June 28 97
Linder's Artwork On
Show
Thanks to Jason G. for this article from The Guardian (June
24) titled "Punk's Iron Maiden" by
Philip Hoare. Linder's artwork is being shown for
the first time at the Cleveland gallery in London
through July 5.
"Alma
Matters" On Radio 1
Report from Alistair McGown:Alma
and other urgent matters!
The UK release - at present - for the new
Morrissey single Alma Matters is set at 21st
July.
It received its first play on Mark
Radcliffe’s breakfast show on Radio One,
yesterday 25th
June. Steve Lamacq also played the single later
in the day, remarking "that’s actually
quite a bright sounding single from
Morrissey".
Fremantle, Not
Freemantle
From The Greased Cougar from the
Planet Big Bollocks:If Morrissey
wants to play in Freo then he should learn how to
spell it first :)
It’s a rather isolated non-descript town and
I can’t for the life of me imagine why he
plucked it from obscurity. It’s a big
sailing town and they have a decent football
(Aussie Rules) team who joined the national
league in 1996. They have a page at http://www.dockers.com.au.
Maladjusted
advanced CD's
Here are the
details of the advanced cd's. Thanks, Mailily.Morrissey
returns with "Maladjusted."
"Maladjusted" is Morrissey’s ninth
album release, his first for Mercury Records.
Morrissey has had two previous #1 albums in the
U.K. (Viva Hate in 1988 and Vauxhall and I in
1994). While in the U.S. his highest chart
placings have been with Vauxhall and I (#19,
1994) and Your Arsenal (#21, 1992).
"Maladjusted" showcases the next
dimension of Morrissey"s identifiable sound
of melodically entrancing harmonies with the
first single "Alma Matters" to the
pleadings of "Roy’s Keen" to the
lyrical brilliance of "Maladjusted."
This is what the inside cover of the CD promo
says (MEAD 111).
The front is just Morrissey
"Maladjusted" Advanced CD.
The back sleeve is also black and white and
contains the song titles and times.
The disc looks like an old 45 record with the
center painted black. Correct me if I am wrong
but" Vauxhall And I" charted at 18 and
"Your Arsenal" at 22?
Moz in the
background
Morrissey's
music seems to pop up every now and again in
random places. Here are a few of the latest.
Michael Orth wrote:Has anyone
seen the parody of the Morrissey video on Bill
Nye the Science Guy on PBS? It is based on
"The more you ignore me the closer I
get" also one of the musicians who plays for
the Bill Nye music video segments must be a moz
fan, in the parody video of Nirvana’s
"Smells like teen spirit" the drummer
is wearing a moz t-shirt. I have heard that Extra!
seems to use a lot of Moz, this instance from Gary McIntyre:I was
watching EXTRA!, you know the tv program that
brings humans senseless fare concerning stars,
gossip,etc. Anyways, one of their stories dealt
with people using bee stings to cure various
maladies; m.s., arthritis, etc. The clip began
with a few seconds of Morrissey’s
‘Hairdresser on Fire’, without vocals. Perhaps related? One never
knows. From Alberto Esquinca:Apparently
Helena Bonham Carter is starring in a movie
called "Shakespeare’s Sister" with
William Hurt. Read it in Reuter’s
Entertainment News. On The Daily Show (Comedy
Central) again, from Filipe:In the early
beginnings they introduced a segment called God
stuff in which they made fun of various
televangelists from around the country(mostly
white trash). But anyway as Craig Kilborn
introduced it he ended it with "as Morrissey
would say I thought everyday was like
sunday". I was very surprised and I
definitely convinced that somebody over there
whether a writer or Kilborn himself is a Moz fan.
June 26 97
Maladjusted
Press Release
Thanks to myself for getting a hold of
this:
Morrissey
Maladjusted
street date: August 12
Maladjusted
is Morrissey's ninth album release, his first for
Mercury Records. In England, where Morrissey was
born in 1959, he has had two number one albums (Viva
Hate 1988, Vauxhall
and I 1994), whilst in
North America his highest chart placings have
been with Your Arsenal
(#21, 1992) and Vauxhall and
I (#19, 1994).
Morrissey last toured the US in 1992, culminating
with two sold out shows at the Hollywood Bowl
which broke The Beatles fastest sell out record.
He also sold out Madison Square Garden.
Morrissey's primary musical influences are the
New York Dolls, The Angelic Upstarts, and Klaus
Nomi. His favorite album is Chelsea
Girl by Nico, his favourite
poet A.E. Housman, his favorite artists are
Gilbert and George, and his favorite film is
Geoffrey Wright's "Romper Stomper"
(Australia, 1993).
Morrissey has no interest in world politics and
prefers the company of animals to humans. His
ambition is to play in Freemantle in Western
Australia, otherwise he has no interest
whatsoever in modern life.
