Morrissey signed to Sanctuary? Alain Whyte on BBC6 says NO, NME says YES
posted by davidt on Wednesday May 15 2002, @08:00AM

Colleen Lippert writes: I'm listening to BBC 6 Music (May 15) and just heard that Morrissey has NOT signed on with Sanctuary, is still looking into a few of the major labels (Universal was mentioned), will be in rehearsal for the upcoming tour in July, and will hopefully head into the studio to record October-December (reportedly, they have put together a few dozen songs). All this according to a short sound bite by Alain Whyte who also said that Morrissey and the rest of the band are anxious to get something out to their fans. Hmmm...
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Paul Rhodes writes: This week's NME (18/05/02, out today) reports that Morrissey has finally secured a record deal with Sanctuary records in the US. NME are also claiming that their poll result with The Smiths being no.1 has kickstarted a Moz comeback.
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Hairdresser on Fire writes: In today's NME (treat with as much sceptisism as you feel appropriate):

MORRISSEY IS BACK!
NME poll result kickstarts a Moz comeback

'Morrissey has at last secured a new recording contract. Just weeks after his former band The Smiths topped NME's anniversary poll,..., Morrissey is reported to have signed a deal with Sanctuary Records in the US, with a release planned for October.'

The article goes on to suggest the deal is all down to the poll result in typical NME style. It looks like the NME wants to make it up.


Update: 05/15 18:18 GMT: Hairdresser on Fire has posted the transcript in a comment below.
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    Morrissey signed to Sanctuary? Alain Whyte on BBC6 says NO, NME says YES | Log in/Create an Account | Top | 29 comments | Search Discussion
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    Oh man, not again... (Score:0)
    Well, Alain should know, shouldn't he? There goes that contract down the drain.

    I do not trust NME one second, and they probably just ripped the news from Morrissey-solo anyway... Oh, I am soo dissappointed. Being a Morrissey-fan is really a rollercoaster. So much for the sunny weather. Back to the old anti-depressives again.
    Anonymous -- Wednesday May 15 2002, @08:18AM (#29757)
      80 songs on a cd (Score:1)
      by the way things are going I hope when moz finally gets a deal, he records a cd with like 80 songs so he can stay another 5 years in the desert and me not having to drool for a new cd. i want 80 songs NOW!
      Frankly Vulgar -- Wednesday May 15 2002, @08:22AM (#29758)
      (User #1967 Info)
      "You can tell, by the way, i sleep all day"
        Presumptuous and delusional (Score:1)
        The NME is just ridiculous - how's trying to take credit for everything the man has accomplished...?
        Just for the things they've said I wouldn't believe a word of it. Self glorifying asses...
        18th pale descendant <eighteenth_pale_descendant@yahoo.com> -- Wednesday May 15 2002, @09:07AM (#29761)
        (User #3874 Info)
        a little cloak-and-dagger
          Lazy journalism (Score:0)
          I would bet the NME got their information from this website. Assholes.
          Anonymous -- Wednesday May 15 2002, @09:12AM (#29762)
            Re:Lazy journalism (Score:3, Informative)
            OK, here's the full story so you don't have to buy the NME - it's tucked away on page 10, but does have a picture. I reckon they may well have ripped it off here. I got a bit excited when I saw the story this lunchtime, and haven't managed to log-on here for a few weeks - with hindsight it's probably just recycling - I'd be more inclined to trust our other source. Judge for yourselves.

            Personally I reckon the whole thing sucks. NME actually used The Smiths' poll win to reiterate the utter tripe they always spout about Morrissey's 'racist' songs. They always edit any responses down so they bear little resemblence to the original and then spout back the same old crap. It will be interesting to see if they print a retraction if the story turns out to be nonsense.

            "MORRISSEY IS BACK!
            NME POLL RESULT KICKSTARTS A MOZ COMEBACK

            Morrissey has at last secured a new recording contract. Just weeks after his former band The Smiths topped NME's anniversary poll - voted the most important artists in the paper's 50 year history - Morrissey is reported to have signed a deal with Sanctuary records in the US with a release planned for October.

