Link from Walter:

REM approached to duet with Morrissey at Brit Awards - NME (Jan. 19)

REM have been approached to do a duet with ex-SMITHS vocalist MORRISSEY at this year's BRIT AWARDS, NME.COM can exclusively reveal. An awards insider told NME.COM this afternoon (January 19) that the seminal US rockers are "in the running" to perform at this year's awards as part of the promotion for their forthcoming new album 'Reveal'.

He said: "REM are definitely in the running to open the event, but they're trying to pull Morrissey into doing it as well. They're frantically trying to contact him as we speak!"

If the collaboration does come off, it will mark a sensational return to the UK for the singer, who has maintained a low UK profile since his last tour in November and December 1999. Last year, he toured the US and South America, but remained outside the UK.

During the '80s, The Smiths and REM had a mutual respect, and it was reported that Stipe and Morrissey became friends. It is unclear whether the pair have remained in recent contact.

An official spokesperson for The Brit awards confirmed that REM are on their "target list" this year, but stressed that a decision on their performance was yet to be made by the band.

The official spokesperson for REM has denied the band will have any involvement with this year's awards, saying that the band have no plans to visit Europe in the near future.

The Brit Awards have a history of high profile artists collaborating on stage. In recent years PJ Harvey has duetted with Bjork, David Bowie duetted with Placebo, Jamiroquai's Jay Kay performed with Diana Ross, and Robbie Williams andTom Jones blasted through a 'Full Monty' medley in 1998.

If the REM/Morrissey duet does occur, it is unclear what song will be performed. This year's awards take place at Earl's Court in London on February 26.

curious orange writes:

According to the NME dated 20/01/01 - "Morrissey spurned the beckoning joys of New York's Times Square celebrations or even the fireworks over Norwich Town Hall to join in Camden's once fashionable saloon, The Spread Eagle for a New Year's Eve tipple. Our sources swear it was indeed the Mozzer himself, taking respite from the LA sunshine, and possibly hoping to find some vestige of devotion to fuel his flailing (and, possibly non-existent) solo career."

anothermozfan writes:

J.T. Leroy is the author of the utterly fabulous book "Sarah", a must-read for any reluctant intellectual who really should get out more. On his web-site, I found the transcript of an interview he did with another author, Douglas A. Martin, in which he asks Martin about the gay scene in his home town of Athens, Georgia. The reply states that the only interesting thing he ever saw on the scene there was when he had to be restrained by a bouncer for strangling a friend who had stolen his Morrissey cd! Leroy responds by saying: "Sounds kinky. That would be a great headline story: Gay boy doing hard time in Macon County prison for Morrissey CD..." and, erm... that's it, but nice to see that one great writer can spot another when he sees it. And yeah, I suppose it is kind of kinky...

To see the full interview, go to www.jtleroy.com, then go to 'what they're saying', then click on 'interview with someone's secret love...'. "Sarah", incidently, is fab!!!

TrblLuvsMe sends:

The Independent (London), January 19, 2001
POP: IT'S IN THE MIX: THE INDEPENDENT'S GUIDE TO POP'S UNLIKELIEST COLLABORATIONS; THE SMITHS AND SANDIE SHAW HAND IN GLOVE
Robert Webb

THE SMITHS' celebrated collaboration with the shoe-shy chanteuse almost never happened. In 1983, Morrissey sent a demo tape to his childhood heroine. "It was with a fan letter," explained Sandie. "I really don't know why I listened to more than two bars of it - it was awful... really awful." Disappointed by an earlier, unsatisfactory career revival with the synth popsters BEF, Sandie was in no hurry to repeat the experience: "The more they nagged me, the less I actually wanted to do it." Morrissey persisted, however, and during an epiphanic meeting with the band, Sandie came around to the idea of working with these charming men. "I still didn't even like the stuff until I got in the studio and started singing it. I then realised that I'd wanted these songs for ages," she recalled. After its poor performance as the Smiths' debut release a year earlier, "Hand in Glove" was given a more sprightly production with Sandie on vocals and was duly earmarked as the single. For Top of the Pops in April 1984, in a wry tribute to her Sixties appearances on the show, Sandie kept her shoes on, while the band (minus Morrissey) strummed and drummed in bare feet. Morrissey had mixed feelings about the partnership. "From a recording point of view it was a tremendous success," he said. "From a sales point of view it wasn't." The song was a moderate hit none the less. "I still adore the record and I still play it endlessly," said Morrissey at the time. "So that, I suppose, is the only success that we really need to care about."

Ruffian writes:

I came across the Mike Joyce Website today, not sure how current this response from Mike is, but I found it interesting.. I know his site is a link to Moz-solo, but not everyone probably goes there.. So I'll bring it here! To Mike's credit he appears to be very communicative and accessible.. unlike Morrissey! In this extract, Mike responds to several questions on his message board.. (but you'd have to see the questions in some cases to make some sense of some of the responses)... particular reference to Smiths out-takes and rarities caught my attention.. (and coincidentally, an accidental comment bearing out Chris Martin's comment about bands being more creative than solo artists!)

(more)

blah-blah cafe writes:

'Recoil' is Alan Wilder, ex-Depeche Mode, who enjoys great admiration from Johnny Marr:

"The early eighties were actually pretty good for me. I was 16 / 17 in 1980 and I liked a lot of new stuff at the time - for example Matt Johnson's first album, 'Burning Blue Soul', Gang Of Four, some Cabaret Voltaire, Joy Division and Joseph K were good. The media loves to take cultural snapshots of time and serve them up as fact. They just look at the mainstream, which is generally pretty naff in any decade."

Read the exclusive mini-interview on Shunt (official Recoil website).
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Also a link from Dan: BBC Folk Awards Set For Next Month - Billboard (Jan. 19)