Morrissey Central “REBELS WITHOUT ASSISTANCE” (December 22, 2022)

REBELS WITHOUT ASSISTANCE - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - REBELS WITHOUT ASSISTANCE

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

www.morrisseycentral.com

"It's been quite sad. The absence of any promotion is noticeable. It's devastating how no one can ever get this right. But they can't, or they won't. Radio stations, as far as I can tell, will play just about anything they're asked to. But as I've always said, true artists must always look after themselves whereas non-artists are encouraged and advanced beyond reason. When you walk through a storm hold your head up high … as the song goes!"

Morrissey in conversation, Los Angeles, December 2022.
Provided by K, C and H.

 

[Luxo]

The Twitter listening party is a great idea......Maybe also doing a benefit gig for PETA? Something in line with his beliefs, but which benefitted others. I don't pretend to understand or share some of M's beliefs, but he has had a massive positive impact in terms of introducing people to vegetarianism and it would be nice to build on this positive legacy, rather than the negative stuff of the last few years. It would have been great if he could have acknowledged Terry Hall's passing and cultural significance too. Maybe he doesn't want to be drawn into any comparisons with the Specials' multiculturalism in which the press would (fairly or unfairly) target him, but it would have been a nice gesture and the silence is loud...On a positive note, I can't think of any other artist who is so self sabotaging and tricky and yet remains so popular (as evidenced by the tour) which is testament to the quality of the music.

Morrissey, as much as I love him, is so self absorbed that he couldn't even acknowledge the death of David Bowie, a man who he idolised at one point, a man who covered one of his songs (imagine Bowie covering one of your songs? That's a big deal), and a man he toured with.

He certainly doesn't have the grace or dignity to acknowledge the death of Terry Hall. And why would he? If he did, he'd only be compared to Terry, a man who was only 2 months older than Morrissey, who, let's face it, was a much nicer person in every single way, despite the stereotypical image of Terry being a dour, depressed and joyless man.

 

[BrokenFrame]

Morrissey, as much as I love him, is so self absorbed that he couldn't even acknowledge the death of David Bowie, a man who he idolised at one point, a man who covered one of his songs (imagine Bowie covering one of your songs? That's a big deal), and a man he toured with.

He certainly doesn't have the grace or dignity to acknowledge the death of Terry Hall. And why would he? If he did, he'd only be compared to Terry, a man who was only 2 months older than Morrissey, who, let's face it, was a much nicer person in every single way, despite the stereotypical image of Terry being a dour, depressed and joyless man.

Don't talk to me about people who are nice...

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Like Ket central this

So many fans, Robert.

 

[Ryan]

So many fans, Robert.

I attest.

 

[goinghome]

How can you be that naïve?

BBC Radio 2 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

BBC radio stations ranked by listeners UK 2023 | Statista

In the fourth quarter of 2023, the station BBC Radio 2 ranked first in terms of listener reach with roughly 13.28 million listeners tuning in on a weekly basis.

www.statista.com

15 million weekly listeners that are in his demographic that are probably listening to the radio because they're not listening to spotify - They're the people that will go out and buy a record and put him in the top ten... which he seems to really crave.

So, yeah, he probably wants to bother with radio stations

Does he honestly not see the connection between the lack of radio play and the (justified or not) entrenched opinion of him as racist / bigoted / problematic (delete as appropriate)?

No label on earth can fix that for him, only he can.

Can he fix that? There are 2 sides to it. Not linking hq items to right-wing media is a great start. Maybe with a little time, and a few more turns of the world, where things never remain constant, yes. Otherwise, back to the drawing board?!

 

[Robert Lee]

So many fans, Robert.

So many fans, more fans than they can stand!

 

[Mike Rourke]

Does he honestly not see the connection between the lack of radio play and the (justified or not) entrenched opinion of him as racist / bigoted / problematic (delete as appropriate)?

No label on earth can fix that for him, only he can.

It was his decision to go on record to officially endorse a far-right political party that finally did for his reputation (rather than any vague racism or bigotry). There was no ambiguity in it. It was a crystal clear personal statement on his personal website that remains there to this day (backed up by repeatedly wearing their emblem a year later in front of millions) and is referenced in various other online sources such as the For Britain Wikipedia entry. It needs to be unequivocally retracted if he is ever to shift the public perception of his political worldview.

 

[BrokenFrame]

Are we going to fight over scraps of Ketamine sun's shirt?

 

[Luxo]

Your alternative vision for Morrissey-solo.com kind of kills the chat though. So, I think the site and its moaners are fine the way they are.

Ket's version of Morrissey Solo would just be absolute conformity and worship of Morrissey. No criticism of our favourite artist allowed!! Grr!!!

Also, we are fully aware that our opinions make no difference to Morrissey. This is a Morrissey fan site for the fans, not for Morrissey to read, and we're all aware of that. We criticise Morrissey because we love him, we want him to succeed and we hate to see him self-destruct. Plus, we all love a nice vent with like minded people.

 

[Anonymous]

Being a Morrissey fan is just so exhausting, seeing this same self-destructive 'one step forward, two steps back' career cycle play out on a constant loop. No other artist has managed to snatch defeat so often from the jaws of victory. It is all self-inflicted, and the tragedy is he has no one around him to offer the constructive criticism and wake-up call he needs - just a bunch of arse-lickers and toadies like Sam and Fiona telling him the sun shines out of his behind.

