Morrissey Central "MANAGEMENT" (September 19, 2024)

Morrissey has severed all connections with Red Light Management/Pete Galli Management.

MANAGEMENT - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - MANAGEMENT

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

www.morrisseycentral.com

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Related item:

• Morrissey-solo: Morrissey is now being managed by Pete Galli of Red Light Management (February 12, 2024)

 

[ACTON]

I've made a similar point about Moz and Wilde before - and the romanticism of career self destruction. But I think Moz saying Yes to touring as The Smiths was very much an attempt to escape from the hole he is. And maybe now the only way out for him? Given that self releasing his work is something he refuses to do.

I think you're 100% right. Moz needs a hand to get out of the hole he's in and what stronger hand than The Smiths. Personally I don't care if there is a Smiths reunion but Moz should have kept relations with Marr cordial over the years and should have realised his comments in a woke western world only leads to career suicide. I think he also knows a Smiths reunion would make record companies want to release his solo albums.

 

[goinghome]

In the media:

Morrissey fires his management team amid public spat with Johnny Marr

Morrissey has “severed all connections” with his management, following a public spat with his former Smiths bandmate, Johnny Marr.

consequence.net

https://www.nme.com/news/music/morr...-of-ignoring-the-smiths-reunion-offer-3795376

https://www.euronews.com/culture/20...ment-team-after-johnny-marr-debunks-false-cla

That a serious channel such as euronews is paying such close attention implies impacts going way beyond entertainment.

Incidentally, the phrase “To Every Cow Its Calf” is a principle from ancient Irish jurisprudence applying to copyright that resulted from massive aggro between two 6th century monks!

To quote/paraphrase:
St. Colmcille (Columba) training at the monastery under St. Finnian at Moville, surreptitiously copied a psalter, a book of Psalms, which Finnian held. Upon discovering this, Finnian demanded the return of the copied manuscript, arguing that the intellectual output derived from his original manuscript belonged to him. Colmcille’s refusal to surrender the copy escalated the dispute to a matter requiring legal resolution, prompting its referral to the High King Diarmait Mac Cerbaill. This royal judge Diarmait Mac Cerbaill, applying the principles of Brehon law, sought to find a resolution that adhered to these traditional legal codes, which often used nature-based metaphors to elucidate rightful ownership and justice.

MacCerbaill’s judgment, “to every cow its calf and to every book its copy,” underscored the fundamental principle that, the creator or rightful owner retains inherent rights to their property or its derivatives. It has not been forgotten. Courts still cite it.

But Colmcille didn't accept the ruling, and instead started a war, the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne, fought in 561 AD, that killed thousands. Eventually, not only was he widely blamed but he took stock and blamed himself. He took himself off in self-imposed exile to the island of Iona, vowing to convert at least as many souls as his dispute had led to being killed in battle. His subsequent ecclesiastical influence has been immense. Let us pray. Amen.

Nature's Copyright? The Early Irish Legal Principle of "To Every Cow Its Calf" - The Brehon Academy

Nature and The Law Among the myriad features that distinguish the early Irish native Brehon laws from other legal systems, […]

brehonacademy.org

 

[Light Housework]

View attachment 111681

The Spectator / Alexander Larman: "Morrissey’s martyrdom knows no bounds" (September 21, 2024)

Morrissey's martyrdom knows no bounds

Morrissey seems to take delight in presenting himself as a wronged and put-upon figure, cast down by the iniquities of society.

www.spectator.co.uk

Minus nag screen:

https://archive.is/BbqMe

Great photo of Morrissey. Will read this article later maybe.

 

[Jett Rink]

I'd love to see a "Morrissey-Marr" collaboration once again. I could completely get into that and I get the feeling it would be fantastic. The good thing about it is that it's not The Smiths so no "reunion" there. Yeah, it ain't happening anyway (as far as I can tell for now). So it brings me to this....

Why not just get the the best solo band he's ever had back together? I think it's something his fans would be excited about and really enjoy. It could be that jolt he needs.

I understand an olive branch may need to be extended to Spencer Cobrin but Spencer seems like a good, level-headed guy and may come around. Plus in that, what was it... Ten minutes with.... interview thing (forgive me, I really don't remember the name of that internet interview page from a few year ago) where Spencer was asked what he'd do if he met Morrissey and Spencer said "give him a hug".

