How Big Is Morrissey In The Us ?

dogdayafternoon

Junior Member
Hi This Is A Genuine Question; But Just How Big Is Morrissey In America ?the April/may Tour In The Uk Last Year, Sold Out In 20.00 Minutes [i Know Only Too Well Paid Those F*ckin Scalpers];i Think The Hammerstein Ballroom Is Roughly The Same Size As Those Venues ? So At 15.00SATURDAY Uk Time I Was Ready And Nervous When At My Computer About To Try And Buy Ga Tickets[sat/sun] I Was Well Happy To Get Them No Probs, So Out Of Curiosity I Have Tried A Few Times Since To My Surprise You Can Still Pick Up Ga Tickets , No Way Would This Happen In England At These Size Venues, Is Morrissey Touring For To Long [not In My Opinion:d] Or His A Cult Figure Over There?.
 
america is more spread out...not easy for all the fans from the entire country to go to a show of his. in the UK you could, though i know not everyone goes to every show, but still this simple fact helps sell out tickets.

and yes morrissey is still given attention in the UK media..he is not here in the States because there is too much bullshit and no way will anyone over the age of 40 (unless you are a megastar like madonna) get any attention. they stopped paying attention to morrissey once he hit 35.
 
to me i wish morrissey was the biggest artist in america, but he is not, but to me he is my all time favorite singer and to me he is big and i dig the frank sidebottom picture dog day
 
i know what you mean about wanting morrissey to be the biggest star in the [usa /uk etc] ; but in some ways i am glad he is not it makes him more special to us real fans, thanks for mentioning the pic, franks a true legend ,brilliant live performer.:)
 
She's pretty big. Doctors really love her when she plays sick halfway through a tour sending the fanbase to them 4 help.
 
For somone who grew up in Israel I can tell you that he's been admired in the US and Israel at the same way, meaning he's big in terms of indie standards but not in terms of mainstraem. unlike in the UK where is more than just a singer but a (Northen) culture icon. If you do a survey in the US I bet you 80% of the people will not know how he is where I think in the UK it will be quite the opposite.
Also the fan base is a bit different, I think that most of his UK fans are old Smiths fans or fans that started to like him because of the Smiths, where in the US most of his fans are the solo era fans when he made his big break in 'Your Arsenal' tour.
 
For somone who grew up in Israel I can tell you that he's been admired in the US and Israel at the same way, meaning he's big in terms of indie standards but not in terms of mainstraem. unlike in the UK where is more than just a singer but a (Northen) culture icon. If you do a survey in the US I bet you 80% of the people will not know how he is where I think in the UK it will be quite the opposite.
Also the fan base is a bit different, I think that most of his UK fans are old Smiths fans or fans that started to like him because of the Smiths, where in the US most of his fans are the solo era fans when he made his big break in 'Your Arsenal' tour.

Good comments KarelMoz, but I would go even farther to say 95% of people in the US don't know who he is. I'm thinking about people like my co-workers who think I am a crazy fan for Van Morrison or even Jim Morrison, but when I clarify, they say, "oh, who's that?"
 
For somone who grew up in Israel I can tell you that he's been admired in the US and Israel at the same way, meaning he's big in terms of indie standards but not in terms of mainstraem. unlike in the UK where is more than just a singer but a (Northen) culture icon. If you do a survey in the US I bet you 80% of the people will not know how he is where I think in the UK it will be quite the opposite.
Also the fan base is a bit different, I think that most of his UK fans are old Smiths fans or fans that started to like him because of the Smiths, where in the US most of his fans are the solo era fans when he made his big break in 'Your Arsenal' tour.

VERY GOOD POINTS THERE KARELMOZ MORRISSEY IS A NORTHERN ICON , PLUS THE POINT FROM RAQUEL ABOUT PEOPLE NOT KNOWING HIM, BEING FROM MORRISSEY`S HOME TOWN I AM UNSURE OF HIS WORLDWIDE FAME BUT IT IS PROPER COMMENTS FROM YOU TWO ,PLUS WINKWINK ETC,RATHER THAN SARCASM THAT MAKES POSTING ON HERE WORTHWHILE:cool:
 
One of the biggest shocks of my life was when I first came to London way back in 1991, out of pure luck or act of god Moz was playing in those exact dates and I went to see him in Wembley Arena.
I'll never forget the moment I came to the arena and the number of Moz-alikes was just amazing! I was thinking "damn i grew up in the wrong country!" it was a total culture shock coming from a place where you could actually count the number of people who knew who he or the Smiths were (especially before the internet era).
I was living in London between 2002-2007 and this also changed a lot regarding my understanding of the whole Smiths/Moz culture and of course I became much more obssesed (as if that was possible...).
 
I would love being a morrissey/smiths fan in England.
here in the US, like karelMoz said, unless you're in the indie scene and know about music that isn't mainstream then you may know Moz. otherwise, its just "who? what? how old is he?!" :p

or some of my relatives who actually know who he is are the ones who grew up listening to depeche mode, etc., in the 80's.
 
