U
Uncleskinny
Guest
After the “heads-up” by Stinky, I went and bought The Sun, not that I would normally buy it. They are falling over themselves to praise Moz, with nary a bad word. I never thought I’d see the day. I’ve typed it up verbatim, which means carrying across a few mistakes in the article. I tried to look for the new Uncut, but couldn’t find it.
Best Wishes,
Sk./Peter
Morrissey feature from today's Sun (U.K)
There's a small review, a very small side panel named "The Lowdown" and an interview, by Jacqui Swift
After 25 years as one of our greatest and most iconic singer/songwriters, Morrissey is still at the top of his game with Ringleader Of The Tormentors, his amazing eighth album. It was inspired by Rome, the city which has given him a new perspective on life. Here, the former Smiths man reveals why he moved to Italy and how he finally got to work with T-Rex producer Tony Visconti and acclaimed composer Ennio Morricone. He also talks about finally getting used to being an icon and why he thinks The Smiths should have continued but that his solo work is his best ever.
Sun: Why did you decide to move to Rome? How has it inspired you?
Morrissey: It was an accident as I was actually on my way to L.A. I had taken a flight to Dublin and it was a terrible journey. I couldn’t get on the next flight so I took a short one to Rome.
Rome is very idle and spontaneous. There’s something within the people that is very modern. In the past I think I was very narrow-minded. I thought that England was the best place on the planet – I would travel around Europe and I would never be interested. I was very closed and now very embarrassed that I was so blinkered.
Sun: Have you left your English blood behind?
Morrissey: My English roots are inescapable. For better, for worse. It is like being born Catholic, you carry it forever. There’s not really much I can do about it if I want to. I’m still principally English of course but I can’t stand Tony Blair and I can’t stand his government and so I’m keeping away.
Sun: Did Ringleader Of The Tormentors turn out exactly as you had intended?
Morrissey: I had imagined it would be more tranquil and gentle. That’s the way I was feeling…very wistful and slightly wearisome. But when all the Italian components fell together and the new songs came together it developed itself as being very strong and confrontational. We used more instrumentation so there was a lot more happening in the songs.
Sun: Is the track At Last I Am Born a true reflection of where you are at, now in your life?
Morrissey: I think that after a long, long time I am finally born. I mean, it takes some peoplea long time to finally realize many things about their life. I feel that the last year or so has been better in many, many ways. I think life for many people is a pigsty, hence the track Life Is A Pigsty, and I don’t think the world is a particularly fantastic place. But once again, we’re not supposed to say these things, are we? It’s supposed to be rock ‘n’ roll, and wild, and beer, and madness. I’m just being realistic.
Sun: How did you team up with Tony Visconti? (Legendary producer of David Bowie and T-Rex)
Morrissey: Tony Visconti is a genius and embellished everything beautifully. And of course, he is out of Italian stock himself, so the fact that he became involved is also a fascinating part of the jigsaw. Johnny Marr and I had met him in the mid-80s and asked him to produce The Queen Is Dead. Unfortunately he passed. Then he was almost there for my album Your Arsenal, but it didn’t happen. So he’s always been a looming figure.
Sun: And how did you get Ennio Morricone on board? (Italian composer famed for great Spaghetti Western soundtracks)
Morrissey: His participation was very accidental. E was due to come to the studio, and often when he comes to the studio people will try and entice him to join in. He’d never be interested and the people at the studio said “Forget it – he’s refused everybody on the planet.” Every conceivable big name you can think of he had said “No” to. But we passed him a song and he said, “Yes.” And then he brought in his 36-piece orchestra. He was completely locked into his maestro, which was fascinating to watch.
Sun: People refer to The Smiths as the golden era. Which do you think is your best?
Morrissey: I prefer things today, because regardless of what anybody might say, the level of interest now is stronger than ever before. People always refer to The Smiths as a golden period, but compared to now, people are more interested, so, I’m very comfortable with Ringleader Of The Tormentors. To me it’s exciting whereas it wasn’t necessarily so in the past. When I look back, it’s quite shocking sometimes. I think that I was always very honest – brutally honest where lots of people feel very uncomfortable. I think that initially people thought that I was too open. In my career I wasn’t going to do anything else. It had to be this way. Even if I make people vomit, it’s a reaction and it’s a confirmation of something. And writing with Johnny Marr, well, maybe it was the best of both worlds because it was the right time. It was a certain time when it ended, and the years that followed were something quit different for both of us. But it was very fruitful – a fantastic journey. I didn’t feel that we should have ended. I felt we should have continued, but he wanted it to end.
