this is not a joke on behalf of the comedian to get fame or make himself/his website popular.

It's been a long wait but it will be great for the whole Smiths community to finally be able to hear these tracks. Naturally I'm sure that some will doubt the existence and availablity of these tracks but all I can add is that they do indeed exist....and I encourage everyone to post their interest in hearing the tracks on Michael's website. I hope the release of these tracks will encourage other fans and collectors to also share their rare recordings with the rest of The Smiths community.

Cheers,
Ben

"May this lovely letter reach it's destination...if only" -Oh Phoney

...is he playing HIS versions of the unreleased tracks, or MORRISSEY's versions? Is he planning on performing them live, or playing a cd? It's not entirely clear.
    If he is going to make the Morrissey versions available, i say go for it!

If these are the rejections from kill uncle . . . . Wait, I was going to make a negative comment, but instead I will say I cannot wait to hear these selections that did not make the cut for Kill Uncle.

A Morrissey spokesperson says:

The distribution of the "never before released Morrissey songs" is illegal. Barry Derbyshire has no rights to the songs. All sound elements are owned by Morrissey. Barry Derbyshire has no rights to advertise these songs and no rights to issue the sound elements. The availability of these songs, and the use of Morrissey's name by Barry Derbyshire to promote his own website, are all against Morrissey's wishes, and force the inevitable legal action. Because Barry Derbyshire's actions are unlawful, he has disguised himself as Michael Legge.

I ask Morrissey-solo NOT to promote these songs, and I ask people NOT to give Barry Derbyshire any money.

I do not believe british comedians are likely to have any unreleased Morrissey songs.

If a British comedian did have them, I can't imagine why he want people to sign a guestbook in order to release them.
I also wonder why a comedian would play rare Morrissey tracks at one of his shows. Are there that many people in a comedy club who want to hear unreleased Morrissey songs?
Why not have a clip of one of the songs to dispeal any doubt?
There is sooo much about this story that is fishey, I can't hardly get excited about it at all.
I hope I'm wrong.

not a funny one either -

On the links page a link pointing here, to M-solo, there is this quote

"Who doesn't love Morrissey? This site is incredibly anal but it's also quite fun finding out how insane some people can be. "

I am thinking this fellow is a Morrissey fan, so he well aware of what rareties would tickle our fancy, he has the excuse that no matter when he makes something up, he can yell "but I'm a comedian, it was a joke" when the jig is up. I don't know if he is a Moz fan and has been visting here, which he must be since he links to this page, why not have mentioned these songs before, mailed them to david, with no silly strings attached?

I am not even going to bother, if he releases them, great, otherwise, don't say I didn't warn you.
   

this is very...this is very....this is very...

...i don't understand!

Hmm, this whole thing does smell a little fishy. How did this guy get his hands on these unrealesed songs. As someone commented before, I think he should put 30 clips of it, to prove it.

Just to clear up any confusion. I am not someone called Barry Derbyshire. It really doesn't sound likely that someone would change their name then start up a career as a stand up comedian just to send out some unheard Morrissey songs. Very silly. Oh, and I am doing this just to promote my own website but that doesn't mean you won't get to hear these tracks. You will. Bye bye, Morrissey fans! All the best, Michael.

Seems as though "mickey" has posted before. This is what he said on moz-solo during the "striptease" hoax on napster:

I'm the only person I know with a copy of Striptease With A Difference, Born To Hang, Oh Phoney and an extra long version of Piccadilly Palare. If I knew how to upload these tracks I'd put them on Napster. Any advice?? email me at mlegge@lineone.net

Mickey -- Friday January 19 2001, @03:07AM (#5)
--

I'm inclined to believe this is actually gonna happen after seeing all this...any thoughts?

he's taking the mickey and pulling our legge.

I'll believe it when I see it. I'm curious to know how he got his hands on these songs, if in fact he actually has them. The guy is a comedian after all, this could just be another lame joke. Only time will tell...until then I remain doubtful.

I'd love to here new Mozza stuff but it sounds a bit fishy how could a some famous guy have unreleased songs and even if it does happen as one of my friends said it'd be illegal. Look lots of things have been said about Mozza's future but most of the things that have been said have never come true take the R.E.M duet thing for example. Who is Micheal Legg anyway. I'd hope some new real news would come soon what doesn't have a catch.

From Gaf (famous on that International Playboys website)

This guy's been posted on moz-solo before; he probably had mentioned something morrissey-related on his site and then posted to David T. as a news item in order to boost traffic. I've seen this site before.

But I have to agree with other posters who think it's a bit bizarre that a stand-up comedian is going to hold Morrissey songs hostage unless he can generate enough interest on his guestbook. Do British stand up comedians often perform songs as part of their act? How did he come into possesion of the songs, anyhow? And why would anyone want to hear his versions? Just post the lyrics.

I hope Morrissey does sue this annoying fellow.

