Pat Nevin on meeting Morrissey

Cheers for posting.

I met Pat last week at his alma matter, where he was being taped for a forthcoming piece on 'The One Show'. We were standing around while shots were being set up, and he happened to squint at the 'Everyday is Like Sunday' badge on my bomber, asked if i liked Moz, 'just a bit' says i, 'i've got a crackin' story for you' and he launches into his tale. Prefaces it by saying 'i really need a good half hour to do it justice', but he gave me the ten minute version anyway (as the tv/pr people were looking daggers at us, thinking why's Pat talking to that wee numpty?)

(Apologies for any repetition re: above)

Now, I was well aware (through interview spots posted on solo over the years) that Pat had been a pal of Vini Reilly and, as such, had been invited round to Morrissey's place for dinner back in the late 80s. He had told the tale in a couple of published interviews.

He was playing for Everton FC and living in Lancashire at the time (1988/89/90). One day, out of the...blue, his good friend Vini Reilly, who he'd got to know a few years previously through Pat's keen interest in indie music, had said 'do you want to go round for dinner at my friend Steven Patrick's house?' As an indie kid he knew immediately who SP was and swiftly agreed. He said the house, in Bowden, near Altrincham, was an awesome 3 storey turreted affair, perfectly appointed and decorated, and dripping with handsomeness. He was really blown away by this pile ~ kept referring back to it!

He said that Moz himself was incredibly charming and friendly, very very funny. As the night progressed he felt that SPM really relaxed, and a certain act ~ the Morrissey schtick perhaps ~ gently fell away and he became more natural and really normal; Just a thoroughly nice guy :eek:

Pat, being from Glasgow - where it's the normal thing to do, at a certain point deep into the evening said 'So aren't you gonna give us tour of this place?!' Moz eventually acquiesced and led them on a personally guided tour of the three storeys. Pat said that each room was more beautiful than the next, all perfecty in-keeping with ones expectations of Morrissey ~ dark velvety splendour, wood panelled and wonderful, and très gothique ;)

However there was one room that Moz rushed past and wouldn't go in. Pat stopped and said 'but what's in that room?' 'Oh nothing really, nothing at all'. Pat said he had visions of a portrait-strewn Dorian Gray party room! Pat and Vini then badgered Moz into opening it up, only to reveal a fully-equipped state of the art Multi-Gym set-up.

Continuing on, they came to a room that had stripped and varnished floorboards (which was not at all as de rigeur as it is now) whose sole occupant, centred pride of place, was a spilt new beautiful baby grand piano.
Vini expressed amazement, Pat too; both leapt to the conclusion that Moz was learning to tinkle and attempting to write his own musical backings. SPM gently dismissed such notions, instead announcing that he had purchased it especially for the evening so that Vini could play for them ~ Pat said that VR was a classically trained musician. Vini and Pat were gobsmacked.

The evening continued in triumph, and a good time was had by all, according to Pat. The fun even extended to a game of football in Morrissey's back garden. (I enquired after the man's skills ~ Pat politely offered 'not great. But a fast mover!' He did say though that he clearly knew alot about the current, and vintage, game. He seemed to be trying to hide the fact ~ 'Butch Moz' was a few years from bloom at this point ~ but reading between the lines, it was evident that he was well aware of then-current football events).

Pat had to leave around half eleven that night, as he had training the next morning. How quaint!

A few days following the soirée Pat received a postcard from Moz, with a beautiful black and white vintage Moz-esque photograph on one side and the famous child's scrawl on the reverse 'FROM ONE DRIBBLER TO ANOTHER', offering thanks for an enjoyable night chez Moz. Pat at this point began to...pat his jacket pockets, 'In fact I always carry it with....damn! It's in my other coat out in the car.' Turns out he had misplaced the card for a few years but found it again during a house move and had kept it with him ever since. He said 'You should see it, it's a thing of beauty. I'll get it from the car later'. Needless to say, he didn't. He was whisked away by the tv types and i never got to see it.

There was an addendum to the tale in that one of his fellow players at Everton lived in the same street as Moz, and Pat had asked him for directions. That man was a young terror of a player called Norman Whiteside, well known back in the day as being a hard-playing, hard-drinking, hard-headed Ulster buck of a footballer. Norman instantly invited himself to what he clearly thought was going to be a hardcore piss-up. Pat managed to talk him out of it and said he would find his own way to Bowden, ta very much! When he came in the next morning for training Norman announced that he had decided to gatecrash the affair anyway, by climbing up and over the high Victorian walls of Moz Towers, whilst already well oiled with booze, thereby setting off the full range of security floodlights and alarms. Pat said he recounted all this in hysterics!