Morrissey with Alain, Boz, Gary and Spencer on stage, that would be great!

(plus put Gus in there for keyboards too if he'd like keyboards as well).

I think this could be a great Morrissey move.

(until Jesse talks him out of it because you know that hack would sabotage even the thought of it).

 

[SteveWS]

Maybe the idea of, again, working hard to come up with new songs only for Morrissey to say "Oh no. No, I don't like those..." doesn't appeal to Johnny anymore.

 

[Redacted]

That was a fabulous day (first time I had been to a gig where you could get 2 pints of lager in one plastic container) OMD were the first band I saw there and I wasn't that bothered about them but they turned out to be brilliant, I'm a big Buzzcocks fan so really enjoyed Pete Shelleys set especially when he kicked off with What do I get, The Smiths were so much better than the previous times I'd seen them as they had Craig Gannon on 2nd guitar and their set was spot on for the day. At that time New Order were always awkward f***ers when it came to set lists and I feared the worst when the opened with Eligia and Shellshock but they turned it around with a heavy Low Life/Brotherhood set with an added bonus of Ceremony with McCullcoch on vocals.

You're so funny, 'I saw all these great bands, but what I remember most is the beer'

 

[RickySmith]

He could have signed a new record deal which comes with it's own management or has found a manager willing to help him self release BOT.

 

[pretorius]

Oh well the only time NME seems to mention Morrissey is when something like this happens.

Morrissey fires management team after Johnny Marr refutes claims of "ignoring" The Smiths reunion offer

Morrissey has fired his management team after Johnny Marr dispelled his claims of "ignoring" an offer to reunite The Smiths for a tour.

www.nme.com

 

[JoeSellMozza]

After the initial shock about the split from Red Light & Galli, I'm a little more relaxed after two nights of sleep. When are you going to split up with your girlfriend or your employer? Exactly, when you have something new! I hope that Morrissey has just cleared the way for something new. Both management and label. His statements before Vegas and Jesse's before the autumn tour would not have been so optimistic otherwise. So who says that we won't hear some very good news soon?

By the way, I don't believe anything the insider says. For example, the stuff about Marr and The Smiths is completely made up and I can't believe the fan club story either. These are just two examples. I had been wondering for a while (and have often said here) what Red Light did for Morrissey? In any case, nothing was visible to the outside world, all this stuff on Insta and FB definitely came from Sam, at least it was in keeping with his style.

So Moz fans, don't lose faith. We won't have to wait as long as the fans of The Cure. It's not over yet. Morrissey will come back!

 

[trans]

After the initial shock about the split from Red Light & Galli, I'm a little more relaxed after two nights of sleep. When are you going to split up with your girlfriend or your employer? Exactly, when you have something new! I hope that Morrissey has just cleared the way for something new. Both management and label. His statements before Vegas and Jesse's before the autumn tour would not have been so optimistic otherwise. So who says that we won't hear some very good news soon?

By the way, I don't believe anything the insider says. For example, the stuff about Marr and The Smiths is completely made up and I can't believe the fan club story either. These are just two examples. I had been wondering for a while (and have often said here) what Red Light did for Morrissey? In any case, nothing was visible to the outside world, all this stuff on Insta and FB definitely came from Sam, at least it was in keeping with his style.

So Moz fans, don't lose faith. We won't have to wait as long as the fans of The Cure. It's not over yet. Morrissey will come back!

the fan club stuff did seem the least likely though maybe they just meant facebook and other online groups

 

[Les Tameside]

Oh well the only time NME seems to mention Morrissey is when something like this happens.

Morrissey fires management team after Johnny Marr refutes claims of "ignoring" The Smiths reunion offer

Morrissey has fired his management team after Johnny Marr dispelled his claims of "ignoring" an offer to reunite The Smiths for a tour.

www.nme.com

To be fair to the NME, he’s refused to speak to them (again) since 2006. So they only have the wider media world to draw from. And Morrissey himself initiated the current news flare-up.

His fingerprints seem to be on everything, where some here identify a crime scene.

