my apologies if it's un-morrissey-fan of me to not know who howie klein is and how his role in reprise records played an instrumental part in the success of both morrissey and the smiths.

I had an experience with him and couldnot beleive that this was a man that morrissey approved of. it happend a few years back when moz was making an appearance at San Bernadino radio station. a bunch of fans headed to the Sunset MArquis to catch a glimpse of him afterward. Well ol' Howie plucked a young man from the crowd and took him for a "ride" in a dark lincoln continental when he came back we asked the kid what did he say? the boy told us that he could get him in to see morrissey but that morrissey was tired, that he was going to be at the Warner/Reprise lot in burbank the next day and that he could arrange a meeting there. so since the kid was so young he said there was no way that he'd be able to make it, so a friend and I decided to go. we waited all day. finally after 5 hours waiting in the lobby of Mr. Klown's office, he shows up. My friend asked about Morrissey and with the most disgusting look he could ever muster up, he look at my friend and said "Morrissey isn't coming here!" and he was sooo rude. I guess because we were not young boys, we werent treated with kindness. believe me he is a jerk. I just lightly skimmed over what happend, but there is more troubling details!

This is what I know of Howie. I've never met him, but after I sent in my fax message to Morrissey from the back of a KROQ calendar waaaay back in the day, Howie personally wrote me and said he would pass on my fan letters to the Mozzer. I subsequently got to know his assistant, Ilene Sutter, wonderful woman, who also was distributing great little Morrissey news tidbits to what I gathered was a mailing list of fans. It is through her info mailings that gave me the opportunity to sit on the fourth row when Moz and the lads played on Jay Leno. Luck had a part to play in where I sat, but I can never thank Ilene enough for keeping in touch with me as a Morrissey/Smiths fan. I've never met Morrissey, maybe he'd never want to meet me, but that was the closest I've ever been and it's a memory I cherish. Back to Howie-- you know that song, "Warm Leatherette" from the 80's that so many old-time new wavers love? Howie. He has also produced some very excellent compilations all beginning with the title "Just Say...", great true alternative music like "Nowhere Girl", "Pop Muzik", Catherine Wheel (?) doing Van Halen's "Jump". I don't know Howie personally. I've seen him in backgrounds of photos in fanzines with Morrissey on his tours, so I gathered he was something like a manager. Don't want to speculate what I don't know about as to why Morrissey didn't stick with a manager after leaving Reprise. I don't know Howie personally, but on a professional level and what he's done to continue the legacy of good music and promote true musicians, Howie rocks. Had it not been for him, there would have been no fan letters from an ill and lonely girl who kept a dream alive and it saved her.

Care to share more of those "troubling details" re: Howie Klown?!

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