I hope the NME get exactly what they deserve - that the print version spirals down the plughole of doom. And it's fantastic news about the new album.

Peter

(meant this to be new comment sorry uncleskinny ;)

Delighted about the new music indeed! Thank you Morrissey and co. for taking the time to inform, clarify and expose the NME (and large segment of the media in general) for what they are - attention hungry, politically driven, imps who fold for a piece of silver and who are apparently unconcerned with music, art, experience, talent and the world which they claim to provide a window into.

Watching this unravel paints and clear and vulgar picture of just how deceptive and agenda driven the world of news and media is in all of its forms. May we all learn from it and continue to remember to beware of journalists and media in general and to use our own eyes, ears, hearts and instinct when trying to make sense of everything they feed to us in the garb of "news."

If you have never been discriminated or a racist term ever said to you, you CANNOT talk about it. Because there is no way that you can have any simpathy about it. I'm a Mexican and Ive been discriminated in all different ways.

So Mr Tim Jonez, what prejudices did you grow up with?
My bet is none, unless you are non-white,gay, or poor living in the US or Mexico.

Now Merck writes directly to Moz-solo. The middleman TTY cut out at last. An interesting development in itself.

On another point, it's remarkable that Merck has decided to have this all out in public (to the point of publishing the lawyer's letters etc) though I'm pleased he has chosen to do so...

I think this is a great response from Merck and it makes me wonder if Moz did in fact tape record his interview(s) with Tim Jonze. That would be awesome...sue their asses Moz!!!

I am really happy Merck is, as someone else stated, skipping TTY and coming straight to Moz-solo. Yay! This is where the action is! Now it's time for Morrissey to start his own blog here :-) After he settles in a little, he can join us in the Frink Thread.

the editor is like 34 years old, and by the looks of his myspace page...looks and acts years younger. this Tim Jonze guy is even younger at 27...also an immature hipster byt he looks of his myspace page.

it looks like these guys simply let their inexperience take over. NME fucked up and I think jobs will be lost. sorry boys, time to grow up.

I'm so glad Morrissey has Merck on his side. This was great. I really appreciate that Moz and Merck are keeping us abreast of the situation. We care. Well, I care. I suppose I shouldn't speak for all of us.

To Morrissey, if he should happen to read this:

I know your heart. I know what you meant. You said nothing wrong. I heard no racism in your words. The whole mess seems crazy to me because I thought you came off very well in that interview... even as they were trying to smear you.

I know you must be very upset right now. You're on my mind. If you should have any particularly dark moments, please remember that many thousands of us love you to bits and always will.

Love,

but the comments Morrissey made (whether or not the questions are phrased a little differently than in the text) are racist comments. The thing is, racism isn't a simple issue. People can be racist even if they are not in the KKK. People can be racist by thinking that white people should only marry other white people or that a certain race is good/bad at certain things (example "asian people are really good at math") or that certain races should exist only on certain pieces of land.

I think it's RIDICULOUS to keep turning this around as people trying to destroy Morrissey. He's the one who brought up the issue in the first place (unless that was also misquoted!) And, the fact of the matter is, Morrissey DOESN'T have any knowledge in the state of the UK at the moment. He hasn't lived there for a while now. He has mostly been busy being a US immigrant and an Italian immigrant.

I still like the music (Smiths and Morrissey) but I really wish that he would educate himself and not blame others for his rather depressing view of race.

That SuzanneS isn't Suzanne from this site, is it? The post didn't digress to include 600 words on her morning paper showing up soggy, so I don't suppose it could be.

The whole story appears to be an attempt by the NME to generate publicity and try to create the impreassion that it has some relavance. The story is a non story, the views expressed by Morrissey even in their 'out of context' state are simply not racist. If I were Morrissey I would feel betrayed and justifiable hurt by the comments and the nature of the article, it really is one more example of the old adage that you really can not believe what you read in the papers.

