...I am 99% sure he did not. When I left the venue Morrissey was still there, Sack had left the stage (2 encores), the nightclub music started up and the roadies were clambering around the stage taking down the musical instruments and equipment. So unless Morrissey got up and Karaoked the night away... he did not perform at Whelan’s.

Wynn Smith - designer

Thanks to Tami Hardeman for clearing up the confusion from the previous update:

About the 80’s fashion story confusion. The designer whose collection is featured is Wynn Smith. He has another line that he designs called "Wink by Wynn Smith." He's a fairly young new designer who shows in New York. His latest collection WAS inspired by the 80’s art school student influences he remembers.

Cornershop...

...bring up old issues in interviews around the US in their tour supporting Oasis. From Fishee:

On the Seattle Times website: Cornershop being anti-Morrissey for songs such as "Asian Rut" and "Bengali in Platforms". They used to burn a Morrissey pic as a sort of performance art statement.

"Cornershop: not your average British Band"

...In 1994, Cornershop signed to Wiiija Records, the London home of acts with names like Huggy Bear. Initially, Wiiija hyped the band as "the Asian Sex Pistols." This was based on an early performance set-piece, in which they burned a photo of the singer Morrissey. Often painted by the press as quintessentially British, the pop star had incurred Cornershop's wrath with some offensive lyrics.

Says Tjinder, "At one time, we loved what he did. Then, he started writing stuff like `Asian Rut' and `Bengali in Platforms.'"

The Morrissey-baiting propelled Cornershop into the British press, where the band weathered considerable scorn for its performances. Yet the group persevered with samples, slides and homemade instruments...

New website - "World Of Morrissey"

Ingrid let me know about her new website, "World Of Morrissey", based in South America and offered in both Spanish and English.

I would say on average two or three times a week I get an email from South America. Although I do appreciate the emails, most I can't read or respond to because I am not fluent in Spanish. Morrissey seems to have quite a following there.

Just thought you might be interested to know that on Friday 9th of January a band called SACK played in Whelans in Wexford street, a small venue, in the back of a pub. Apparently the band had gone to see Moz in Battersea, and had invited him to their gig in Whelans. Anyway, Moz turned up, and did two songs, much to the surprise of the crowd! My mate saw him in Kildare Street that day, going for a walk, my fiancee saw him in Dame street, sitting on the grass across from the Olympia Theatre, and then my mate saw him driving up Dame street on Saturday afternoon! Just thought somebody might be interested!

* Although Morrissey did indeed attend this concert, he did not sing any songs (see next update).

My Early Burglary Years - more details

Thanks to Andy Larson for the news at Addicted To Noise (1-20):

... Former Smiths singer/now solo artist Morrissey is working on a U.S.-only compilation of import, B-side and rare tracks, most of which have been rare or unavailable before. The collection will feature rare photos of the mope-pop singer and an enhanced CD portion with the never-before-released-in-the-U.S. video for the song "Sunny" ...

Earlier reports on My Early Burglary Years - here.

More 80s Smiths fashion

The designer was originally reported as Wynn Smith back in November - who is right, Top Model or Entertainment Weekly? Scan and report from Laura Kruter:

...on this month's Top Model magazine there was a picture of the model with the Smiths shirt on the top model magazine of the month, with a title of ‘on rock and wear’:

"Morrissey and the Smiths concert T-shirts in the Wynn Wink show at the recent NY collection effectively reminded us that the ‘80s had another side, apart from the glam nightmare of excess. Opening the show with The Smiths 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me' evoked an isolated, restrained moment, reflected in Wynn’s ankle-length cotton skirts and polo shirts — exactly how many of us remember that decade."

Um... cotton skirts?

Deftones cite Morrissey as influence

Thanks to T.J. for the following:

The other day I was reading an archived interview with the deftones by MTV. Chino Moreno, the lead singer for the Deftones says that the new wave bands like the Cure, Depeche Mode, and Morrissey had an influence on him. Chino says:

...the new wave influenced me. That was like the Cure and Depeche Mode, stuff that really blew my mind whan I was young, and stuck in me and those were the people who taught me how to sing... Like Morrissey and people like that, so that’s what I get to put out, you know what I mean.

I thought it was rather interesting to see that he would say that Morrissey is someone who actually influenced him as a singer. I’m not sure that I see the comparison in singing styles between Morrissey and Chino, but that’s awesome that Chino uses Morrissey as influence. If you want to read the whole article, it is on MTV home page, and the interview is under the news gallery section of MTV news.

