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 on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

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

 

[JerryCan]

Amazing that you can post a random picture, which has just a tangential connection with the story here, and yet it manages to contain yet another individual that Morrissey has apparently fell out with (Bill Oddie). Morrissey’s capacity for aggro is breathtaking.

Oh God no - not Bill Oddie too?
Yes I'm guilty, any excuse to revisit happy memories, but the plot of this Goodies special has this mission statement: "To distract the nation from the appalling state of the economy, the Goodies are employed to cheer up the nation and they oblige...".
Well I need cheering up, this misfiring reunion has done me in. It's like having best friends who just won't make nice.

 

[gordyboy9]

Here she is, a great moment:
View attachment 111129

Thoughts on Civil Unrest

These images where from a couple of years ago, during the student riots in Parliament Square, central London. The protesters were blocked in by police as a containment measure, and mounted police were deployed to deal with the crowd. Paint and fireworks were thrown at the police, and missiles...

www.morrissey-solo.com

Would be great if M would reverently cover one of Johnny's songs, be such a welcome gesture.

if that was now she would be looking at 5 years,how times have changed.

 

[Redacted]

I think Morrissey was copying this, it's about the Queen's corgi

 

[JerryCan]

Amazing that you can post a random picture...

Yeah sorry about that, I'd just been listening to the news reports from Ukraine and Putin's retaliatory threats over Storm Shadows etc. Seemed to fit.

 

[JerryCan]

if that was now she would be looking at 5 years,how times have changed.

What was Carmen doing back in 2010? She did her music course in the UK didn't she?

 

[sparacus]

You wish it was because the song is non-woke, the lyrics are fairly weak, i don't like his lazy politics but there's nothing really offensive about the song, the worst thing about it is the mean spirited focus on regular folk worried about their community, there was plenty of anger and hate around after that disgusting act that he could have bathed in.


No, his album isn't released yet, because he's difficult to work with and unreliable, he has a shrinking fan base that he alienated through his fear driven casual bigotry, and even the ones who are more accepting of his outbursts get shafted when he can't be arsed to turn up to gigs they sometimes pay through the nose to attend etc. There isn't much money a record label can make out of an artist like Moz, so he needs to be reliable, graft and play the game like Marr does, or realise the world has changed and do it himself.

10 years ago i would have cared(died and gone to heaven) about the Smiths reforming but not now, Marr quit because he couldn't take anymore and that hasn't changed.

OK I will address some of this. I do not pretend that Morrissey is perfect; he holds grudges and could have made more of an effort to build bridges with former Smiths members in the past. However to describe him as 'difficult to work with and unreliable' is very one-sided. Morrissey has worked well with musicians such as Jesse Tobias and Boz Boorer for extended periods. He occasionally has to cancel shows because of ill health which is perfectly understandable. The not turning up to gigs thing is exaggerated. He only does it in America ad usually its because he is unwell. Morrissey has 'grafted' far more than Johnny Marr has. He has released far more solo albums and played far more solo gigs.
The elephant in the room of course is that Morrissey is the most talented of the two and an icon of 80s music. He is the finest UK lyricist of modern times and wrote all of the Smiths lyrics. Marr is a talented and original guitarist but his lyrics are forgettable.
Morrissey has fallen foul of the press and a minority of Smiths fans for expressing certain opinions. However Eric Clapton and David Bowie both said controversial things in their time and didn't receive the same criticism. He can't get a record deal in the UK because record labels want him to remove 'Bonfire of Teenagers' from the album and rename it. This is because it expresses anger at the Manchester Arena bombing, which is considered 'un-woke'. They would presumably like Morrissey to rewite it something like this:

"Bonfire of teenagers,
Rising so high above north-west sky,
However we must not get mad,
Because that would be bad,
It was all the fault of the Daily Mail,
Whose attempts to divide us must fail,
Lets all hug each other,
Because kind people sing, 'Don't look back in anger',
And vegans in sandals sing 'Don't look back in anger'
I assure you I will take an equality and diversity course,
Until the day I die'

I suggest that this would not improve the song.