By this stage the PR lovelies literally dragged Pat away, so sadly i never got to ask all the things i might have, like...how did his floorboards smell? https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4022/4478765178_e28803b515_b.jpg

It was great to hear the tale from the horse's mouth, but one of the most amazing things was how perfectly Pat could recall a dinner date from 27 years ago!! Clearly it is The Moz Effect. And the fact that he keeps a Thank You postcard from that night permanently on his person is quite a testament.
 
i love vinnie and its no surprise about the weight room. i mean the weights are in the suedehead video i think
 
i love vinnie and its no surprise about the weight room. i mean the weights are in the suedehead video i think

Yeah there are many tales of him being into working out in the late 80s. Around tha time he stared to fill out a bit.
 
Am I the only one who was hoping the mysterious room would have some 50 Shades of Grey shit in there?
 
Used to exchange emails with Pat. Being a diehard Chelsea fan, and knowing we shared the same taste in music, I broached the subject of Mozz, after talking about Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura. Anyway, he said he had a tale to tell about our hero, but it was a long one and he'd tell me over a beer one day. I coaxed him into telling me.

Pat asking to be subbed at half-time to go to a gig is priceless. This from the man who took the self-confessed worst penalty of all time and couldn't stop laughing at his own failure afterwards. What a man!

http://youtu.be/C0u4lTUl39I
 
Great story, Joe Frady. It's because of people like you who are positive and are generous at heart that restores my faith of this place and I will continue to come here.
 
Superb story Joe Frady!

- - - Updated - - -

We've just won the cup too BTW. Somewhere Pat is smiling.
 
Gosh darn it Joe Frady! I had on my hat and my coat, and I was all ready to lock the door to Solo behind me.

How dare you continue to make this place worthwhile. :)
 
For some reason I cannot stand the voice of Pat Nevin. It sounds too polished and when people have erased their accent it makes me think they are ashamed of their background and Moz of course polished his accent away as well early on even before he became famous.

I have seen Pat a lot on Chelsea TV and on Sky or BBC when they showed scottish games. He always seems to see the game from a perspective that no one else does and sometimes that is fresh and great and all that but in his case it doesn't come across as sincere for me. He really is a master of a poser that is for sure.

I also watched the wonderful documentary about Norman Whiteside on Manchester United TV and if I compare the two then Big Norm is an authentic human being and Pat is a short little wannabe because short men tend to be in need of compensation.

Well done Chelsea on beating Spuds and after West Ham tried to hijack Moz from Man United now we are having a bunch of Chelsea fans trying to do the same. These history revisionists are a fascinating bunch to watch from a safe distance and maybe they are the reason why tinfoil is always out of stock in the stores.
 
Ah that was a brilliant interview and a marvellous anecdote too....

But neither pressed the key burning question that illuminates this website.... Was there a cheese or egg-based dish on the menu at Morrissey's soirée.


Pat Nevin was a really good footballer in my humbles
 
It's two minutes thirty in. My football hero meets "himself". I've heard this story a few times, but I hadn't heard the piano bit before.





Alan also writes:

London's Under the Bridge music venue recently conducted an interview with former international footballer Pat Nevin. At the 2:32 mark Pat reminisces about the time him and Vini Reilly gathered at Morrissey's house. Worth the watch.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Blood buloks, this boke is lying! What language is this guy speaking? I can't understand a thing he is saying.

Well, there hasn't been a Kickball/Morrissey reference on this board for awhile by a Brit/Euro or Terrorist, so I guess it is due.

Aaaah, the Kill Uncle Tour ball falling from the sky poster that every Brit/Euro had in their room. Well, can't say he doesn't have a good marketing team.
 
im guilty of washing away my accent, at least as well as i could. we have a southern coastal accent here so when a lot of went to college wed get made fun of a lot so now we have the cnn accent or the blank non accent. it can be hard to live with sometimes but i get your point. also, yes joe always seems to come through with the pic or the good story. hes good contributor
 

Trending Threads

Back
Top Bottom