dancer")

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 03:44 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...
(Hi Toby -- Any chance I could get a copy of that Olympia bootleg off of you?)

Mary (Mary), Thursday, 20 March 2003 21:51 (twenty-two years ago)

of course, mary! i am slightly drunk now + very tired so may not remember, but email me + i'll send you a copy.

toby (tsg20), Thursday, 20 March 2003 22:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Thanks Toby! (Email to come.)

Mary (Mary), Thursday, 20 March 2003 23:07 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...
search: jake's peg
destroy: listmaking knobs

buba hotep, Sunday, 28 November 2004 00:09 (twenty years ago)

ten months pass...
I have been giving renewed airtime life to an old tape of BONA DRAG.

Surprise (ie non-45, didn't-know-it-was-coming) highlight so far: 'Will Never Marry'! What an interesting track!

the pinefox, Friday, 14 October 2005 13:12 (nineteen years ago)

Destroy: everything on You Are The Quarry except "First of the Gang to Die" and "I Have Forgiven Jesus."

Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Friday, 14 October 2005 13:24 (nineteen years ago)

**As for why the fans listen - I think fans think of Moz sometimes like a well-respected soul singer. You know that a new Aretha or Al Green album, for example, is likely to be poor but you might end up listening out of respect and a wish to hear their voice even on dreadful material. Apply that impulse to a different genre and perhaps you've got some idea as to why some people still love Moz. **

I'd forgotten Tom said this. Really great comment!

Dr. C (Dr. C), Friday, 14 October 2005 13:35 (nineteen years ago)

But wrong, I think. It doesn't apply to all those Mexican nutjobs, assuming they really exist. I think it's more like the eternal appeal of Staus Quo anyway - people listen to it because they like it.

PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Friday, 14 October 2005 13:50 (nineteen years ago)

I love Miller's post!

the pinefox, Friday, 14 October 2005 13:53 (nineteen years ago)

Yes, my post is the equivalent of heads-down no-nonsense boogie rock.

PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Friday, 14 October 2005 13:56 (nineteen years ago)

**I love Miller's post!**

I love your post, PF. It's a great post! Pointing out that you love someone's post is a good thing and we should do it more often, especially on a Friday afternoon. So I did. And I applaud you for doing so.

x-post. Yes I think Tom's comment isn't quite spot-on when applied to Morrissey, but it's still a great observation that has made me think about my approach to some, ahem....long-standing favourites. (Of which Moz isn't one.) I think with Moz, Mexican nutjobs aside, there's a sense that it's all been said and done. With the Smiths and maybe to some extent his early solo career, there was a sense of anticipation about what he would say next, and about whom. Also a collective 'yes! yes! yes!' when he said it. 'Quarry' is better than expected, but pretty thin pickings really.

Dr. C (Dr. C), Friday, 14 October 2005 14:24 (nineteen years ago)

time to write my memoir of those times: sinkhead

mark s, Tuesday, 28 March 2023 18:26 (two years ago)

Lol

It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 28 March 2023 18:27 (two years ago)

related to the subject of whether or not Morrissey is actually well read, is "your nephew is true, he still thinks the world of you" from Boxers a reference to J.R. Ackerley's novel 'We Think the World of You'? He might just have seen the film version

soref, Tuesday, 28 March 2023 18:28 (two years ago)

i mean he only needs to have read the book's spine tbh

mark s, Tuesday, 28 March 2023 18:29 (two years ago)

xxxxpost though cynically which he deserves at this point, wrt to last of the gang, i guess you could say morrissey could be open hearted to a group of people only to the degree to which they worship at the altar of morrisey

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 28 March 2023 18:29 (two years ago)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suedehead_(subculture)

Maggot Bairn (Tom D.), Tuesday, 28 March 2023 18:33 (two years ago)

xpost pinefox: yep "that's entertainment" was the b-side of the og "sing your life." this comp is nearly a one-stop shop for moz singles if you're so inclined; word to the wise tho: it's missing the live at kroq version of "sing your life" which is right up there with "the loop" as some of his best material for me.

i have such a hard time with this, but i just can't not think of beethoven was deaf as anything other than completely fucking awesome. big sigh. i haven't listened to it in probably 5 years, minimum. maybe i should just not revisit and keep it in my memory as the last hurrah or whatever.

''i am the kanye west kanye west thinks he is.'' (Austin), Tuesday, 28 March 2023 18:33 (two years ago)

Morrissey– Journalists Who Lie

forgot about this turd, a sign of things to come

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 28 March 2023 19:04 (two years ago)

Love "Tomorrow," song and video. (Zero interest in the person.)

clemenza, Tuesday, 28 March 2023 19:07 (two years ago)

Never read a Richard Allen book or to be honest ever seen one in the wild. I’d imagine this is one of the times you can judge a book by the cover.