 

[Surface]

OK I will address some of this. I do not pretend that Morrissey is perfect; he holds grudges and could have made more of an effort to build bridges with former Smiths members in the past. However to describe him as 'difficult to work with and unreliable' is very one-sided. Morrissey has worked well with musicians such as Jesse Tobias and Boz Boorer for extended periods. He occasionally has to cancel shows because of ill health which is perfectly understandable. The not turning up to gigs thing is exaggerated. He only does it in America ad usually its because he is unwell. Morrissey has 'grafted' far more than Johnny Marr has. He has released far more solo albums and played far more solo gigs.
The elephant in the room of course is that Morrissey is the most talented of the two and an icon of 80s music. He is the finest UK lyricist of modern times and wrote all of the Smiths lyrics. Marr is a talented and original guitarist but his lyrics are forgettable.
Morrissey has fallen foul of the press and a minority of Smiths fans for expressing certain opinions. However Eric Clapton and David Bowie both said controversial things in their time and didn't receive the same criticism. He can't get a record deal in the UK because record labels want him to remove 'Bonfire of Teenagers' from the album and rename it. This is because it expresses anger at the Manchester Arena bombing, which is considered 'un-woke'. They would presumably like Morrissey to rewite it something like this:

"Bonfire of teenagers,
Rising so high above north-west sky,
However we must not get mad,
Because that would be bad,
It was all the fault of the Daily Mail,
Whose attempts to divide us must fail,
Lets all hug each other,
Because kind people sing, 'Don't look back in anger',
And vegans in sandals sing 'Don't look back in anger'
I assure you I will take an equality and diversity course,
Until the day I die'

I suggest that this would not improve the song.

He doesn't only not turn up for gigs in America, he's not turned up for gigs all over the place. He's not turned up for 28% of his scheduled gigs, without explanation in many cases, which is shocking.

 

[dallow_bg]

I am well aware of previous Smiths reissues. However Morrissey’s involvement was limited. This time he is offering to take a front line role and to design new covers. He has also offered to tour as The Smiths.
Morrissey is keen to support Smiths back catalogue reissues.

Just what we all needed. New covers for already released material.
If Moz was so keen to support The Smiths again, perhaps he shouldn't have penned that open letter a couple years ago. What a waste.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh God no - not Bill Oddie too?

Indeed. Forget the Beatles vs the Rolling Stones, or Blur vs Oasis - for my generation, it was all about the battle between Morrissey and Bill Oddie. Johnny Marr has always been been desperate to be seen as 'one of the Goodies', so it wouldn't surprise me if he still hasn't forgiven Morrissey for his Oddie attack, and this is the source of their current estrangement.

 

[theprivilegeismine]

I'm imagining that people attending the next gigs will be treated to members of the group wearing "f*** J Marr" T shirts.

Funny you should say that. I just bought one! Although mine has the wording rearranged.

I truly hope he doesn't do something so childish but we all know he's prone to doing so. It'll completely write off the possibility of them ever playing together again.

I hope that one day soon they can put their differences behind them, realise how special the band was and realise that age/time is not on their side.

 

[SteveWS]

Bloody hell, Mike has even been edited-out of my avatar! Is there no end to Morrissey's nefer nefairius nefertiti naughty vengeful shenanigans, he asks rhetorically?!?!?

 

[ChrisL]

For the record: Smiths, OK! would be much stronger. (Smiths Rule sounds dorky; Smiths Rule OK [no comma] sounds like they're kings of Oklahoma.)

I retract this statement. I see now see it's a reference to Kids Rule O.K. comic book series, where teenagers rule the world after a epidemic or something. But I don't quite get the phrase. Is that an old British phrase? "Rule O.K."
GOOGLE IS MY FRIEND: https://wordhistories.net/2017/11/05/rules-ok-origin/
This is now a great title. Sorry, Moz. Work on the art, layout and design, though.

 

[Amy]

OK I will address some of this. I do not pretend that Morrissey is perfect; he holds grudges and could have made more of an effort to build bridges with former Smiths members in the past. However to describe him as 'difficult to work with and unreliable' is very one-sided. Morrissey has worked well with musicians such as Jesse Tobias and Boz Boorer for extended periods. He occasionally has to cancel shows because of ill health which is perfectly understandable. The not turning up to gigs thing is exaggerated. He only does it in America ad usually its because he is unwell. Morrissey has 'grafted' far more than Johnny Marr has. He has released far more solo albums and played far more solo gigs.
The elephant in the room of course is that Morrissey is the most talented of the two and an icon of 80s music. He is the finest UK lyricist of modern times and wrote all of the Smiths lyrics. Marr is a talented and original guitarist but his lyrics are forgettable.
Morrissey has fallen foul of the press and a minority of Smiths fans for expressing certain opinions. However Eric Clapton and David Bowie both said controversial things in their time and didn't receive the same criticism. He can't get a record deal in the UK because record labels want him to remove 'Bonfire of Teenagers' from the album and rename it. This is because it expresses anger at the Manchester Arena bombing, which is considered 'un-woke'. They would presumably like Morrissey to rewite it something like this:

