Johnny Marr opens up about Smiths split, full interview on YouTube - Radio X

Pleased to see that Radio X released a full 1hr 25 recording of the In Conversation... with Johnny Marr:



They also posted the specific part where
Johnny talks about the split and subsequent help from other artists:



Worth a watch just for the Smiths tunes (and the story of how Hand In Glove came about).
Thanks to Radio X for the full event.
Regards,
FWD.
 
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Where are the choice bits to listen to? Not sure I want to sit through it all. Johnny didn't like what The Smiths were doing but thinks Electronic stuff was good if not better? They had a few okay songs though the sound has dated dreadfully as has the Pet Shop Boys stuff. That's the trouble with trying to sound modern all the time.

Morrissey is difficult but I believe it's a coping mechanism for his slight personality disorders (which we all have) and it's a way to survive in a difficult business and retain some integrity. I'm not sure I'd like to have to deal with it though either.
 
Johnny seems to be morphing into some sort of embarrassing offshoot of Paul Weller. That 'look' just doesn't work on 50 year old dudes and he clearly hasn't met a bottle of hair dye he didn't like. as for the breakup, Jesus this guy changes his story a lot. I've heard various versions, but one of my favourites is the version where he said that when starting the band he always intended on it no being long term and that he would be the first to leave. Well mission accomplished in that case. johnny's story is so inconsistent it's actually worthless. If he believes that leaving and working with Sumner, Lowe, Tennant etc made him a better musician then fair play to him, though I don't think that has really shown in the music he's made since leaving the band and I'd confidently say a large majority of fans would echo that sentiment.
 
Johnny seems to be morphing into some sort of embarrassing offshoot of Paul Weller. That 'look' just doesn't work on 50 year old dudes and he clearly hasn't met a bottle of hair dye he didn't like. as for the breakup, Jesus this guy changes his story a lot. I've heard various versions, but one of my favourites is the version where he said that when starting the band he always intended on it no being long term and that he would be the first to leave. Well mission accomplished in that case. johnny's story is so inconsistent it's actually worthless. If he believes that leaving and working with Sumner, Lowe, Tennant etc made him a better musician then fair play to him, though I don't think that has really shown in the music he's made since leaving the band and I'd confidently say a large majority of fans would echo that sentiment.
Marr is in a secret contest with Tim Burgess as to who is the most tragic 50 something. Somehow I prefer men who dye their hair if they have some left or choose to keep it. That should not be reserved for women but I hear ya.
 
Marr is morphing into that Roxette dude.

gessle_per_roxette_foto_unbezeichnet.jpg__500x480_q85_crop-smart_cropper-booking_detail-_subsampling-2.jpg
 
She's doing well. Had a little health scare recently, but it wasn't as serious as initially thought. Yes, I'm in contact. She's the mother of my child. And finally, I would rather stick my dick in a bees nest than in her ever again. :lbf:

Yikes! I thought you were joking around but clearly not :)
 
Yikes! I thought you were joking around but clearly not :)
Can't it be both?

Seriously though. That's what it reminds me of. Asking about an ex constantly, or "Hey! Remember when you worked at that one place in the 80s? How's your old coworker Bob doing? You ever think about working with him again?" It's ridiculous, and Morrissey and Marr have both been incredibly patient over the years (with a few exceptions) when it inevitably comes up.
 
Not enough questions about Morrissey, though not a bad interview.

;)


But seriously, Johnny really flubbed 'Charming Man' and 'How Soon'
think he needs to give Jesse a call and get shown how it's done.


Actually wish he would have worked with Patti Smith, he still could, would be interesting.





.
 
Has Marr stated that previously? I'm not saying you're wrong but I do find it hard to believe considering that both Marr and Morrissey consider 'Strangeways...' as their favourite Smiths record.

Marr has indeed said that Strangeways is his favourite, but he also lamented the fact that Morrissey's tastes were so conservative, because he would have wanted to go into a more electronic direction next. If I remember correctly, he thought that The Smiths had one more album in them, or perhaps two, but no more than that. Whereas Morrissey thought that The Smiths were for life.
 
She's doing well. Had a little health scare recently, but it wasn't as serious as initially thought. Yes, I'm in contact. She's the mother of my child. And finally, I would rather stick my dick in a bees nest than in her ever again. :lbf:

I got divorced last year after a 24-year marriage. Now I'm dating a prominent Finnish author 14 years younger than me, whereas my ex-wife is seeing a very practical-minded civil engineer ten years older than her. We're actually very happy for each other and keep wondering why we didn't separate a decade earlier. So I'm all for divorce.
 
