Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview at superdeluxeedition.com

Very good interview, Street is pretty forthright in his comments:

Stephen Street talks "Viva Hate" and trying to keep Morrissey happy - superdeluxeedition

March 29, 2012 by Paul Sinclair

Morrissey’s debut solo album Viva Hate is reissued next week. Producer and co-writer Stephen Street talks to us about the record and gives his verdict on the reissue.
 
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Re: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview

Great interview, thank you for finding and posting :thumb:
 
Re: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview

What interested me about the interview was the bit about producer royalties. I guess I knew that before, but Street put things pretty succinctly. "What was still hanging over us – as there often has been in Morrissey’s career, unfortunately – was getting the paperwork tidied up." In other words, their partnership foundered over matters a strong manager would have been able to coordinate smoothly, as was the case with The Smiths.
 
Re: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview

What interested me about the interview was the bit about producer royalties. I guess I knew that before, but Street put things pretty succinctly. "What was still hanging over us – as there often has been in Morrissey’s career, unfortunately – was getting the paperwork tidied up." In other words, their partnership foundered over matters a strong manager would have been able to coordinate smoothly, as was the case with The Smiths.

to be honest it says moz was pretty greedy, thats all.
 
Re: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview

What interested me about the interview was the bit about producer royalties. I guess I knew that before, but Street put things pretty succinctly. "What was still hanging over us – as there often has been in Morrissey’s career, unfortunately – was getting the paperwork tidied up." In other words, their partnership foundered over matters a strong manager would have been able to coordinate smoothly, as was the case with The Smiths.

You mean the relationship foundered over Morrissey being a tunnel-visioned, uncompromising twat, as it had with the Smiths. Blaming an absent manager is too easy. Morrissey could have easily co-ordinated the royalties issue himself if he'd had the inclination to do it; he just didn't want to give Street more money than he felt was necessary. He's a tight bastard reluctant to give anybody else money or artistic control, and it's really as simple as that.
 
Re: Article: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview at superdel

Since I absolutely adore Viva Hate the album which was how I discovered Morrissey, I was saddened that this article did not interest me in the slightest. I guess that is how far away I am from the times when music meant something to me. It also made me question why I visit Solo at all and so I have to make a decision if I will continue to visit and post on Solo or leave for good.
I am only here for the old memories of the times that were fun in many ways and now I have probably destroyed what this thread is about so sorry about being a bit personal.

Urban the swede
 
Re: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview

You mean the relationship foundered over Morrissey being a tunnel-visioned, uncompromising twat, as it had with the Smiths. Blaming an absent manager is too easy. Morrissey could have easily co-ordinated the royalties issue himself if he'd had the inclination to do it; he just didn't want to give Street more money than he felt was necessary. He's a tight bastard reluctant to give anybody else money or artistic control, and it's really as simple as that.

:)

Man, you guys are tough. Anonymous says he's greedy, you call him a vindictive control freak. I guess I'm in the middle. I tend to think he's not exactly sure of what he's doing at any given moment, at least when it comes to business decisions. His decisions seem more on the intuitive, or emotional side, rather than coldly calculated. But who knows?
 
Re: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview

:)

Man, you guys are tough. Anonymous says he's greedy, you call him a vindictive control freak. I guess I'm in the middle. I tend to think he's not exactly sure of what he's doing at any given moment, at least when it comes to business decisions. His decisions seem more on the intuitive, or emotional side, rather than coldly calculated. But who knows?

So you're basically saying he's just clueless? :p. What emotional/personal reason would he have had for not allowing Street to have more money though? From Street's interview it seems like he and Morrissey had a very "professional" relationship; they never developed that essential closeness and friendship that sustained the Smiths for so long. On one hand it's a shame, because another Street album could have been brilliant - and on the other it just makes the royalties issue even more baffling. You work with a guy for one album and you still can't make sure he gets paid right? :rolleyes:
 
Re: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview

Great interview! I wonder if Morrissey will blame Street for criticising his decisions when this re-master inevitably bombs? Either way, they'll probably never reunite again. Shame...
 
