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.

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[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Listening today to the wonderful rewrite of Morrissey's "That's entertainment," it only dismays me more, that such accounts as Ms. Dodwell's, represent today what Morrissey is all about: justification and rejection of responsibility for one's word.

"Berlin is the rape capitol of the world" How did he come up with that again?

I think the general public in someway should be held accountable for what they say,
and as much as I want to disagree with myself, there’s something that tells me that artists really shouldn’t be or can’t really be held responsible for what they say, especially when it comes to political concerns.

I mean, do we look to Biden or
politicians to talk to us with authority on matters of the heart?

 

[Deleted member 28602]

The Smiths would be a mere footnote of music history by now if not for Morrissey's successful international solo career. He kept their memory alive. I disagree with Ms Dodwell's opinion about the international significance of the Smiths.

 

[Anonymous]

I love John Lennon solo but come on, what about his first band?

Personally, I don't rate The Quarrymen.

 

[Phranc & Open]

I don't think that was his point - he's not concerned about foreigners coming in - he's concerned about community breakdown & cultures becoming generic. He doesn't like media hegemony or political decisions that ignore the impact on people esp the poor.

One of his favourite places is Istanbul - because they still have an old-fashioned street life.

So it's just the harmless, uninhibited romanticism of an ageing misanthrope, who looks out of his ivory tower and is horrified by what he has to see. His old England is no more?

 

[Anonymous]

That's true but Johnny didn't really start focussing on his solo career until 2013.

That's his PR spin talking. Everything Johnny has done since 1988 has been his 'solo' career, including that execrable Healers album he wants us all to forget about (although the stuff released under his own name is barely any better). Every project he has embarked on has been accompanied by a buzz of excited music press coverage, only for the latter to gradually ebb and diminish as each project turns out to leave no lasting legacy in the way of any decent songs.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

So it's just the harmless, uninhibited romanticism of an ageing misanthrope, who looks out of his ivory tower and is horrified by what he has to see. His old England is no more?

I feel Morrissey would have made the same observations and remarks even if he was still going by the name of Steven and living on the dole.

To a large extent, I don’t think money has really changed him. I mean, as an artist, he has always lived in a bubble, a world of his own creation, it’s called... survival.

 

[Deleted member 28251]

I don't think that was his point - he's not concerned about foreigners coming in - he's concerned about community breakdown & cultures becoming generic. He doesn't like media hegemony or political decisions that ignore the impact on people esp the poor.

One of his favourite places is Istanbul - because they still have an old-fashioned street life.

A perfect summation of his perspective.

 

[Vegan Cro Spirit .777]

What's funny is that someone on this site last week suggested Fiona might be getting a little skint and it was about time she shat out another length for her master - and HEY PRESTO! Here we are.

Reheated leftovers from last month's turd buffet

first all the troll minions post their twattery, then then the great puppet master makes his entrance.

 

[Deleted member 29417]

So it's just the harmless, uninhibited romanticism of an ageing misanthrope, who looks out of his ivory tower and is horrified by what he has to see. His old England is no more?

No - it's a serious critique of the way money & power breaks apart vulnerable communities in ways that benefit the rich & marginalises the poor.

As well as his own identity problems - he's pretty consistently said he doesn't feel like he belongs in England because of his background.

 

[Vegan Cro Spirit .777]

FFS has sucked at everything since given the by Moz.
Tried other bands,
tried solo with that suco 'healers'
tried modest mouse and cribs, wasnt but a year
so nothing left for to make comet records

 

[A Man Escaped]

Morrissey has never made a ‘political journey’, he had no intention of even leaving his bed, never mind walking out the door and truly supporting any political party.

Yeah yeah, a hundred years ago he made some ill-informed remarks and wore a pin 2-3 times, big fvcking deal. And to call that support is laughable at best. Waters milked it best she could, but even she could see that Morrissey’s so called ‘support’ of her
party was going to go nowhere.

