Morrissey-solo | Paul Merton recalls hostile Smiths audience

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Paul Merton recalls hostile Smiths audience

posted by davidt on Wednesday February 28 2001, @10:00AM

N writes:

I was watching the British comedians Mel and Sue on Paul Merton's "Room 101" the other night. It's a BBC programme where celebrities are interviewed about their most hated things in life. Anyway, when they were discussing hostile audiences, Paul Merton mentioned that he had the same management as The Smiths in the 80s. He was sitting in the manager's room counting the takings one night when Morrissey burst in, utterly distraught. Someone had thrown a sausage at him on stage during "Meat Is Murder". Even worse, the sausage was pre-cooked. Mel and Sue were appropriately shocked.

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Paul Merton recalls hostile audiences | Log in/Create an Account | Top | 56 comments | Search Discussion

The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

The Sauage (Score:1)

"Someone had thrown a sausage at him on stage during "Meat Is Murder". Even worse, the sausage was pre-cooked."

That has to be one of the funniest things i have read in a while.

Mr Elliott -- Wednesday February 28 2001, @10:10AM (#8436)
(User #2439 Info)

Re:The Sauage by ms_smith86 (Score:1) Wednesday February 28 2001, @11:13AM
- Re:Sausages by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday February 28 2001, @07:04PM
- You have to appreciate the irony? by Benji (Score:1) Wednesday February 28 2001, @11:31PM
  - Re:You have to appreciate the irony? by ms_smith86 (Score:1) Thursday March 01 2001, @09:21PM
    - Re:You have to appreciate the irony? by Benji (Score:1) Thursday March 01 2001, @10:50PM

Call yourself a smiths fan? by Anonymous (Score:0) Thursday March 01 2001, @07:33AM

Re:Call yourself a smiths fan? by Mr Elliott (Score:1) Thursday March 01 2001, @09:43AM

exactly! screw moz-fan elitism! (Score:2, Insightful)

there's a difference between being a music fan and being a no-brain music-zombie.

i think the reason for making the song 'meat is murder' was the put the issue on the table for those willing to listen and make those people think. and if it made vegetarians out of some of the listeners, then cool - it did something morrissey probably had planned. that being said, i don't think any of the smiths expected all who listened to 'meat is murder' to change their food preferences right then and there. and i certainly do not believe the smiths would have shunned those who didn't go vegetarian after listening to the song and praise those who did as 'true smiths fans'.

yet, despite this, there is this 'holier-than-thou' attitude some morrissey fans hold either because they are or became vegetarians, or because they claim to like every song morrissey wrote, or because... i dunno... their hair is quiffed. screw this stupid concept! what do these things prove?

furthermore, screw this false sense of authority to question whether another individual is a 'true fan' of morrissey due to achieving the aforementioned superficial 'prerequisites'.

it has never crossed my mind that the whole point of the smiths was to create a pretentious and superficial fanbase that gives no regard and respect for individuals. and certainly, it never crossed my mind that morrissey's purpose in writing music was to force-feed his own ideals into his fanbase and make little morrissies out of them.

rather, i think the smiths tried to combat those very things which were ingrained in the pop-culture, at a time when the buy-buy-buy glam and glitz of consumer-pop in form of practically homogeneous bands reigned supreme.

state of emergency -- Thursday March 01 2001, @11:56AM (#8496)
(User #837 Info)
"others conquered love, but i ran..."

