Andrew sends the link:

Joey Barton on his obsession with The Smiths - BBC Sport / Football

QPR midfielder Joey Barton tells Football Focus about his love of British band The Smiths, saying one of his biggest regrets is never seeing them live.

He also explains why his favourite song is 'Still Ill' and how 'Meat is Murder' made him and his uncle become vegetarians - although the Liverpudlian admits he only lasted for one week without meat.

If you enable "3D BUILDINGS" in the latest version of Google Earth, and zoom into Salford Lads Club (enter postcode / zip code - M5 3RX in the 'fly to' box to help locate it), you will not only see a 3D replica of the Lads Club, but also a 3D Morrissey standing just outside, in the same position as the famous Queen is Dead photo. The "Morrissey" is quite pixelated, but it's a nice touch from whoever put this together in cyberspace.

You can download Google Earth free here- http://www.google.com/earth/index.html

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Wobble notes the image also appears in Google Maps:

A seasonal version of Rhodri Marsden

Heaven Knows I'm Christmassy Now - by freefrench, SoundCloud

With apologies to Morrissey / Marr.

The John Lewis advert bugged me so much I thought I should create something monstrous that made it look like the feeble streak of horsepiss that it is. I'm not sure I managed that, but I knocked it out in three hours and laughed like an idiot in a room on my own for most of those three hours. Merry Xmas everyone..

Although it doesn't explicitly say so in the list of songs, Kirsty Young said in the programme (which can be listened to again via the website) that when they counted up the requests of listeners' desert island discs, "There Is A Light.." came out top of all the 80's songs asked for.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018g15j#synopsis

Statement 21 December - true-to-you.net

Original Stone Roses and Smiths drummer to publish book by Carl Stanley, Louder Than War

Si Wolstencroft was the drummer in The Patrol, the band that predates The Stone Roses and featured Ian Brown and John Squire and he went to school with the pair of them. He was also the first drummer in The Smiths and then spent ten years in The Fall before linking back with Ian Brown for some of his solo tracks… he also famously played with Brown and Squire during the soundcheck for the recent legendary Justice Tonight appearence at Manchester Ritz.

Excerpt:

A question I’m sure you’ve been asked a few times but what’s your take on not going all the way with The Roses or The Smiths, though at the same time you’ve had a fantastic career playing with other influential/big bands others could only dream of…

When The Smiths went huge I was gutted I turned down the job but after being...

Interesting article on Morrissey/Smiths fandom in today's Guardian.

Morrissey and me: how an ordinary Asian fell in love with the Smiths - The Guardian

The Smiths as Asian? On the release of a CD box set, Sukhdev Sandhu reflects on his teenage passion for a band whose songs echoed his own introversion and working-class life

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