posted by davidt on Monday June 29 2009, @10:00AM
Uncleskinny posted the link in the forums (original thread):

Obituary: Steven Wells - The Guardian
Iconoclastic music journalist who went on to write about sport, politics and culture
David Quantick
The Guardian, Monday 29 June 2009

Excerpt:

...But before that, he had spent most of his career officially writing about music. From the awful Morrissey to indie kings Belle and Sebastian, from emo to Bono (who once sent Swells an axe, asking to "bury the hatchet"), if you weren't the spirit of punk, or pop, incarnate, if you weren't the Sex Pistols or Kylie Minogue or Pansy Division, you were worthless. Especially if you were Belle and Sebastian, whom Steven described as "self-loving, knock-kneed, passive aggressive, dressed-up-in-kiddy-clothes, mock-pop-creepiness-peddling, smug, underachieving, real-pop-hating no-talents celebrating their own inadequacy with music so white it's translucent". He invented the word "saddo". He had to; there weren't enough words to castigate the enemy so he needed to invent new ones.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough:
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • Wow, what a great guy. (Strong use of sarcasm here.) Why spend your life ripping apart wonderful music? If you don't like it, don't listen. Critics - humbug!
    Anonymous -- Monday June 29 2009, @10:05AM (#335260)
  • I think that says it all.
    Don'tOweYouAnything -- Monday June 29 2009, @10:10AM (#335263)
    (User #22516 Info)
  • First of all Belle and Sebastian had/have several female members in their group.
    And secondly I very much doubt that he invented the word 'saddo'.

    Hello Indie -- Monday June 29 2009, @10:11AM (#335264)
    (User #13749 Info | http://somedizzywhore.com/)
    Somedizzywhore.com offers free jars of beetroot for the elderly.
  • I disagreed with most of what Swells wrote but perversely always read what he had scribed in the NME anyway. So he msut have been been quite good at his job.

    No he wasnt a fan of dear ol Mozzer although he was rather infatuated..

    http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/arts-and-culture/big_mouth_strikes_again-38463039.html

    Anonymous -- Monday June 29 2009, @10:37AM (#335267)
    • Re:Swells (Score:2, Informative)

      swells was a very good writer sometimes, when he stopped ranting. i suspect you're right, swells (like most 80s NME staff) was infatuated by moz, as quantick so obviously and embarrassingly is. that NME generation were high-intellectuals by comparison to the new-lad britpop mob (let alone the idiots clinging to the wreckage now), and when a cerebral literate pop star appeared, they had their messiah to worship and crucify.

      thanks for the link - i've never supported the put-it-all-together character-assassination which swells rehearses in his article. i'd defend anyone's right to say 'reggae is vile' forever (in moz's case it was the correct rebuttal of a stupid presumptuous self-righteous question: 'what's your favourite reggae track?').

      but swells was spot on about moz's mindless utterances to NME in 2007 (which whatever the 'context' i'm sure were accurately quoted - or could NME be even stupider than i thought?):

      "The English have always been good at hybridity. We're a hybrid people. Total mongrels. It's our greatest strength. It's what makes us English. It's astounding Morrissey has never grasped this.
      Morrissey is talking shit. And--given the rise of racist anti-immigrant rhetoric on both sides of the Atlantic--it's dangerous, poisonous shit."

      i agree with every word. events since the NME interview and ensuing debate (BNP elected to European Parliament and London Assembly, Romanians attacked in Belfast) demonstrate thriving racist elements in this country whom pop stars should not risk encouraging with idle comments. it's not moz's fault that the Sun co-opted him for a hysterical full-page anti-immigration diatribe (which made no mention of how many people are leaving the UK), but if he'd thought about what he was saying rather than 'vomit up' a load of inaccurate hyperbole, they wouldn't have used him like that.

      what worries me is that while i'd have thought the Sun piece (with 3+ million readers) did more to affect his reputation than the NME interview, there was no comment from moz on that, let alone a lawsuit.
      methadone -- Wednesday July 01 2009, @07:03AM (#335418)
      (User #12826 Info)
      • Re:Swells by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday July 01 2009, @05:55PM
        • Re:Swells by methadone (Score:1) Thursday July 02 2009, @02:19AM
  • Never heard of this commentator on the arts and general street culture.