[ Parent ]

Re:exactly! screw moz-fan elitism! by Mr Elliott (Score:1) Thursday March 01 2001, @04:37PM
- Re:exactly! screw moz-fan elitism! by CantThinkofWittyName (Score:1) Thursday March 01 2001, @04:55PM
  - Re:exactly! screw moz-fan elitism! by ms_smith86 (Score:1) Thursday March 01 2001, @09:28PM
  - MEAT IS MURDER and that's the truth. by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday March 02 2001, @05:49AM
  - Re:exactly! screw moz-fan elitism! by Mr Elliott (Score:1) Friday March 02 2001, @01:12AM
  - meat isnt murder, killing is. by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday March 02 2001, @01:09PM
  - Thank that "murder" for your existence today by mel_belle (Score:1) Friday March 02 2001, @08:06PM
  - Re:exactly! screw moz-fan elitism! by ms_smith86 (Score:1) Friday March 02 2001, @08:15PM
  - Re:exactly! screw moz-fan elitism! by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday March 03 2001, @01:01PM
  - Re:exactly! screw moz-fan elitism! by ms_smith86 (Score:1) Saturday March 03 2001, @07:54PM
  - Re:Thank that "murder" for your existence today by suzanne (Score:1) Sunday March 04 2001, @12:29AM
  - Let's get our biology right. by Anonymous (Score:0) Tuesday April 03 2001, @06:17PM
Death to Mozhead snobbery! by Lawrence (Score:1) Sunday March 04 2001, @02:56PM
- Re:Death to Mozhead snobbery! by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday June 01 2001, @02:19PM

Call yourself a rational human being? by mel_belle (Score:1) Friday March 02 2001, @07:50PM
- Re:Call yourself a rational human being? by swallow_on_my_neck (Score:1) Saturday March 03 2001, @01:45PM
  - Re:Call yourself a rational human being? by Mr Elliott (Score:1) Saturday March 03 2001, @07:45PM
    - Re:Call yourself a rational human being? by Anonymous (Score:0) Sunday March 04 2001, @12:44AM
    - Re:Call yourself a rational human being? by swallow_on_my_neck (Score:1) Sunday March 04 2001, @05:53AM
      - Re:Call yourself a rational human being? by Mr Elliott (Score:1) Sunday March 04 2001, @10:24AM
      - Hee hee. by Anonymous (Score:0) Monday March 05 2001, @05:10AM
      - Re:Call yourself a rational human being? by Anonymous (Score:0) Tuesday March 06 2001, @05:55AM
- Re:Call yourself a rational human being? by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday June 01 2001, @02:24PM

Why haven't more people commented on this? (Score:1)

This is NEWS, Moz-lovers. He he.

MyMelody -- Wednesday February 28 2001, @11:00AM (#8445)
(User #2329 Info)
...don't make fun of me later... cos I'm just lost...

The Sausage (Score:1)

I recall hearing that the sausage actually flew into his mouth as he opened it to sing the word "murder".

MK Ultra -- Wednesday February 28 2001, @09:29PM (#8473)
(User #1178 Info)

Re:The Sausage by Anonymous (Score:0) Sunday March 04 2001, @04:06PM

Hoy Hoy Savaloy!! (Score:2, Funny)

I also heard that not only did the sausage fly into Morrissey's mouth but it also visibly moved as if it were alive and scuttled off stage of its own accord.

Anonymous -- Thursday March 01 2001, @04:23AM (#8481)

sausages (Score:1)

it would be nice to hear the whole story of how the smiths got into the converation, as this program deals only with things that are hated by the guests.
i cant quite fathom how mr.merton a very funny comic, stated talking about the smiths in a reflective way.....certainly mel and sue wouldnt have cause to remember / hate them as they are far younger than me...
i suspect that they made a reference to something they detested about a strain of 80's music not neccessarily the smiths, then paul digressed into his 80's manager story...zz

anyone actually SEE the program?
i missed that showing.

inlovewiththepast -- Thursday March 01 2001, @05:20AM (#8482)
(User #1028 Info)
truth rest your head there is more than a life at stake here..she may well sell sanctuary but she'll also sell your soul

Re:sausages by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday March 02 2001, @04:25PM

You would too if it happened to you... (Score:2, Insightful)

As a vegetarian, I find Paul Merton's comments rather insensitive. Yes, the sausage is just food to some people, but to people such as myself and Morrissey, meat signifies a great injustice and when you look into the whole animal farming industry, it's quite simply horrifying.