Sun: Are you comfortable with being with such an icon?
Morrissey: I don’t know how it happened because as I have previously said, it shouldn’t really have happened. I was a very introverted person, and introverted people didn’t sing or belong in pop/rock music. So that fact that I ended up is peculiar. It’s not particularly a personal decision. Most people fantasise about singing or playing or being on the television but I was equally sure that people like me couldn’t make it – I saw no evidence of it. Everybody in pop music was very brash and sure of themselves and very sexy and aggressive and I was the opposite of all of those things! But of course, I’m not now.
Sun: What next?
Morrissey: I honestly don’t make plans. I don’t have any idea where I’ll be in two week’s time. In fact, I have no idea where I’ll be this time next year. I envy people who make plans with their lives and say “Oh I will have seven children.” I find It fascinating. I have no idea where I’ll be which is a good feeling mostly and a queasy feeling occasionally.
Sun: Are you the same Morrissey as you were all those years ago?
Morrissey: A long time has passed. If I was still the same, if I was still locked in the same mentality then I would be in terrible trouble, but time has passed and these are much better days for me.
Sun: Does it mean that all this unhappiness is really behind you?
Morrissey: Of course it doesn’t. What do you think I am? I’m only human!
THE REVIEW
Moz is back and this time he’s in love. The man with the most stylish quiff in music is a mellower soul than ever before – and you might dare to say he’s happy. And with the most erudite of all pop stars turning his attention to love, life and even sex, this album is a celebration of La Dolce Vita.
On Dear God Please Help Me, he is explicit that his pronouncements on celibacy are very old news with the lyrics “There are exploding kegs between my legs.” Life Is A Pigsty is a seven-minute moody epic filled with swirling synths while The Father Who Must be Killed is an eerie tale of a doomed childhood.
Production by Tony Visconti gives the whole album a glammed-up magnificence and new base Rome means it is permeated with Italian flavours including the legendary Ennio Morricone. Single You Have Killed Me sees his deep dulcet tones caress the melody and is wonderful and uplifting. Simply fantastico!
THE LOWDOWN
Former band: The Smiths (formed 1982, split 1987)
Hits: Singles – Irish Blood English Heart (No.3, 2004). Albums – Viva Hate (No.1, 1988) and Vauxhall And I (No.1, 1994)
Website: www.morrisseymusic.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/Morrissey
Best Wishes,
Sk./Peter
Morrissey feature from today's Sun (U.K)
There's a small review, a very small side panel named "The Lowdown" and an interview, by Jacqui Swift
After 25 years as one of our greatest and most iconic singer/songwriters, Morrissey is still at the top of his game with Ringleader Of The Tormentors, his amazing eighth album. It was inspired by Rome, the city which has given him a new perspective on life. Here, the former Smiths man reveals why he moved to Italy and how he finally got to work with T-Rex producer Tony Visconti and acclaimed composer Ennio Morricone. He also talks about finally getting used to being an icon and why he thinks The Smiths should have continued but that his solo work is his best ever.
Sun: Why did you decide to move to Rome? How has it inspired you?
Morrissey: It was an accident as I was actually on my way to L.A. I had taken a flight to Dublin and it was a terrible journey. I couldn’t get on the next flight so I took a short one to Rome.
Rome is very idle and spontaneous. There’s something within the people that is very modern. In the past I think I was very narrow-minded. I thought that England was the best place on the planet – I would travel around Europe and I would never be interested. I was very closed and now very embarrassed that I was so blinkered.
Sun: Have you left your English blood behind?
Morrissey: My English roots are inescapable. For better, for worse. It is like being born Catholic, you carry it forever. There’s not really much I can do about it if I want to. I’m still principally English of course but I can’t stand Tony Blair and I can’t stand his government and so I’m keeping away.
Sun: Did Ringleader Of The Tormentors turn out exactly as you had intended?
Morrissey: I had imagined it would be more tranquil and gentle. That’s the way I was feeling…very wistful and slightly wearisome. But when all the Italian components fell together and the new songs came together it developed itself as being very strong and confrontational. We used more instrumentation so there was a lot more happening in the songs.
Sun: Is the track At Last I Am Born a true reflection of where you are at, now in your life?
Morrissey: I think that after a long, long time I am finally born. I mean, it takes some peoplea long time to finally realize many things about their life. I feel that the last year or so has been better in many, many ways. I think life for many people is a pigsty, hence the track Life Is A Pigsty, and I don’t think the world is a particularly fantastic place. But once again, we’re not supposed to say these things, are we? It’s supposed to be rock ‘n’ roll, and wild, and beer, and madness. I’m just being realistic.
