Other Ex-Smiths

Link posted by an anonymous person (original post):

Johnny Marr Is a Fan First and a Musician Second - Esquire
The Smiths cofounder opens up about his new memoir, the music that inspired him, and his relationship with Morrissey.

Excerpt:

Well, a lot of people would not have wanted to collaborate with Morrissey. He's an unusual guy, and you were young—young guys are pretty unforgiving. But you didn't see him as odd, or see the things another young person might see and not like about him.

I didn't really care about any of that. I just wanted a singer. We had a really, really strong friendship, right away. Let me put it this way: You don't just manufacture luck. If you're just sitting around f***ing talking about it, it won't happen. I did...

Not sure if this news has done the rounds yet but ... in another recent TV interview, Marr talks about the prospect of the Smiths coming back with a Christmas single! (5:35)
I reckon Marr deserves top marks for handling all the questions about the Smiths reforming with humour and diplomacy.

Guitarist Johny Marr on whether The Smiths will reunite - CBS News

Excerpt:

“What fans get surprised at sometimes is they assume you’ve been offered gazillions of dollars to get back together, and they can’t believe you won’t take it,” Mason said.

“We have been offered gazillions of dollars to get back together,” Marr said.

And they nearly did. Marr writes in his book that he reunited with Morrissey at a pub in 2008, and then “suddenly we were talking about... the band re-reforming.” But after a few days, there was “radio silence.”

“For a lot of fans that will sound tantalizingly close,” Mason said.

“Yeah. To be honest I was just enjoying having a kind of catch up with someone I used to be really close with 30 years ago. A long time,” Marr said.

“So you don’t think it’s going to happen?” Mason asked.

“No, I don’t think it’s going to happen, no,” Marr said.

Johnny Marr BBC World News interview - thread by John Parks

Johnny Marr playing 'The Headmaster Ritual' at book launch - video / photos

Posted by terrancestamp (original post):

Johnny Marr book tour dates:

November 7 – Manchester, England @ RNCM
November 10 – London, England @ The Barbican
November 15 – New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre with Strand Bookstore $
November 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Vista Theater with Skylight Books *
November 18 – San Francisco, CA @ Jewish Community Center of San Francisco #
November 19 – Beaverton, OR @ Powell’s Bookstore %
December 9 – Birmingham, England @ Birmingham Town Hall

Photo of London signing posted by...

Johnny Marr chats to Simon Mayo about his autobiography 'Set The Boy Free':

'I was a good judge of character' Johnny Marr on the close relationships during the early days of The Smiths - BBC Music
Johnny Marr chats to Simon Mayo about his autobiography 'Set The Boy Free'.

---

Johnny Marr reveals Paul McCartney helped him after The Smiths split with one pearl of wisdom:

Johnny Marr reveals Paul McCartney helped him after The Smiths split with one pearl of wisdom - Manchester Evening News
He talked to the ex-Beatles star for a little advice after the 'emotional' split

Excerpt:

“Then we took a break and he was asking what was going on with me. “Linda very genuinely asked me how I was getting on with the post-Smiths break-up.

“I was honest with her. It was...

Johnny Marr distances himself from Morrissey's Brexit views - Sky News
The legendary guitarist says his bandmate's recent political proclamations suggest The Smiths are better off staying split up.

Excerpts:

He told Sky News that if reports Morrissey said he liked Nigel Farage "a great deal" and that the Brexit result is "magnificent" are true, they no longer share the same beliefs.

He said: "Yes that's probably right - I always forget about that, it's stuff I hear second hand and I don't believe everything I read but if that is the case that he's pro-Farage, there would be a slight drawback in that, as anyone would imagine."

"As far as Brexit goes, I'm proud again to be in the minority. No-one ever says the majority is right, I've been in the minority a lot - when I was younger and now," he said.

He said: "At the time when Thatcher came into power, young people were...

Johnny Marr reviews books on The Smiths - BBC Radio 4
Ahead of the publication of his autobiography, Johnny Marr gives his first broadcast interview to the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.

He met the BBC's Colin Paterson at Manchester’s Central Library, where he used to go when playing truant from school, and reviewed the books on the shelf dedicated to The Smiths.

(Photo: Johnny Marr standing next to a bookcase. Credit: BBC)

Release date:
31 October 2016
Duration:
2 minutes

---

Also see forum post by Uncleskinny:

Johnny Marr's 'Set The Boy Free' Spotify playlist

“Set the Boy Free” – Johnny Marr : the in Depth interview on the Smiths, his book, Bowie and Brexit - Louder Than War

Johnny Marr interviewed by Fergal Kinney

“I THOUGHT it was important” explains Johnny Marr down the phone on a Wednesday afternoon, “to let people know what really happened”. To borrow a phrase, it’s time the tale were told – the Smiths story is one that’s been documented within an inch of its life but often with varying degrees of accuracy and never from Marr’s vantage point.

---

Excerpt posted by an anonymous person:

Nice bit on the nearly 2008 reunion: " I’d thought anyway that if the Smiths were ever going to reform a big part of it would have been to make a new record, because on the one occasion – that I talk about in the book – that it may have nearly happened, I was one hundred per cent as excited about writing new songs as I was about playing in...