...hidden in the grass

Can one BE anymore vague?
Is this comedian being funny?
Why would he be offering songs from the Kill Uncle era now, ten years after the fact?
Maybe I'll download Striptease With a Difference, Watch old footage of the Gulf War, and pretend it's 1991 all over again! BTW, what is this internet thing everyone's been talking about?

it's been nearly 24 hours and nobody has come by threatening a lawsuit. maybe this is a legit deal.

im hugely confused!it sounds very shady and dodgy.im not expecting this to happen i have to say.who is michael legge anyway,or whatever his name is?or am i being stupid here??i would love to hear these songs though,if this isnt a big hoax.

It's a hoax, folks.

In the UK, I really cannot imagine anyone
releasing Morrissey tracks at any
kind of event, not even Morrissey's unreleased
tracks !

If this particular person has these songs then I would be very surprised. An avid collector, or even a serious collector, would have released
them by now if they were available. It's also extremely likely that news of there availability would have progressed through to Moz-Solo trading site.

Of course, these songs are recorded and stored
somewhere, but where ? In a way, that's what makes Morrissey so special as an artist and performer.

Even his unreleased tracks are amazingly good.

Hazard

As long as this person doesn't try to make buck or two, then he won't be on the list for those who require legal action taken against them.

I recieved this email from Mikey today, which makes me more optomistic on the matter.

MICHAEL:

My friend used to work in Clive Langer's recording studio. He taped the tracks and gave them to me. That simple. If I could upload these tracks today, I would, but I don't know anything about computers. I was able to send a one minute clip to Ben Lilly (also on the Morrissey-Solo
comments) and I asked Morrissey-Solo fans to offer help quite a long time ago. All I
got back was a bunch of bitter people telling me I didn't have the tracks. Hmmmm, then what have I been listening to? At the moment I'm in contact
with Kristin Pradlik who run's an American based Smiths website, she has kindly agreed to upload the tracks for me. I thought having a playback at a comedy show might be a fun way of hearing the songs first. Hope that clears some stuff up.

www.michaellegge.co.uk

.... Now this might become a reality as Kristins' website is "I WANT THE ONE I CAN'T HAVE", which also features Mp3s of the week. I frquent her site quite alot and is very good, maybe this isn't a hoax.

Chris S. aka MOZ HEAD 2000
  p.s: if you want a link to her site, i have it in my quick links in my webpage under hte name MRS Shankly's MP3 of the week.

Following these comments, it's entirely
possible that clanger and winstanley have pulled a fast one.

This is the most amazing Morrissey info released this year..the dvd pales into the distance compared to these beauties !

Hazard

The impending release of these songs is a testiment to the power of Morrissey-solo as a rallying point for the unearthing of even more unreleased tracks. A while back some excellent discussions took place where many fans shared information on unreleased songs.(Click on my user name to link back to a few of these discussion threads that pooled some very interesting fan information on unreleased tracks) The discussions were in part the seeds for the ultimate unveiling (or soon to be) of the tracks Michael has offered to share. As a result it certainly seems worthwhile to continue to encourage these discussions in hopes that even more rarities could be uncovered.

For anyone with rare tracks that are considering whether to share them with the rest of the fan base, here are a few good reasons to consider:

1) I can't imagine Smiths fans not being highly appreciative of another fan making available one of these "lost" recordings.

2) Through the goodwill of making a track they have available, they may discover that tracks they don't have also become available.

3) The general preservation of the track and continued existence of the recording if released will remain should the limited copies in existence ever become inadvertantly destroyed.

4) Based on the 30 second clip of "I Want A Boy For My Birthday", the recording has already become heavily worn. I'm certain that tracks like these could be restored somewhat if digital copies were made available to other fans with the appropriate audio equipment.

If anyone has any information on unreleased tracks to share, please post. I will also be happy to go back and re-post any of the previously uncovered information if it may help lead to the unveiling of the other unreleased tracks that are still floating about out there.
 
The collective knowledge The Smiths community has the ability to unearth some amazing stuff.

Cheers,
Ben

Well I emailed our beloved David T. the other day and I asked him, if he could post some of my Mp3s on this site, since I have no capabilities in putting on mine. I told him that I had the whole Tempe, AZ show, the first show from the Oye Esteban! tour which I converted to Mp3s. I still have not had a reply, I don't know if he wants to do this or not. Maybe I'll get a reply back from him this week. As of the moment I'm willing to give Morrissey-Solo a show every week so you guys can download. I have quite a large selection as you can see from the list below. My point in doing this is just to let the fans hear these shows and live the moment, and to some few relive that magic night. Maybe we can get a thread started so David can be aware of the matter.
In any case, I just want to satiate the need.

Chris S. aka MOZ HEAD 2000

THE SMITHS!

