posted by davidt on Friday January 25 2008, @02:00PM
Uncleskinny sends the link originally posted by justme in the forums (original post):

I was Morrissey's roadie by Andrew Winters, The Times

It looked like the gig of a lifetime for a Morrissey fan, touring America with the man they call Moz. But our writer lasted barely a day - and still doesn't know what went wrong

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  • I actually found this an interesting read, quite funny in parts. I mean I feel a bit sorry for the guy in question but there has to be more to it than meets the eye.
    The bit about the record would terrify me a bit.. not too sure how well Michael Jackson would go down with ol Mozza.
    vicarinatutugal -- Friday January 25 2008, @02:07PM (#292468)
    (User #14646 Info)
  • And that's putting it mildly. Tyrannical tight-arse might be more apropos. He sounds like a total drag to work for...

    "The production carries 'sound-check suits'. I am informed that the band are considered 'ambassadors' of the Morrissey tour and are therefore expected to be dressed in these suits for all soundchecks, all collective flights, all dinners and functions that may possibly include Morrissey – and it’s my responsibility to make sure that they are wearing them."

    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @02:19PM (#292469)
  • "Morrissey looks at me with what seems like a slight smirk and shakes my hand. “Don’t worry, Andrew, it can only get better than this,” he says – and then proceeds to grab his guitarist and rub his fingers through his hair."

    Jesse, Jesse, Jesse!
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @02:20PM (#292470)
  • A bizarre story to say the least! Sounds like his fame since his comeback has gone to his head. Oh, how different it was for him during those wilderness years in the late nineties, exiled in LA.

    I think there's more than meets the eye with his relationship with Jesse. He's not in the band solely due to his limited abilities in songwriting......
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @02:33PM (#292473)
  • Some real news; Moz walked off the stage at the Roundhouse. He's sick!

    http://forums.morrissey-solo.com/showthread.php?t= 83109/ [morrissey-solo.com]
    mozmic_dancer -- Friday January 25 2008, @02:51PM (#292475)
    (User #11277 Info)
    "I am the fun and the fair, on a Mozsite for the criminally insane..."
  • So band members from a pop group get together after a break and go out and get drunk. Hugs and ruffling of hair, messing about. What's new? Only in the way it's told.
    Who by?
    Someone who didn't fit the bill, in whatever way.
    Morrissey difficult to work with? What a surprise! I never would have guessed!

    The Tour Management sounds like a well organised set-up to me. This guy must be close to retirement. I can't see him finding a new berth if he's so loose-tongued about previous employers.

    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @02:51PM (#292476)
    • Re:As if by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday January 25 2008, @03:11PM
      • Re:As if by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday January 26 2008, @10:27AM
  • great article

    anyone who thinks morrissey isnt like this is on CRACK

    i still love his music tho
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @02:59PM (#292478)
    • Re:awesome by Tea Sea (Score:1) Saturday January 26 2008, @08:59AM
      • Re:awesome by Nick The Name (Score:1) Saturday January 26 2008, @07:55PM
  • Great story. Makes Moz sound like a right diva.
    Aly Panic -- Friday January 25 2008, @03:03PM (#292481)
    (User #12194 Info | http://www.myspace.com/smileytuesdays)
  • especially after seeing his face. plus i would feel bad having an old guy do my errands and chores. it would be like asking my dad to iron my shirts.
    fut -- Friday January 25 2008, @03:07PM (#292484)
    (User #401 Info | http://www.omgmyblog.com/)
  • I know Moz is sketchy but this? Absurdistan, I say! For some reason, I thought Moz was against pills and alcohol? Thanks be to Andrew for sharing. Strangely, I often have dreams of meeting Moz who is kind at first but then turns into a jerk. How has Boz put up with it for so long? Especially wearing that loin cloth for the Halloween show. I mean sure, you have to be able to laugh at yourself, but that was a bit too much.
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @03:10PM (#292486)
  • Morrissey really does seem like a loathsome character. He has that typical, no one is good enough for me type personality. "Peasants!"

