Record Collector: Manic Street Preachers new album "Critical Thinking" review/Nicky Wire Q&A - song re: Morrissey "Dear Stephen" (December 30, 2024)

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Record Collector - #566, January 2025.

Web version of the above:

Critical Thinking - Record Collector Magazine

Over 30 years and 15 albums in and, thankfully, Manic Street Preachers have yet to call a truce with their furies. Critical Thinking lashes out against
recordcollectormag.com recordcollectormag.com

Something previously missed in MOJO asserts the same re: Dear Stephen:

"A tender exploration of teenage fandom and adult disappointment, Dear Stephen is inspired by the time in 1984 when The Smiths played Cardiff University. Wire’s mum wrote to the group explaining that her teenage son was desperate to see the band but was too ill to attend. The Smiths wrote back, with Morrissey scribbling “get well soon Nick” on a postcard. "An almost spiritual antique" is how Wire describes the note, which he recently rediscovered."

Regards,
FWD.
 
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Iamhatedforloving said:
What is your point...of course ive read the review and Mojo interview but what im suggesting is the hope that when the Lyrics are confirmed they are not taking advantage of an initial good intention from Morrissey from the distant past and using it jumlp on the Morrissey is so wrong and he needs to repent....
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Thought you hadn’t read it as the lyric preview kind of obviously show they are in fact going in that direction.
 
dallow_bg said:
Thought you hadn’t read it as the lyric preview kind of obviously show they are in fact going in that direction.
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Yeah initial lyrics snippets are indicating a let's jump on board and let's show that we loved Morrissey so much in the 80s and now he's this persona non grata so lets write a song about him and get some column inches....it really always works...don't get me wrong he's not helped himself but I don't like ex fans getting a dig in ....and I like the Manics which is disappointing.....all this is of course on the pretext the lyrics will pan out as previewed
 
Iamhatedforloving said:
Yeah initial lyrics snippets are indicating a let's jump on board and let's show that we loved Morrissey so much in the 80s and now he's this persona non grata so lets write a song about him and get some column inches....it really always works...don't get me wrong he's not helped himself but I don't like ex fans getting a dig in ....and I like the Manics which is disappointing.....all this is of course on the pretext the lyrics will pan out as previewed
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The Manics first criticised Morrissey as far back as 30 years ago. Love The Holy Bible. Less fond of more recent material.
About 4 minutes in...
 
Who Rattled Your Cage said:
Early 20s Nicky Wire being early 20s Nicky Wire, really. As he even says in the video, he has an uncontrollable mouth.
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And Nicky also seems a bit confused. He first seems to agree with what it is suggested Morrissey said - that the BNP shouldn't be banned so that people can see what idiots they are. And then a minute later seems to suggest that what Morrissey said was 'appalling'. Although I'm not aware of the interview that is being referred to. The first of the 2 suppositions above is the correct one, of course. But the TV producers seem very keen to link Morrissey's name with the BNP in some way. The 90s equivalent of click bait. And what a truly 'appalling' opening joke she makes at the beginning of the interview. Embarassing.
 
gashonthenail said:
And Nicky also seems a bit confused. He first seems to agree with what it is suggested Morrissey said - that the BNP shouldn't be banned so that people can see what idiots they are. And then a minute later seems to suggest that what Morrissey said was 'appalling'. Although I'm not aware of the interview that is being referred to. The first of the 2 suppositions above is the correct one, of course. But the TV producers seem very keen to link Morrissey's name with the BNP in some way. The 90s equivalent of click bait. And what a truly 'appalling' opening joke she makes at the beginning of the interview. Embarassing.
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Ah, the teenage Caitlin Moran. She's been stealing a living spouting her uninformed opinions for decades now, bless her. Occasionally funny, more often pointless.
 
gashonthenail said:
Yes indeed. And there is a strong feeling listening to Nicky in particular that he just thinks Morrissey is being 'controversersial for the sake of it in order to wind people up. You can tell they still really love Morrissey.
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Remember either Wire or Edwards going on about going through a 'Morrissey phase' as a teen. From 2014...

www.gigwise.com

Manics: 'We want to work with Morrissey + Jimmy Page'

Band speak to Gigwise about next album plans + future collaborations
www.gigwise.com

Another:

thequietus.com

Total Love & Dedication: Nicky Wire Discusses Generation Terrorists | The Quietus

1992: White jeans – black hair – crippling self-consciousness – eyeliner and mascara – spray paint stencilled tops – star-jumping not shoegazing – aggressive androgyny – feminine machismo – so young, so impassioned, so sweetly ridiculous – nostalgic futurists revelling in contradiction – Sex...
thequietus.com thequietus.com

And there is this, below, too. Could probably find more, too, but the point has been proven.

www.loudandquiet.com

Nicky Wire discusses the most non-Manics thing his band has ever done – get older - Loud And Quiet

Tell Me About It
www.loudandquiet.com www.loudandquiet.com
 
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gashonthenail said:
And Nicky also seems a bit confused. He first seems to agree with what it is suggested Morrissey said - that the BNP shouldn't be banned so that people can see what idiots they are. And then a minute later seems to suggest that what Morrissey said was 'appalling'. Although I'm not aware of the interview that is being referred to. The first of the 2 suppositions above is the correct one, of course. But the TV producers seem very keen to link Morrissey's name with the BNP in some way. The 90s equivalent of click bait. And what a truly 'appalling' opening joke she makes at the beginning of the interview. Embarassing.
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I remember the interview referred to. It was in Select magazine in 94 when he was promoting Vauxhall. Morrissey said something along the lines that the BNP only resorted to violence because they were being gagged and that they should be given a television platform. I can't find a link to it anywhere, but the musician Momus refers to it here:

https://imomus.com/index60.html
 
I was not aware of Nick Currie’s letter which surprises me as it is so rare for Moz to get any support at all from fellow artists.

I recall Kevin Roland writing a letter to NME as well, but it might have been a different time.

Nick Cave of course kind of provided some heavily caveated support once (in the last few years).
 
When Futurology (2014) came out, Nicky Wire said they had thought of asking Morrissey to collaborate because they would have loved him to just say f*** off. It would have only affirmed their admiration for him. But if I remember correctly, they never got around contacting him. Green Gartside on the other hand duetted on that album.
 
I lived near the Severn at the time - the police took the notion seriously enough to get in boats.
That said, besides a false lead, the mud in that area is so dense they didn't search thoroughly.
Regards,
FWD.
 
Famous when dead said:
I lived near the Severn at the time - the police took the notion seriously enough to get in boats.
That said, besides a false lead, the mud in that area is so dense they didn't search thoroughly.
Regards,
FWD.
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You would have thought with some new tech utilising drones flying low all across that area, they might have a better chance of locating a body (or bodies) now?

It would be expensive and perhaps not the best use of resources but it might help bring closure to a number of families of missing people?
 

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