Morrissey-solo
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posted by
davidt
on Friday November 08 2002, @05:35PM
Post your info and reviews of "These Things Take Time - The Story Of The Smiths" broadcast on Nov. 8, 2002 in the comments section below.
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"These Things Take Time - The Story Of The Smiths" (Nov. 8, 2002) - reports
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These things (Score:1, Informative)
irish blood, english heart
These things take the piss (Score:2, Informative)
Basically, it was complete crap, I sat there thinking, " I turned over from that erotic movie on channel 5 for this?".
Note to programme maker: must try harder.
(User #2843 Info)
It was alright, wasn't it? (Score:1, Informative)
Thought the use of the gorillaz-esque cartoon charactertures were a bit crappy though, obviously a tight budget.
Great backstage footage though and you've got to wonder who has the rest of those tapes with the really juicy stuff on.
Not enough footage of the recent RAH gig but hopefully the Channel 4 thing will show a lot more from Birmingham et al.
Rogan appears - boo! hiss!
Calls our Moz a "strange creature" obviously no-one has ever told him he is a bald twat and there certainly is a place in hell for him and his friends.
Roddie Woomble from Idlewild summed up the recent gigs nicely by saying it was bizarre to watch 5000 grown professional men break down in tears when Moz walked on stage! Nice touch.
Other things woth commenting on:
Mike Joyce - looking very Brandon Block these days but a lot more articulate.
Sandie Shaw - looking good and yes I'm sure Mozza was very happy she answered the door in her pyjamas because I certainly would be!
John Peel - Could never mutter an unjust utterance against the God but what was the significance of the 4-2 on the wall in the background of his house?
Nice clips of the forthcoming film as well.
Hey it was better than nothing.
Whats the sketch not showing this North of the border though? Had to tune my Sky box to pickup ITV Granada!
(User #6823 Info)
these things take the piss!!! (Score:0)
they had the opportunity to educate a whole new generation and instead chose to put a cartoon mozza and some old farts who were 'smiths' for a day
crap total crap!!!
Wasted Opportunity (Score:3, Insightful)
The good things were IMHO:
- Real views from the band
- Background on Manchester/Moz upgringing
- The odd clip of archive footage
- Interviews with other people involved at the time
The bad things were IMHO:
- The albums were whizzed through at a rate with no depth of information about any of the tracks
- UK Moz fans not treated seriously
- Moz solo stuff being given rough treatment
- Moz fans presented as hangers-on to The Smiths past glories.
For the record, you have to accept that there are only so many ways you can present the same information about a person growing up in a place. At the end of the day it was inevitable that some info would have been available before. It can`t be helped.
The Smiths were sold in this show as "more than the sum of their parts", but let's face it, Moz is really good on his own too. I went to 3 packed-out shows that proved this to be true. No-one I spoke to or overheard criticised the performances. Only 2 comments I`ve seen on this site that said that they didn`t like the show they had attended.
I`m sure all those people didn`t just turn up on the off-chance he'd bang out 4 old Smiths songs. They went to hear HIM and HIS music.
Give the man some respect !. Don`t go to a Moz show expecting to hear The Smiths because you will be setting yourself up for a fall. The Smiths is dead, so we have to be happy with Moz doing current-day renditions with his current-day band...and from what I saw there were no complaints !.
I think Mr. Nolan has a lot to answer for.
(User #3503 Info)
Smiths doc (Score:0)
Questions about a frustrating programme... (Score:1)
- Re:Andy Rourke's comments, how many Peel sessions did The Smiths actually do, does anyone have them all, where can you obtain them?
- Am I right in thinking that Johnny Rogan used to have a long gingerish beard?
- Who was the woman "singing" over the opening and closing credits?
- Has anyone got the Suffer Little Children demo?
- How the hell were the programme's makers allowed to use that recent footage of Moz filmed at the Royal Albert Hall? It looked like a pirate video!
- Why was Phill Gatenby stood a million miles away from The Ritz?
- Was it an in-joke to have adverts for KFC in two of the ad-breaks?
While any T.V. programme on The Smiths is obviously welcome, I thought it was very frustrating and disjointed and could've been so much better.
Some of the interviews were interesting (John Peel is always good value), but Vic Reeves' voiceover gradually became annoying as we couldn't hear any of what was being said in the home-made Smiths' video footage. Also, what the hell was the point of the silly cartoons?; Obviously sour grapes on the part of the producer failing to get an interview with Moz, but couldn't some of the 100 hours of (supposedly available) footage have been used for Morrissey's old interview-voiceovers instead of those crappy drawings?
