New Rogan Book

[mishima]

So anyway, i've purchased this new 'Morrissey - The Albums' book by Johnny Rogan from Musicstore (thansk to whoever on here suggested them, fantastic service, much quicker than Amazon), and ive managed to read a wee bit of it during my break.

Now i'm no fan of the Severed Alliance, mainly 'cos it is so badly written, and the title, c'mon of all the wit, humour and warmth which encompassed the Smiths music, the best Rogan could come up with was the Severed Alliance??? I also think it's held in such high esteem by people as it's pretty much the only biog of the Smiths, as no one else has had the guts, mettle or plain stupidity required to enter the vipers nest of the Smiths story. Although i hope one day, a much better music writer and Smiths fan (eg Stuart Maconie) would have a bash.

But back to the trak, i have so far discovered in the little i have read of Rogans new book that Marr admitted, under High court oath, that he threatened to quit the band during the sessions of their first album as things were so bad. This is not something i knew previously. Now i know judge John Deeds ( or whatever the whoolly wigged one was called) put a ban on certain aspects and testomonies being reported in the press whilst the case was in process. Was this ban on the media ever lifted and does anybody know of any other suprising revelations which emerged during the case? I'm sure they're are more in Rogans book, but this one so far, is as badly written as SA, and i may loose the will to live by half way!

 

[Jones]

As far as I remember Marr threatened to quit the band not because things were bad but because there were arguments about the percentage Joyce and Rourke would get. Marr said he would leave the band if they didn't accept the 10%. This was confirmed by Joyce in the "Young Guns" documentary. Which sort of begs the question, How did Joyce get away with claiming he didn't know how much he was getting paid in court?

 

[dawn_raider]

I'm waiting for HMV to send it out.

Looking forward to it actually. Does it cover up to ROTT?

 

[mishima]

I'm waiting for HMV to send it out.

Looking forward to it actually. Does it cover up to ROTT?

Indeed it does, but from the flick through i've had, you will not discover anything you can't figure out yourself. Oh, and its got no piccies either.

 

[Worm]

Thanks for the tip, I think I'll definitely have to buy that one.

And you're right. I hold "The Severed Alliance" in high regard mainly because it's really the only one out there with any serious objectivity and depth of research. A better one would be welcome.

Jones, the question you've asked is a good one, but I have to think that the issue came down to some finer contractual points. Of course none of us knows the answer, but anyway, I speculate that Marr might have threatened to walk out if they didn't accept 10% of the money, but in the lawsuit it came down to the distinction Joyce's attorneys pushed: did that include performance money or all the money earned? The lack of legal documents gives the lie to the claim that they were fully aware of what was at stake, which in turn adds credence to the whole "the assumption was 25%..." argument. If he understood the business arrangement, why didn't he and Morrissey take care of matters then and there?

One day I hope we do get to read all the minutiae of the case, I'd love to know the details on which both sides' arguments hinge. It's hard to figure out exactly what happened without knowing them.

 

[mishima]

Having now completed reading the book last night (it doesn't take long, hardly Camus!) i can report it is as bad as you would expect, written puely as a money making venture.

For the Smiths part of the book, really your better sticking to goddards opus which is far, far superior by several country miles and a couple of mancunian winters. The Solo years bit is dire particularly Quarry & ROTT which Mr Rogan has listened to then simply described what the songs are about, 'cos really we could figure that one out ourselves eh Johnny? For the solo years Simpsons book is the one, as it as ore wit and charm in its isbn number than Rogan can must in 300 pages.

 

[konstantinl]

Having now completed reading the book last night (it doesn't take long, hardly Camus!) i can report it is as bad as you would expect, written puely as a money making venture.

One of the lessons you learn in life is "99.99% of all music books are cheap cash-ins".

I'm not being snobby here but I can't even imagine picking up a book about music these days.

I kind have similar feelings about music as i do Shakespeare. I've always said Shakespeare, as a playwright, is to be watched and heard performed and not read. By the same token musicians are to be watched and heard and not read about.

It's also no coincidence my all time favourite musician is James Kirk, mainly because I know virtually nothing about him bar a few old photos and a few scraps of trivia.

 

[Walkers Crisp]

Hello,

I very much prefer Johnny Rogan's "Severed Alliance" (daft title, I agree) book to Mark Simpson's. Every page of Simpson's derivative drivel made me cringe - it's full of (mis?)interpretation, assumption, speculation and projection. It's not badly written though, but that makes it only slightly better than David Bret's 2 outputs "Landscapes Of The Mind" and "Scandal & Passion", both of which are silly beyond belief and absolutely undreadable in my eyes.

I like the detail in Johnny Rogan's writing, his book seems very well researched. And the fact that his object wanted Rogan to "end his days in an M3(?) pile-up" adds even more credibility to it.

However, my favourite reads on Smiths/Morrissey are Simon Goddard's "Songs That Saved Your Life" (essential), Phill Gatenby's "Morrissey's Manchester" (THE Smiths/Moz fan's guide to Manchester including a very useful city map which makes it easy to find all the important spots) and the wonderful "Peepholism" by Jo Slee.

I ordered Rogan's new book on Friday last week, but it hasn't made it across the channel yet :-(.

crisp x