    Forcing associates to become vegetarians? Jesus, the man is a righteous ass.

    Of course, naive fans clamoring at his feet only fuels this sense of entitlement. It's frightening to think that so many of them believe that they have a connection with him.

    But hey, being a self-absorbed asshole is almost a prerequisite for an artist of any kind.

    Never meet your heroes.
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @03:12PM (#292488)
  • I'm not sure what Moz will make of it all though. Maybe he doesn't care that people know he's a bit dictatorial towards others, it's not as if he's ever made a secret of it.
    I've heard first hand from the crew that he's a fantastic guy to work for if you get on the right side of him straight away. He might initially seem intimidating or stand-offish and he's got definite ideas of the type of people he likes, but then I have friends who are the 'judge a book by it's cover' type, they think life is too short to be anything else.
    First impressions mean the world to some people, usually those who are filled with a sense of their own importance, but that doesn't necessarily make someone intolerable to be around; it does keep you on your toes a bit though. I guess the type who do project self worth of this kind have a good reason for it; in my experience they're often troubled and exhausting to be around, but they're also pretty amazing.
    Mozzersgirl -- Friday January 25 2008, @03:20PM (#292492)
    (User #14229 Info)
    "There's more evil in the charts than in an al-Qaeda suggestion box" - Bill Bailey
  • Didn't J Lo employ someone to walk in front of her squirting perfume? Maybe they should get together.....
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @03:24PM (#292493)
  • Has turned me off even more to the idea of Morrissey as a person.

    I do not relate to the man's bizarre arrogance at all, and I can't understand how any viable human being ever could.

    He really needs to be punched in the face... hard.

    He doesn't have any balls, so kicking him in there isn't really an option.
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @03:24PM (#292494)
  • How much is an article like this worth to its fabricator?

    Who is Andrew Winters? What would he have claimed after an hour with Led Zeppalin?!

    How much, especially after a perceived snub, is even correctly remembered, not to mind exagerated? Hopefully Merck or someone will reveal something to bring balance to this mildly insinuating account.
    goinghome -- Friday January 25 2008, @03:31PM (#292498)
    (User #12673 Info)
  • They chose a great picture, didn´t they? On it Morrissey really looks like the monster he´s being described as in the article. ;-)

    I wonder how much of it is true...

    To be on the safe side I think I´ll stick to listening to Morrissey´s music & attending his concerts as a paying member of the audience, it seems to be less stressful. :-D
    Cashews -- Friday January 25 2008, @03:40PM (#292503)
    (User #18140 Info)
  • I think Morrissey could smell beef coming right through his nostrils, even if he'd been vegetarian for a few days. And it's conceivable he couldn't really feel very at ease with it. But the rest of the article... "maybe I was sent back for wearing the wrong short, or maybe it was the hair"...it sounds a bit too fake. The tone of the article suggests that Morrissey is like some royal queen from ancient Egypt. And it was probably led by his poorly processed interpretation of the tour life he witnessed around him. After all, he had only less than 24 hours to digest it all - and from going from a beef eater to a strict vegetarian. Now the part about Elton John... would be a slip that even I would know to avoid (not that I care for Elton John anyway). "Morrissey hates boring people" as a preliminary advice? Didn't they check out the guy's profile in that test? In an interview? I am confused. It comes across to me as exaggerated as a historic film about those balls in those 17th century courts in which the nobles had to constantly come up with brilliant twists in words. Is Morrissey that mechanical to impose so much to someone who's only supposed to be a manager? Interesting read - for kids at bedtime, who love stories about pirates and Black Beard...
    Mrs. Woolf -- Friday January 25 2008, @03:44PM (#292504)
    (User #14157 Info)
  • met him twice, both times prickish. sad for someone who absolutely knows how important he is to his fans. im over it though - and him in general. youth can be strange, eh?
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @03:44PM (#292505)
  • but I'll never give up steak=P Not even for Ole Mozzer. Btw Texas Roadhouse and Ruth's Chris have some good steak.
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @03:48PM (#292512)
  • The worst thing that the guy can come up with is that he wasn't allowed to eat meat and the band wear a uniform, and they all went and got pissed in the pub.