I Suffer
Genius Steals
Butterfly Collector
May We Have A Record Contract, Please
Reel Around The Fountain
El Dorado
James Dean Is Dead
Little Charmers
Young Guns Go For It
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Asleep
Same Day Again
Last Of The English Roses
So This Is America
Merry X-MAS
Wonderful Woman
A Nice Bit Of Meat
Girl Afraid
GLC's Jobs For A Change Festival
Live In Madrid
Flowers
The Final Gig
A Kind Of Loving
Hammersmith
Electric Ballroom
Sorrow's Son
Handsome Devils
Unloveable
Rusholme Ruffians Play At Home
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Euromixx
Money Changes Everything
Dance With Octopuses
Misery Loves Company
Never Had No One Ever

MORRISSEY!

Dreams I'll Never See
Famous When Dead
All Over Battersea
A Cold Night In Bradford
New Brunswick/Toronto
Love To See Him
Introducing Morrissey
Practising Troublemaker
Live In Dallas
Shoplifters From London
That's New Entertainment
Guilt By Implication
B-Sides
I'm A Poet
In Person
His Master's Voice
Pillow Talk
Angelic Upstart
Welcome To The West End
Higher Education
Hello Lowell!
Conversationalist
Modern Rock Live
Maladjusted Interview/Smiths
Digital Excitation
Home Is Where The Heart Is
Famous International Playboy
Happy XMAS!?
It's Nice To Be Home (The Greek, Los Angeles 97')
But Who Asked You Anyway (Bridges Aud.Clairmont, 97)
Wolverhampton 88' ((MOZ's FIRST SOLO SHOW))
Nothing to Declare But My Jeans
I'm A Poet (Yellow Cover) ((THE REAL BEATHOVEN WAS DEAF))
Beautiful Liar
Thousand Oaks Live 97'
Moz @ GLR Radio
Words + Music; Morrissey & Joni Mitchell


OYE ESTEBAN!

Sweet And Tender Hooligans (Tempe, AZ 10/5/99)
My Only Mistake Is I'm English (Santa Barbara, CA 10/6/99)
Coachella (Indio, CA 10/9/99)
Thank You, You Sexy Beasts (Bremen, Germany 10/16/99)
Vaya Con Dios (Lisboa, Portugal 10/30/99)
Drag Me To Modena (Modena, Italy 11/3/99)
Live In Athens (Athens, Greece 11/6/99)
Snottingham (Nottingham, UK 11/9/99)
Your Gonna Need West Ham On Your Side (London, UK 11/16/99)
I Did It My Way (Norwich, England 11/21/99)
East Of Salisbury (England 11/22/99)
Live In Limerick (Ireland 11/28/99)
Bye Bye To The UK (Aylesbury, UK 12/6/99)
It's Illegal (San Francisco 12/10/99)
Mozza Rocks The Bay (San Francisco 12/11/99)
Frisky Fresno (Fresno, CA 12/12/99)
Sandy Gringo (San Diego 12/14/99)
Moz Angeles (Los Angeles, CA 12/15/99)
Hollywood Nights (Los Angeles, CA 12/16/99)
It's Morrissey Karaoke, Jesus Help Us (Ventura, CA 12/18/99)
Lost Vegas (Vegas, NV 12/19/99)
I Am The Fuzz and This Is A Raid (Vegas, NV 12/20/99)
Live In Spokane (Spokane, WA 2/1/00)
Another Night Of Useless Folk Songs (Portland, OR 2/2/00)
I Want The One I Can't Have (Minneopolis, 2/8/00)
Live At The Barrymore Th

Read the rest of this comment...

and making one of the songs available now - that would certainly end the debate - and would be very appreciated as well.

"dog man star
took a suck on a pill"

I'm think I'm right in saying that I'm one of only a handful of people, on this site, who have actually been to one of Michael's shows. I was surprised and pleased to discover that he's a Morrissey fan. I don't think this thing is a hoax as he does have better material than this I assure you.

Why this guy?
Why at one of his shows?
Why spam his guestbook first?
How did he really get the tracks?
What does our Steven think about this?

And the most important question of all...

Why is there air?

I'm sick and tired of hearing about legendary lost tracks. Put them on this frickin' website. Post them on Gnutella and anywhere else. Release the brand new stuff he's pushing (ever so slothfully) to the record companies. Buy illicit DVDs and pimp bootleg MP3s until all of us have every word he's ever recorded. Steal every last royalty dollar from the pockets of his designer LA jeans, put him on the dole, revoke his Green Card and force him back to dreary old England.

Then, maybe then, he'll be poor and depressed enough to write something that is worthy of his early work when he was poor and depressed.

I praise this comedian. Thanks to him I get to hear a new Morrissey song. I hate to say it, but for Morrissey to whine and sue over this one .... I am a 14 year fan, but I have about had it, stop being seen all over plastic LA and put a new album out, a 15-20 track album you lazy, greedy wanker!!! Does he love his fans? I'm starting to wonder!!