Dan Worsley, Tuesday, 28 March 2023 19:18 (two years ago)

just listening again and realising how much I love 'seasick yet still docked' and 'i know it's gonna happen someday' back to back. the latter is in my top ten moz vocal performances, maybe top 5.

oscar bravo, Tuesday, 28 March 2023 19:36 (two years ago)

also peak smiths/moz solo is so funny as a lyricist yet so unfunny when interviewed even when he's trying to be. v strange.

oscar bravo, Tuesday, 28 March 2023 19:59 (two years ago)

i think it's much more meaningful as a part of his catalog to his considered hispanic fanbase in america, seems like it was his acknowledgment of them. maybe the last semi cool thing he did.

Love "First of the Gang to Die," alas, though not the studio version compared to this Letterman live version. And like Alfred did it at karaoke once when it was still appropriate to do so.

underwater as a compliment (Eazy), Tuesday, 28 March 2023 20:16 (two years ago)

lol so i clicked on the suedehead (subculture) wikipedia entry that tom d. linked to (adding the missing bracket to do so) and read it -- it's not very long -- and then clicked on the footnote called "morrissey gets iut off his chest", in case it featured him explaining why he used this word as a title

it did not: instead it took me to some strange-looking possibly abandoned site which required some of sort "prove yr human" thing to go further, except i got no further and got bored instead and came back here again

only now my mac seems to be infected with a little (fake!) notification which pops up every few minutes to tell me i have viruses (i don't), to deploy mcafee against them (no) and that someone is right now downloading my files ("is it you?") (p sure they're not, tho the fake notification is v annoying)

anyway one more little thing to blame steven patrick for

mark s, Tuesday, 28 March 2023 20:29 (two years ago)

Ugh

It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 28 March 2023 20:36 (two years ago)

I’m so sorry

It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 28 March 2023 20:37 (two years ago)

It's all my fault.

Maggot Bairn (Tom D.), Tuesday, 28 March 2023 20:39 (two years ago)

that's actually a pretty potent dis— "you're so phony the sources on your wikipedia are viruses."

''i am the kanye west kanye west thinks he is.'' (Austin), Tuesday, 28 March 2023 21:05 (two years ago)

Once a few decades ago I went to see a friend perform at an open mic in the Lower East Side and one of the other performers had this bit about “We are the virus!” which I am now hearing as a Morrissey album title.

It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 00:20 (two years ago)

Don’t believe I am familiar with Moz’s cover of “Back on the Chain Gang,” but it seems like something I might like.

It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 00:57 (two years ago)

His covers show good taste and are generally fair enough but I can't think of one that adds anything to the original, or (apart from Interlude) has introduced me to a song or artist I would otherwise been unfamiliar with.

fetter, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 07:14 (two years ago)

I knew that the word 'suedehead' was from a book title, and / or from a subculture. I just don't know what it has to do with the song.

the pinefox, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 07:53 (two years ago)

>>> Don’t believe I am familiar with Moz’s cover of “Back on the Chain Gang,” but it seems like something I might like.

In his review for AllMusic, Ned Raggett reported that the cover was 'most fine, well performed and sung all round'.

the pinefox, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 07:54 (two years ago)

I think some of the covers have actually been rare highlights of the otherwise wretched recent years. I really loved the version of Jobriath's "Morning Starship" and also have a lot of time for this cover of an old Melanie song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMDD16-EkRY

Piedie Gimbel, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 11:11 (two years ago)

I knew that the word 'suedehead' was from a book title, and / or from a subculture. I just don't know what it has to do with the song.

Exactly. Never quite parsed this either.

It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 11:37 (two years ago)

You just hear him talk and he seems like… a dunce.

Back in the day you'd get long lists of lines he'd borrowed from various sources. Wonder if he stopped doing that? It seems impossible that any of the mostly terrible lyrics he's produced in the last 20 years could have been taken from elsewhere. He sounds so thick in his songs now, for sure. It's tempting to imagine that much of what made him sound clever in the early songs were the words of other people. But to be fair, even if you supposed that ALL of the words were stolen (which no one has ever suggested), those lyrics would still be smart works of editing/collage. It's mystifying where that talent went. I agree with the comments above that outside of the songs there has always been something dull and shifty in the way he speaks about pretty much everything.

