Morrissey Central "SMITHS NOT OK" (September 11, 2024)

September 11, 2024

The proposed greatest hits album by The Smiths entitled Smiths Rule OK! has been blocked by J Marr. The album (above), and also the single Hand In Glove (below)

were planned for 2024 worldwide release by Warner Records along with a deluxe box release of The Smiths first album in order to commemorate its 40-year anniversary, and also a new 7-inch of This Charming Man. Warner approached Morrissey and Darren Evans to assemble artwork for all four releases, all of which were rejected and halted out of hand by J Marr.

SMITHS NOT OK - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - SMITHS NOT OK

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY

www.morrisseycentral.com

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Media item:

• Stereogum: "Now Morrissey Says Johnny Marr Has Blocked A New Smiths Deluxe Reissue" - September 11, 2024

 

[Les Tameside]

Considering that the original series of photos is simply better, and happens to give more prominence to 'the other three' (in terms of dimensions, at least), it does rather look like the cover-image is a particularly deliberate edit or choice.

View attachment 111076

Surely it has been modified to recall a classroom?

 

[pretorius]

f***'s sake. How many versions of the Smith's Catalogue have we had? About 5 up to this point?

Good for Johnny blocking this, and we can all see Morrissey's motivation here £££££££

Well it is probably more Warner Bro

 

[Redacted]

Considering that the original series of photos is simply better, and happens to give more prominence to 'the other three' (in terms of dimensions, at least), it does rather look like the cover-image is a particularly deliberate edit or choice.

View attachment 111076

Good to see Mike has an actual body there

 

[SteveWS]

Surely it has been modified to recall a classroom?

I don't know, to be honest. Just think that, perhaps because the background behind Mike matches the colour of his clothing, it looks as if Mike is just a head plonked on top of the world's widest shoulders.

 

[Rufusindigo]

The thing is M can not win against Marr , no matter what some of us think , Marr is greatly respected but more than that , objectively Marr is just way more intelligent than M . He won’t win

I agree he can't 'win', but I think there are multiple reasons for that - not least of which spending years battling the press and refusing to 'play nice', then doubling down on this public persona even when it is self sabotage. On the other hand, JM has spent years building his reputation as a Mr Nice. I see them as completely equally artistically gifted in their own spheres and maybe that unconscious battle to establish whether the lyrics and vocals or the music takes primacy underpins a lot of this back and forth and the battle over the legacy.

"objectively Marr is just way more intelligent than M". I would disagree, just on the grounds that I believe there are multiple forms of intelligence, not all of which are valued by society. JM clearly has more emotional intelligence than M, who displays an absolutely gobsmacking 'talent' for alienating friends, colleagues, labels etc and yet cannot seem to shift his world view or see the world through other people's eyes when dealing with real life. The baffling thing is that this is coupled with an unparalleled ability to articulate emotions and step into other people's shoes in his lyrics, so in the sphere of language ability, M is exceptionally intelligent. The problem is that this gift is coupled with a lack of emotional intelligence and so he wields it like a weapon, lashing out and eviscerating those he dislikes. Don't get me wrong, part of the reason I love M., warts and all, is his spikiness, vicious tongue, fearlessness and dark sense of humour. The world would be a far less interesting, colourful place without him, even if I don't always agree with him. I just wish sometimes he would aim that hugely powerful, vicious tongue at the targets who deserve it, rather than wasting it on personal, petty, self serving grudges which only diminish him.

I also believe, and this is probably off topic, that M. clearly has some neurodiverse issues - which may well be the source of many of his gifts - but that these may also be the reason for his lack of 'people skills' which JM seems to have in abundance.....

 

[Wiltteri]

There's been already so many best of compilations by The Smiths so there's no need for another one. The title and cover arts are so bad that i understand Johnny.

 

[SteveWS]

I also believe, and this is probably off topic, that M. clearly has some neurodiverse issues - which may well be the source of many of his gifts - but that these may also be the reason for his lack of 'people skills' which JM seems to have in abundance.....

I was recently diagnosed as being autistic. Even according to 'my' neuropractitioners/clinicians, autism is quite a mystifying condition; not least because of the overlap with several conditions or states (including depression).

 

[Was I ever any good]

Morrissey’s second cash grab within a couple of weeks knocked on the head by
JM.
He must be spitting feathers.
How many times can you flog a dead
Horse.
Nobody is interested in another
Smiths greatest hits.

Just makes me wonder, if an actual
Smiths tour was going ahead, then no new music would have been recorded, and the
Smiths greatest hits would have been the touring album.

 

[Les Tameside]

I don't know, to be honest. Just think that, perhaps because the background behind Mike matches the colour of his clothing, it looks as if Mike is just a head plonked on top of the world's widest shoulders.

The more I see it, the more I like it. I’m accepting that it is wilfully leaning into the aesthetic of those early 90s budget punk compendiums.