It pretty much is a "big fvcking deal" when his fan base, in the UK at least, has pretty much collapsed following his public support for Waters and her party of knuckle dragging Aryan supermen and women.

 

[SweetnTenderYorkshireman]

Good grief, she needs to give it a rest.
Surely at some point you would look back at your work as a writer, and realise you’ve only ever written about one bloody subject, and not even in the long and time resistant format of a book or critics essay - just blog post after blog post!

 

[Uncleskinny]

The Smiths would be a mere footnote of music history by now if not for Morrissey's successful international solo career. He kept their memory alive. I disagree with Ms Dodwell's opinion about the international significance of the Smiths.

Yeah, that's why The Smiths Albums topped the 'best ever' charts in the late 80s, and continue to do so. You might want to reassess the logic of your statement.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

It pretty much is a "big fvcking deal" when his fan base, in the UK at least, has pretty much collapsed following his public support for Waters and her party of knuckle dragging Aryan supermen and women.

‘support’


@Radis Noir

No it’s not a big deal. Morrissey is a human (don’t forget), let live and let people live and learn from their mistakes and all that.

Why feed on anger and invent drama when it’s simply the passing political opinions of a pop star? JFC.

Folks need to get a grip, and stop stroking their egos with their ‘us against them’ mentalities. Lots of
people paying their bills by creating and maintaining ‘enemies’.

 

[Vegan. Cro. Spirit. 888]

still top the
'best ever charts of the late 80s'? WTF?
there were no solo Moz albums in the late 80s FFS
besides there being no such charts . troll insanity.

 

[Surface]

‘support’


@Radis Noir

No it’s not a big deal. Morrissey is a human (don’t forget), let live and let people live and learn from their mistakes and all that.

Why feed on anger and invent drama when it’s simply the passing political opinions of a pop star? JFC.

Folks need to get a grip, and stop stroking their egos with their ‘us against them’ mentalities. Lots of
people paying their bills by creating and maintaining ‘enemies’.

Most people learn from their mistakes but Morrissey seems to struggle with that. After the Walters comment in 17, he then went on to show support for Tommy Robinson, a well known racist. That had a bigger impact in Manchester than the Anne Marie Walters support and led to the cancellation of his 2 night stint at Castlefield Bowl after he only sold 4k out of the 16k tickets available.

 

[Anonymous]

still top the
'best ever charts of the late 80s'? WTF?
there were no solo Moz albums in the late 80s FFS
besides there being no such charts . troll insanity.

I seem to remember buying Viva Hate in 1988, Captain Emoji.

 

[Surface]

I seem to remember buying Viva Hate in 1988, Captain Emoji.

The clown knows f*** all about Morrissey or The Smiths, he just spends his life trolling this site for some reason.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Most people learn from their mistakes but Morrissey seems to struggle with that. After the Walters comment in 17, he then went on to show support for Tommy Robinson, a well known racist. That had a bigger impact in Manchester than the Anne Marie Walters support and led to the cancellation of his 2 night stint at Castlefield Bowl after he only sold 4k out of the 16k tickets available.

@Radis Noir

So what’s your point?


I mean, I guess you feel Morrissey will never learn?

So what will you and the others do
about it that would benefit Morrissey or the world?

I assume by your posts and the few others that continually criticize Morrissey it seems or one would hope that you must have some kind of goal that may benefit all of mankind. No?







btw, it’s still not a big deal.

 

[Surface]

@Radis Noir

So what’s your point?


I mean, I guess you feel Morrissey will never learn?

So what will you and the others do
about it that would benefit Morrissey or the world?

I assume by your posts and the few others that continually criticize Morrissey it seems or one would hope that you must have some kind of goal that may benefit all of mankind. No?

Do I continually criticise Morrissey? If you cast your mind back you will find that I liked his last album and attended his last Birmingham gig.

I do criticise when he spouts crap that I don't like.