He lives in Spain.
- Stoney Hando
see a scan of the original press
release. By the way, Stoney Hando = Morrissey.
For more info see the May news archive. With the mention of
"Romper Stomper" we can be sure that
'Hando' is a direct reference to the film. Shame
on those who doubted the previously mentioned
conclusion.
Blurbs in July Q
Magazine
Thank you to Andrew Shiue for the following info:The July
issue of Q had two really, really short blurbs
about Morrissey. One was about being in an
unhappy family. His father said he "never
raised his voice at Steven" and that
something just happened to him. Pete and Betty
are on good terms. Also, the second mention was
about one name groups. Something like how he
should have stuck with the Smiths. I didn’t
buy the magazine, so I can’t be too
detailed.
Cemetry Gates has
moved
Scott Krajewski let me know that he has
moved Cemetry Gates to http://moz.pair.com. Check out the new design.
* added True
To You and Morrissey,
Drive Me Home info pages to the fanzines
section of the links page.
*sorry for the intermittent server downtime for
the past couple of days, the problem should be
fixed.
June 22 97
A band named
'Bigmouth'
Thanks to Jason G. for this tidbit:Billboard, JUNE
21, 1997
ROCK TRACKS
BIGMOUTH Killing Me (4:05)
PRODUCER: Neil Dorfsman
WRITERS: C.L. Hicken, Bigmouth
PUBLISHER: Damp, BMI
Wild Pitch 97001 (CD promo)
The newly reactivated Wild Pitch Records is off
to a good start with a U.K.-bred quartet that
takes its name from the Smiths song
"Bigmouth Strikes Again." The influence
of that Morrissey-led band is strongly felt here,
given this track's clanging guitars, quasi-poetic
lyrics, and overall brooding nature. Ready-made
for modern rock playlists, this single raises
hopes for the album, due in August.
June 20 97
Property Remains Unsold
Thanks again
to Robert Holmes for the news:spotted this
little bit in the Property section in the Irish
Times under the Auction Results section today
(June 19th)
"A rock singer failed to sell his house at
auction yesterday. Wellfield, on Malahide Road,
was withdrawn from auction by McNally Handy &
Partners at £850,000. The five-bedroom period
house stands on 12 acres."
June 19 97
Vauxhall And I-era
Drum Kit For Sale
Just got an
e-mail from Woodie Taylor, looking to sell the
drum kit he used during the Vauxhall And I /
Boxers sessions:
For sale-Drum kit used
by Woodie Taylor on all recordings: Vauxhall
& I L.P., Interlude, Boxers E.P. &
Sunny/Black-Eyed Susan. Pearl MLX Maple drums in
black finish bought new 1993, unmarked. BD
(22x16), 3 x toms (16x16, 13x11 & 12x10)
& Brass free-floating snare drum (14x6.5).
Stands, all double-braced: 2 x straight (C800W),
2 x boom (B800W), hi-hat (H800W) snare (S800W)
& foot pedal (P880). Le Blond cases.
With photos of the kit in situ at Hook End,
Olympic and Miraval Studios.
Offers around Stg£2250 - please reply to [email protected].
Any drummers (especially
those influenced by Morrissey's music) out there
looking for a kit should consider this offer
seriously. It sounds like Woodie wants to see the
drums in a good home, quoting Woodie's e-mail
further, "...The kit I have decided to keep
is a vintage Ludwig one I got from the Meteors
drummer when I used to follow them. It was used
by him on some of my favourite ever recordings
and am hoping my Moz kit will be appreciated in a
similar way."
And additionally, thanks to Woodie for letting me
know that Jonny Bridgwood will also be playing at
the previously mentioned John's Children gig at the Borderline
(London), July 20.
June 15 97
Boz
in for Bolan
thanks to Jeff Pelletier for this news from the
June 97 Record Collector:
there is a blurb on "John’s
Children"
A new compilation is on its way to the record
stores... and they are playing live for the first
time in 5 years, at the Borderline, Central
London... June 20th... Bolan’s
place will again be taken by Bolan buff Boz.
Jeff
also let me know about a Rare Smiths Recording
Auction
going on until July 31.
Pleased again
Saw on
ChartAttack's D.A.M.N. a report (6/14) on the
Canadian "North By Northeast"
conference:Upstairs at
Holy Joe's, Winnipeg's Chains on 20 turned out to be lead singer
Stephanie Westdal and her bass player...I thought
she was a solo act now? Guess not! A compelling
set (she has a great voice) was spiced up with an
acoustic cover of The Smiths' "Please Please
Please Let Me Get What I Want."