The vegetarian debate can go on and on, but it all boils down to whether you care or not about where the food on your plate comes from.

Personally, I'd rather not eat bits of dead animals. Don't forget kids... that's what it is, whether it's in the shape of a smiling face or as a bloody steak being lovingly prepared by your friendly (yeah, right...) Butcher.

MEAT IS MURDER. How much longer will it take to get the message through to some people?

swallow_on_my_neck <United Kingdom.> -- Thursday March 01 2001, @07:25AM (#8484)
(User #2115 Info)

Re:You would too if it happened to you... by Anonymous (Score:0) Thursday March 01 2001, @09:25AM
- I don't get why you don't understand. by swallow_on_my_neck (Score:1) Friday March 02 2001, @06:06AM
  - Re:I don't get why you don't understand. by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday March 02 2001, @06:46AM
  - did your hear the celery scream??? by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday March 02 2001, @10:42AM
  - Icky makes it tricky by green crooner (Score:1) Friday March 02 2001, @04:24PM
    - Re:Icky makes it tricky by neal (Score:1) Friday March 02 2001, @07:04PM
- Your argument is lame. by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday March 03 2001, @04:44PM
  - Re:Your argument is lame. by Anonymous (Score:0) Sunday March 04 2001, @12:39AM
- Re:You would too if it happened to you... by Anonymous (Score:0) Monday March 05 2001, @06:56AM
  - Re:You would too if it happened to you... by state of emergency (Score:1) Monday March 05 2001, @11:30AM

sausage (Score:2, Interesting)

The Room 101 anecdote was an embellished account of a renowned Smiths incident well documented at the time and in biographies.

Basically somebody had written the words MEAT IS MURDER on a string of sausages as a literal protest (it was a crude pro-veggie gesture). During the song they threw it onstage at Moz, apparently as a euphoric symbolisation of the song's meaning. Ofcourse it backfired horribly when it hit Moz in the mouth forcing him to accidentally take a bite. He then left the stage to recover.

The way Merton told it on Room 101 was distorted so as to suggest he'd been bullied off by irate meat eaters. This wasn't the case and such stories should be brought back down to size before they escalate into gross rock'n'roll myth.

Anonymous -- Thursday March 01 2001, @07:41AM (#8486)

Re:sausage by MK Ultra (Score:1) Monday March 05 2001, @12:37AM

Porkies (Score:2, Funny)

Dear Jim,

That wasn't a "sausage".

Sincerly,

Lorena Bobbitt

Jim Rome -- Thursday March 01 2001, @11:52AM (#8494)
(User #720 Info | http://www.jimrome.com/ )
Rome's Smack-tionary coming soon....yeah, this time I mean it.

Anonymous (Score:1, Interesting)

Just my contribution to the meat is murder debate:
(this is taken from the "homme alone interview" in '92)

And those leather shoes you're wearing?
Moz:Yes, and this is a leather belt.
Explain, please. Don't you feel complicit?
Moz:I don't recall at any time asking people to stop eating dead animals or to stop wearing leather. I think if you ask people to do everything, they become so confused that they do absolutely nothing.

-And by the way (as our beloved johnny rogan duly noted) a death for no reason is tragic, but hardly equals murder.

Anonymous -- Friday March 02 2001, @02:09PM (#8535)

heard the news? by CantThinkofWittyName (Score:1) Saturday March 03 2001, @02:49AM

What a wuss.... (Score:0)

I enjoy listening to the Smiths and Moz (more a few years ago than now i must admit) but they still rank up there for me but this has got to be the most hilarious thing i have ever heard... He is such a girl!!

Anonymous -- Sunday March 04 2001, @01:01PM (#8613)

Bacon, Hamburgers, Steak - YUM! (Score:0)

I love meat, I eat it every day.

Chicken fajitas - it doesn't get any better!

Bring on Meat is Murder, I like to hum along to a nice ditty too!

Anonymous -- Monday March 05 2001, @10:14AM (#8649)