Some of the footage we saw in the trailers for this programme was (annoyingly) not included in the actual programme.
Also, the new Moz film from which we saw a clip looked as awful as it sounds, especially the acting.
Apart from that (and the silly guitar noises that perforated each segment and rapidly became annoying), I did enjoy watching it!
(User #5890 Info)
Not amazing but not dreadful (Score:1)
What was that odd comment about Marr planning to launch The Healers next year? They've been around for ages!
But as I say on the discussion board, at least the BBC didn't make it in their dreary talking heads style. You can just see it, can't you? Zoe Ball twittering (from the autocue), "Oh yeah, I remember Morrissey always waving flowers around" - cut to clip of "Tbe Oxford Road Show" showing him doing just that. Cutting edge!
(User #1878 Info | http://www.televisionpersonalities.co.uk/)
these thing take time docu (Score:1)
if i didnt know the music of the smiths,
I would have thought them a load of ****
first time ive ever seen anything about the smiths on T.V exept that great performance of 'how soon is now?' on top of the pops -this, disappointing -
saw morrissey last week in Birmingham- great gig-
still love him to bits!!!
take care all - peace
(User #7205 Info)
How To Complain... (Score:1, Informative)
Granada Television
Quay Street
Manchester
M60 9EA
According to Manchester Online, the producer's name is David Nolan so I suggest those of us who have valid criticisms put them in writing to him. If Moz's audience has valid criticisms then the program makers should take note. I'm not suggesting we send stupid hate mail, but they must listen to our opinions. If we don't tell them, they'll never learn.
Smiths documentary (Score:1)
(User #6896 Info)
These Things Take Time was... (Score:0)
no morrissey no marr (Score:0)
2 bitter twats some old farts and vic bloody reeves
john peel spoke the only truth
Granada shafts the Football League & now Morri (Score:2, Insightful)
He's simply reproduced the Young Guns program but without the Marr interviews. Who gives a flying f*&% what that slaphead Rogan thinks. Nolan even gets Andy Rourke to repeat the same story about how ridiculous the Paul Young band looked in the 80's. Proof positive that his research consisted simply of watching Young Guns and then phoning up Smiths writers who have already done their own research.
Since Morrissey got further up the UK charts in his solo period, then why is that dismissed so lightly. As for 5000 grown men crying when Moz comes on stage, has anyone ever seen such a thing?
Of course, the program had to focus most of its attention on the trial because that's all so riveting.
As for the coverage of the RAH gig - at least show Moz actually singing and then the TV audience can make up their own minds.
A salient lesson to current fans - the next time someone shoves a microphone under your chin and says "we're making a documentary about Moz in order to give him the glory & recognition he so richly deserves" - tell them to shove it up Rogan's ginger-haired arse.
Can't wait to see the Channel 4 one.
(User #1418 Info)
The REAL smiths documentary!! (Score:0)
I have it on video along with stuff from the tube,oxford road show,whistle test etc etc etc and that was a proper doc about the smiths. it was released about a month after the split
these things take time was a joke compared to that!!!
this thing did not take time (Score:0)
(User #3157 Info)
Dissappointed (Score:1)
Im not sure what the ideal Smiths documentaty is taking all realistic factors into account but that just aint it..
(User #4846 Info)
piss take or what? (Score:0)
Typical Granada Provincial Crap (Score:1)
Virtually all the Morrissey "voice overs" to accompany the cartoon were lifted from The South Bank Show.
(User #4128 Info)
You ungrateful bastards (Score:1)
(User #2329 Info | http://lightupvirginmary.blogspot.com/)
Lawnmower parts! (Score:0)
shouldn't have been narrated by Vic Reeves (Score:0)
And Moz doesn't like him so that's bound to have pissed him off, although I'm not sure what's so offensive about the consumer monkey if that's the reason.
These Things take my time.. (Score:1)
I also enjoyed the grainy backstage footage of The Smiths hanging out before gigs.. a little peak into the bands lives before they perform.
Johnny Rogan spoke a lot, talk of 'rent-a-Talking Head'!! There are other Smiths/Morrissey authorities far more deserving of sitting down and making different insightful comentaries I am sure.. Take most people on this board for a start. Although the Severed Alliance is a kind of bible to Smithdom, I am always a bit suspicious of Rogan for some reason, like someone I am wouldn't naturally warm too in real life. John Peel is always good value though who was also on the show.
Thought Rourke and Joyce came over well.. and if Mike Joyces parting shot that, and a quote to the effect that " Morrissey won't pay the money because the English courts legislation carries no weight in the States in his (Morrisseys) opinion".. is true, then that sounds very wrong of Morrissey to me. But I'm sure there's more to it than that.