    Reading the article it gives the impression he spent his life savaging those whom were talented and creative and successful. Regardless of whether their art is to our taste or not - they enjoyed their vibrant, energetic careers and seemingly, continue to do so.

    Jealousy does nothing but destroy.
    Adelphi -- Monday June 29 2009, @10:44AM (#335268)
    (User #22701 Info)
  • Now that the guy's dead I'm not going to pretend I ever liked the man. I didn't know him but never thought much of his writing and the fact that his passing has gone under the radar speaks volumes of his contribution to music journalism. Nout!
    Anonymous -- Monday June 29 2009, @10:48AM (#335269)
    • Re:Swells by Anonymous (Score:0) Tuesday June 30 2009, @08:49AM
  • ...is that The Cunt Quantick is using his friend's obit to bash Moz (yet again); I don't think the subject disliked Moz. Yet another cheap and undignified shot, Quantick, you wanker.
    Anonymous -- Monday June 29 2009, @10:49AM (#335270)
  • I spotted Quantick in a London record shop a few months back and wanted to give him a split lip and a black eye. I didn't but I really regret it now!
    Boxers71 -- Monday June 29 2009, @12:02PM (#335274)
    (User #20608 Info)
  • He wrote a nasty article about Morrissey in Word Magazine last year. Morrissey sued them and won, and Word Magazine had to issue a public apology. Cry your eyes out, David Squashdick, you're still a loser.
    Anonymous -- Monday June 29 2009, @01:17PM (#335294)
  • Oh Dear. I see Big Mouth Strikes Again, he is back. I am having flashbacks when this idiot ripped Morrissey into a million pieces and I had to fight David Quandick along with all of the other anti-Morrissey pigs. Do these brain dead, incompetent, worthless infestations, do they ever learn. Apparently not. I mean the “enemy” managed to get themselves sued. What kind of “writers” manage to get themselves sued, when Morrissey has nothing to do with any of it. My God – you notice how he here utilized the word “awful”. Because in a court of law, to prove liable and slander, you have to prove “damages”. Notice, interestingly, this is why, David Quandick selected this particular word. Because, this way he knows that it is just an “opinion”. And in a court of law, in defamation suits, one has to provide “facts”.

    Soooo this idiot is walking on eggshells and God knows, he should be walking on eggshells, because we all know how scared he is of bothering to get himself sued. He wants people to think that he is not scared of Morrissey, yes, he wants readers to think that he is not a coward. Whereby, all he is really proving, ironically is that he is one. Because, we all on these boards, cannot be convinced that he believes the gorgeous, most talented, intelligent man – whose name is Morrissey … we cannot be convinced that anything that comes out of his lying garbage infected sewer mouth, mouthpiece is worth anything.

    The only thing that I can grasp from David Quandick’s, no amount of intelligence, writing skills. Well not really skills, because he has none. All I can conclude is that he is shivering, shaking, and just trying once again to show the world what a pathetic, spine of a jelly fish, dimensions – he was, is, and shall always be. I mean I’ll even say that other than the tape of the Jackson 5 that I brought to college … because I liked the song I Want You Back, so I could listen to it on the four and a half hour trip in my car … Michael Jackson’s lyrics, they were awful … in my opinion. Now the ‘ Jackson 5’, and Michael Jackson’s lyrics, ‘they’ were awful in ‘my opinion’.
    Kate2828 -- Monday June 29 2009, @01:32PM (#335300)
    (User #12664 Info | http://www.morrissey-solo.com/)
  • How low do you have to go to use someone's obituary as a means of taking a swipe at someone else? Complete wanker!