 

[Redacted]

I wouldn't blame the manager, Morrisey is the one who can't work with anyone. He had a record deal and blew it over some Miley Cyrus background vocals that added nothing to the song because he is a mental case and pleaded 'don't force me to pretend it didn't happen'. He is completely nuts and needs long inpatient treatment in a psych ward.
He's been lying about Johnny, or at least bending the truth A LOT, he is beyond contempt at this point, if he never works again it will be what he deserves.
Notice the absence of rebuttal in the Miley Cyrus situation and the Johnny situation. And now he is trying to act like the problem with BOT is the title track, it's just too edgy and truthful for anyone. He needs to go away for a long, long time.

 

[robertw93]

To be fair to the NME, he’s refused to speak to them (again) since 2006. So they only have the wider media world to draw from. And Morrissey himself initiated the current news flare-up.

His fingerprints seem to be on everything, where some here identify a crime scene.

What was the thing that made him fall out with them again, does anyone have a link to whatever it was?

 

[The Alchemist]

Further to my recent & admittedly arguable comment about Morrissey being in thrall to the idea of stardom (as in the kind of gaudy and Gothic Hollywood/Sunset Boulevard stardom that often ends in decline and even tragedy), the type of 'tragic' arc of a stellar career must have some appeal for him...and perhaps, he assumes, it also appeals to us fans. In this context, would we as fans actually prefer him to be as enormously and unfailingly successful and as mindlessly adored as are the tacky pin-ups of popular culture? Cutesy stickers of a sterile and 'safe' Morrissey 'free with every special packet of Monster Munch'? I don't believe we would. For some or even many of us, I'm guessing that - even if not consciously - such prospects would have very little allure. Sometimes, success and fame are beneath a person; or at least, they feel that success and fame are undignified.

I'm not claiming that the seeming self-sabotage is a conscious choice of his; just that the drama of it all might be attractive to him. Oscar Wilde's downfall and social disgrace occurred at the absolute height of his popular success, and that very Romantic decline and fall spurred him on to writing De Profundis, in which Wilde cast Christ as the supreme artist or artistic type. To Wilde, Jesus's downfall and death represented a magnificent story - one entirely and deliberately created (manufactured, in fact - even Judas played a vital, thankless role in this real-life drama) by Christ, the dramatic artist. In the light of such fame, such glory, and then a Lucifer-style descent, would it be any wonder if Wilde admirer Morrissey - whose patrician personality might well view massive popular success as being somehow vulgar - also saw the appeal, which Oscar surely did, of a tragic career-arc?

This, Wilde writing of Jesus, seems curiously apt regarding Morrissey/the Smiths:

'I see no difficulty at all in believing that such was the charm of his personality that his mere presence could bring peace to souls in anguish, and that those who touched his garments or his hands forgot their pain; or that as he passed by on the highway of life people who had seen nothing of life’s mystery, saw it clearly, and others who had been deaf to every voice but that of pleasure heard for the first time the voice of love and found it as ‘musical as Apollo’s lute’; or that evil passions fled at his approach, and men whose dull unimaginative lives had been but a mode of death rose as it were from the grave when he called them; or that when he taught on the hillside the multitude forgot their hunger and thirst and the cares of this world...'

-------

As a clue to Morrissey's possible thinking upon tragedy: not a few of the Smiths' singles' cover stars either experienced downfalls, in one way or another, or died younger than they might have or were the subjects of scandal, controversy or at least rumour; these fates and fortunes made their lives & careers & personalities resonate to Morrissey, and set their 'legends' in stone.

I've made a similar point about Moz and Wilde before - and the romanticism of career self destruction. But I think Moz saying Yes to touring as The Smiths was very much an attempt to escape from the hole he is. And maybe now the only way out for him? Given that self releasing his work is something he refuses to do.

I don't think Wilde was half as self-destructive as Morrissey.

Yes there were certain conscious decisions Wilde made to go down a destructive road, but he could never have known when he first got involved with Bosie, that the boy's father could do so much damage to him.

The 'eighteen months hard labour' Morrissey refers to in I Started Something I Couldn't Finish, actually turned out to be more like eighteen years hard labour for him - from when the bigger tailspin into decline commenced around 2006.

For Wilde, his downfall was very close to his death, and actually only unravelled over a 3 to 5 year timeframe max.