Sun: How did you team up with Tony Visconti? (Legendary producer of David Bowie and T-Rex)
Morrissey: Tony Visconti is a genius and embellished everything beautifully. And of course, he is out of Italian stock himself, so the fact that he became involved is also a fascinating part of the jigsaw. Johnny Marr and I had met him in the mid-80s and asked him to produce The Queen Is Dead. Unfortunately he passed. Then he was almost there for my album Your Arsenal, but it didn’t happen. So he’s always been a looming figure.
Sun: And how did you get Ennio Morricone on board? (Italian composer famed for great Spaghetti Western soundtracks)
Morrissey: His participation was very accidental. E was due to come to the studio, and often when he comes to the studio people will try and entice him to join in. He’d never be interested and the people at the studio said “Forget it – he’s refused everybody on the planet.” Every conceivable big name you can think of he had said “No” to. But we passed him a song and he said, “Yes.” And then he brought in his 36-piece orchestra. He was completely locked into his maestro, which was fascinating to watch.
Sun: People refer to The Smiths as the golden era. Which do you think is your best?
Morrissey: I prefer things today, because regardless of what anybody might say, the level of interest now is stronger than ever before. People always refer to The Smiths as a golden period, but compared to now, people are more interested, so, I’m very comfortable with Ringleader Of The Tormentors. To me it’s exciting whereas it wasn’t necessarily so in the past. When I look back, it’s quite shocking sometimes. I think that I was always very honest – brutally honest where lots of people feel very uncomfortable. I think that initially people thought that I was too open. In my career I wasn’t going to do anything else. It had to be this way. Even if I make people vomit, it’s a reaction and it’s a confirmation of something. And writing with Johnny Marr, well, maybe it was the best of both worlds because it was the right time. It was a certain time when it ended, and the years that followed were something quit different for both of us. But it was very fruitful – a fantastic journey. I didn’t feel that we should have ended. I felt we should have continued, but he wanted it to end.
Sun: Are you comfortable with being with such an icon?
Morrissey: I don’t know how it happened because as I have previously said, it shouldn’t really have happened. I was a very introverted person, and introverted people didn’t sing or belong in pop/rock music. So that fact that I ended up is peculiar. It’s not particularly a personal decision. Most people fantasise about singing or playing or being on the television but I was equally sure that people like me couldn’t make it – I saw no evidence of it. Everybody in pop music was very brash and sure of themselves and very sexy and aggressive and I was the opposite of all of those things! But of course, I’m not now.
Sun: What next?
Morrissey: I honestly don’t make plans. I don’t have any idea where I’ll be in two week’s time. In fact, I have no idea where I’ll be this time next year. I envy people who make plans with their lives and say “Oh I will have seven children.” I find It fascinating. I have no idea where I’ll be which is a good feeling mostly and a queasy feeling occasionally.
Sun: Are you the same Morrissey as you were all those years ago?
Morrissey: A long time has passed. If I was still the same, if I was still locked in the same mentality then I would be in terrible trouble, but time has passed and these are much better days for me.
Sun: Does it mean that all this unhappiness is really behind you?
Morrissey: Of course it doesn’t. What do you think I am? I’m only human!
THE REVIEW
Moz is back and this time he’s in love. The man with the most stylish quiff in music is a mellower soul than ever before – and you might dare to say he’s happy. And with the most erudite of all pop stars turning his attention to love, life and even sex, this album is a celebration of La Dolce Vita.
On Dear God Please Help Me, he is explicit that his pronouncements on celibacy are very old news with the lyrics “There are exploding kegs between my legs.” Life Is A Pigsty is a seven-minute moody epic filled with swirling synths while The Father Who Must be Killed is an eerie tale of a doomed childhood.
Production by Tony Visconti gives the whole album a glammed-up magnificence and new base Rome means it is permeated with Italian flavours including the legendary Ennio Morricone. Single You Have Killed Me sees his deep dulcet tones caress the melody and is wonderful and uplifting. Simply fantastico!
THE LOWDOWN
Former band: The Smiths (formed 1982, split 1987)
Hits: Singles – Irish Blood English Heart (No.3, 2004). Albums – Viva Hate (No.1, 1988) and Vauxhall And I (No.1, 1994)
Website: www.morrisseymusic.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/Morrissey