I want Morrissey to do well, and I'll be the first in line to buy any records when they come out, but from the heady heights of the 2007 when he was voted by the British public as 2nd greatest living cultural icon behind David Attenborough, and even mediocre singles like 'The Youngest Was the Most Loved' were Top 20 hits, to where his is now - it has been like watching one long drawn out car crash. Every time you think he's course corrected and decided to go in the right direction - nope - he immediately slams straight back into the crash barriers.

 

[Les Tameside]

Yes, record companies are not to be trusted. But when the loudest industry sceptic—for close on forty years—keeps (apparently) getting his fingers burnt, then he’s either being disingenuous or daft.

Personally, I suspect greed from both Morrissey and the record company means neither pushed particularly hard to get Bonfire ‘out there’ (as a condition for the deal being struck). The former is now sitting on a wedge of cash, and the latter have an asset that grows in value the more infamous it becomes: everyone got what they really wanted.

 

[goinghome]

I'm sure Moz has a rough idea of what is said here.

Hopefully the 'diversity' is conveyed

Maybe streaming?

Please elaborate! How do artists promote on these 'streaming stations'?

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Ket's version of Morrissey Solo would just be absolute conformity and worship of Morrissey. No criticism of our favourite artist allowed!! Grr!!!

But conformity is diversity, don’t tell us you have something against diversity?

Also, we are fully aware that our opinions make no difference to Morrissey. This is Morrissey fan site for the fans, not for Morrissey to read, and we're all aware of that. We criticise Morrissey because we love him, we want him to succeed and we hate to see him self-destruct. Plus, we all love a nice vent with like minded people.

Aw I was wrong, you all do ‘care’.

 

[Rufusindigo]

Morrissey, as much as I love him, is so self absorbed that he couldn't even acknowledge the death of David Bowie, a man who he idolised at one point, a man who covered one of his songs (imagine Bowie covering one of your songs? That's a big deal), and a man he toured with.

He certainly doesn't have the grace or dignity to acknowledge the death of Terry Hall. And why would he? If he did, he'd only be compared to Terry, a man who was only 2 months older than Morrissey, who, let's face it, was a much nicer person in every single way, despite the stereotypical image of Terry being a dour, depressed and joyless man.

Sure, but as far as I can gather, didn't he have some kind of personal falling out with Bowie? I think M has frequently acknowledged the passing of film stars and other influences, so I don't think it's entirely self absorbtion, but you may be right about the fear of a negative comparison. Or it may just be that Terry was inextricably linked with multiculturalism and M simply doesn't want to go anywhere near that conversation after his recent experiences with the press? It's a shame though, since they were of the same era and had common ground in their anti Thatcher stance.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Are we going to fight over scraps of Ketamine sun's shirt?

 

[BrokenFrame]

Hopefully the 'diversity' is conveyed

Please elaborate! How do artists promote on these 'streaming stations'?

If it wasn't for streaming I wouldn't have discovered many artists and gone on to buy their music and tickets to their shows. I think it's very important.

 

[Luxo]

Sure, but as far as I can gather, didn't he have some kind of personal falling out with Bowie? I think M has frequently acknowledged the passing of film stars and other influences, so I don't think it's entirely self absorbtion, but you may be right about the fear of a negative comparison. Or it may just be that Terry was inextricably linked with multiculturalism and M simply doesn't want to go anywhere near that conversation after his recent experiences with the press? It's a shame though, since they were of the same era and had common ground in their anti Thatcher stance.

Was it an actual falling out? I thought it was just that Morrissey ended his tour with Bowie early, because he didn't like how Bowie asked his band to not end their set properly, and instead just sort of fade into the background while Bowie's band came on stage? At least that's the version given in The Importance of Being Morrissey.

 

[Ryan]

@Famous when dead, what would you say is more convoluted?

* The axing of all the French Mixes of WPINOYB songs; WPINOYB singles all released with the same cover art as the album cover (with clone stamp), then releasing the final Kiss Me A Lot single with a unique cover, un-uniform to the rest, with the music video directed by Sam;

* The legacy/saga of all the California Son misinformation and scant access to vinyl singles; and, indeed, certain releases being ignored and incorrectly catalogued (with shitty artwork);

* Or, present-tense? A record completed. "I Am Veronica" meant to be the first single. No sign of it it. No idea when the record is coming out, but one single with actual unique cover art has been released for it.

Can things get any messier? Oh yes! The confusion regarding that slightly tweaked "That's Entertainment" reissue.

f*** me mate.

 

[Pokey]

don’t think he’s adverse to blaming himself.

When it comes to charting he’s petrified of blaming himself. Which is weird because there’s nothing to blame now because who gives a f*** about charts. It’s his own weird obsession and inability to take responsibility which is holding him back

 

[Ryan]

When it comes to charting he’s petrified of blaming himself. Which is weird because there’s nothing to blame now because who gives a f*** about charts. It’s his own weird obsession and inability to take responsibility which is holding him back

The charts are against me.

The radio is a conspiracy.

The labels are against me.

Life is against me.