Johnny Marr uses Nigel Farage image to dismiss reunion talk (August 27, 2024)

I’m not the only delusional and Johnny is listening

Now picked up by the BBC:
Johnny Marr uses Nigel Farage image to dismiss reunion talk

Johnny Marr uses Nigel Farage image to dismiss The Smiths reunion

The guitarist kills talk of reuniting with Morrissey by sharing a picture of the Clacton MP on X.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Related items:

• Morrissey-solo.com: "Johnny Marr on Morrissey's politics - interview in Sky News" - November 1, 2016
• Morrissey-solo.com: "Johnny Marr tweets response to Smiths reunion rumours" - Nov 7, 2019
• NME: "Johnny Marr responds to fan call for The Smiths reunion in light of Oasis rumours" - August 27, 2024

 

[Redacted]

Well done Johnny. I applaud him for standing by his principles. Morrissey's political views are very suspect.

I don't care about Morrissey's political views, but I think what Johnny is saying is those views do not align with the Smiths

 

[chrismdavis99]

It's great someone is the Music industry in these times is prepared to give his views. I applaud this, but also reserve the right for people to Challenge back. Why should you care about Morrissey's views ? Because he has a huge following and his views can influence many people. If he is saying things that are ethically and morally suspect then these need to be challenged.

 

[Anonymous]

I wager that many people who gripe bitterly about Johnny's vocal abilities would pitch absolute fits if he utilized a different singer to play them live with his band.

I wager that many more wouldn't.

 

[BurgerButt]

Marr would let his son down, who absolutely hates Morrissey, and has bashed him on IG in the past.

Who cares about the helmet headed wazzock

 

[BurgerButt]

That Johnny has good principles which he is prepared to standby by.

Yeah okay Johnny, but what about shafting your mates with 10%

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

It's great someone is the Music industry in these times is prepared to give his views. I applaud this, but also reserve the right for people to Challenge back. Why should you care about Morrissey's views ? Because he has a huge following and his views can influence many people. If he is saying things that are ethically and morally suspect then these need to be challenged.

Lol. Yeah, that’s why For Britain collapsed.
So many Moz fans ran to the polls to vote for Waters because Morrissey has such incredible influence and sway over his fans, his ‘support’ for FB really was dangerous! Well, maybe dangerous for For Britain that exists no more

 

[Grim Reaper]

I don't care about Morrissey's political views, but I think what Johnny is saying is those views do not align with the Smiths

Aye, he's saying the Smiths are dead and Morrissey and Marr in 2025 isn't the same intense partnership, there's nothing there but 40 year old memories.

 

[goinghome]

This is a recent interview with Andy Robbins, co-founder of Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR) - https://consortiumnews.com/2024/08/27/watch-they-love-music-hate-racism/

LMHR took over from Rock Against Racism, set up in 1976 - https://musiciansunion.org.uk/news/...ate-racism-and-the-fight-against-racism-today

A 2008 paper suggests The Smiths music echoes above all the African-American form of the Blues - https://www.jstor.org/stable/40212448

The Smiths played a show or two for the anti-racism cause. Morrissey donated money in 2008 to help save LMHR from bankruptcy - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7367945.stm

Can a severed alliance mend with some tolerance of individual differences, even those more perceived than real? Human beings: what are we like?

Call me anything except what I am
From a class without, I haven't a clue
What the war is about
I haven't got a clue, have you?
Oh no, no, no, no

 

[chrismdavis99]

Lol. Yeah, that’s why For Britain collapsed.
So many Moz fans ran to the polls to vote for Waters because Morrissey has such incredible influence and sway over his fans, his ‘support’ for FB really was dangerous! Well, maybe dangerous for For Britain that exists no more

Stupid comment. Didn't you see the recent fsr right riots. These people only need the slightest excuse to kick off.

 

[goinghome]

Can anyone find me a picture of Starmer actually smiling?

Did you see this, posted earlier in the Strange thread?

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Stupid comment. Didn't you see the recent fsr right riots. These people only need the slightest excuse to kick off.

Listen, stupid. The only thing that’s going to
‘kick off’ Morrissey fans, is when the houselights dim and they push to the front of the stage, but it’s done out of love not anger.

Some of them, may even jump on stage and start bowing to him! Now that’s done out of love for the man.

Don’t worry Chris, you have nothing to fear.