It's nice to draw parallels between Morrissey and Wilde, but I'm still inclined to believe there is a vital and costly missing link with M - and that is Negative Capability.

It's very interesting to me that when I was reading the introduction to Wilde's poems last week, it made the below points that I've highlighted. It would seem that Wilde and Keats were extremely aware of this concept and were striving to embody it, but that Morrissey has never fully grasped it (if he is actually fully aware of it at all)

Morrissey's inability (or refusal) to embrace Negative Capability is, in my view, a hugely damning indictment of his artistry. It is something I was previously completely unaware of, as I was blinded, or blinkered by spellbound fandom.

I've mentioned it previously here:

This conversation has prompted me to consider whether Morrissey has ever contemplated the fascinating concept Keats described as Negative Capability:

" When a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason " - as defined by Keats in a letter from 1817.

' Negative capability encourages us to keep an open mind and always consider the possibility that we may be wrong '

Associated article below for reference:

Negative capability: how to embrace intellectual uncertainty

Certainty is reassuring; what we know can be better understood, managed, and controlled. But intellectual certainty can limit our creativity. Where lies a certain path, many alternative doors leading to innovative ideas are ignored. We follow a fixed roadmap, without giving ourselves the...

nesslabs.com

It's a radical, liberating and pioneering idea.

Negative capability supports ‘reflective inaction’, that is, the ability to resist dispersing into defensive routines.

Morrissey himself wrote many years ago about the 'cemented minds' presiding over Manchester schools....

Keats had presented negative capability as an antidote more than one hundred years prior.

When he came up with his definition, Keats was trying to capture in words the state of mind that underpins the creative genius of high achieving individuals, especially in literature. This was the culmination of a sequence of attempts to describe the ‘prime essential’ of a poet.

The quality that marks out the artist – Shakespeare especially, he says – is Negative Capability. He defines this as consisting of a passive openness to the full range of human experience (“uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts”) without any imposition of preconceived notions, preresolved ideas or language: “without any irritable reaching after fact & reason”. Once again, the best way to understand this is through Keats’ word “watchfulness”, an attentiveness to the true nature of experiences.

In yet another foray into these ideas, he experiments with the word “disinterestedness”. This again implies the absence of a forceful or dominating self, full of preconceived ideas, words, precepts. Writing to his brother George, Keats says “complete disinterestedness” is a difficult goal. He admits he is himself “far” from it, though personally and in social terms he believes it “ought to be carried to its highest pitch”

 

[robertw93]

2

I don't think Wilde was half as self-destructive as Morrissey.

Yes there were certain conscious decisions Wilde made to go down a destructive road, but he could never have known when he first got involved with Bosie, that the boy's father could do so much damage to him.

The 'eighteen months hard labour' Morrissey refers to in I Started Something I Couldn't Finish, actually turned out to be more like 18 years hard labour for him - from when the bigger tailspin into decline seemed to commence for him around 2006.

For Wilde, his downfall was very close to his death, and actually only unravelled over a 3 to 5 years timeframe.

It's nice to draw parallels between Morrissey and Wilde, but I'm still inclined to believe there is a vital missing link with M - and that is Negative Capability.

It's very interesting to me that when I was reading the introduction to Wilde's poems last week, it made the below points that I've highlighted. It would seem that Wilde and Keats were extremely aware of this concept and were striving to embody it, but that Morrissey has never fully grasped it (if he is actually fully aware of it at all)


View attachment 112017


Morrissey's inability (or refusal) to embrace Negative Capability is, in my view, quite a damning indictment of his artistry. It is something I was previously completely unaware of, as I was blinded, or blinkered by spellbound fandom.

I've mentioned it previously here:

2006 as the decline, really? I'd say Ringleader is his masterpiece, it's perfection, for me anyway. 4 successful singles and videos, multiple TV appearances that year, interviews, big tour and festival shows etc. The same with 2009. I'd say the real decline was 2015, that's when his comments really started to affect him.

 

[The Alchemist]

2
2006 as the decline, really? I'd say Ringleader is his masterpiece, it's perfection, for me anyway. 4 successful singles and videos, multiple TV appearances that year, interviews, big tour and festival shows etc. The same with 2009. I'd say the real decline was 2015, that's when his comments really started to affect him.

Yes, 2006.

As you outline, probably the last high-watermark of his career.