    boredhousewife -- Monday June 29 2009, @01:52PM (#335305)
    (User #13144 Info)
    • Re:Very low by Anonymous (Score:0) Monday June 29 2009, @02:15PM
  • go to hell!
    marred -- Monday June 29 2009, @02:01PM (#335307)
    (User #16308 Info)
  • it spells S-T-E-V-E-N P-U-S-H O-F-F ....oh you have ...well done !!
    quarryman -- Monday June 29 2009, @02:24PM (#335320)
    (User #22602 Info)
  • good riddance! but lets pour some concrete on the gravesite anyway to be sure
    Anonymous -- Monday June 29 2009, @03:27PM (#335337)
  • Surely that's a typo...surely it should be the Awesome Morrissey!
    Vauxhall Vixen -- Tuesday June 30 2009, @12:56AM (#335356)
    (User #19086 Info)
    • mix up by Anonymous (Score:0) Tuesday June 30 2009, @01:18AM
    • Re:Awful by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday July 01 2009, @06:39AM
      • Re:Awful by Vauxhall Vixen (Score:1) Thursday July 02 2009, @09:22AM
  • the history of music journalism.
    Swells was actually an interesting, witty writer. But Quanticks is an utterly vile character.
    totally unfunny, permanently sarcastic, like some dysfunctional, utterly twattish 15 year-old boy in the body of a fat, ugly 50-something with the most hideous accent in the history of the spoken word.
    forced to apologise to Moz over his greatest hits 'review' article in Word, the man brings a new dimension to the word 'loser'!
    Anonymous -- Tuesday June 30 2009, @01:29AM (#335358)
  • Swells was fucking brilliant and hilariously funny, whether you disagreed with him or not. His savage wit will be missed immensely. He was the only reason for reading the nme in the late 90s/early 00s. Rage in Peace, Swells.
    jammystressfordpoet -- Tuesday June 30 2009, @04:16AM (#335363)
    (User #1727 Info)
    "I'm alone. I'm not lonely"
  • appreciates being called "awful" in someone else's obit.

    It's quite an honor.
    Anaesthesine -- Tuesday June 30 2009, @04:27AM (#335364)
    (User #14203 Info)
    If Moz did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.
  • who?
    Celibate Cry <[email protected]> -- Tuesday June 30 2009, @07:09AM (#335371)
    (User #220 Info)
    and the hills are alive with celibate cries
  • It is generating a lot of nasty, ill-informed comments about someone who has recently died, and the whole article has nothinh to do with Morrissey.
    Anonymous -- Tuesday June 30 2009, @08:54AM (#335375)
    • The vitriol (Score:3, Insightful)

      on this site is always a bit out of proportion, to say the least.

      However, Quantick did choose to editorialize in an obituary, which is never a good idea for obvious reasons; this should have been about Steven Wells, not Quantick, and certainly not Morrissey.

      A strange error in judgement from a professional music journalist, and testament to the extremity of his disregard for said singer.

         
      Anaesthesine -- Tuesday June 30 2009, @10:17AM (#335379)
      (User #14203 Info)
      If Moz did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.
  • When is David Quantick gonna die?

    -RWRW
    Anonymous -- Tuesday June 30 2009, @11:56AM (#335385)
  • The first few sentences of the article say it all: he sets up a distinction between people who write about music for love and people who write about music to express their personalities, and dives enthusiastically at the latter. Much more enthusiastically than I imagine his subject would have, despite it all. I don't hate this Quantick prick because he hates Morrissey. I hate him because he's a boring egoist with a pulpit.
    Anonymous -- Tuesday June 30 2009, @12:32PM (#335388)
    • Re:ugh by Anonymous (Score:0) Tuesday June 30 2009, @03:57PM
  • I recall writing a letter to NME 12 odd years ago, I requesting they get rid of that poisonous turd that was mocking my favorite artists - It was never printed.

    For someone who spent the majority of their lifetime ripping apart music and attempting to corrupt young readers into channeling his warped view of the world, I find it quite apt that he suffered from a painful form of cancer. Death doesn't always take the good ones.
    Rich Hill1978 -- Wednesday July 01 2009, @03:07AM (#335409)
    (User #19284 Info | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mystvD33Ac&feature=channel_page)
    • Re:Wells by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday July 01 2009, @10:09AM
      • Re:Wells by Rich Hill1978 (Score:1) Friday July 03 2009, @07:03PM
  • I thought I'd post this, which just about sums some of you up. Honestly wishing death by cancer on someone and spitting on their grave. LOVELY

    -------------------------------

    Morrissey Attack
    By Steven Wells.

    The television was the colour of a television tuned to really mental TV show about giant men in rubber suits ripping Japanese Defence Force F16s out of the sky while stomping on screaming salarymen like they were man shaped and flesh and suit and shoe coloured paper bags full of over-ripe loganberries.

