Fiona Dodwell: "How Morrissey outran The Smiths (and why his critics will never admit it)" (February 18, 2021)

How Morrissey outran The Smiths (and why his critics will never admit it)

Excerpt:

"There’s an emergence of voices rising from the rotting grave of political correctness lately, in a feeble attempt to somehow make Morrissey’s art into nothing more than a shadow of The Smiths. In reality though, to many, he was the beating heart of the much-loved 80s quartet and unlike his bandmates, he became so much more.
There are many voices online using the tired old trope, “I won’t listen to Morrissey because I don’t agree with his views, but I’ll always have The Smiths.” If this sentiment were limited only to the dull echo chambers of anonymous social media users, it might not be so bad. Yet it does not stop there."





Regards,
FWD.

---

Now linked to by Central:

APPRAISAL - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - APPRAISAL

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

www.morrisseycentral.com

 

[Morrissey fan]

You’re thinking of the “Queue Nazi” who used to post here as “Mel Torment”. Moz eulogized her at a gig and since then it’s been the dream of every delusional extremist fan that Moz mention their death. As has been seen lately, Moz now only cares to speak on the deaths of old movie stars and musicians, not his fans.

One of my prized possessions is a hand written queue list that I took from Mel when she tried to control who could and couldn’t stand at the front of the queue outside the venue. She failed that night. Those of us with strength and speed made it to the front of the barrier without having to spend the previous night on the sidewalk outside the venue.

Who is “Queue Nazi” who used to post here as “Mel Torment”? I have never heard of them.

The deaths of the Morrissey superfans Melinda Hsu, Margaret Dale and Curtis Butler are all very sad and tragic. They were all relatively young when they died. Curtis Butler was very young when he died.

Julia Riley was such a big Morrissey superfan she helped to run the "True-To-You" site. I believe that she is still alive. I think there is a Morrissey superfan called Trinity White.

 

[Uncleskinny]

Who is “Queue Nazi” who used to post here as “Mel Torment”? I have never heard of them.

The deaths of the Morrissey superfans Melinda Hsu, Margaret Dale and Curtis Butler are all very sad and tragic. They were all relatively young when they died. Curtis Butler was very young when he died.

Julia Riley was such a big Morrissey superfan she helped to run the "True-To-You" site. I believe that she is still alive. I think there is a Morrissey superfan called Trinity White.

How many names are you posting under, Andrea?

 

[The.Truth.]

They are jealous that she is getting attention from M and they are not. They would write 100 articles if they thought M was reading them....all these haters here are really secret lovers! Hiding in plain site on this site as a matter of fact!!

I would write articles if I thought he was reading them.

 

[Eldritch]

Wow! Johnny Marr is friends with Peter Hook. Peter Hook is also friends with Andy Rourke. Johnny Marr is friends with Andy Rourke from way back. That means they are all friends.

Why is Johnny Marr friends with Morrissey haters? I thought he was better than that. Johnny Marr doesn't need to hang out with the New Order lot or the Pet Shop Boys to be relevant.

I wonder when Morrissey and Johnny Marr last had contact with each other maybe in 2008 not sure? It is sad when friendships come to an end.

You answered your own question there. Why would Johnny Marr fill his social circle with only people who are friends of Morrissey? Especially since they haven't met for 13 years. And labelling somebody a Morrissey hater just because of some snide remarks in media years ago is a bit extreme. I'm sure Peter Hook doesn't fill much of his time thinking about Morrissey.

 

[Anonymous]

You’re thinking of the “Queue Nazi” who used to post here as “Mel Torment”. Moz eulogized her at a gig and since then it’s been the dream of every delusional extremist fan that Moz mention their death. As has been seen lately, Moz now only cares to speak on the deaths of old movie stars and musicians, not his fans.

One of my prized possessions is a hand written queue list that I took from Mel when she tried to control who could and couldn’t stand at the front of the queue outside the venue. She failed that night. Those of us with strength and speed made it to the front of the barrier without having to spend the previous night on the sidewalk outside the venue.

Right, yes I remember that individual being talked about on this site. In fact I think I remember you posting about that particular incident where you took the list from her.

 

[Surface]

Wow! Johnny Marr is friends with Peter Hook. Peter Hook is also friends with Andy Rourke. Johnny Marr is friends with Andy Rourke from way back. That means they are all friends.