Dim-wit Jonze - you are nothing but a plant. You’re blatantly a plant and you knew exactly what you were doing when you swooped Morrissey in with your carefully orchestrated devious and malicious loaded question regarding Morrissey’s possible return to Britain. You acted in a sneaky way with nothing but ill-will and malice directed at Morrissey. I could see right through you as I have stated previously. Morrissey stated facts of what did and did not occur in Britain and what is and is not occurring in Britain in RESPONSE to your mousetrap. You then blatantly proceeded to then spin, color, twist and twirl all of Morrissey’s words of facts into what can be construed as libel. I mean so many of his fans take the littlest of things so seriously. Moreover, the press, internet and television stations thrive on misconstruing nothing more and nothing less of facts of what did or did not occur. You are an evil little sneaky slimy backstabbing plant that should be deprived of blood running through your veins. You play both sides - why don’t you seek employment as a ping pong ball - I’m sure you meet the qualifications for it - you are a hypocrite and more importantly your only purposes in the music industry is to be and maintain the plant status you have achieved - so stupidly I might add. The facts here are Morrissey has nothing against immigrants, he is not a racist, and more importantly he is the most compassionate ANTI-racist, intelligent human being with more integrity then you shall ever attain. Morrissey has emphatically stated that he found “racism too silly to discuss” - reality check -- look up the word “silly” in the dictionary if you even possess one -- which I’d venture to think not. It is interesting as I was watching the DVD “Who Put The ‘M’ In Manchester?” again tonight - I observed the anti-racism comment which emphatically points out before the show begins on the DVD that Morrissey despises racism as well as rape, hunger, cancer, etc.etc. and so on. The comment in the DVD which 1000% clearly states that Morrissey despises racism interestingly was not and has not been mentioned by you the plant and all of your other “friends” at NME. I am not even going to begin to express all of the other countless times Morrissey has expressed his anti-racist views as his supporters have already done so for me with kindness and support for him - but you know what they are.

You and the NME have crossed the line and I already have personally witnessed the damages to his career as they have exploded all over the internet, TV, and press and I know that anybody that has to go through an ill willed malicious scenario like the one you have put him through wouldn’t be human if they were not suffering psychological damages.
Morrissey blatantly has a defamation case and if I have to get on a plane and go to England myself, then I shall and I shall fight for him if I have to.

So it is written, so it shall be done..... LITERALLY

TaTa you two face backstabbing plant

Kate

Here is a picture of Tim Jonze, taken from his myspace page. I'd welcome and thoughts and comments.

http://i14.tinypic.com/85apxnc.jpg

Maybe TJ is in fact telling the truth - maybe he did set out to pen a total hatchet-job, maybe the NME did re-write it out of all recognition. So why, having taken his name off the article, did he then send that chummy e-mail to Merck? Simple: to keep in with Merck in case he (TJ) were able to secure a commission elsewhere to write the character assassination he originally intended. Oh, and JFK was shot from the rear by a lone gunman. And Elvis faked his own death. And Prince Philip arranged the murder of the pregnant Princess Diana.

Way to go guys!
lets stick together and rid the world of this evil, this stinking vile cancer, once and for all! We've stood by for far too long, the time has come to stand up and be counted, the glorious day is nigh..

              DEATH TO THE N.M.E!!!!!!!

...screamingly obvious to all that TJ's palm has been crossed with silver (or the promise thereof)? I bet he's busily scribbling that "original" article on some Thai beach right now...

"And when he said I'm gonna sue you
Oh, I really felt for you"

the fact that Merck's latest missive (30th Nov) came to direct to us rather than TTY???

Please try and sort it out. We cannot tolerate this kind of injustice. It's about time the NME should be brought down to at least apologize for their wrong-doings. They have been tarnishing Morrissey for years. It's not on.

I hope Moz gets good lawyers this time. This needs to be sorted out good & proper. I really hope that NME will go out in the end! Fucking HATE the rag.

Worm posted this on the forums. Beyond the superlative insights and wordsmithing, ain't it thought-provoking?

  - What might have been, NME...