Of the previous collections, my favourite artwork is the one created for the 7” box set collection—because it similarly nudged the original 50s/early 60s aesthetic forward a little (going from the clothes, the full colour picture and the car registration I’d say that uses a photo from 1970).

 

[Les Tameside]

Morrissey’s second cash grab within a couple of weeks knocked on the head by
JM.
He must be spitting feathers.
How many times can you flog a dead
Horse.
Nobody is interested in another
Smiths greatest hits.

Just makes me wonder, if an actual
Smiths tour was going ahead, then no new music would have been recorded, and the
Smiths greatest hits would have been the touring album.

Merely a ‘tired old… warhorse’. Definitely not yet ready for the knackers yard.

 

[Redacted]

How will this all affect his November tour which starts on Oct 31, which coincidentally or not is Johnny's birthday. Will there be a lot of cancelations? Will Morrissey need to be put in a sanatorium in Switzerland again? Will he have drunken outburst on a plane?

 

[Les Tameside]

How will this all affect his November tour which starts on Oct 31, which coincidentally or not is Johnny's birthday. Will there be a lot of cancelations? Will Morrissey need to be put in a sanatorium in Switzerland again? Will he have drunken outburst on a plane?

Christ, put like that it sounds like something to look forward to. You should do the promo posters.

 

[The Queen of Batons]

How will this all affect his November tour which starts on Oct 31, which coincidentally or not is Johnny's birthday. Will there be a lot of cancelations? Will Morrissey need to be put in a sanatorium in Switzerland again? Will he have drunken outburst on a plane?

Cancellations? Who knows! Sanatorium in Switzerland? Were we ever told he was in a sanatorium? I just thought he liked Switzerland (didn't he used to have a home there?) and so that was where he chose to rest for a while. I so wish Damon had told him to shut up on that plane, and that failing had gagged him!

 

[Redacted]

Cancellations? Who knows! Sanatorium in Switzerland? Were we ever told he was in a sanatorium? I just thought he liked Switzerland (didn't he used to have a home there?) and so that was where he chose to rest for a while. I so wish Damon had told him to shut up on that plane, and that failing had gagged him!

No, we were not told he was in a sanatorium, but medically supervised rest. We joked about the sanatorium in the Alps.
Morrissey is an adult, or the chronological age of one, he is actually elderly and no one should have to babysit his drinking. He quite obviously needs to go dry out in rehab.

 

[Leroy]

Article on Adele mentions Smiths situation.

Lauren Murphy on artists knowing when to quit while they're ahead

She made the announcement with no real fanfare, but a few tears thrown in for good measure...

www.rte.ie

Good luck to Adele but I've never been interested in her music one iota

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

To most people living in the UK, I would reckon the '...rules OK' slogan has a definite 70s vibe to it, and the lettering evokes punk. So, apart from just being an appalling title/cover design, it seems totally anachronistic and illogical - The Smiths were not a 70s group and they were not a punk group. Am I missing something about this?

None of it makes sense, its just terrible

I think we can safely say M was influenced by the punk scene.

 

[Anonymous]

How will this all affect his November tour which starts on Oct 31, which coincidentally or not is Johnny's birthday.

'Unhappy Birthday ' on the setlist and some barbs slung at Johnny on stage would be my guess.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

To all you complaining oldsters out there its been almost 17 ! years since The Sound of the Smiths. That is an ETERNITY in the music business. Two generations of music fans have spawned in that time. A quarter of the planets people have been birthed or have died in the timeframe. If you want to keep an artists music *and revenue stream...) active you must release new compilations, even if they are digital playlists.

Informative

Not that I’ve ever bought a best of Smiths or Morrissey album. But they have their place.

Completists aside, this clearly isn’t aimed at longstanding fans. Absolutely nothing wrong with Morrissey wanting a fresh release, and the related profile boost which could capture some new fans and their pocket money.

Free ‘Smiths Rule OK!’.

Hear hear!
Seems to me, Morrissey was fed up with the usual expected Smiths-like font and went with something that would hopefully catch the eye.
I out right laughed when I first saw it. Regarding the space, I just think the layout could be better, or was that the point?

I can forgive Moz for pretty much anything. But not for using badly cropped photos and naff fonts.

think he was going for a punk diy kinda vibe.

Could be worse. He could have added a cartoon image of a surf or skateboard in the background!

 

[Amy]

'Unhappy Birthday ' on the setlist and some barbs slung at Johnny on stage would be my guess.

Sounds like a recipe for being booed / heckled, storming off and cancelling the tour.

 

[Phranc & Open]

I so wish Damon had told him to shut up on that plane, and that failing had gagged him!

Do we know whether Damon has any influence on him at all or whether he just carries suitcases, carries shopping bags or makes sure that no pig's head aspic is served in restaurants?