How can Moz escape from the indie/alternative world?

M

Maurice E

Junior Member
I remember reading, when Vauxhall came out, that the marketing plan was to distance Morrissey from the indie world.
Saw a you tube interview from last year (think it was for french TV) when Moz said once again that he doesn't want to be considered an indie or alternative act.
So, how can he effectively get away from the indie pigeon-hole?
I think the problem is the indie guitar sound which typifies so many of his songs. Life is a Pigsty is his least indie sounding song in a long time and we all lapped it up!
I reckon he needs brighter, lighter, more melodic songs which don't get bogged down with indie guitars. What do you think?
Let's all have a heated debate!
 
What Moz wants eventually Moz gets....I for one am just happy that he keeps releasing albums...:)
 
Strange really that when he started out he was adamant that the band signed only to an indie label. I know they bowed in to pressure later but it was something Morrissey felt strong about at the time. All bands/singers etc get pigeonholed, whether it be rock, pop, indie, dance, whatever. I think Morrissey will always be considered the great indie/alternative icon and I don't know why he would want to distance himself from that. Maybe he wants to be the one who is so great he is beyond any labelling. In my eyes he already is!
 
To escape the gravitational pull of any object in space you have to build up sufficient momentum, and he just hasn't earned it yet, baby. Why on earth would he want to, that's what I want to know?
 
slum mum 1974 said:
What Moz wants eventually Moz gets....I for one am just happy that he keeps releasing albums...:)
Click to expand...

Maurice E said:
Well he's been trying, but not succeeding, to escape the indie world since 1994 so I'm not sure your theory is entirely true!
Click to expand...

I did say eventually:p....one day he will get there....thats all i was saying. I want him to have who/what he wants...:D
 
I know he's married to old ideals of pop music. That's clear. He often comments on chart position and things like that that just aren't relevant anymore. I doubt he will ever make the US top 40 again. But why would he want to? The only things that make the top 40 are sanitized, boring, meaningless bits of offensive fluff that Clear Channel, with its "wholesome" ideals, won't mind playing. Does he really want to be cheek-by-jowl with Justin Timberlake? Fergie? I'm sure he'd like that kind of financial success, but at what cost?

I think he's so much better off with his huge, quiet cadre of new and old fans, selling out 40 date US tours in midsize venues. He just needs to release more music, that's all. He will never be mainstream- he's way too smart and sharp and clever. Mainstream=stupid. If banal Depeche Mode (which music I adore, anyway) never quite made the mainstream, then Moz won't either.

If he wants lots of money, he just needs to take what he's earned and invest it wisely in other things. The way anyone does... take what you make, invest it in a different industry as a hedge. Buy real estate. Buy green mutual funds.

I think it's weird to turn on alternative radio and hear so much that's influenced by Smiths/Moz, though. Arcade Fire, Death Cab, more whose names I don't even remember- they all sound to imitative to me. That must be hard to compete with.
 
Release an album of bombastic Italian rock, throw a few ballads in for good measure, a song version of Wilde's poem Ravenna and make it a romantically & sexually charged tour-de-force lyrically and emotionally.
 
Roma de Moz... that reminds me of an old Marc Almond album, that dripped Portrait of Dorian Gray... it was pure opium den, pure homo hedonism... it was delicious. It even featured guest vocals by Nico.

That's not Moz' style, though. Is it? I can't imagine he'd ever do anything so overtly gay.
 
I don't really think of him as indie anymore, especially because of the drivel that passes for indie these days. I think he's transcended that now.
 
by selling out?
seriously if he did a cover of "girls, girls, girls" by motley crue i would burn my smiths records.
 
Where can I purchase one of the "indie guitars?"
 
At the end of the day, Morrissey is always going to be labeled as an indie act - that's just how music works. People (or the industry) want to find a way to classify musicians in order to market them better, so that they reach their target audience. It makes business sense. So there's always going to be disagreement among fans over whether the classification was right. And it's not just Moz - was Miles Davis 'jazz' for the entirety of his career? Joy Division helped pioneer synth-rock. The classification system is designed for people who are unfamiliar with an artists' work, and let's face it, that's not us so what do we care?!


Coiff.
 
Kewpie said:
You're an expert, tell us more. :D
Click to expand...

I checked the meaning of "bombastic". It could well be Vasco Rossi or Ligabue or similar things. I don't listen to Italian music much. I'd rather listen to beautiful British rock.

Doubt: was your question rethorical?
 
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