 

[Leroy]

What Johnny isn't clever enough to work out is that Morrissey's political views over the years have been largely based around working class beliefs, not the stereotypical left vs right. On likely just this one particular point, Farage appeals to Morrissey and a swath of working class people due to him opposing mass immigration. That's really it and Johnny is smuggly playing this pseudo "Morrissey is a racist" card for all it's worth.

Johnny has an unpleasent side to him that's revealed itself from time to time over the years and his obnoxious son, see mentions of his bad behaviour from a Newcastle based recording studio, belies this fact to an extent. Not settling with Joe Moss for the cost of a PA until the Smiths had ended, giving Andy a solitary afternoon in his studio after settling his royalties claim, resulting in Andy saying at the time that Morrissey had done more for him. Most of all for me, it's the snideness over the years towards Morrissey who has stayed relatively silent aside from the open letter.

What Johnny isn't clever enough to work out is that Morrissey's political views over the years have been largely based around working class beliefs, not the stereotypical left vs right. On likely just this one particular point, Farage appeals to Morrissey and a swath of working class people due to him opposing mass immigration. That's really it and Johnny is smuggly playing this pseudo "Morrissey is a racist" card for all it's worth.

Johnny has an unpleasent side to him that's revealed itself from time to time over the years and his obnoxious son, see mentions of his bad behaviour from a Newcastle based recording studio, belies this fact to an extent. Not settling with Joe Moss for the cost of a PA until the Smiths had ended, giving Andy a solitary afternoon in his studio after settling his royalties claim, resulting in Andy saying at the time that Morrissey had done more for him. Most of all for me, it's the snideness over the years towards Morrissey who has stayed relatively silent aside from the open letter.

Spot on. I've said elsewhere on this site that I don't fall for all the Mister Nice Guy act. Forever claiming to love Andy (but clearly didn't love him enough to pay him properly) and the snide attacks on Morrissey. Johnny is great mates with Noel Gallagher. Are we really expected to believe that Gallagher supports the far left woke mob?? Very much doubt it but only Morrissey gets it in the neck.

 

[Grim Reaper]

Marr can reliably go on tour as the main act, he can go on tour as the support act, he can be a special guest, he can join different bands, he can work on movie soundtracks, he can create books, signature guitars and do speaking engagements.

All without any drama, he has a nice, super healthy and comfortable life and a happy, stable family etc. And 99.9% of the population have no issues with the guy

He would have to be really bored of all that to go anywhere near and attach his name to Morrissey and the potential car crash of cancelled dates and political pr disasters, for some bloke he doesn't like and a bloke who doesn't like him much either.

Marr doesn't have to be Einstein or a perfect angel/the nicest guy in the music industry(whatever the weird standard you hold him to for some reason)to want nothing to do with that shit in his 60s

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Marr can reliably go on tour as the main act, he can go on tour as the support act, he can be a special guest, he can join different bands, he can work on movie soundtracks, he can create books, signature guitars and do speaking engagements.

All without any drama, he has a nice, super healthy and comfortable life and a happy, stable family etc. And 99.9% of the population have no issues with the guy

He would have to be really bored of all that to go anywhere near and attach his name to Morrissey and the potential car crash of cancelled dates and political pr disasters, for some bloke he doesn't like and a bloke who doesn't like him much either.

Marr doesn't have to be Einstein or a perfect angel/the nicest guy in the music industry(whatever the weird standard you hold him to for some reason)to want nothing to do with that shit in his 60s

True. It’s a shame if he thinks it would be that way, can’t blame him if true. And I was thinking the same. But surely whoever is flipping the bill for a reunion would make sure everything will go to plan. I mean, it’s a lot of money at stake.


On another note, I do agree that Johnny might not at this point in his life want any ‘drama’, which is understandable. But I’ve always held the position that in order for Johnny to make great music again he really needs to work with someone that will push him, maybe even irritate him, to do his best. Likewise with Morrissey, would feel the same pressure and inspiration.
Of course it’s obvious, I’m not much a fan of Marr’s writing after The Smiths.

Edit:
Also a reunion is not always a going backwards, and wouldn’t necessarily derail the train that Johnny seems happy enough to continue on.