    Isn't that a bit small fry for a rock star's excesses. No wonder he could only get it published in the Times. The News of the World probably laughed in his face.
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @03:54PM (#292514)
  • However, he's lyrical and vocally brillant!

    What can you do?
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @04:04PM (#292526)
  • We never really know.
    This was a great experience.

    I mean the man got to catch a plane have a nice healthy meal a nice Hotel room..
    And to accompany the guys in band...
    What happened? Only Sir Morrissey could say.
    Hell, He can pay for whatever he wants when he wants it..
    Nice! I guess. I mean he deserves to do what he wants with his money.
    He has worked awfully hard for it.
    So if he wants to check someone from across the world. Well so be it...

    Hmm,;) Does Morrissey need a back scrubber these days!?

    I fold socks very nicely too!
    lol

    just kiddin puddin.

    I think this man needed a few drinks!
    maybe,just to relax and have fun..
    and know what to expect.
    I mean he was told that it was not anything personal...
    But then he knew. It was explained to him.

    Maybe SIr Morrissey just like shipping people from across the state for help...hmm
    I mean even Elvis gave away brand new cars...

    Well I guess this goes to show his new strategy in hiring help..
    Now we know...;)

    ***I know its over still I cling, I don't know where else I can go..***

    Truly
    marisela
    Marisela -- Friday January 25 2008, @04:16PM (#292537)
    (User #1865 Info)
  • The following definition is from the website of the UK's foremost mental health charity MIND:

    Narcissistic personality disorder

    You may believe that there are special reasons that make you different, better or more deserving than others, but because your self-esteem is rather fragile, you rely on others to recognise your worth and your needs.

    However, other people frequently overlook your special needs and fail to give you what you feel you deserve, so that you then feel badly done by, and grudging of others’ successes.

    Because of this, you put your own needs above other people’s, and demand they cater to you. People are likely to see you as selfish, because you miss or ignore what your expectations cost them. They may also describe you as being ‘grand’ or haughty.


    The above description is highly evocative of the person who was the subject of Andrew Winters' article.
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @04:43PM (#292549)
  • Morrissey sounds like a frat guy.

    "Down in one!" "Down in one!"

    Was there a beer bong in the back?

    It's funny to see that there are Morrissey fans still believe that he is celibate, or that he is, or ever was a teetotaler.

    Now they have to adjust their life to account for this allowance.

    The guy has the same influence over his fans as Oprah does over hers. What will Morrissey (praise be upon him) condone next?
    Nick The Name -- Friday January 25 2008, @04:45PM (#292550)
    (User #20764 Info)
  • The geezer admitted to liking Henry Freakin Rollins. What did he expect? Maybe he should have got a clue before joining the tour.
    9 x Fined -- Friday January 25 2008, @06:04PM (#292564)
    (User #18826 Info)
  • I don’t know about anyone else, but I felt a bit sick after reading this…

    The music is great, but the high-maintenance, primadonna persona is such a bore! (As if there are not enough of them already!)
    It’s no wonder Morrissey says he’s lonely—if there’s only room for one at the top, and that one is himself, what else could conceivably result?

    To be fair, there are people everyone has met whom they instinctively dislike (myself included), but basing a decision on a shirt, haircut, or first record (all potentially major character flaws…) is ludicrous. Seeing the way this guy ran to the Times, whoever made the judgment may have been correct, but who knows?

    This is definitely something I would never want to know based on experience, kudos to “Never Meet Your Heroes.”

    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @06:41PM (#292565)
    • Re:Nausea by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday January 25 2008, @07:50PM
      • Re:Nausea by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday January 26 2008, @12:47AM
        • Re:Nausea by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday January 26 2008, @10:31AM
  • It makes this Morrissey Myspace page seem all the more authentic. Whoever created it really knows the man.

    http://www.myspace.com/heartworkbymonstrosity
    Nick The Name -- Friday January 25 2008, @07:30PM (#292584)
    (User #20764 Info)
  • how much he loves Jobriath. Moz would've then permanently employed him (and probably let him sleep with him).
    nick476 -- Friday January 25 2008, @07:38PM (#292590)
    (User #20374 Info)
  • I welcome you to Morrissey-solo.