The Smiths must have also been a root of influence on Chino and the Deftones, because the Deftones on their 7 words promotional demo, did a cover of the Smiths song "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want".

TQID - #63 in Swedish poll

Didn't fare as well as it did in England. From Stefan Sahlander:

The Swedish magazine (mostly for men) Slitz had their readers vote for the best album in the last fifteen years.

http://www.slitz.se/100_album/index.html

...
63. The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead
...
89. Morrisey [sic]: Vauxhall And I

Another Smiths Tribute in the works

From Gagan Palrecha:

I run a small independent label out of Michigan called TheFirstTimeRecords. We are going to be releasing a Smiths tribute album in about 6 months. I would appreciate it if you could help us get the word out! The web page is at:

http://www.palrecha.com/tftrecords

Contributions are being accepted, info on the web page. It also mentions 1998 as the tenth anniversary of the Smiths breakup -- although I thought it was pretty widely know the breakup was in 1987....

"Smiths Orgy" - coming soon to Boston area

From Nitin:

The Smiths Orgy on 95.3FM WHRB Cambridge

Here’s the official entry in our program guide:

The Smiths Orgy: 7pm-7am Jan 22-23
"I once had a dream, and it never came true."

Manchester, England has given the world too many self-absorbed bands to count (or tolerate), but none can possibly compare to the absurdly, contagiously solipsistic Smiths. Behind all of crooner Morrissey’s Wildely tortured laments lay some of the most exciting and durable pop music of the 1980s. Johnny Marr’s hugely influential guitar work and Morrissey’s bitterly ironic self-pity are the trademarks of this legendary outfit. Hear their complete works, along with live and unavailable material, and pick up some ridiculous Smiths trivia (like which wretched ‘70s punk band Morrissey once fronted) along the way.

We’re still missing two key pieces, a mere two days from the event: the "Handsome Devil" live version on the flip of the "Hand in Glove" 7", and the Troy Tate sessions

from the first album. If you are lucky enough to own these, please e-mail me as soon as possible - taped copies would be much appreciated and would have to arrive in Boston on Thursday. I’ll talk to you about paying you back, etc. If you live in Boston, that would be a lot easier, I could just arrange to meet you somewhere. Thanks a lot...

New York's "Weather Music Report"

From Armand Tatevossian:

New York's Weather Music Report, a cable television program on Time-Warner NYC public-access TV, named Morrissey's Maladjusted as the second-best CD release of calendar year 1997. This genuinely strange program appears to be produced out of someone's cluttered Manhattan apartment, with the announcer performing all support functions, including operating the video camera. Nevertheless, I guess the bloke has some local following in New York.

Today’s Daily Mail (16/1/98) features an article, by journalist Adrian Thrills, on Q magazine’s recent poll of the best albums ever made. The article criticises the choice of albums and suggests an alternative list, with The Queen Is Dead named as the greatest album of all time. :-)

Bernard Butler highly regards TQID also

From R. Sanzgiri:

Bernard Butler made a 4 minute speech on the Evening Sessions on Thursday night citing The Queen is Dead as one of his biggest musical influences.

Popsicle choose "Shoplifters"

From Stefan Sahlander:

Today (Friday) on the Swedish TV channel ZTV (It was a program called "Present", which is a program where Swedish artists show their favourite music videos). Today's artists were Popsicle. I wasn't really watching (so I don't know what they said about it) until they played "Shoplifters Of The World Unite". They played the US promo version, not the one on "The Complete Picture"!

More Smiths in sports, yet again

From T.J.:

During the December 31st Sun Bowl game on CBS, there was a flashback clip to 1984. I do not remember the exact game that CBS flashbacked to, but the song that they played was "The Headmaster Ritual". I was so excited to hear that CBS actually played a Smiths song, that I ran and got my sister. We both were elated to hear the Smiths on national T.V.

New website - "The Motor Cycle Au Pair Boy"

Typhoid Mary e-mailed to let me know of her new site, "The Motor Cycle Au Pair Boy", dedicated to the Morrissey Solo Era. The site features an extensive interview archive, a critial discography (reviews), and a revolving photo gallery with a new picture added daily.

As many of you know, Typhoid Mary is also keeper of the (structurally similar) Smiths site "Smiths Presumably Forever Ill".