M2 and Morrissey
I've had M2 only for about 2 weeks now and on
in those 2 weeks, on two different occasions I've
seen blocks of at least 7 Morrissey videos
played. So far, I like what I see...
June 10 97
Possibly More
Adjustments, Tour Hopes
originally
posted on AOL's message boards
Subj: Feeding the rumor mill....
Date: 09 Jun 1997 14:15:07 EDT
From: HesseFits
So, today I
heard from an undisclosed source, some more
rumors regarding the album. Please realize, this
is loose talk and can't be held as gospel. It
would seem Morrissey is unhappy with two of the
tracks on the album, and is planning on going
back to the studio for some "tweaking".
This could push the album to September, after
which a very limited tour could happen. As for
what tracks he is unhappy with? I have no idea... I knew I would have to
adjust that countdown more than once!
Radio 1 Giveaway
thanks to George Henry Dickie for the news:
Radio 1 are giving away the
whole moz discography including the Smiths, and
including Maladjusted
all this week 9/6/97 - 18 cd’s.
Morrissey
mentioned on "The Daily Show"
submitted by Don Rice
On Friday,
May 30th
I witnessed a blurb featuring Morrissey on Comedy
Central. It was on The Daily Show with Craig
Kilborne. He was doing a bit on Britian’s
Political race and announcing that the Labor
Party leader Tony Blair was victorious over John
Major. He made several witty remarks towards this
subject before wrapping it up with a photo of Vauxhall
and I era Moz pictured
on-screen next to him and stating: "When
British singer Morrissey was asked how he felt
about this, he replied ‘I’m still
depressed’."
It was a joke. Not necessarily original, clever,
or even funny; just downright odd. However, this
guy and this show are quite well informed and so
maybe it’s just a sign of Morrissey's fame
rising. (or maybe he’s just a fan and wanted
to squeeze in Moz the only way he could.) Either
way, it did not seem to have been done with
malice, but strangly enough almost as an inside
joke to the disciples of Moz. I agree with Don... the
joke is not original, clever, or even funny.
*added a new link, "England
for the English"
*added a couple Moz questionnaires to the Content
section
June 04 97
Adjusted Release Date,
Tour News (... bad)
Thanks a lot
to Torr Leonard for the following:
Well, Rolling
Stone was wrong. Damn! Mercury tells me a 8/12
release date for "Maladjusted" has been
set And yes, July 29th
was the first release date. but it’s no
longer. Competition cited for reason of push
back. Radio can legally begin playing "Alma
Matters" on 7/14. though expect to hear it a
week or so before then in major markets. A video
for Alma is a sure thing too. More bad news only
30% chance of a tour at all now. hope this helps .This is a
big shock to me as from what I last heard, most
of the tour dates had been set. I thought details
of the tour would begin appearing a month ago or
so, but so far there's been nothing (until this).
30% is an odd figure to give, which leads me to
believe Mercury is not very optimistic about a
tour.
June 02 97
Smiths tribute
fanzine coming soon
Fabio D'Antonio, editor of the Italian
fanzine Speedway, let me know he is
working on a special issue titled "There Is
A Light That Never Goes Out," to be released
in late 1997. The issue is in tribute to the
Smiths, on the 10th anniversary of the breakup
and will have exclusive / never-before-seen
material.
Contributions in the form of articles, photos,
memorabilia, and Smiths covers for an included CD
are currently being taken. Find out more about
this ambitious project at: http://www.itol.it/menu/musica/thereis.htm.
*added a new link "Shoplifters
Union" which is itself an excellent
compilation of Morrissey-related links on the
internet.
May 30 97
Maladjusted
- Short Review + Sound Clip
From Rolling
Stone Online (only on AOL),
"Where
It's At" (May 27)
... Between bickering in court over back
royalties with his former Smiths bandmates and
switching record labels from Reprise to Mercury,
Morrissey actually found time to record a
perfectly wonderful new album.
"Maladjusted" hits stores July 29, and
it contains some of the best stuff he's recorded
since 1987's "Viva Hate." It was
produced by Steve Lillywhite and recorded at Hook
Farm Studios in Britain. Those of a depressed
nature need have no fear: "Maladjusted"
is typical Morrissey fare lyric-wise, with the
title track featuring his token self-pity
("You stalk the house in a low-cut blouse /
Oh Christ, another stifled Friday night").
The stand-out track, "Alma Matters,"
expresses a very Smiths-like pessimism:
"It's my life to wreck my own way ..."
Only Morrissey, boys and girls, only Morrissey
...
Download a sample of "Alma
Matters" from "Maladjusted."
(30 sec., 323K WAV format)
BLAIR R. FISCHER
and KEVIN RAUB
[Where It's At appears every Tuesday.]
Copyright 1997 by Rolling Stone Online
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