    It appears that this is your first day here...there are many, many things here to accommodate you. Please enjoy your stay.

    -Bela
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @07:53PM (#292599)
  • You Just dont cut the mustard. Hard luck eh, mate? Never mind. You got your fee of £600 for this "revelation" interview. I am sure the money was needed. Who are you roadieng these days? The Oasis Tribute band?
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @07:56PM (#292600)
  • Love this story! Go on Mozza!
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @08:00PM (#292602)
  • Everyone is way to involved, why do we care? Buy the music, go to shows. Who gives a shit what Morrissey is like in person. Maybe he just didn't like the guy, he might have been wearing awful shoes or something.
    Anonymous -- Friday January 25 2008, @10:30PM (#292608)
  • How undignified! Bottom-feeders who delve into the waste products of the famous for their own 15 minute frolic in the glow. I don't want to see Moz in show, in person, and CERTAINLY not like this!! My need for him to remain just as he is in my mind far exceeds any interest I have in being informed or conversational on subjects surrounding him. I don't give a good fuck what he does to his workers, how he has his tea, or expresses his appreciation for his guitarist. It's about words with me and Moz. He is my Poet Laureate and I need him to stay put! I have always had sincere disregard for fame. It carries no relevance with me. I am not impressed by that at ALL. I've met too many "famous" people whom I subsequently dismissed from even a mere mention because they are never what they appear to be. I practice casual, cool indifference to status and never ask for autographs. To quote the man in his youth, "Disregard any notions of hipness or coolness, simply relax and be yourself," I carved a look and a reason for being out of these words. I require the "suspension of disbelief", I NEED that fourth wall on the stage to be a sturdy one! I cultivated a taste for Morrissey as performer, and I really don't want to bother with the mundane details of him as quirky, aging Englishman. At the potential risk of trivializing the cornerstone of my own style, which was widely recognized and commented upon by those who encountered me, I cannot allow these unattractive little blurbs about him to continue. Finally, my superhero identity takes shape...I leap through the windows of the publishers of such putrid periodicals and tar them with ink and hold their puffy red faces down on copy machines, tie them with phone cords to their silly little office chairs and shove them down the stairs!! MUUHAHAHAHA (insert Tom Cruise laugh here) Maybe Tom could fix Mozzer's "engrams" and we can squash the negative press that way, Scientology Style!! I have work to do!!
    Anonymous -- Saturday January 26 2008, @12:49AM (#292614)
  • This article can be summed up in one sentence - "Morrissey in not-suffering-fools-gladly shock horror".

    So what. Morrissey is strange/enigmatic/unfathomable. We all know that. It's part of who he is, what he does and why he writes the way that he does. This schlep was in his company less than 24 hours and is now trying to cash in on it. He'd have been paid about £3-500 for writing that. Cheap journalism.
    Anonymous -- Saturday January 26 2008, @04:18AM (#292639)
  • selfish, immature bastard!
    Anonymous -- Saturday January 26 2008, @06:13AM (#292670)
  • Doesn't seem as if the writer had it in for Moz. His article could've been more vindictive -- he just seemed perplexed at being dropped after one day. None of Morrissey's actions surprise me, but it's interesting to see how serious he is about the band's attired.

    I'm trying to think -- when was the last time the band individually wore what they wanted on stage?

    Author looks more like an accounting teacher than a roadie. Try to get a job counting beans at a music label maybe?

    king leer -- Saturday January 26 2008, @07:20AM (#292694)
    (User #80 Info)
  • just read the article and I feel pretty upset!

        I love morrissey but this makes him sound mean spirited. i always thought his sharp side was reserved for things which deserved his scorn, but this paints him a rather snide bully.

    without sounding melodramatic it's depressed me! someone tell me i'm wrong!