Re: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview

This interview really made me warm to Street. He's shown that he has more balls than Morrissey (and the bloody band); first for making the conciliatory gesture with the letter, and secondly for being honest with his opinion on the remaster in spite of how it might be received in the Moz camp. The problem is that Moz has never found it easy to address people as "equals", and that challenge gets more difficult for him as the years go by. I expect that Street came back to the fold to find Morrissey much as he had left him - stubborn, obstinate and unyielding - so it won't be an enormous surprise to become persona non grata again. Oh well - at least you tried, Stephen!
 
Re: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview

So you're basically saying he's just clueless? :p. What emotional/personal reason would he have had for not allowing Street to have more money though? From Street's interview it seems like he and Morrissey had a very "professional" relationship; they never developed that essential closeness and friendship that sustained the Smiths for so long. On one hand it's a shame, because another Street album could have been brilliant - and on the other it just makes the royalties issue even more baffling. You work with a guy for one album and you still can't make sure he gets paid right? :rolleyes:

Ha ha, well, "clueless" is going too far. I guess what I mean is that he probably didn't consciously choose to grab all the cash for himself or knock Street back into his lowly spot on the Moz-Hierarchy. It was probably a mixture of reasons, but for exactly the point you make-- he sacrificed another brilliant Street album, and maybe more-- I don't think he had any real foresight as to what might happen if he denied Street his proper royalties. I imagine he gets fed up with business decisions and probably throws up his hands and walks away. "I've had enough, I don't want to think about this anymore, take it or leave it!"

Of course, there's probably another school of thought to mention, which might be the passive aggressive one: Morrissey knew he was alienating Street, and did so because he wanted to find a way of severing the alliance ( :) ) in a roundabout, indirect way, because he didn't want to face Street directly. I'm not sure I believe that Morrissey is this devious or cowardly, but I'm sure some would. After all, many believed he was capable of having planted the NME's "Smiths Split" story to manipulate Johnny into coming back into the fold.
 
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Yes, great interview with some great insight. Definately think Moz will blame Street for the failure of this reissue. He has to open his eyes and realize it's no-one's fault but his own. Hasn't he seen or been told how successful reissues are handled? Has there ever been another artist who removes rather than add material on a reissue?

Surely he doesn't believe the converted are going to go out to purchased something that's been tampered with. Furthermore, with his stock being at a low, there's no reason to believe he's going to attract new listeners at this time. Maybe if the release coincided with the UK leg of the tour. So many flaws to point out but I'll shut up now.
 
Re: Article: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview at superdel

What consitutes success or failure for a re-issue, though? How many copies does a re-issue need to sell before it's considered a success? A "Viva Hate" re-issue was never going to be a hit album even if it was done right. Is there a gold standard for re-issues, like U2 or Pearl Jam?
 
Re: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview

Ha ha, well, "clueless" is going too far. I guess what I mean is that he probably didn't consciously choose to grab all the cash for himself or knock Street back into his lowly spot on the Moz-Hierarchy. It was probably a mixture of reasons, but for exactly the point you make-- he sacrificed another brilliant Street album, and maybe more-- I don't think he had any real foresight as to what might happen if he denied Street his proper royalties. I imagine he gets fed up with business decisions and probably throws up his hands and walks away. "I've had enough, I don't want to think about this anymore, take it or leave it!"

Of course, there's probably another school of thought to mention, which might be the passive aggressive one: Morrissey knew he was alienating Street, and did so because he wanted to find a way of severing the alliance ( :) ) in a roundabout, indirect way, because he didn't want to face Street directly. I'm not sure I believe that Morrissey is this devious or cowardly, but I'm sure some would. After all, many believed he was capable of having planted the NME's "Smiths Split" story to manipulate Johnny into coming back into the fold.