Ruffian
PS The South Bank Show was better!
(User #1813 Info)
pointless tripe! (Score:0)
What's this about a BBC documentary? Could someone please enlighten me?
TV documentaries (Score:2, Informative)
THE SOUTH BANK SHOW ITV from 1987
YOUNG GUNS BBC2 from 1999 (come on people, it wasn't THAT long ago - have you forgotten already?)
THESE THINGS TAKE TIME ITV Granada from 2002
plus this supposed new Channel 4 one.
As for These Things Take Time itself. For those who didn't see it, here are pros /cons.
GOOD THINGS...
1. Best by far was Grant Showbiz's old camcorder footage of the band mucking around backstage in 1984. Includes Marr chicken-dancing and joking about the fans outside screaming for Moz that "he's celibate girls!".
2. For first time we get to hear about 10 secs of first ever Smiths demo "Suffer Little Children" - sound quality great, track quite slow, Moz's singing very low.
3. Old TV clips - though you can get them on bootleg and been seen before, the sound quality of the old Tube TV clips were incredible, particularly "There Is A Light"
4. Joyce and Rourke - regardless of their reputation on this site, they actually came over very well as very humble, very nice blokes.
5. Craig Gannon - it was good to see him now, though his story about the sandwich seemed very petty.
6. Sandie Shaw - still gorgeous!
7. John Peel - still funny.
8. Though Rogan dominated the talking heads, at least the producers tried to balance his waffle by having other Smiths book authors like Phil Gatenby and Simon Goddard give their 2 seconds worth and we got to see a few landmarks like the famous iron bridge (though they could have got other Smiths 'experts' - Shaun Duggan? Stephen Daigle? Pat Reid?).
9. At least we know what Dale looks like although as others have said here his "gay band" story sounds utter, utter bullshit.
10. Morrissey's old teacher - first time we'd seen her on TV too, even though she didn't say much.
BAD THINGS ...
1. The cartoons were AWFUL, especially the lip-synching with Morrissey's real voice.
2. There were obvious licensing problems with music as you didn't get to hear much.
3. Johnny Rogan - he spoke about Morrissey's youth as if he knew him at the time and his joy at being there to watch the court case bordered on the parasitical.
4. Too much ripped off the South Bank Show documentary so it wasn't that original to start with.
5. Not enough emphasis on how great the records were and the gigs, too many trivial anecdotes (eg Gannon's sandwich and Dale's "gay band" bollocks)
6, Cheesy opening titles and that shit cover of "There Is A Light"
7. Vic Reeves narration - got a bit irritating, especially over the old home video footage which you could have watched on its own really.
8. Clips from My Life With Morrissey - looks very embarrassing and very shit!
9. Though good to see Steven Street, Rourke, Joyce etc, some of their stories/quotes we'd heard before and it was sloppy of the producers to go over old ground.
10. A few bad factual errors, the worst one being that Moz and Johnny didn't meet till 1982 when, if they'd done their research, they actually first met at a Patti Smith gig a few years earlier.
TTTT is worth watching/getting a copy of - certain bits will intrigue, but it's definitely not the show it could have been and for all the hype and David Nolan's comments in the Manchester press/ Manchester on-line, this doesn't live up to his bigmouth.
Jake Sweeney.
x
Utter Crap!! (Score:0)
I think that everyone is missing the point... (Score:0)
irish blood, english heart
i set the V.C.R. (Score:1)
ITV1 my ass.
granada /carlton must be available up north only.
arghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
(User #1028 Info)
Bobbins (Score:1)
(User #7181 Info)
I've yet to see it (Score:1)
(User #3669 Info | http://www.geocities.com/smithsmoznight)
These Things Take Time Documentary (Score:1)
If anything, talk of smack and legal writs undermined what should have been a showcase for the band as a BAND. Backstage footage, well, interesting to the obsessive but - let's be honest - poor quality and without sound - is not going to give Dagenham Dave the enthusiasm to rush out and buy their Greatest Hits tomorrow is it?
As a fan, we always want to recruit. And although this might not have been the aim of the documentary (what was?), this will get no new inquisitive innocents clicking on this website for the first time.
We all have the feeling that given the budget and the workforce, we could do a better job on a Smiths documentary. But personally, I'd like a lid on the Smiths until someone makes a serious attempt at a book or film about Morrissey's solo years. Which, and you might hate me for this, are more interesting.
(User #7231 Info)
Smiths documentary (Score:0)
(User #6109 Info)
elegantly wasted. (Score:1)
hiya,i live in Manchester and this bloody rain is dragging me down!!!
(User #3170 Info)