    Anonymous -- Saturday January 26 2008, @08:01AM (#292705)
    • Re:upset by Anaesthesine (Score:1) Saturday January 26 2008, @10:00AM
      • Re:upset by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday January 26 2008, @11:26AM
      • Re:upset by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday January 26 2008, @01:11PM
    • Re:upset by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday January 26 2008, @11:06AM
      • Re:upset by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday January 26 2008, @06:25PM
      • Re:upset by Anonymous (Score:0) Monday January 28 2008, @02:44PM
        • Re:upset by Anonymous (Score:0) Tuesday January 29 2008, @09:45AM
  • This is good publicity for Morrissey as it puts him in the media spotlight to gossip about, and it gives the writer some quick cash. Everyone's happy. Except the cows Winter goes back to chewing.
    redpathetic -- Saturday January 26 2008, @09:50AM (#292720)
    (User #6184 Info)
    Happy in this final acceptance of his own absurdity...Albert Camus
  • can't be... true-to-you ...

    (you get the general idea)
    MILVA -- Saturday January 26 2008, @10:32AM (#292733)
    (User #12729 Info)
    no previous convictions
  • What Andrew did not know is that, sending him back in that plane was the last test to see if he was ready to be on the tour, checking out what he would order for lunch :)
    Anonymous -- Saturday January 26 2008, @10:37AM (#292736)
  • Andrew Winters had no ulterior motive in painting such a vulgar picture other than to earn a living, an opportunity denied him by Mr. Morrissey.

    Metaphorically speaking Mr. Winters is just one of many trailing corpses that Lord Muck from Stretford sees when he looks over his right shoulder.

    HE will come to regret such despicable behaviour (including getting an employee on his payroll to forcibly drink pints of ale in one gulp - acts of sadism that truly would make Caligulla blush. Flamenco clapping indeed, the ole Latino shagging slag!

    I too am depressed by this article - my how the mighty have fallen. I'm currently packing up HIS cds, dvds, books (peepholism included!), and just want to get rid of tat related to the Nazi Leaderene (strange how he and Adolf were both vegetarians!).

    I'm also going to delete all Morrissey tracks in my iTunes library. NEVER EVER want to hear his music, read his words or see him in concert ever again.

    He is vile beyond comprehension.

    Thanks Andrew for shedding light at last on this odious toe rag.

    And God Bless Mike Joyce for taking the tight fisted bastard to court and WINNING 12 years ago!

    Good on you mate. Your victory wasn't just for you and Andy but also all the other poor bastards over the past 25 years who have been spat on and shat on from a height by this vile, reprehensible human being.

    You were right to sue, and now everyone believes you! Good luck!
    Anonymous -- Saturday January 26 2008, @11:11AM (#292740)
  • i can't say any more than the subject of this thread. like his music, but don't like the man
    Anonymous -- Saturday January 26 2008, @12:46PM (#292753)
  • at how many people on this site often say 'oh, I really feel a connection with Morrissey because I'm just like him'. Do you really feel like that? Treating other people like crap? Deliberately toying with peoples lives, their job, their feelings. And at the same time try to pass himself off as an 'animal lover'? Come on, anybody who cares about animals is a caring person that doesn't like to see animals suffer, and rightly so, it's a human instinct based on sympathy. so it doesn't add up that he can be so uncaring, cold, cruel and narcissistic to another person like that. Nobody is perfect, but Morrissey appears like a vile, pompous, control freak that thinks it's acceptable to treat his fellow humans as deplorable, despicable filth. I can't believe I'm writing this about the man I adored above and beyond any other person for years and years of my life. Morrissey, I am truly beginning to hate you for being a fat, bloated, badly-receeding, shit songwriting nobody's nothing that is the the absolute epitome of everything you apparently despised when you were younger. At least Johnny has remained true to himself and he probably thinks you are a fucking joke, like a lot of us now do.
    At this rate, Morrissey, I predict has about two more years left before he is dropped by his record company as he is clearly sliding into insignificant oblivion. God speed the day it happens, that's all I can say!
    Anonymous -- Saturday January 26 2008, @12:55PM (#292755)
  • If i would be Morrissey i would never like to have this man in my entourage during a tour....it's a twat for sure and going to the press with this story will be great for him he can go work in a nightshift in a factory where no one will ever see him again...on tour they need young people for this kind of work and Elton John ?? well he had some great songs but who cares ?? a fan is impossible to have on tour ! just in front of the stage not backstage...yes dudes...
    Anonymous -- Saturday January 26 2008, @01:16PM (#292759)
  • You can rail against it but outsiderism demands pure ego, and additionally this is a famous man. This isn't even a particularly ugly ego excess, as the writer attests - he's just perplexed and disappointed; and its a whimsical action, not an evil one. Personally my fanhood for him rests most firmly on slivers of his past which have earned him undying affection that has nothing to do with current poor judgement. Furthermore I do not expect him to be nice - he just wouldn't be as interesting if he was.
    Anonymous -- Saturday January 26 2008, @06:03PM (#292794)
  • I'll tell you why, because he fuckin can! If Im going to pay you some ridiculous salary to do bs work, like taking a suit to the fuckin cleaners, making sure you wake someone up on time etc etc, youre gonna be at my beck n call! The dude was trying way to hard to get on Moz good graces, I think all would of been fine if he'd just stuck to the plan and been himself.