That's a very interesting take on it. If you accept Marr's version of the split, Moz is definitely that cowardly, and other ex-colleagues have testified that when there's no-one else around to do the dirty work, he just cuts contact completely and hopes said "undesirables" get the message. Many managers, PA's and other "associates" have certainly been disposed of in that way, but I'm not sure he'd do that to Street. Not due to any personal connection, as I explained - but because Viva was such a good album that it would have made more artistic sense to keep him around. However, what we need to remember here is that Morrissey recorded Viva Hate with one eye on the door, expecting Johnny to come back at any moment. He wrote to him 3 times discussing that very topic, so he clearly hadn't given up on The Smiths. Perhaps he was edging out Street to make way for the prodigal son that never returned.
 
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Re: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview

That's a very interesting take on it. If you accept Marr's version of the split, Moz is definitely that cowardly, and other ex-colleagues have testified that when there's no-one else around to do the dirty work, he just cuts contact completely and hopes said "undesirables" get the message. Many managers, PA's and other "associates" have certainly been disposed of in that way, but I'm not sure he'd do that to Street. Not due to any personal connection, as I explained - but because Viva was such a good album that it would have made more artistic sense to keep him around. However, what we need to remember here is that Morrissey recorded Viva Hate with one eye on the door, expecting Johnny to come back at any moment. He wrote to him 3 times discussing that very topic, so he clearly hadn't given up on The Smiths. Perhaps he was edging out Street to make way for the prodigal son that never returned.

We're still talking about Morrissey, right? Not Iago? :)

Building on your thought, it might have been that Morrissey wanted to show Street the door after he realized Johnny wasn't coming back. Though Street might have asked for his full royalties early on in the process, the dispute may not have been relationship-threatening until later in 1988, or even early 1989. I say this because if Street was already angry about his one wittle point he wouldn't have recorded the follow-up singles with Mike and Andy. The matter was probably under discussion. Plus, from Smiths-era stories, I'm guessing business tangles took a long time to sort out. Remember Mike Joyce asking for copies of the financial records and not reviewing them for several months, for example? If anything, he may have wanted to break from Street as a final break from The Smiths, perhaps perceiving that "Viva Hate" was more or less the fifth Smiths album and it was time to make a full break from the past. Maybe that face-to-face conversation was too difficult.

But that's only if you buy the idea that Morrissey is actually that conniving. I don't think he is. His decisions could just as easily be explained by an awkward inability to sustain relationships.
 
Re: Article: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview at superdel

What consitutes success or failure for a re-issue, though? How many copies does a re-issue need to sell before it's considered a success? A "Viva Hate" re-issue was never going to be a hit album even if it was done right. Is there a gold standard for re-issues, like U2 or Pearl Jam?

The folks over at one of the u2 message boards had a similar discussion back in November, when U2 re-released Achtung Baby for the 20th Anniversary. U2, being as ambitious as they are, offered 3 different versions of this repackage- the most expensive one costing as much as $400 USD!:eek: Anyway, the "basic" version of the rereleased Achtung Baby (2 CDs, approx. $25 USD) apparently entered the US Billboard charts at #35, with 13,000 units sold the first week.
http://u2.interference.com/f225/ab-20th-anniversary-charts-and-sales-212708.html
 
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Re: Article: Stephen Street discusses Morrissey/Viva Hate - new interview at superdel

Since I absolutely adore Viva Hate the album which was how I discovered Morrissey, I was saddened that this article did not interest me in the slightest. I guess that is how far away I am from the times when music meant something to me. It also made me question why I visit Solo at all and so I have to make a decision if I will continue to visit and post on Solo or leave for good.
I am only here for the old memories of the times that were fun in many ways and now I have probably destroyed what this thread is about so sorry about being a bit personal.

Urban the swede

Wow, I'm surprised that you didn't find this interesting. VH is also among my favs and hearing the stories behind it was fascinating to me.

I'm sorry if music no longer means something to you. Music is magic and to lose ones appreciation for it is terrible.
 

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