Eyeball Kicks, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 12:50 (two years ago)

xp someone enterprising will have to read the book then! SPM possibly never cracked the spine of the acklerley but he absolutely definitely positively read suedehead (and all the rest)

mark s, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 12:59 (two years ago)

meanwhile i have not rid my laptop of the non-virus virus he gave me >:(

mark s, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 13:02 (two years ago)

“I did happen to read the book when it came out and I was quite interested in the whole Richard Allen cult... suedeheads and skinheads and smoothies were very much part of daily life. There was a tremendous air of intensity... something interesting grabbed me about the whole thing.” Morrissey

suedehead is about a skinhead who decides he wants to move up the social ladder, so he has slightly longer hair. then, as expected, he reverts to his old ways and the boots go in... hard (this is how richard allen likes to end a chapter whenever he can.)

Animal Bitrate (Raw Patrick), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 13:13 (two years ago)

How does he stack up against David Peace?

It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 17:41 (two years ago)

Sorry about Mark’s Morrissey virus protection problem.

Enjoying the threadmotif of the pinefox reacts to Ned reacting to Moz..

It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 17:42 (two years ago)

I am indeed all over AMG and thus Wikipedia with them earlier comments. Ah well, ya live and learn.

Anyway:

Love "Tomorrow," song and video.

Still amuses me greatly said video was one of the earlier things by Zac Snyder!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDdQcfz6pbo

https://www.morrissey-solo.com/threads/zack-snyders-recollection-of-making-tomorrow-promo-video.148161/

Because I would have loved to have been Morrissey's creative visualist. I remember I wrote a treatment for him for another song on that album. It was going to be all Giant. You know the movie Giant with James Dean? It was a take on it, and he was going to play the James Dean role.

Mm, of course.

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 17:47 (two years ago)

holy shit!

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 18:03 (two years ago)

Is there some kind of Wikipedia AMG connection I am unaware of?

It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 18:11 (two years ago)

Morrissey never sexier than in the "Tomorrow" video.

the very juice and sperm of kindness. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 18:36 (two years ago)

Morrissey never sexier than in the "Tomorrow" videoy

FTFY

castanuts (DJP), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 18:41 (two years ago)

Don’t think I ever noticed those somewhat notorious Mary Margaret O’Hara vocals on “November Spawned a Monster” until just now. I wonder what Ned had to say about them.

It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 18:53 (two years ago)

Interlude is a keeper.

immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 19:00 (two years ago)

The stories of Siouxsie and Morrissey arguing over the video are quite good.

“The original video idea,” Siouxsie said, “was to show Ruth Ellis being led to the gallows, which I loved, but which didn’t happen. Instead he wanted a bulldog, which I didn’t understand. Why a bulldog? So I questioned him about his pro-British thing and told him I couldn’t have that. I said, ‘pick another dog, like a chihuahua or something. A monkey, anything!’ . . . I don’t know why he wanted to stick to his guns so much. And no, we’ve not spoken since.”

https://thenervousbreakdown.com/tanderson/2011/02/rock-fight-siouxsie-morrissey-and-the-collaboration-that-time-forgot/

immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 19:03 (two years ago)

Is there some kind of Wikipedia AMG connection I am unaware of?

All dates back to the early days of both sites; AMG content was freely available and that made it a handy reference source for a lot of Wikipedia entries.

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 19:17 (two years ago)

I like all of the music videos that Tim Broad directed for Morrissey (basically all of them up until Tomorrow, he also did the videos for Girlfriend in a Coma and Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before)

soref, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 19:22 (two years ago)

Oh, right, thanks, Ned. I kind of figured that, but then I started thinking that maybe these days AMG content, such as it is, might not be freely available anymore.

It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 29 March 2023 19:29 (two years ago)

On the website Allmusic, Ned Raggett stated that Mary Margaret O'Hara's backing vocals were "fine and definitely adequately pleasing, adding up to an agreeable performance".

the pinefox, Thursday, 30 March 2023 09:27 (two years ago)

Hmm. Very amusing. But I see something different.

A curious note comes from the guest appearance of cult vocalist Mary Margaret O'Hara, who ends up only contributing a series of yelps and gurgles in the instrumental break mid-song.

It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 March 2023 10:54 (two years ago)

I assume that these days Wikipedia can’t add AMG content quite so freely but AMG can’t claw it back either.

It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 March 2023 11:22 (two years ago)

(james R&tB will be relieved to know i have solved my virus problem, which was i think only a rogue fake-mcafee notification problem lol)

mark s, Thursday, 30 March 2023 12:49 (two years ago)

(For I second I did a double-take and thought "rogue" was "Rourke")

It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 March 2023 12:52 (two years ago)

(uh oh)

mark s, Thursday, 30 March 2023 13:01 (two years ago)

one year passes...

My friend just let me know they are seeing Morrissey @ the Hollywood Palladium tonight.

Bee OK, Wednesday, 1 January 2025 02:25 (five months ago)

https://imgur.com/iqv4Fij.jpeg

Bee OK, Wednesday, 1 January 2025 07:15 (five months ago)


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.