    “What you doing?” asked incredibly fit 23-year-old Afro-Saxon bodyguard Karen X.

    “Blogging,” replied 48-year-old publishing sensation Steven Wells.

    “What about?”

    “This TV show,” said Wells, pointing at the 85 inch Sony Fuckoffatron suspended from the ceiling of his luxurious Tokyo penthouse suite by the wire guts of an Apache attack helicopter.

    “That’s not a fucking TV show, you stupid old cunt!” snarled six-year-old Tracey Trotsky Spinoza Jones through a gob full of steroids as she swayed ever so slightly atop the exercise beam where she was practicing to win 18 golds for Team GB in the 2012 London Olympics.

    “Nah, that’s real,” confirmed black super-tight cat-suit clad Karen X.

    “Fuck me, really?” gasped Wells. “Giant fucking monsters stomping down-town Tokyo? That’s so fucking clichéd. That’s exactly the sort of lazy, half-arsed shit you’d expect some burnt-out hack to hammer out if he’d been asked to contribute a short story about Tokyo or something to a quasi-literary website and he’d forgotten about it and was now desperately churning something out just like the medical cocaine-crazed Robert Louis Stevenson on the day after his mad wife used the manuscript for Dr. Jekyl and Mister Hyde to light the kitchen fire.”

    “You’re all doomed! Doomed I tell you!” screamed Neville Himmler, chairman of the International Fascist Brotherhood of Hyper-uncritical White Supremacist Morrissey Fans as he swung—gaffa-taped up like some obscene flesh piñata—by a titanium chain from the ceiling.

    “Shut up!” barked Tracey Trotsky Spinoza Jones, spanking him in the head with a nail studded cricket stump. “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”

    “Fuck it,” growled Wells.

    “We’re on the 859th floor of the Tokyo Attack Towers—the hardest fucking building every built. A thousand fucking mad Muslim piloted jumbos packed with Anthrax, napalm and AIDS needles couldn’t dent this cunt!”

    Just then a thousand mad Morrissey fan piloted jumbos packed with Anthrax, napalm and AIDS needles and BNP election leaflets crashed into all nine sides of Attack Towers Tokyo, bouncing off harmlessly but showering thousands of innocent geishas and sexy schoolgirls and salarymen and manga artists in the street below with disease and fascist propaganda.

    “We’re under attack! Cool! This needs a soundtrack!” roared Wells, hitting a button on his remote that caused Guitar Wolf to pop out of the floor and perform a particularly splenetic version of ‘Jet Generation’.

    Everybody pogoed for a bit. And then moshed. And then did a bit more pogoing.

    “According to the news,” murmured super-sexy ninja-assassin Karen X, “downtown Tokyo is being stomped not by Godzilla and chums but by…”

    There was an incredibly tense pause.

    “A giant Rudolf Hess! And a David Irving! And a giant Morrissey!”

    “But how do they know?” asked Tracey Trotsky Spinoza Jones. “I mean, how could they possibly tell them apart?”

    “That’s not going to matter – when they’re tearing YOU apart!” grunted Morrissey fan club Fuhrer Neville Himmler through a face that looked like the alien out of the film Alien had taken a semi-sentient dump after a human head and face feast.

    “He knows something!” snarled Wells.

    “Talk!” commanded Tracey Trotsky Spinoza Jones, as she beat the spinning Morrissey fan piñata with her cricket stump.

    “Yes, talk!” roared Wells and Karen X gleefully as they too picked up cricket stumps and whupped the screaming Morrissey fan upside his
    Anonymous -- Wednesday July 01 2009, @06:00PM (#335472)
  • I didn't always agree with SW but he was always a laugh to read - seems to me he and old Moz are/were pretty similar really - full of bile and vitriol for most music that appeals to that thoroughly terrifying concept - the 'great' general public. His wit and humour will be sadly missed. Come on people - it's ok to for a journalist to slagg off Moz now and agin - he's a big man, he can take it. If Moz was a young whippersnapper starting off in pop music now, wouldn't he be telling old pop stars from yesterday to 'get off the stage'?
    Anonymous -- Thursday July 02 2009, @05:17AM (#335498)


[ home | terms of service ]