Far Out Magazine: Johnny Marr discusses first meeting Morrissey at a Patti Smith concert (November 30, 2022)

In a new interview, Johnny Marr discusses first meeting his former Smiths bandmate, Morrissey. Marr opened up about the incident during an appearance on the podcast, The Line-Up With Shaun Keaveny. On the show, guests are invited to pick their dream festival, which brought him onto the topic of Patti Smith. The former Smiths guitarist recalled sneaking into the Apollo in Manchester to watch her in 1978 and stumbling upon Morrissey for the first time.

Johnny Marr reflects on meeting Morrissey for the first time

A chance meeting.

faroutmagazine.co.uk

Excerpt:

He explained: “Funny enough, it was actually for the real first time Morrissey and I met, but we met really in passing, when I went to see Patti Smith on my own in 1978. I was 14, and none of my mates wanted to pony up for the ticket. We used to always sneak in. I talked about this in my book quite a lot. We used to sneak into the Apollo.”

 

[Mac Davies]

This is a link to the podcast, charming fellow is Marr.

 

[Anonymous]

I thought Johnny was banned from mentioning Morrissey? Moz is going to have to take out an injunction.

 

[Anonymous]

I thought Johnny was banned from mentioning Morrissey? Moz is going to have to take out an injunction.

Did you listen? Shaun brought him up. Johnny skimmed over Moz, which is a pity because he now gets left out of the Smiths story.

 

[9 x Fined]

zzzz

 

[🐈🐈🐈]

Moz was there with his sister.

 

[eugenius]

Keep my Morrissey's name outta your f***ing mouth. (Kidding, I'm just reeling for the shock of him not trash talking el Hefe.)

Edited to add: M-solo auto-censors now? ¡Pinche cabróns!

 

[T. H. Auden]

Miley Cyrus is the new Patti Smith, I think. And she's helping Morrissey out on the song 'I am Veronica' with some parts of the chorus that he probably thought was difficult to do on his own. Such a sweet gesture that that she would do that.

 

[Alicia Cruz]

Keep my Morrissey's name outta your f***ing mouth. (Kidding, I'm just reeling for the shock of him not trash talking el Hefe.)

Johnny never trash talks Moz - don’t know where you’ve seen an example of that. I love how Johnny’s now the respected elder statesmen, giving interviews and floating above all of Morrissey’s controversies.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Miley Cyrus is the new Patti Smith, I think. And she's helping Morrissey out on the song 'I am Veronica' with some parts of the chorus that he probably thought was difficult to do on his own. Such a sweet gesture that that she would do that.

nah.

 

[The Wild Turkey]

When ya meet a Alien Bein', if ya relax ya energies down
to a smooth and steady manner, no communication will be
needed at all.
Everything ya need to know will be known.

 

[Amy]

And "You talk funny" was inscribed on the Mozzer brain forever.
Nice little interview.

 

[eugenius]

T. H. Auden: Miley Cyrus is the new Patti Smith, I think. And she's helping Morrissey out on the song 'I am Veronica' with some parts of the chorus that he probably thought was difficult to do on his own. Such a sweet gesture that that she would do that.​

Miley Cyrus is the new Joan Jett -- now known mostly for singing cover songs. I don't know much about Patti Smith, but I'm pretty sure she wrote the lyrics to the majority of her catalog. She covers incredibly popular songs that have already enjoyed high chart success. She's basically a sexy karaoke singer, a burlesque performer. She's non-offensive, but I'm surprised el Hefe was beguiled by her charms. He usually rails against manufactured kiddie acts.

Johnny never trash talks Moz - don’t know where you’ve seen an example of that. I love how Johnny’s now the respected elder statesmen, giving interviews and floating above all of Morrissey’s controversies.

Really? Where in the hell have you been, toots?

 

[Alicia Cruz]

Really? Where in the hell have you been, toots?
[/QUOTE]

I’ve been a fan since the Smiths. Where have you been? Johnny’s been remarkably even-keeled, considering the dumpster fire that Moz’ career has become. The open letter was the best thing that happened to Johnny because it let everybody know emphatically that they are no longer associated with each other. Lucky break for Marr!

 

[eugenius]

Really? Where in the hell have you been, toots?

I’ve been a fan since the Smiths. [/QUOTE]

That's where I stopped reading. Nothing is a bigger bummer than when someone on this site starts their response with, "I've been a fan since the Smiths." Shame on you for making me embarrassed for you. If you want to get into a dick-swinging contest, I have plenty of Smiths ticket stubs that begin with the Palladium Theater in '85 up until the Universal Amphitheater and Irvine Meadows in '86 to throw on the table.

See, I can play that game, too, but it's boring and I digress.

JM was untouchable in the Smiths, but it's been diminishing returns since then. The The? Sure, great. The Pretenders and Talking Heads? Could've been good if he stuck around longer than a weekend. From there, it's been hit and miss, but mostly, just forgettable. The solo stuff? Well, let's just say Johnny has the perfect voice for a lead guitarist. And Electronic -- that first LP was pretty good, but the band's first single was a dig at Morrissey. It started that far back.

I'm not going to spoon feed you, but go put your big-girl panties on and look for JM interviews over the last few years. There was a lengthy string of bitchy, backhanded comments he gave where he couldn't shut up about Morrissey. And it all cumulated in JM's interview with Uncut in March of this year (how did you miss that one?) when he was doing press for a new LP, and went into his usual "Down with Morrissey" soundbites.

Even JM's son Nile made it a family affair, and hopped in and and got involved. The only reason why Nile Marr is Nile Marr is because of his daddy's relationship with Morrissey, and his chart performance proves it. (The numbers don't lie.) The Marrs came off childish and petty. It would have been so easy to keep it civil, but Johnny relished the friction until Morrissey publicly told him to chill out in an open letter.

