I've been a Morrissey/Smiths fan for 14 years, but unlike 90% of the his current fanbase, I'm not blind to his many faults. He has produced two great solo albums, one good one, a lot of average ones, and one which may rank among the worst albums ever created. Blur has yet to produce a bomb as bad as "kill uncle". In fact, their track record is close to flawless. The fact that most Americans know Blur only by Song 2 is actually quite depressing (though in fact there is nothing wrong with the song--it was a cathartic tongue-in-cheek piss take and nothing more).

And let's not forget that back in 1994 when Blur were still earning their stripes they used The Smiths as a reference point. Damon claimed that they were the best band since The Smiths. Now, you may laugh at his presumption, but this was perhaps the greatest compliment he could have paid.

Pop music is far from dead. The Smiths may have been the best band ever, but it didn't begin and end with them.

In the South Bank Show, Moz was saying pop was dying. He said what female artist could possibly follow Madonna and all she had achieved. In the same sense, there was nobody to follow Moz, there were no original pop stars left. Moz was the last original male pop/rock star and Madonna was the last original female pop star, although both were very post-modern. I can't really think of anyone since then, apart from maybe Kurt Cobain, as the last great rock star.

The 90s had lots of great music, but it was such a mish-mash and there was nobody to define the 90s in the way the Smiths did in the 80s, certainly not Blur or the Manic Street Preachers. Nirvana were the most influential, or maybe Massive Attack - the one original band, and Stone Roses, even though they were 1989 shaped much of what was to come, i.e Britpop/Oasis, which was very backward-looking. I'd say Pulp were the natural heirs to the Smiths legacy and band of the 90s, even though they actually started at the same time!

Sure they have some good songs, but there was always a feeling of them being aloof and patronising. They are too clinical and lack feeling. Damon can't sing either. They have nothing that resonates with the truth and pathos of "Common People" "Sorted For E's and whizz" and "This is hardcore". Jarvis is a lot like Moz with his sharp lyrics and outsiders view of life. Pulp are the Smiths of now, without aping their sound and mannerisms wholesale like dull copyists such as Gene. I hope more people see that.

ALBARN CAN'T SING, BUT YOU'RE PRAISING JARVIS COCKER? Cocker has the most boring voice in pop history, while blur surely kick pulp's ass when it comes to music craftmanship. Pulp jumped on the britpop bandwagon in the mid-nineties, almost copying blur's parklife promo video for their sad hit common people... Blur go their own way, surprising fans with each great record they make, while Cocker and his team have dissapointed ever since their jump to the mainstream: Blur are supergroup-material, Pulp are wise-ass boring art-pop-material. Still I'm glad you recognise Stipe as a bona fide rock personality, but you can't expect me to like Pulp, never...
Oh yeah, and Albarn CAN sing (just listen to the universal, this is a low,...) and Blur songs HAVE GOT emotion (remember no distance left to run).