Morrissey Central "BONFIRE OF TEENAGERS, RIP" (February 13, 2023) - Morrissey vs Capitol Records

BONFIRE OF TEENAGERS, RIP - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - BONFIRE OF TEENAGERS, RIP

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

www.morrisseycentral.com

Capitol Records (Los Angeles) proudly promotes Sam Smith’s ‘satanism’; yet they consider the honest truth of Morrissey’s factual ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ to be their biggest threat and they will not release it despite their contractual obligation and promise to do so.

---

Media coverage:

• Morrissey Whines That Capitol Promotes Sam Smith’s “Satanism” But Not His New Album - Consequence of Sound. Link posted by Never Welcome.
• Morrissey says Capitol will promote Sam Smith’s “satanism” but considers his unreleased album “their biggest threat” - NME. Link posted by Famous when dead.
• Morrissey Complains Capitol Is Promoting “Sam Smith’s ‘Satanism'” But Not His New Album - Stereogum. Link posted by Famous when dead.
• Morrissey says Capitol Records is prioritising Sam Smith’s ‘satanism’ over his new album - The Independent. Link posted by Famous when dead.

 

[Crisstti]

Same record company, Harvest which is part of Capitol records Sadly the deal included rereleases of YATQ, ROTT and WPINOYB which we will not see nay time soon either.

OK but still don't get why World Peace can't be found on Spotify. Those other albums are there.

 

[BrokenFrame]

OK but still don't get why World Peace can't be found on Spotify. Those other albums are there.

Probably for the same reason the CD is no longer in shops. Moz falling out with everyone as per usual.

 

[jmb066]

If the record company still owns the rights, they can block it from being on Spotify etc. Again sadly this was to be rereleased and now gone again.

 

[Anonymous]

I am so in love with Veronica. First time with a woman.

If you think 'Veronica' is a woman, you must be a new Morrissey fan.

 

[Anonymous]

To record albums - mixed and mastered - that sit just sit gathering dust - it’s madness and as far as I know unheard of.

It's certainly not unheard of - there have been numerous cases of artists recording, but the labels refusing to issue the albums. We can count ourselves lucky that it appears Morrissey only signed a licensing agreement with Capitol for 1 album, so it's just 'Bonfire' that's stuck in limbo. He could have been stuck in some multi-album/multi-year deal, where he could have been gagged for ages - situations like this happen all the time: https://www.nme.com/news/music/raye...iming-her-label-refused-to-release-it-2982996

As it stands, it appears he can release 'Without Music' tomorrow if he feels like it - let's look on the positive side.

 

[Crisstti]

If the record company still owns the rights, they can block it from being on Spotify etc. Again sadly this was to be rereleased and now gone again.

Yeah but why would they.

 

[Mike Rourke]

Yeah but why would they.

I don't have any inside knowledge about these things but I'm guessing they feel they would lose more money than they make from its release.
There must be costs to releasing it, and projected sales presumably would just not cover them.
The release of Rebels Without Applause might have been to test the water. When they found that no radio stations would play it, despite a v positive reception at the concerts, perhaps they concluded that the effective boycott that (UK) radio stations have applied to Morrissey's new recordings since 2019 is still in place.

 

[Crisstti]

I don't have any inside knowledge about these things but I'm guessing they feel they would lose more money than they make from its release.
There must be costs to releasing it, and projected sales presumably would just not cover them.
The release of Rebels Without Applause might have been to test the water. When they found that no radio stations would play it, despite a v positive reception at the concerts, perhaps they concluded that the effective boycott that (UK) radio stations have applied to Morrissey's new recordings since 2019 is still in place.

Well World Peace is already released, yet somehow missing from Spotify...

About Bonfire, I don't know, those re good points but also, The UK is far from being the only market and they apparently don't even have the rights for a UK release. Also, there was not much (if anything) in the way of promotion for Rebels, so how much can be concluded from it?
What's more, if that's what they think, they should want to sell Moz the rights back.

