According to the Festival's website, the Isle of Wight festival tickets are sold out.

Photo of Morrissey on The Front Page of June's Record Collector Magazine.

"The Smiths - 100 Great Rarities"

Has an 11 page article listing the latest valuations of 100 rare Smiths Collectables.

"RUSHOLME RARITIES"

"It has been over 12 years since The Smiths' Top 100 rarities list was first published in RC 159. Since then there have been some seismic shifts in value of the band's rarities. At that time - 1992 - it had only been five years since The Smiths had split, and Warners had yet to embark upon their reissue programme.

As time has passed, it has been recognised that The Smiths were one of the most important and influential UK bands of the 80s - and many successful 90s and current bands have cited them as a major influence, thus stimulating the interests of newer young fans. more importantly, many original fans now in their 30s and 40s have more spending power, benefiting from the use of Ebay and other internet sites. These factors have contributed to the continuing rise in value for many of the items here..."

Sorry I can't type it all in and don't have access to a scanner at the moment. They do have a web site but when I go to it, it says 'coming soon'.

Scans of the article are on my website

Enjoy!

Morrissey was at the Ivy show in Hollywood at the Troubadour last night!! I was outside waiting in line to get tickets when I saw him in front of the box office. He was with 3 other people and as he was walking in my friend and I stopped and asked for a hug. To which he replied "Do you really want one?" We each got a hug and he thanked us and went inside. He looked great and stayed for only half the show, but I was so suprised he was actually there!

I saw Morrissey hanging out at the Troubadour in West Hollywood last night 5/11. Robbers on High Street and The Ivy were playing.

I don't want to speculate as to whether Alain is coming back or not, but I found an interesting fact on the ASCAP website (the organization that monitors song rights, etc.): It turns out that a track called "Home is a Question Mark" was registered by one Steven Morrissey and Alain Gordon Whyte. The title code is 381055974 and based on this, it would seem that it was, at least, registered around the same time as some of the Quarry tracks. However, no "performer" was stipulated.

from: FMQB

Good Charlotte drummer Chris Wilson has left the band due to "personal health problems," according to a post on the band's official Web site. He will be replaced by Dean Butterworth, who was most recently on tour with Morrissey. The band says that Wilson will "stay around his friends and family and begin to truly rehabilitate." Wilson joined GC in 2002. The band's original drummer, Aaron Escolopio, is currently a member of the band Wakefield.

from the Good Charlotte website:

To all the GC fans:

It comes with a heavy heart to tell all those that will listen the following news...

Many of you may already know, our drummer Chris Wilson has been on and off the road due to personal health problems. Unfortunately, his problems continue and we have made a collective decision to have Chris stay around his friends and family and begin to truly rehabilitate. As of the beginning of the Good Charlotte "Noise To The World Tour" with Simple Plan, GC will be playing with Dean Butterworth (who most recently played with Morrissey).

Not forgetting the splendid picture of Gary Semour's Quarry kettle on page 16,
Morrissey also gets these two snippets in this month's MOJO (Oasis cover):

Page 148, the questions and answer section, includes a half page photo of a Smiths era Morrissey holding a bottle of cough expectorant an dthe subtitle: Was Bessie a Smith?

Reader F.A. Booji, Amsterdam asks:
In his book The Smiths Songs that saved Your Life, Simon Goddard mentions that Morrissey did a cover version of a song called Wake Up Johnny by Bessie Smith. Where did Morrissey hear this record and is it commercially available today?

Fred Dellar answers: The info stems from a piece Nick Kent did on Morrissey and Johnny Marr for, The Face in may 1985. At one point he interviewed former Buzzcocks manager Richard Boon who claimed that at some timeduring 1980 Morrissey recorded a demo that included an apology for not having any back-up instruments and for the low volume of the recording due to the fact that someone was sleeping in the next room! The tape seemingly contained two songs, one being a version of The hand that Rocks The Cradle, sung to a different melody, while according to Nick Kent, "the gaunt Mancunian had also chosen to interpret a little-known Bessie Smith song: its title- Wake Up Johnny." As Bessie Smith never recorded anything called Wake up Johnny, I can only speculate that maybe Morrissey rejigged something that The Empress of the Blues once did and kitted it out with a new title and lyric. Other "phantom" Smiths songs include A Matter of Opinion, also mentioned in Goddard's book, and a version of Elvis's A Fool Such As I, alluded to in David bret's Scandal & Passion. Only Morrissey and Marr know if these songs exist in releasable form, and neither have dropped in at MOJO lately.

WPTMIM also gets a brief review on Page 132:

4 Stars
A homecoming show recorded a week after the release of You Are the Quarry, reveals Morrissey, a cross betweeen Stanley Baker and Craggy island's father Jack Hackett, singing with a thistle stuck in his flies. Overcoming a slow start he delivers a superb career spanning set; the stand-out. I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday.. CP
Includes a thumbnail of the WPTMIM cover.

URL for Mojo

but you need a subscription to view online.
No scans I'm afraid (scanner is otherwise engaged)- sorry!

http://www.popscene-sf.com/
Thursday, May 19th :: SPECIAL GUEST DJ
ANDY ROURKE of THE SMITHS
Live performance by THE DEAD 60'S

A special night with ANDY ROURKE. He was a blast the last time he came around. The events of this night will be filmed for a forthcoming documentary about fans of THE SMITHS and their neverending devotion.
CALLING ALL SMITHS FAITHFUL! THIS IS A NIGHT TO HAVE YOUR UNDYING LOVE DOCUMENTED!
The DEAD 60's will perform live.
From 9 PM to 2 AM
$8 Cover Charge.
More details to be announced.

A little late but ... Lucky lucky us ! We left the Red Lighning show in silverlake at just the right moment (Alains band was very good by the way !!) Oh darling Morrissey, he didnt have to be so kind, he didnt have to take a picture with us , but I told him my friends 3 year old is a HUGE fan and loves him , to which he responded "dont worry she'll get over it by the age of four " ...said just the way you'd imagine he would . Love him more now than ever , and I've waited almost 20 years for this!

Will Smiths show be bigger than others? - Manchester Online

Info on musical ready to go out on tour.

It seems that there always was a theatre side to The Smiths. Because there finally is going to be a Smiths play. Oh yes!, boy and girls I present to you, ' Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others'.

But apparently this is not a yarn that has much to do with the story of The Smiths themselves, instead focusing upon the characters within the songs, and allowing Morrissey and Marr's songs to 'inspire' the tale. Will Smiths fans enjoy it?, NME asked, " I'd certainly hope so. It contains the romance, the passion and the dark elements that are in the songs as well ". Well... they steal the title, nick the songs and use personalities of former 'made-up people in songs. - ahem -.

Some Girl Are Bigger Than Others, opens at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London in July.

On tonights (5/10/05) Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions there was a full-on Morrissey question!
The category CELIBACY:

"CELIBACY FOR 1200
The singer for The Smiths, his claims of social maladjustment & celibacy endeared him to his audience."

I think we all know the question..."Who is Morrissey?"

For those that are interested, Pam, the college tournament winner cutie, got the question right, and it looked like the other contestants were trying to buzz in, too.

Mod Lang Records in Berkeley, CA sent the following announcement in their weekly list:

Mod Lang is happy to be a sponsor for the screening of the Morrissey/Moz fan documentary next month, I'll remind you closer to the date & there's some more info in the gigorama section below

** 6/25 Is It Really So Strange: Morrissey documentary film @ Victoria Theatre 8:15 pm (for more info: http://www.frameline.org)

http://www.victoriatheatre.org