 

[SteveWS]

What's being missed, perhaps, - and admittedly it is only a minor point amongst far more important reasons why a reunion might not happen - is the weight of Morrissey's words in Autobiography about Johnny's increasing desire to be THE star of the show, and not merely viewed as the guitarist sidekick to the one at centre-stage.

That is a matter of opinion, to be honest - if it could be claimed that Johnny was acting-out, in later Smiths gigs, and drawing attention to himself and away from Morrissey then it's instead possible that JM was merely putting on a show i.e. simply making things more lively or exciting, for audiences' sakes.

Nevertheless it's arguably true that Johnny wouldn't relish a return to the times when practically everyone in the media wanted to focus solely on Morrissey; it seems to me inevitable that that's what would happen, sooner or later, if they did reunite.

 

[Amy]

What's being missed, perhaps, - and admittedly it is only a minor point amongst far more important reasons why a reunion might not happen - is the weight of Morrissey's words in Autobiography about Johnny's increasing desire to be THE star of the show, and not merely viewed as the guitarist sidekick to the one at centre-stage.

That is a matter of opinion, to be honest - if it could be claimed that Johnny was acting-out, in later Smiths gigs, and drawing attention to himself and away from Morrissey then it's instead possible that JM was merely putting on a show i.e. simply making things more lively or exciting, for audiences' sakes.

Nevertheless it's arguably true that Johnny wouldn't relish a return to the times when practically everyone in the media wanted to focus solely on Morrissey; it seems to me inevitable that that's what would happen, sooner or later, if they did reunite.

Maybe that was true at the time - although Morrissey said the same thing about Alain Whyte - but surely whatever 'itch' Johnny had to do other things after The Smiths, he's scratched them all a thousand times now? Like GrayFruit said, he's joined bands, guested and sessioned, done solo albums, written books, film scores, speaking engagements... he has done everything he ever wanted to do. And there's no reason why he couldn't go back and continue doing them, after a potential reunion.

 

[SteveWS]

Yeah, you're right, I think.

 

[yellow Bentine]

Johnny is the same as Paul Weller, cutting off his nose to spite his face, denying the fans who adore the band that made them what they are, what they tbe fans would die to see..
Won't play with their original band members, even just once, but will turn up like a musical prostitute and a surprise 'special guest' performing seal to play with any Tom, Dick and Harry and murder their material live like a cabaret act.

 

[SteveWS]

Johnny is the same as Paul Weller, cutting off his nose to spite his face, denying the fans who adore the band that made them what they are, what they tbe fans would die to see..
Won't play with their original band members, even just once, but will turn up like a musical prostitute and a surprise 'special guest' performing seal to play with any Tom, Dick and Harry and murder their material live like a cabaret act.

To be honest, stars like these owe us nothing - it's us who decide upon our level of devotion to them. We, arguably, might have 'made them what they are' but it's not as if we were forced into fandom. Besides, Weller - for all his 'miserablist' reputation - is generally considerate towards his fans; I assume that Johnny isn't so foolish as to behave any differently towards his.

There are a host of varying reasons why the two of them ended their bands, from the personal - in terms of band-relationships - to the understandable desire to broaden their musical horizons, and more. Even if we happen not to care for their solo efforts, they surely had the right and the sense not to remain with their original bands solely 'for the sake of the kids' (in a manner of speaking, of course) - doing so would almost certainly have made those bands worse and would've negatively effected our beloved memories of their talents. They didn't leave out spite but because they truly felt that they needed to...in spite of how lucrative remaining might well have been.

 

[Amy]

Johnny is the same as Paul Weller, cutting off his nose to spite his face, denying the fans who adore the band that made them what they are, what they tbe fans would die to see..
Won't play with their original band members, even just once, but will turn up like a musical prostitute and a surprise 'special guest' performing seal to play with any Tom, Dick and Harry and murder their material live like a cabaret act.

In other words, he's able to pick and choose his work and he chooses to play with his friends and people he likes. It's tragic for all of us that Moz isn't one of those people anymore, but that's life. Johnny is doing what Moz publicly told him to do, ie concentrate on his solo career and "move on" - it just turned out to be not what Moz really wanted, after all.

David Quantick, who typically hates Moz, was spot-on about this reality at the time and compared it to children playing kiss-chase in the playground. I'm paraphrasing but he said something like, "One child, who seems to quite want to be kissed, loudly declares to the others 'Don't chase me!". So nobody does."