    PS, why are most of the post "bashin" Moz posted as Anonymous? If youre gonna talk trash have the balls to identify yourselfs, cunts!
    Gin N Tonic Jil -- Sunday January 27 2008, @12:37AM (#292814)
    (User #7276 Info)
    You're not down with who I am but, look at you now you're all in my hands...tonight I'm a Rock N' Roll Star!!
    • Re:Why? by Celibate Cry (Score:1) Sunday January 27 2008, @12:48AM
    • Re:Why? by Nick The Name (Score:1) Sunday January 27 2008, @01:38AM
    • Re:Why? by Anonymous (Score:0) Sunday January 27 2008, @06:09AM
      • Re:Why? by Gin N Tonic Jil (Score:1) Monday January 28 2008, @11:29AM
        • Re:Why? by Anonymous (Score:0) Monday January 28 2008, @12:47PM
  • I dunno. I have attacked Morrissey many a time for how he has treated people in his employment. but in this case I suspect he made the right decision. First of all, what's up with someone of his age so happy about being a gofer? Apparently he didn't exactly set the world on fire when he was in his prime. Secondly, we are all judged by employers based on how we dress, handle ourselves, and other "superficial" bases. If you were hiring someone, you'd judge 'em in significant part on such bases too. I know that every job interview I've ever gone to I was being judged in large part on how I looked, dressed, and acted. Thirdly, the fact that he wrote this article suggests that whomever made the decision to dump him had very good spidey senses.

    I feel bad for the dude simply because he had been told he was hired and flew all that way. They should've screened him out much more quickly, and failing to do so was a bit unfair to him. The fact that they screened him out, however, doesn't bother me. Morrissey and his crew obviously didn't want him and that is their right. Frankly, one look at his glasses and I would never have hired him in the first place. Would you wanna spend a whole tour with him?

    LoafingOaf <reversethis-{moc ... otstnilfcitnarf}> -- Sunday January 27 2008, @01:21AM (#292816)
    (User #778 Info)
    Fuck it, Dude. Let's go bowling.
  • Now I am Larry David's stunt double.

    Interesting account but very poor taste to kiss and tell. God only knows what he'd be up to had he actually been a part of the tour. Seems like Mozza and Boz sniffed this one out a mile away.
    Johnny Marr -- Sunday January 27 2008, @02:22AM (#292830)
    (User #1113 Info)
    Going Underground
  • Did he get the axe because he looks like a poor man's Simon Schama?
    orlando -- Sunday January 27 2008, @03:56AM (#292840)
    (User #18669 Info)
  • looks like Woody Allen with aids
    Anonymous -- Sunday January 27 2008, @05:01AM (#292846)
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