*wavy lines, pixie dust, harp strings*

The time was right to hear Morrissey’s take on the modern age.

NME: Do you feel like an elder statesman of indie?

Morrissey: Absolutely. It’s something I bear with staggering grace.

. . . [continues as published] . . .

Morrissey: ...I’m saying it’s a reality and to many people it’s shocking.

For all Morrissey’s foppish good humor during the evening, this was a more somber note on which to end our first interview. Although he lives in Italy now, Morrissey had clearly been paying attention to the latest news at home as the country debates the recent forecasts on the immigration boom in the UK.

Still, the natural inclination for hyperbole we’ve come to expect from him over the years had taken us into risky territory. These are agitated times. The new influx of immigration is coinciding with a rise of far-right activity and the BNP is recruiting supporters at an alarming rate. Wishing to avoid confusion, we called a week later to see if he wanted to clarify his earlier comments. The NME was unwilling to revist the unpleasantness of 1992 and thought he might agree. Indeed, Morrissey proved eager to elaborate.

NME: Would you like to clarify your earlier statements?

Morrissey: I stand by them mostly. I just think it could be construed that the reason I wouldn’t wish to live in England is the immigration explosion. And that’s not true at all. I am actually very worldly and there are other reasons why I would find England very difficult, such as the expense and the pressure.

NME: Did you think back over anything you said and think, ‘I don’t mean that’?

Morrissey: I feel that the whole link with the NME and the racism slur is dead wood, isn’t it? And in my life, my favourite actor is Israeli, Lior Ashkenazi, and my favourite singer was born in Iraq and now lives in Egypt. So I’m not a part of Little Britain. And by that I mean the show, obviously.

NME: Immigration allowed your parents into Britain and that’s how you got to make your very English music...

Morrissey: Yes. But once again, it’s different now. Because the gates are flooded. And anybody can have access to England and join in.

"I find racism very silly. Almost too silly to discuss. It’s beyond reason. And makes no sense and is ludicrous." Morrissey

Earlier Morrissey had told us that, as a son of Irish immigrants, and as a migrant himself (famously self-imposing pseudo-exile first in Los Angeles and then Rome) he believed others should have the same right. Like many observers concerned with current immigration policy in the UK, his real concern is regulation. He seems to favor tighter laws, although he was frustratingly vague in his response.

Morrissey: You have to be sensible about everything in life. You can’t say, ‘Everybody come into my house, sit on the bed, have what you like, do what you like.’ It wouldn’t work.

Hard to argue. But the political climate is turbulent. Controversy clouds the subject and in our soundbite-obsessed media many observers, including the NME, are deeply concerned with the language in which opinions are expressed.

NME: Do you think your comments are worded carefully? They might be taken as inflammatory.

Morrissey: [Laughs] No, not at all. I don’t think they’re inflammatory, they’re a statement of fact. Whatever England is now, it’s not what it was and it’s lamentable that we’ve lost so much.

“It’s not what it was”: here Morrissey was merely being Morrissey, reiterating his twenty-year old lament for the vanished England of his youth that has made for so many excellent songs from The Smiths (“The Queen Is Dead”) to his solo work (“Late Night, Maudlin Street”). The England he has mythologized so brilliantly throughout his career may not resemble the one the rest of us live in, but Morrissey

Do not feel defeated by this. The fans will LOVE & support you - through thick & thin. It's a farce. It's stupid, it's because the way things are at the moment. It's all silly....but we LOVE you.

Merck, old boy, you have done a nice job countering each and every argument NME and Tim Jonze have put forth.
You and M have left no stone unturned and for that I tip my cap. Well done son, let's put these scandal mongers to rest once and for all.
Even though i thought Tim seperated himself from the article initially and I gave him credit(for that), I found myself perplexed by his recent rant. A total scum bag this Tim fellow happens to be, regardless of the pressure he is facing. Shame on him and the NME, along with the parent company of the publication at ipcmedia.
As a reminder to those of you reading this, the editor of NME (New Mislead Express) can be reached at [email protected]
Feel free to let him know your thoughts. He is not afraid to share his.