            LA-based Moz has been shopping for a deal since his last studio album, 'Maladjusted' was released on Island Records in 1997, but with the press picking up on the NME poll, he suddenly found himself a viable proposition once more.
            Morrissey fans also voiced their approval of the Smiths' first place in NME's poll on the internet fan sites.

            Moz fan Rallen wrote: "Well, this is a bit of a surprise. One of the main reasons cited for the demise of The Smiths was the NME sticking its oar in and stirring things up! Still I must say I'm chuffed!"

            Another fan, Danbutt, suggested NME was desperate to build bridges with Morrissey, writing: "This makes me very happy. The love-hate realtionship with the Great Man and NME over the last ten years has made me rather sad, I think they want him back. I suspect this is an olive branch of sorts, and I'd love to think a detente might be engineered."
            Hairdresser on Fire -- Wednesday May 15 2002, @10:13AM (#29769)
            (User #1016 Info)
            "The typewriter is holy the poem is holy the voice is holy the hearers are holy the ecstasy is holy!" Allen Ginsberg.
            [ Parent ]
              Re:Lazy journalism (Score:2, Insightful)
              The NME is horrible and callous, especailly where Morrissey is concerned, they use him when they need him (like now, where crap like the Doves and 100 Bad Reasons or whatever they are called are the best things they can find to talk about. All the good bands won't give them interviews). Nobody should trust them, just watch the review of the new record when it (finally) comes out. It will be perfectly tailored to the impression the want to create of Morrissey to their impessionable readers. This means that it will ignore the quality of the recordings themselves. I personally can't wait for the NME to shut down due to its pitiful circulation, which has fallen considerably in the last 7 years or so, due to a horrible dumbing down programme.
              Rico -- Thursday May 16 2002, @04:10AM (#29812)
              (User #3487 Info | http://profiles.myspace.com/users/5347553 )
              Karma equals minus infinity, but I stand up for the truth
              [ Parent ]
            • This Article is My Fault by Ghostface (Score:1) Saturday May 18 2002, @01:22AM
              who ya gonna believe? (Score:1)
              by the way, moz-solo called me a 'cowboay'...
              thirsty fists <thirsty_fists@yahoo.com> -- Wednesday May 15 2002, @10:01AM (#29767)
              (User #149 Info)
              "world's ugliest boy"
                who ya gonna believe? (Score:1)
                by the way, moz-solo called me a 'cowboy'
                thirsty fists <thirsty_fists@yahoo.com> -- Wednesday May 15 2002, @10:05AM (#29768)
                (User #149 Info)
                "world's ugliest boy"
                  nme. (Score:1)
                  Why can't the nme go and drown itself ?
                  So we all can live happily ever after.
                  tommy trinder <tommy trinder> -- Wednesday May 15 2002, @12:52PM (#29779)
                  (User #1910 Info)
                    The Worst of Times... (Score:2, Insightful)
                    I don't think we should blame the NME. Yeah, they've been sloppily slow on this but it seems a lot of the flack vented here seems to be over the fact that the Sanctuary deal has turned out to be bollocks, yet again.

                    Sadly, we must face facts. Morrissey getting a deal in 2002 is Page Ten news - that's surely a wake up call in itself. As a recording artist he's been inactive longer than The Smiths were together. Morrissey could get a deal yesterday if he accepted the fact that however much we love him, he IS Page 10 news nowadays. But he seems to be holding out for a golden handshake that just isn't going to happen.

                    Doubtless there'll be a hundred responses to this of the "how dare you" nature but it's beyond a joke now. If Morrissey was a credible artist bursting with ideas and new songs, the ink on the contract would be dry by now. The expectations on his next record - whenever that comes - are of Stone Roses' Second Coming proportions. He just can't possibly live up to it.

                    Meantime what the hell happened to Johnny Marr's Healers album? "Spring 2001" I heard.

                    If both these men can't get a record out for love nor money, I think there's one obvious solution and the ONLY solution that would produce the six zero sum our Steven is obviously holding out for.

