Fiona Dodwell: In Conversation With Morrissey - full interview (April 3, 2023)

Morrissey Talks to Fiona Dodwell for Gabfest, April 2023

Excerpt:

"After his recent concert at London’s Hammersmith Apollo, I met with Morrissey backstage, and we acknowledged the difficulties he has faced by not “playing the game” of appeasing the media, or aligning himself with whatever the fashionable movement of the day is. “But you’re not a pop puppet, and you never could be,” I said, and he readily agreed. The truth is, perhaps, that to be the direct and authentic artist he is was never actually a choice. Morrissey is simply himself, fully and wholly, and it is that which likely resonates with his audience, who cling to him in their droves and travel the world for a glimpse of their idol. Truth is not always easy to come by in this world, and when people see it and feel it, they are drawn to it. They want to feel it, up close and personal."


 
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Why wouldn't they count?
My thinking was that chart placings are dependant on sales within a certain timeframe (e.g. a week in most cases) and that if, say, a new album was offered at Morrissey concerts only, there wouldn't usually be enough sales in the space of a week to impact the charts. If the whole operation was DIY and the vinyls or whatever had been received by Morrissey's team directly from the factory (which I suppose anyone can do, making allowance for waiting times) then who would be counting them for the official charts? - I thought record outlets did that. If sales at concerts were in tandem with the usual distribtion methods, I'm sure Morrissey's team could do what they are presumably doing now with the signed albums on the merch stalls, but again the sales would have to be over a protracted period, because they couldn't buy up 1000s of records in one go as that would flout chart rules, I'm sure. So, it seems to me that the only way for it to work is if a distributor arranges for sales at one or more massive concerts within a week, and I can't see one of those in Morrissey's immediate future.
 
Well, if it is true that he has already given up on getting WMTWD released, then it must also be a crushing disapointment for Alain. I was also disappointned to find no single word on Morrissey’s renewed collaboration with Alain in the interview.

At this point in his life/career, if I were to guess, Alain probably realistically looks at any new material being released by Morrissey as a roll of the dice. If it doesn't pan out, he's got his other ventures and he's seemingly firmly retaken a place in the live band. If it does, then he'll get a nice fresh infusion of royalties. Nothing ventured, nothing gained but surely he's aware of the strong headwinds Morrissey has sailed into.
 
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