JM's only response was a limp "open letters hadn’t really been a thing since 1953," but had nothing of substance to say to defend himself. He even threw in a Trump reference in there, which seemed like a subtle attempt to align Morrissey with the old, orange pig. It was such a cringy retort, like is that all you got? Whereas Morrissey's letter was eloquent and polite, it kind of read to me like he was pleading with JM to live his life and stop living in the past.

So if JM is so offended by el Hefe, why does he keep singing the lyrics he wrote? Why not just play Smiths songs as instrumentals? That said, judging from this comment in Far Out shows that Johnny has learned his lesson.

 

[Redacted]

Really? Where in the hell have you been, toots?

I’ve been a fan since the Smiths. Where have you been? Johnny’s been remarkably even-keeled, considering the dumpster fire that Moz’ career has become. The open letter was the best thing that happened to Johnny because it let everybody know emphatically that they are no longer associated with each other. Lucky break for Marr!
[/QUOTE]
As much as I am down on Morrissey lately, he is still miles ahead of Marr, he still has his own career. He is selling out venues and releasing music and very much talked about; good or bad.

 

[Redacted]

I’ve been a fan since the Smiths.

That's where I stopped reading. Nothing is a bigger bummer than when someone on this site starts their response with, "I've been a fan since the Smiths." Shame on you for making me embarrassed for you. If you want to get into a dick-swinging contest, I have plenty of Smiths ticket stubs that begin with the Palladium Theater in '85 up until the Universal Amphitheater and Irvine Meadows in '86 to throw on the table.

See, I can play that game, too, but it's boring and I digress.

JM was untouchable in the Smiths, but it's been diminishing returns since then. The The? Sure, great. The Pretenders and Talking Heads? Could've been good if he stuck around longer than a weekend. From there, it's been hit and miss, but mostly, just forgettable. The solo stuff? Well, let's just say Johnny has the perfect voice for a lead guitarist. And Electronic -- that first LP was pretty good, but the band's first single was a dig at Morrissey. It started that far back.

I'm not going to spoon feed you, but go put your big-girl panties on and look for JM interviews over the last few years. There was a lengthy string of bitchy, backhanded comments he gave where he couldn't shut up about Morrissey. And it all cumulated in JM's interview with Uncut in March of this year (how did you miss that one?) when he was doing press for a new LP, and went into his usual "Down with Morrissey" soundbites.

Even JM's son Nile made it a family affair, and hopped in and and got involved. The only reason why Nile Marr is Nile Marr is because of his daddy's relationship with Morrissey, and his chart performance proves it. (The numbers don't lie.) The Marrs came off childish and petty. It would have been so easy to keep it civil, but Johnny relished the friction until Morrissey publicly told him to chill out in an open letter.

JM's only response was a limp "open letters hadn’t really been a thing since 1953," but had nothing of substance to say to defend himself. He even threw in a Trump reference in there, which seemed like a subtle attempt to align Morrissey with the old, orange pig. It was such a cringy retort, like is that all you got? Whereas Morrissey's letter was eloquent and polite, it kind of read to me like he was pleading with JM to live his life and stop living in the past.

So if JM is so offended by el Hefe, why does he keep singing the lyrics he wrote? Why not just play Smiths songs as instrumentals? That said, judging from this comment in Far Out shows that Johnny has learned his lesson.
[/QUOTE]
All of this, the bit about Electronic is really appalling and how Marr stabbed Hooky in the back too, he is really a nasty character.

 

[Amy]

Really? Where in the hell have you been, toots?

I’ve been a fan since the Smiths. Where have you been? Johnny’s been remarkably even-keeled, considering the dumpster fire that Moz’ career has become. The open letter was the best thing that happened to Johnny because it let everybody know emphatically that they are no longer associated with each other. Lucky break for Marr!

Sometimes he has been even-keeled and affectionate towards Moz. Other times, he has been an utter bitch, seemingly out of the blue. That's the thing with Johnny - he just goes along with the opinion of whoever is in the room, whether it's Bernard Sumner or a random journalist. He'd praise Moz to the skies in the morning and hang him out to dry in the afternoon, if it impressed the right crowd.

The letter was Moz telling him to stop 'playing to the gallery' and it obviously stung him a lot, but maybe he needed stinging.

 

[Pat Manc]

Sometimes he has been even-keeled and affectionate towards Moz. Other times, he has been an utter bitch, seemingly out of the blue. That's the thing with Johnny - he just goes along with the opinion of whoever is in the room, whether it's Bernard Sumner or a random journalist. He'd praise Moz to the skies in the morning and hang him out to dry in the afternoon, if it impressed the right crowd.

The letter was Moz telling him to stop 'playing to the gallery' and it obviously stung him a lot, but maybe he needed stinging.

Bernard Sumner? Peter Hook? Are you guys talking about interviews Johnny did 30 years ago?

Did anyone else listen to the Shaun Keaveny podcast? Johnny said the Smiths loved each other. End of.

 

[Redacted]

Bernard Sumner? Peter Hook? Are you guys talking about interviews Johnny did 30 years ago?

Did anyone else listen to the Shaun Keaveny podcast? Johnny said the Smiths loved each other. End of.

I am talking about something Peter Hook said. He said Marr came to him and tried to get him to work with him and Hooky declined. Then Marr went to Bernard, and Hooky was there or there shortly thereafter and he told Bernard what Marr did and Marr lied to Bernard's face and Hooky's.
I did not listen to the podcast, I need an interpreter to understand Marr and he just tells the same stories over and over.