 

[skull]

It's certainly not unheard of - there have been numerous cases of artists recording, but the labels refusing to issue the albums. We can count ourselves lucky that it appears Morrissey only signed a licensing agreement with Capitol for 1 album, so it's just 'Bonfire' that's stuck in limbo. He could have been stuck in some multi-album/multi-year deal, where he could have been gagged for ages - situations like this happen all the time: https://www.nme.com/news/music/raye...iming-her-label-refused-to-release-it-2982996

As it stands, it appears he can release 'Without Music' tomorrow if he feels like it - let's look on the positive side.

The bad thing is that Bonfire must be a very good album, at least for me and many fans, and we eagerly need it...

 

[skull]

Well World Peace is already released, yet somehow missing from Spotify...

About Bonfire, I don't know, those re good points but also, The UK is far from being the only market and they apparently don't even have the rights for a UK release. Also, there was not much (if anything) in the way of promotion for Rebels, so how much can be concluded from it?
What's more, if that's what they think, they should want to sell Moz the rights back.

I agree with you, there was no promotion. Maybe they think Morrissey doesn't sell outside his fanbase, and fanbase doesn't need promotion

 

[robertw93]

If the record company still owns the rights, they can block it from being on Spotify etc. Again sadly this was to be rereleased and now gone again.

World Peace was to be released in 2015, there was artwork being mooted wasn't there? That was an incredibly quick cock up in the Moz world, a matter of a few months wasn't it before it got withdrawn? But still not as quick as the Bonfire fiasco.

 

[Anonymous]

He does seem to be getting quicker. Whatever label he signs with for 'Without Music the World Dies' , I reckon he'll fall out with them even before the first single is released.

 

[robertw93]

World Peace was to be released in 2015, there was artwork being mooted wasn't there? That was an incredibly quick cock up in the Moz world, a matter of a few months wasn't it before it got withdrawn? But still not as quick as the Bonfire fiasco.

Re-released rather. And just had a look, it was 2016 with the Joan of arc cover.

 

[robertw93]

He does seem to be getting quicker. Whatever label he signs with for 'Without Music the World Dies' , I reckon he'll fall out with them even before the first single is released.

Or we could have a falling out with the producer Joe and the whole album gets blocked BEFORE he even gets signed, that'd be a new one!

 

[Harsh Truth]

Well World Peace is already released, yet somehow missing from Spotify...

In 2014, Morrissey had a falling out with Harvest Records. It resulted in World Peace being withdrawn and deleted from their catalogue three weeks after the release of the album. This includes availability on all official digital platforms. So while a solid quantity of physical copies were released and may still be circulating, they are all from original pressings.

Why did this happen? Morrissey publicly moaning about lack of promotion from the label. So, his own doing, as usual.

 

[robertw93]

In 2014, Morrissey had a falling out with Harvest Records. It resulted in World Peace being withdrawn and deleted from their catalogue three weeks after the release of the album. This includes availability on all official digital platforms. So while a solid quantity of physical copies were released and may still be circulating, they are all from original pressings.

Why did this happen? Morrissey publicly moaning about lack of promotion from the label. So, his own doing, as usual.

Can anyone post any of the posts Moz made?

 

[Harsh Truth]

Can anyone post any of the posts Moz made?

The whole saga is probably still documented on this website.

 

[robertw93]

The whole saga is probably still documented on this website.

A bit of light reading on my lunch! The thing is after the last Harvest (capital) saga, why resign!?

 

[Juan Dulces]

In 2014, Morrissey had a falling out with Harvest Records. It resulted in World Peace being withdrawn and deleted from their catalogue three weeks after the release of the album. This includes availability on all official digital platforms. So while a solid quantity of physical copies were released and may still be circulating, they are all from original pressings.

Why did this happen? Morrissey publicly moaning about lack of promotion from the label. So, his own doing, as usual.

That's a real shame too, obviously, because World Peace is a gem.

 

[Mozzer1980]

The World Peace publishing fiasco was the best moment (paradoxically) for Morrissey to think about self-publishing music. Unfortunately, it's only gotten worse since then. And there is no sign of any light at the end of the tunnel.