His last truly great album (in my opinion) - and from that point on, more and more frustrations came to the fore, and things became increasingly fraught.

 

[Anonymous]

2
2006 as the decline, really? I'd say Ringleader is his masterpiece, it's perfection, for me anyway. 4 successful singles and videos, multiple TV appearances that year, interviews, big tour and festival shows etc. The same with 2009. I'd say the real decline was 2015, that's when his comments really started to affect him.

'World Peace is None of Your Business' was his last solid album for me, although as with most of his political songs, I don't rate the title track - but some other very good songs on that album. 'Low in High School' I thought was pretty weak, and the covers album did nothing for me. Offhand, I can't remember if he's released any other album during that period. His voice is better than ever, so I don't really see him as having declined, I can easily imagine him bouncing back with a great album, if he ever manages to release one again. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, woke cancel culture will go out fashion (that's already starting), and in 3 or 4 years, I think Morrissey will be welcomed with open arms by a media keen write about and interview him again as his career draws to a natural end. Assuming there are no health issues.

 

[The Alchemist]

'World Peace is None of Your Business' was his last solid album for me, although as with most of his political songs, I don't rate the title track - but some other very good songs on that album. 'Low in High School' I thought was pretty weak, and the covers album did nothing for me. Offhand, I can't remember if he's released any other album during that period. His voice is better than ever, so I don't really see him as having declined, I can easily imagine him bouncing back with a great album, if he ever manages to release one again. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, woke cancel culture will go out fashion (that's already starting), and in 3 or 4 years, I think Morrissey will be welcomed with open arms by a media keen write about and interview him again as his career draws to a natural end. Assuming there are no health issues.

I'm not saying he didn't put out good material after 2006 (or 'solid', as you describe it) - just that it wasn't as great.

Also, the material is only one of many parts under discussion.

As everyone knows, it's his comments, views and the analysis of his character (and all that entails) which has pretty much overtaken everything since that time. So it doesn't actually matter that his voice is still great, or that the material is 'solid'.

In that sense, the decline can't be denied - and most people would acknowledge it.

In short, wouldn't it be fair to say that a plethora of his frustrations (and the almost constant resulting actions and reactions) served as a significant destabilising headwind until the present day (18 years and counting.....)

 

[Thewlis]

I'm not saying he didn't put out good material after 2006 - just that it wasn't as great.

Also, the material is only one of many parts under discussion.

As everyone knows, it's his comments and the analysis of his character (and all that entails) which has pretty much overtaken everything since that time. So it doesn't actually matter that his voice is still great.

In that sense, the decline can't be denied - and most people would acknowledge it.

In short, wouldn't it be fair to say that a plethora of his frustrations (and the almost constant resulting actions and reactions) served as a significant destabilising headwind until the present day (18 years and counting.....)

With this you make it seem as if the entire period before 2006 was all great, which isn’t true either.

I’d say he had great periods of success, and decline, between 1988 and 2006 also.

I’d say the true downfall happened with the (music) press turning against him after the For Britain episode, which really hurt him and his career and he has yet to recover from it.

 

[The Alchemist]

With this you make it seem as if the entire period before 2006 was all great, which isn’t true either.

I’d say he had great periods of success, and decline, between 1988 and 2006 also.

I’d say the true downfall happened with the (music) press turning against him after the For Britain episode, which really hurt him and his career and he has yet to recover from it.

In a previous post, I said Ringleader was probably the last high-watermark of his career. Which would mean there were previous high-watermarks (amongst inevitable lows) That is to say, there have been numerous peaks and troughs.

As you say, the For Britain episode was the first significantly painful event, but he pretty much managed to recover from that and reach a higher high.

Since 2006 however, no such luck.

Hence why I phrased 2006 onwards as 'the bigger tailspin into decline'

I think it's worth highlighting here again what I am saying in regards to Negative Capability:

'Negative capability supports ‘reflective inaction’, that is, the ability to resist dispersing into defensive routines'

'Negative capability encourages us to keep an open mind and always consider the possibility that we may be wrong'

Morrissey has simply not been able to do this, and as a result, it has obviously been extremely costly.

(In my view, there is also a notable lack of Negative Capability in Morrissey's body of work itself, which has additional unfortunate implications)