                    These truly are rotten days...
                    Alf Ramsey's Revenge -- Wednesday May 15 2002, @03:04PM (#29788)
                    (User #4965 Info | http://www.mehstg.co.uk/ramsey.htm )
                    It's all a matter of opinion...
                    after all... (Score:2, Funny)
                    even after Mojo putting the smiths on the cover and complete with a several page spread a year before, it still took the NME writing a tiny little snippet about the Smiths being an influential band for someone to sit up and take notice and finally give Morrissey the record contract he's been so wrongfully denied for 5 years.
                    suzanne -- Wednesday May 15 2002, @04:03PM (#29791)
                    (User #36 Info | http://www.myspace.com/snootywriter )
                    I scare dead people.
                    • and... by suzanne (Score:1) Wednesday May 15 2002, @04:05PM
                      that is so WEIRD (Score:2, Interesting)
                      ok, if Alain was on radio 6, then why on earth didn't anyone come by here to say, "be sure to listen for alain coz he's going to be on the radio tomorrow" or anything? does anyone even know why he was on the radio to begin with? what context can we put this interview in?

                      and also, why such a short tour? rehearse in july for a world tour, go out in august or so for a total of about 2 months just to cut it off to go into a studio in October for a few months to record dozens of songs after all this time and supposedly without the backing of a label?
                      suzanne -- Wednesday May 15 2002, @04:18PM (#29794)
                      (User #36 Info | http://www.myspace.com/snootywriter )
                      I scare dead people.
                      Moz: if You are reading this... (Score:1)
                      Of course, I would trust Alan Whyte info, rather then gossip of NME. Alas, Moz is still searching for his potential employment... Alf, you may be right, but I hope you are wrong... Moz has new material, he just needs to find some label, both financially and artistically accomodating... like Matador. :)

                      Perhaps I'm just dreaming... But, think about this... Moz is climbing up on his empty bed (or maybe bed is not empty at all, who knows... :-) ), but can't fall asleep... 'Cause major moneyed labels don't want take him in, instead they are opting for Britney and Brandy... Moz is upset, he wants to call Stipe or Alain to talk about his troubles, but it is too late... So he is logging in at mozsolo and reading this message thread, up to my message...
                      Here are my advice for Moz:

                      1.)
                      Matador Records 625 Broadway NYC 10012
                      www.matadorrecords.com

                      Matador is the home of Belle and Sebastian (UK) group, as everybody knows...

                      Artistically accomodating label... but perhaps financially not up to the Moz level? Moz, try 'em anyway... Screw the big labels, those morons are giving busloads of cash to Mariah Carey, of all peoples... At least Matador knows how to cater to the right kind of audience... And everybody knows, that B&S and Moz fan bases hugely overlap.
                      So Matador may be a suitable vehicle for Moz Comeback...

                      2.) A&M Records
                      www.amrecords.com
                      Those guys just released excellent Suzanne Vega album "Songs in Red and Grey"... Vega is a typical cult artist: thumbs-up from critics, healthy but "medium-size" following, respectable but relatively modest sales figures... (Am I shameless, just using any excuse to promote my favourite female artist!) Vega is not anything dollar-wise remotely like Brittney or Madonna or Limp Bizkit... College campuses crowd, 20-something urbanites, East & West Coasters plus Chicago... That's Moz and Vega album-buyers mostly... The same demographic... If those folks (A&M Records) are helping to revive Vega career, they would help Moz... Artistically accomodating label... but perhaps financially unsatisfactory for Moz??? On the other hand, what Moz has to lose? "Freedom is another word for nothing left to lose", right Miss Joplin?

                      P.S. It is nice to discuss something else for a change then Middle East... :-) And, no, I'm not affiliated neither with Matador, not with A&M Records, I'm just your average slightly balding 30-year-old SD schmuck... :-)