"Bonfire of teenagers,
Rising so high above north-west sky,
However we must not get mad,
Because that would be bad,
It was all the fault of the Daily Mail,
Whose attempts to divide us must fail,
Lets all hug each other,
Because kind people sing, 'Don't look back in anger',
And vegans in sandals sing 'Don't look back in anger'
I assure you I will take an equality and diversity course,
Until the day I die'

I suggest that this would not improve the song.

I didn't much agree with this post but then I got to the rewritten 'song' and it was a laugh I sorely needed. Thank you. This place gets way too heavy sometimes.

 

[Amy]

Here she is, a great moment:
View attachment 111129

Thoughts on Civil Unrest

These images where from a couple of years ago, during the student riots in Parliament Square, central London. The protesters were blocked in by police as a containment measure, and mounted police were deployed to deal with the crowd. Paint and fireworks were thrown at the police, and missiles...

www.morrissey-solo.com

Would be great if M would reverently cover one of Johnny's songs, be such a welcome gesture.

They both loved that pic - it would be perfect!!! Moz, get to it.

 

[SteveWS]

The whole thing is a back-to-school promotion: first, there was 'Smiths rulers'; now, Smiths pencil cases ~

 

[Amy]

Indeed. Forget the Beatles vs the Rolling Stones, or Blur vs Oasis - for my generation, it was all about the battle between Morrissey and Bill Oddie. Johnny Marr has always been been desperate to be seen as 'one of the Goodies', so it wouldn't surprise me if he still hasn't forgiven Morrissey for his Oddie attack, and this is the source of their current estrangement.

This made me seek out the old live clip where Moz is tearing into Bill Oddie. So funny. "Bill Oddie this small, brown creature... He had a song in the mid-70s called Black Pudding Bertha and it was certainly a cultural highlight of my life. And now he crawls through bushes looking for small animals to mate with, and he hates me."

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Beyond hilarious that you have missed the joke.

oh, sorry. I thought JerryCan was being sincere when he wrote…

Would be great if M would reverently cover one of Johnny's songs, be such a welcome gesture.

and thinking he was being sincere, I replied…

‘at this point, it would just come off as desperate to make things right. The ball looks to be in Johnny’s court.’

 

[Mosserray]

The whole thing is a back-to-school promotion: first, there was 'Smiths rulers'; now, Smiths pencil cases ~

View attachment 111153

This is where the money is, MERCHANDISE! T-shirts, backpacks, bucket hats, etc. There is no official Smiths merchandise. People don't buy music any more, they stream it and put together their own greatest hits. But they do buy the t-shirts and hoodies. Get on that!

 

[SJFC1884]

We need a The Smiths box set

Disc one - The original album (but does it include This Charming Man - I prefer not but I think the 2011 remasters retcon that)
Disc two - Troy Tate best takes, newly chosen ultimate running order and as with TQID a slightly alternate sleeve, which would require Morrissey and Marr to coordinate :-/
Disc three - a suitable live recording - Hammersmith Palais, 12 March 1984
Disc four - Odds and sods. I want a Boy for My Birthday. Other TT recordings.

Associated singles:
12" This Charming Man and versions.
12" Hand in Glove for the first time, and WITH original sleeve FFS

We can but dream.

Spot on with everything.It should be the same sleeve but in a different colour maybe a "Dog Man Star" shade of olive green.

 

[Skylarker]

The truth is, we have no idea why Johnny said no. Maybe it is an act of aggression, maybe it's just because the artwork is dire, maybe it's both or something completely different. Maybe you should stop letting Morrissey manipulate your emotions to feed his OWN ego in this sad, miserable public pissing contest.

Without Johnny, we would not have the Rhino remasters set that we do have. Morrissey is only doing this because he has poisoned his own well so badly, and now he wants to shit in Johnny's like a jealous child. Wake up.

Objection. That's conjecture.