Why is Johnny Marr friends with Morrissey haters? I thought he was better than that. Johnny Marr doesn't need to hang out with the New Order lot or the Pet Shop Boys to be relevant.

I wonder when Morrissey and Johnny Marr last had contact with each other maybe in 2008 not sure? It is sad when friendships come to an end.

Why do you keep posting shit like this under different names. A number of us know who you are you f***ing weirdo.

 

[Anonymous]

Morrissey is the only one chatting away without thinking of metrics or his position in a culture war.

not the most clever guy around it seems but the "without thinking" bit is only your apology-slogan to all his political crap. He can't be that dumb.

So, even when he's wrong, at least he's trying to get to some kind of truth, or express how he really feels - rather than knowingly pushing a line because that gets the clicks.

how does one really feels to wear a badge of a racist political party live on US television?

 

[Deleted member 29417]

not the most clever guy around it seems but the "without thinking" bit is only your apology-slogan to all his political crap. He can't be that dumb.



how does one really feels to wear a badge of a racist political party live on US television?

You're the idiot if you haven't noticed that the left has become so divided on some key issues that there isn't a stable left-right & that all the parties have been pushing damaging aspects of identity politics.

I think his faith in Anne Marie Waters was misplaced - but I don't think his reasons for looking for change are wrong.

It amazes me how many people are mad at him for his politics - while they know f**k all about the ideological battles that have been raging since the crash.

 

[Deleted member 29417]

Interesting general chat about some political divides in America...

Why Do We Always Think We're Right?

Yascha Mounk sits down with Jonathan Haidt to discuss psychological differences between the left and the right and how to build a less tribal culture and country.

www.persuasion.community

Also - this is brutal, but true (of the UK, as well as the USA).

I quite enjoy some of the ludicrous fights in tiny meetings, but it does render us entirely useless for anything except getting other lefties sacked.

The Standpoint Bureaucracy

Doesn't seem like anybody is sitting in this particular room. “In Piedmont eight there is a completely quiet room, please don’t go in there with anything that is like--an aggressive scen

twinkrev.com

 

[Vegan Cro Spirit 444]

I would write articles if I thought he was reading them.

you WOULD?? you write long psycho babbles regularly FFS

 

[Mr David smith]

Not only will Morrissey’s upcoming death rid us of a majority of his rubbish, delusional fans, it will also bring to a deserved end the life of Fiona Shillwell.

So why are you here..why do you bother.. you regard..

 

[Anonymous]

Wow! Johnny Marr is friends with Peter Hook. Peter Hook is also friends with Andy Rourke. Johnny Marr is friends with Andy Rourke from way back. That means they are all friends.

Why is Johnny Marr friends with Morrissey haters? I thought he was better than that. Johnny Marr doesn't need to hang out with the New Order lot or the Pet Shop Boys to be relevant.

I wonder when Morrissey and Johnny Marr last had contact with each other maybe in 2008 not sure? It is sad when friendships come to an end.

Johnny Marr is not friends with Peter Hook. Johnny Marr is friends with Bernard Sumner. Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook are not friends. Neither Peter Hook nor Bernard Sumner are friends with Morrissey. Johnny Marr is also friends with Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert. Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert are not friends with Peter Hook, but they are friends with Bernard Sumner. Johnny Marr worked on a Charlatans album with Stephen Morris. Tim Burgess is friends with Johnny Marr and Stephen Morris. Is Tim Burgess friendly with Morrissey? Status unknown, but doubtful.

 

[Anonymous]

You're the idiot if you haven't noticed that the left has become so divided on some key issues that there isn't a stable left-right & that all the parties have been pushing damaging aspects of identity politics.

I think his faith in Anne Marie Waters was misplaced - but I don't think his reasons for looking for change are wrong.

It amazes me how many people are mad at him for his politics - while they know f**k all about the ideological ba

LOL!

he was upset when she lost running for UKIP leader. F*cking UKIP ...

and you are serving us theories of his misplaced faith. STFU you queen of apologies. or may i say idiot as well?

 

[Nigel on Guitars]

I think his faith in Anne Marie Waters was misplaced - but I don't think his reasons for looking for change are wrong.