                      P.P.S. Cheers for the gorgeous and intellectual Mozsolo women: Suzanne, Tibby and Hafvine... :-) Suzanne, I will check Rufus "Poses". I can't deny it... he is very handsome in a Calvin model way (good my mom doesn't know I said it:-)), but is he for real as a musician? When I saw Rufus, he spent around 15 minutes telling how he had a wild date with some guy at Marilyn Manson party... So people were growing antsy, like, let's move on and where is Tori?! Maybe I was biased against him from the start: when you go to see Tori Amos, people are wired for Tori-music only, the same as Mozfans are booing any Moz-openers, good or bad. So maybe Rufus at LA was at bad shape. Maybe big spacious venues didn't do Rufus W. any justice, after all he sounds little bit like small-venue Cabaret singer (Lisa Minelli like), so I will borrow his record from somebody and give it a try...
                      Fox in the Snow -- Thursday May 16 2002, @01:17AM (#29800)
                      (User #4967 Info)
                      Another failed deal (Score:1)
                      I had hoped that this one would have happened, even though Sanctuary aren't the biggest of labels, but like someone said before, he isn't front page news anymore - he is over 40, and I can't really think of any 40 year olds that get major deals and take the charts by storm.
                      It's getting to the point where there's more chance of a bloody Smiths reunion than a new Morrissey record.
                      Spring-Heeled Fish <fikfish@hotmail.com> -- Thursday May 16 2002, @02:17AM (#29806)
                      (User #1479 Info)
                      Throw your NME copy onto the fire, come out and find the one you love!!!
                      nme (Score:1, Interesting)
                      NME continue to astond me with absolute crap they come out with(They try to claim on eveyones success)I boucht the issue with the 50 greatest bands , and although they may have got it right the articles on all the bands were terible;every page was simply bigging up the nme and how they had made all these groups great, the interviews were based arong questions such as 'why is the nme so great?'.I have never been so disgusted with a magasine as i was with that one.I dually filed my copy in the bin.
                      Anonymous -- Thursday May 16 2002, @03:55AM (#29810)
                        Sleepin with the NME (Score:1)
                        Please ignore the NME it is tedious crap. I used to read it, it used to actually be quite good, then it began to feature people like Mel C, Phil Collins and
                        Bros on the cover in the mid to late Nineties. I have just one thing to say to the management team of that particular newspaper. The direction that things have been going for a while (i.e. down) is irreversible. Jump ship now, before it's too late!
                        Rico -- Thursday May 16 2002, @04:23AM (#29814)
                        (User #3487 Info | http://profiles.myspace.com/users/5347553 )
                        Karma equals minus infinity, but I stand up for the truth
                          Thats IT!! (Score:0)
                          OK, that guy who plays the angel from Port Charles seems to know all the inside info about Morrissey and he is going to be at Planet Hollywood today in NYC signing autographs. I am going to go down there and ask him what is going on with the world tour, record deal ect. I will endure a train ride, waiting in line and paying money for an autograph just for my fellow MOZ fans.
                          Anonymous -- Thursday May 16 2002, @05:12AM (#29818)
                            A new album is natural and real... (Score:1)
                            ...but not for such as you and I.

                            Well, I wouldn't trust NME if my life depended on it and the BBC are pretty reliable so I guess that means wainting and waiting and waiting again.
                            I want a new Moz-album and I want it THIS INSTANT-it's written all over my face!
                            Morrissey, how soon is NOW!?
                            Spineless Swine <kingbeer@morrissey.zzn.com> -- Thursday May 16 2002, @10:20AM (#29837)
                            (User #4968 Info)
                            Leave your future behind you.
                              Re:A new album is natural and real... (Score:2, Informative)
                              The BBC6 web site (see "Coming Soon" section) [bbc.co.uk] says Alain Whyte will appear on Liz Kershaw's show on May 22nd and will discuss the record deal rumours.
                              Almodis <almodisNO@SPAMhotpress.com> -- Friday May 17 2002, @06:40AM (#29897)
                              (User #4664 Info)
                              ...the Crime they styl'd 'Anonymity.' That is, I left messages posted publicly, but did not sign them. -- Thomas Pynchon
                              [ Parent ]
                              Shame (Score:1)
                              The shame for all of you buying NME. After the lengths they went to to destroy Him after Finsbury Park I'm amazed any of you buy this rag at all. (Look at their web shite, its cheeper)
                              Q -- Wednesday May 22 2002, @08:27AM (#30288)
                              (User #5046 Info)
                              "In the days when you were hopelessly poor, I just liked you more"


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