Yes it's a bit tough explaining to people who Morrissey is here in the US...and then when they ask what music he plays....I tell them of his most famous songs....I mention Suedehead and still nothing...until I say...you know...the I'm so Sorry song...and then, but only sometimes do they realize who he is...now, I don't even bother explaining...but I guess it's better that way..imagine a world where Morrissey was mainstream..and all over the top 40 music stations...I'm not sure If I would like that too much...:)
 
People here always ask if it's not Van Morrison I'm talking about... :mad:
Then we have my friend who called me a couple of years ago and said "that Morris person is coming to Holland!!" It turned out to be Alanis Morrisette... :mad:

But whenever I'm in the UK - almost everybody knows him.
Last year in a taxi in Liverpool I told the taxidriver I was on my way to the Morrissey gig, he took the Strangeways cd out of his bag and put it on.
And two weeks ago I was in London for one of the Prince concerts and when the people sitting next to me asked if Prince was the only artist who I would travel abroad for I said no, also for Morrissey and they started singing Sheila take a bow!!
 
I agree with the other Americans above...it is pretty shocking how many of my friends and coworkers have never even heard of Morrissey. When I say he was in The Smiths they usually give me a blank stare. I listen to the "indie" radio station where I live and they don't even really play Morrissey or The Smiths...but they do play alot of Modest Mouse! I think alot of my friends (in their 20s and 30s) are only familiar with what is shoved down their throats via MTV and since Morrissey is never played on MTV they know nothing about him.
 
I have to agree with mell's comment (and a fellow so cal fan), even in the couple of 'alternative' stations, Morrissey is played so so seldom, the smiths just as seldom (and only the 2 or 3 same big hits).

Hey mell, only KCRW and indie 103.1 (when I do get reception) plays anything other than the standard alternative stuff, wouldn't you agree? I can think of loads of groups/bands I'll never hear on the air on 91X or 94.9.
 
Yeah it was quite depressing leaving London and move to NY in terms of music channels, where in Sky you have MTV2 and VH1 classic which always have some good videos, here in the US there are simply no good music video channels.
As for radio stations it's even worse! commercial break every 5 minutes and the music is just aweful, I could not take it anymore as I am driving around an hour to work, so I subscribe to Serius and I must say that they have excellent play list with no talking or commercials, I even heard "Cemetry gates" the other day!
 
I have to agree with mell's comment (and a fellow so cal fan), even in the couple of 'alternative' stations, Morrissey is played so so seldom, the smiths just as seldom (and only the 2 or 3 same big hits).

Hey mell, only KCRW and indie 103.1 (when I do get reception) plays anything other than the standard alternative stuff, wouldn't you agree? I can think of loads of groups/bands I'll never hear on the air on 91X or 94.9.

I do have to admit I am a sucker for 94.9 here in SD...I love the fact they do not have a morning show! But you're right, it's all pretty standard stuff. So I never really hear The Smiths or Morrissey at all...when my friends say "what songs does Morrissey sing?" and I start naming them off and get blank stares, I usually have to resort to saying "do you know the theme song from Charmed??" Only then do I get nods of recognition! It's sick. And then I find myself explaining that it was a cover version so it's not even Morrissey singing...

This summer I heard "How Soon Is Now" while at Cabo Cantina (a bar filled with surfers and frat boy types) and almost fell off my seat because, well, that just never happens!
 
Yeah it was quite depressing leaving London and move to NY in terms of music channels, where in Sky you have MTV2 and VH1 classic which always have some good videos, here in the US there are simply no good music video channels.
As for radio stations it's even worse! commercial break every 5 minutes and the music is just aweful, I could not take it anymore as I am driving around an hour to work, so I subscribe to Serius and I must say that they have excellent play list with no talking or commercials, I even heard "Cemetry gates" the other day!

here's a little known secret that is catching on...both XM and Sirius will renew your subscription for substantially less money...right now you pay like what? $13 a month?...when you are up for renewal (or just call it and say you want to cancel) tell them you don't want to renew because you only listen to a few channels anyways and $13 is not too much. the sales person on the other end will then bargain with you and lower the price by up to half or maybe even more.

they are willing to do this because satellite radio is having a hard time making money...and within a few years they will probably start having some commercials...actually they already do on some channels. so they are doing whatever it takes to keep their customers.
 
here's a little known secret that is catching on...both XM and Sirius will renew your subscription for substantially less money...right now you pay like what? $13 a month?...when you are up for renewal (or just call it and say you want to cancel) tell them you don't want to renew because you only listen to a few channels anyways and $13 is not too much. the sales person on the other end will then bargain with you and lower the price by up to half or maybe even more.

they are willing to do this because satellite radio is having a hard time making money...and within a few years they will probably start having some commercials...actually they already do on some channels. so they are doing whatever it takes to keep their customers.

Oh... good to know. I just activated another radio on my account- we're up to four now, I should get a bigger price break- although the 2nd-4th radios are $6.99 each. I listen to Fred ALL DAY. I should get a price break because I only listen to Fred, unless there's a really bad song on. Fred plays Moz/Smiths almost hourly. It's brilliant. I only wish they would play newer Moz, too, but they don't go past 1991/1992- when Grunge killed Alternative.
 
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