Anne Marie Dorothy Waters (born 24 August 1977) is a far-right politician in the United Kingdom. She is the founder and leader of the anti-Islam party For Britain. She is also the director of Sharia Watch UK, an organisation launched in April 2014. In January 2016, Waters launched Pegida UK in conjunction with activist Tommy Robinson and far-right politician Paul Weston.

Speaking during a live session on BBC 6 Music, Morrissey told an audience at London’s Maida Vale studios: “I was very surprised the other day, it was very interesting to me to see Anne Marie Waters become the head of UKIP.

“Oh no, sorry, she didn’t. The voting was rigged. Sorry, I forgot.”

 

[Mike Rourke]

You're the idiot if you haven't noticed that the left has become so divided on some key issues that there isn't a stable left-right & that all the parties have been pushing damaging aspects of identity politics.

I think his faith in Anne Marie Waters was misplaced - but I don't think his reasons for looking for change are wrong.

It amazes me how many people are mad at him for his politics - while they know f**k all about the ideological battles that have been raging since the crash.

The whole persona of the Smiths/Morrissey was based on empathy, emotional intelligence, compassion, anti-violence, thoughtfulness, sensitivity etc. So for Morrissey to then urge everyone to vote for the far right, well, it's almost surprising he's hung on to any kind of a fanbase at all.
It would be like Cliff Richard telling his fans he's an atheist, or Jimmy Somerville that he's homophobic. It couldn't have been more damaging.

 

[Anonymous]

Not only will Morrissey’s upcoming death rid us of a majority of his rubbish, delusional fans, it will also bring to a deserved end the life of Fiona Shillwell.

I suspect the opposite might well prove to be true. Once Sam gets his hands on the rights to the back catalogue, get ready for a stream of re-issues with new photoshop covers, and liner notes from Dodwell about how great Morrissey being alt-right was.

 

[Surface]

Anne Marie Dorothy Waters (born 24 August 1977) is a far-right politician in the United Kingdom. She is the founder and leader of the anti-Islam party For Britain. She is also the director of Sharia Watch UK, an organisation launched in April 2014. In January 2016, Waters launched Pegida UK in conjunction with activist Tommy Robinson and far-right politician Paul Weston.

Speaking during a live session on BBC 6 Music, Morrissey told an audience at London’s Maida Vale studios: “I was very surprised the other day, it was very interesting to me to see Anne Marie Waters become the head of UKIP.

“Oh no, sorry, she didn’t. The voting was rigged. Sorry, I forgot.”

There were a number of us listening live and posting about how good the new songs on here, then he made that comment and the crowd were deathly silent and the posters on here completely shocked.

 

[Vegan Cro Spirit 444]

the trolls were suddenly shocked.

 

[Deleted member 29417]

LOL!

he was upset when she lost running for UKIP leader. F*cking UKIP ...

and you are serving us theories of his misplaced faith. STFU you queen of apologies. or may i say idiot as well?

You've posted nothing remotely intelligent.

So you may as well shut up.

 

[Verso]

It won’t and doesn’t benefit anything or anyone to be negative in that way. So why bother?

There's negativity and there's criticality and it's foolish to conflate the two. I mean, who or what does it benefit to be "positive" in the occasionally sycophantic manner of yours? Perhaps some people are here to be two-dimensional cheerleaders and some are here only to spread toxicity, but I think it's safe to assume that the majority of this community logs on for the prospect of interesting discussion.

I like you, Ket. But I've seen you come into threads about Morrissey's politics countless times with your moral relativism routine or even more recently the A-Z threads where you seem to discourage the age-old music nerd proclivity for ranking and categorizing an artist's work. I think you'd prefer if we all just knelt down and prayed to Morrissey without any nuance or scrutiny in mind. I can't imagine anything more intellectually-bereft on a fansite.

It may inspire severe nausea, but I actually like to read an articulate explanation as to why someone prefers "Jim Jim Falls" over "Now My Heart is Full." Just as I find it thought-provoking to read @Amy's criticisms of Morrissey's modern persona and creative output alongside @Nerak's pathological need to explain away every one of his questionable soundbites.

So, when you ask "why bother" it's for the simple reason that people generally post on messageboards as a way to organize their thoughts about a particular topic while bouncing ideas off of other people. Which is beneficial to the author, at the very least.