Calling all Morrissey fans!
Bafta nominated director and London based production company are making a documentary all about the psychology of fame- and we're particularly interested in the area of fandom! What is it that draws people to a certain 'celebrity', and the part that 'being a fan' plays in people's lives. We will be at the 02 Wireless Festival in London this friday where Morrissey is performing and we'd be really interested in speaking to some fans whilst there. We want people who can talk candidly and intelligently about how/ why they have become fans of Morrissey, what he says to them as an artist, and what effect their fandom has had on their lives.......

We are hoping to be at Hyde Park in London from around 2.30/3pm on friday and we're keen to a wide range of people.
If you are interested please contact either myself or my colleague- details below:
Katie Green- Kate.L.Green@gmail.com - 07950413262
Felicity Leabeater - fleabeater@mac.com - 07980551260

Many thanks
S2S Productions

Marksimpson.com is running an authorised excerpt of James Maker's forthcoming autobiography and announces that its working title is 'Autofellatio'.

http://www.marksimpson.com

'James Maker, former lead singer with cult 80s Indie band Raymonde and 90s drag metal sensation RPLA, and one of Morrissey’s longest-serving friends, is writing a memoir.

And what a memoir. It has very probably the best, and unquestionably the most honest title for an autobiography ever: ‘Autofellatio’.

Maker recently posted a very short excerpt from it, recounting his first meeting with Morrissey in 1977 and titled ‘Gide the Ripper’, on his MySpace webpage. Inevitably, despite the profile being set to ‘Private’ and only having two and a half authorised friends, the excerpt ended up on a Morrissey fansite in less time than it takes to read most Morrissey song titles.

Now that the excerpt is ‘out there’ Maker’s kindly given permission for it to be posted it on marksimpson.com. As you can see, Maker’s prose more than lives up to the audacious promise of his memoir’s title. I’ve been given a privileged peek at several chapters, and this is simply one of the funniest, sharpest pieces of writing I’ve come across: a veritable comedy of aphorisms. A very English rock and roll memoir, with nary a wasted or ill-chosen word, this is Ronald Firbank meets the New York Dolls, has a sweet sherry or three and causes a scene on the night bus home. In court shoes.

But when will it be published? James says that he’s ‘broken the back’ of his Autofellatio, but wants to be entirely happy with his technique before showing it to agents….'

Here is a scan of the recent article by Siobhán Kane (796 KB, PDF), courtesy of my friend Richard aka 'The Bear Who Won't be Stopped'.

Two lines are obscured where the page crease was, set out per column 1-4 as follows:

1. Line space; Wilde perhaps was writing about those spaces, or one's...;

2. the focus has often been on how 'difficult' or 'controversial' he is, when in fact he has been so misunderstood...;

3. Dolls' fanclub to the musician that ended up playing a pivotal role in the Dolls' reunion (at Meltdown 2004) this...;

4. When 'You are the Quarry' first came out, some regarded the record as a fresh start, and while it certainly...:

Enjoy!

Legendary singer-songwriter Paul Weller (of The Jam and Style Council) was recently interviewed in the June issue of MOJO magazine to celebrate his impending 50th birthday and the release of his latest album, and had some things to say when asked about The Smiths:

"I'd never really got them before, but when I saw them live I thought, "fucking hell!" When they hit hit the stage it made me think of the Jam days; there was an explosion when they hit the boards...but I never listened to any of their records to tell you the truth. I liked a couple of singles, but I was never a fan. I'm certainly not a fan of Morrisey's solo stuff. It's a weird thing, because he's a bit of a fan of mine [Moz covered the Jam's "That's Entertainment" in 1991]. But it's not reciprocated. It bugs me, I don't want to diss him in print, but he's a quintessential Englishman but lives in LA."

Cambridge English lecturer Germaine Greer compares Morrissey favourably to Dylan in today's Guardian (UK)...

After slagging odd Dylan and praising Blake Germaine decided to eulogise Morrissey in her last paragraph:

Was listening to the Wimbledon tennis commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live today and Morrissey was briefly discussed by Henry Winkler (AKA The Fonz).

Download here (scroll down the page a bit)

- Listen from about 9 minutes. Very brief but lovely anecdote.

A mention of Morrissey by an obvious fan that sadly succumbs to another one of those journalistic caracatures: 'laureate of morose revelry'.

My coming-out mix tape - Salon

I was an alienated kid roiling with sexual anxiety. But then New Wave gave me the soundtrack -- and the courage -- to embrace my homosexuality.

By Kera Bolonik

Morrissey Song Titles used as Subheadings in Academic Journal
Very cheekily, two academics have recently used Morrissey song titles and a slightly modified Smiths song title as subheadings for aspects of their article referenced below without once mentioning Moz although Wilde appears frequently. I wonder did the journal editors know about this prior to publishing it and would also love to know whether anyone else has come across Moz related refs occurring in other academic journals.

Inventing the pubs of Ireland: the importance of being postcolonial

Anthony Patterson and Stephen Brown

Journal of Strategic Marketing, Volume 15, Issue 1 February 2007 , pages 41 - 51

Subheadings:

AMERICA IS NOT THE WORLD
THIS IS NOT YOUR COUNTRY
IRISH BLOOD, ENGLISH HEART
WITH A RUSH AND A PUSH THE LAND IS OURS

Screenvision mentions The Smiths via Panic! at the Disco
Screenvision is a company that provides pre-movie entertainment in the form of trivia, quizzes, and music videos. At the start of one of their music segments, a sold-out Wall-E audience was treated to the factoid that Panic! At The Disco had named themselves after the song by The Smiths. Short and sweet and not terribly newsworthy, but an interesting exposure of The Smiths to a varied audience.