That quote says it all:

"Conor told me he thinks you wouldn't want a black man living next door to you."

That is ridiculous, childish and insulting, and it speaks volumes. They are taking the words of a man who is famously awkward (and bad with things like public transport), and twisting them to fulfill some self-aggrandizing agenda.

Tim Jonze and Conor McNicholas are poor excuses for muckrakers, and they have chosen the wrong target for their wrath.

What a sad excuse for rebellion.

This is purely an observation,but..
I wonder why we couldn't get any explanation at all /except for "illness"/ when he cancels a show,but god forbid someone insinuates that our Moz is a bigot...and everyone and their brother is here to try to straighten it out.
Perhaps Merck can be this forthright when "the pipes burst"....

Very happy indeed to hear about the progress of the new album.

Thank you Merck for the update and for all you have done on Morrissey's behalf.

The Guardian link you provided certainly reflects what many have concluded here from the NME article, that is, that both the publication distorted that interview in order to portray Morrissey in the worst possible way. If they succeed in getting away with this travesty, then anybody would be game for a publication to distort someone's words and their context in order to propagate their own self-righteous agenda. As someone pointed out on that Guardian thread, what has the NME have done themselves to help expose the talents of musicians of different racial and ethnic origin in their own publication, like on the cover, for instance?

I'm convinced that both the editor and the original writer have no clue about what Morrissey represents to so many who love and admire him, nor have they made themselves familiar enough with his work or his history; for if they did, then they would or should have known better than to try to assasination him by pen. Morrissey own words and actions protect him.

Looking forward to new music in 2008.

Merck I really think you ought to try and persuade Morrissey to issue a full statement on his position rather than arguing with Jonze/NME about who said what about peripheral details.

What is going to be remembered after all this is what Morrissey said and the way the NME and others have spun it. It is not going to be good whether you win or lose in court.

I know it might go against Morrissey's pride to have to explain himself but as he wasn't really given that opportunity in the article I really think he should forget about his pride and just issue a simple statement clarifying his views on this subject.

At the moment the internet is awash with everyone else's views about what Morrissey really "meant". An honest statement from the horses mouth would put this whole situation to bed. I know this goes against his whole aesthetic as an artist but some times it's about self preservation, and it's time to stop being ambiguous and playful.

Any idea why Morrissey can't quite manage to express himself in an articulate way, like the Guardian readers who reacted to that blog entry?

Excerpts
"I particularly love the idea that Morrissey, the garlanded cultural historian and social anthropologist, has any more insight into what is 'authentically' Swedish than my dog does."

"Where's Morrissey living these days? Is it Knightsbridge? Because I can't help feeling his 'yodelling' is best suited to Switzerland.
Anyway, I seem to remember Johnny Marr saying that he got fed up of Morrisey's living in a old fashioned, black and white version of the world. Little did we know that Morrissey's black and white vision wasn't just related to music. He's a tedious, trumped-up little man who loves to stoke up controversy and feel like a pariah."

"Morrissey has always been pining for that certain past, maybe he never got over his childhood, or the security he used to go on about as he watched an old film in a sitting room with toast and tea..."

"It is not immigration that poses the problem but our own inability to adapt to it in a changing world that is the real problem. Proper education which gives us the opportunity to make sense out of our world is what is needed, instead of spoon feeding of information. The capacity to engage in critical analysis of our world allows us to call ourselves into question and stop blaming others for what are, after all, our own woes.
Morrissey's remarks can be taken probably in as many myriad ways as there are readers to read them, and this debate is instructive as to the extent to which people are determined to hurt themselves, then aggrandise their views in order to pretend they themseves are somehow significant and better than others.
Sort your own ideas out about what is bothering you, then, secure in the knowledge that you know who you are, shut your mouths till you can do some good with your opinions. Rules for a happy life."

etc etc etc.
See? it's not that hard.
I don't see the joy...he sees in passing for an idiot every time. I'm sure there are days he loathes the idea of being seen as one.