Post your info and reviews of Morrissey's appearance on "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn" on Aug. 26, 2004 in the comments section below.

Statement from Simon Goddard:

The Smiths - Songs That Saved Your Life is being reissued in an all new ‘Revised & Expanded Edition’ by Reynolds & Hearn on 1 September 2004. I feel I owe it to those Smiths fans who bought/enjoyed it first time round to explain why.

The short answer would be “Johnny Marr”. The slightly longer answer is that I had no intention of doing a rewrite unless there was a seriously good reason and, of course, Marr’s involvement this time around was reason enough. Thanks to Johnny, unintentional errors in the old version - like ‘How Soon Is Now?’ supposedly being based on an old Elvis song (a mix-up perpetrated by producer John Porter’s confused recollection; it actually started as a demo called ‘Swamp’ and owes more to Hamilton Bohannon than it does Elvis) - have been eradicated. Marr also provided a wealth of fresh first-hand accounts of the creative process behind The Smiths, from the very first rehearsal session with Morrissey in 1982 through to the night they wrote ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’. All of which have been woven into a comprehensive textual revision, somewhere between a 'remake' and a 'director’s cut'.

The book also features other new interviews (including John Porter, Craig Gannon and Dale Hibbert) and offers a far more detailed background into both the origin and break-up of The Smiths. There’s also a new lengthy epilogue looking at the immediate aftermath and the making of Viva Hate, new appendices (a timeline and a directory of cover stars and matrix messages), some new pics, a new entry for the newly discovered Amanda Malone single and details of yet more lyrical and musical influences. All this and the source of the brass band sample in ‘Sheila Take A Bow’ unearthed! So I hope there’s enough there to quell any jeers of ‘reissue, repackage, repackage’ (which, as a Smiths fan first and foremost, I fully understand) and that those folk who liked the old book and decide to reinvest in the new copy share my opinion that it's a vast, and necessary, improvement.
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• Related item: Second edition of "The Songs That Saved Your Life" out in August - May 20, 2004

Torr writes:

Trevor @ "Girlie" (who is doing the PR for moz right now) says moz will not doing any interviews for the tour.

Antti N. writes:

An essay written by me has just been published on Eurozine.com netmagazine. This highly literary article relates to some of the key issues in the phenomenon of Our Man. Mark Simpson's recent book 'Saint Morrissey' is also on focus. The original has been published in the well known Finnish literary review Nuori Voima ("Youthful Strength").

Check it out, link:

Me and Morrissey

broken writes:

In this week's NME, there's yet another mention of our bequiffed hero. NME describes his comeback in glowing terms, and says Reading/Leeds will be the highpoint of his Summer, an opportunity to bask in the glory of his return to form and to the heart of British pop music, and a chance to sell his new material to a few more non-believers.

There's a quote from a Sanctuary rep. who says his comeback has nothing to do with "his 7 year exodus" and everything to do with the fact he's a legendary genius, or words to that effect!

She says we can expect more from Morrissey this Summer, that this is not the end of his high profile Summer (possibly referring to his recent week in the studio and perhaps a follow-up single to "Let Me Kiss You?" A week seems a long time for a b-side or two, especially when he has "the Slums mums" and a few others left over from earlier this year)

Elsewhere, there are a few other mentions of Morrissey, one by an artist playing Reading who said he "will not be watching Morrissey... not that I dislike him... I was just never a depressed Smiths kid.. I was into the Velvet Underground"

Mark writes:

I saw this on www.musictap.net:

Attack Records (Morrissey's boutique imprint) will re-release an album that was originally available in 1973. The artist was Jobriath, who popped in on the scene when glam was at its peak. He was touted to be one of the big sellers but fizzled despite the critics appreciation of the music. His stage presence was highly theatrical and in the vein of David Bowie with the album being produced by legendary producer, Eddie Kramer. The sound was said to be in the style of Bowie's Hunky Dory and Elton John. The album didn't sell (originally released by Elektra) and eventually, Jobriath, the artist, died of AIDS in 1983. However, a cult following has prompted the re-release of the debut. Lonely Planet Boy will be re-issued on October 12.

Torr writes:

I believe Jesse got the job with Moz cause he's friends with keyboardist Mike Farrell. As evidenced by this diary entry at www.splendidtheband.com:

the betterment of my plinkling and other new tales
Tuesday, August 3, 2004

You would think that living with such an incredibly skilled guitarist would hold many grand little perks such as free lessons in it's gift basket, but more fool you, I have found my guru in the wife of his bandmate, mike. He and his other half, mandy, had a baby recently, then he landed the amazing job of being morrissey's keyboard player (he now plays almost everything, including percussion and trumpet) and promptly went on tour.

Dean writes:

My name is Dean Adshead and I am a 15 year old musician from Manchester.

Please have a listen to my "Everyday Is Like Sunday" cover and also my other music inspired by The Smiths/Morrissey, they are on the Music section of my site.
http://www.deanadshead.tk/

My email is [email protected]