Marr has indeed said that Strangeways is his favourite, but he also lamented the fact that Morrissey's tastes were so conservative, because he would have wanted to go into a more electronic direction next. If I remember correctly, he thought that The Smiths had one more album in them, or perhaps two, but no more than that. Whereas Morrissey thought that The Smiths were for life.

He wanted to move the Smiths in a more 'electronic direction' after Strangeways? really?

Pretty sure I read somewhere that Johnny said after hearing songs or a song from Viva Hate he said that he thought it sounded like the Smiths or where he wanted to go next with the Smiths after Strangeways with the string arrangements like early Scott Walker stuff.


though yes, I'm sure Marr did want to do 'dance/electronic' because of his other influences, disco, etc. Yes of course M wasn't having that.
 
He wanted to move the Smiths in a more 'electronic direction' after Strangeways? really?

Pretty sure I read somewhere that Johnny said after hearing songs or a song from Viva Hate he said that he thought it sounded like the Smiths or were he wanted to go next with the Smiths after Strangeways with the string arrangements like early Scott Walker stuff.


though yes, I'm sure Marr did want to do 'dance/electronic' because of his other influences, disco, etc. Yes of course M wasn't having that.

I do remember him saying that, but can't point where. And he did form Electronic, though not straight away. Which doesn't mean that he couldn't have said that thing about Viva Hate. I guess Marr saw many different directions in which The Smiths could go, whereas Morrissey has always been more attracted to the classic guitar song, until the recent world music influences.
 
I do remember him saying that, but can't point where. And he did form Electronic, though not straight away. Which doesn't mean that he couldn't have said that thing about Viva Hate. I guess Marr saw many different directions in which The Smiths could go, whereas Morrissey has always been more attracted to the classic guitar song, until the recent world music influences.

Yes Marr being that kind of musician/person would naturally want to branch out eventually. Though I don't think M's dabbling with 'world music' is really a drastic of a change from what he's always done, it would have been more drastic if M worked with Kraftwerk or George Clinton :lbf: So that being said, M is the one still carrying the Smiths torch in a sense, but I wouldn't call it being 'conservative'. He just seems to stick with what he loves and what works for him, this also goes with working with people that he can trust and feels familiar/comfortable with.
 
Yes Marr being that kind of musician/person would naturally want to branch out eventually. Though I don't think M's dabbling with 'world music' is really a drastic of a change from what he's always done, it would have been more drastic if M worked with Kraftwerk or George Clinton :lbf: So that being said, M is the one still carrying the Smiths torch in a sense, but I wouldn't call it being 'conservative'. He just seems to stick with what he loves and what works for him, this also goes with working with people that he can trust and feels familiar/comfortable with.

Actually I think that Morrissey's dabblings with bossanova, chanson, Latin music and other pre-rock'n'roll styles is more adventurous than going electronic, because basically every rock band has done that in the last two decades -- and very few have gone Girl From Tel Aviv... It might not always work, but I think we've heard enough chug rock from Morrissey, so it's good he has spiced up the formula recently.
 
Actually I think that Morrissey's dabblings with bossanova, chanson, Latin music and other pre-rock'n'roll styles is more adventurous than going electronic, because basically every rock band has done that in the last two decades -- and very few have gone Girl From Tel Aviv... It might not always work, but I think we've heard enough chug rock from Morrissey, so it's good he has spiced up the formula recently.

makes me think of the rockabilly leanings of the Kill Uncle period
while the whole Madchester thing was in full swing.

M will always stick to his guns, for better or for worse.


'tried living in the real world

Instead of a shell ...'



:love:
 
I find it curious that both Chrissie Hynde and Kirsty MacColl were seemingly close to both Marr and Moz at that time (and in the years following). Given that the split was so acrimonious, you would expect that to be quite awkward.

I suppose, as in hopefully most situations, a real mutual friend wouldn't feel an obligation to take sides, albeit that it probably was a bit awkward as you say.

However, in the case of Chrissie Hynde, wasn't it she who was actually responsible for getting Morrissey and Marr to meet up again, for the first time since the split, pre-Court case in the early 90s? I'm sure I remember reading that in an interview, probably with Morrissey. Or maybe it's in his autobiography.
 
Jesus this guy changes his story a lot.

Well. it's his bread and butter, he's got to spice it up a bit and keep it fresh as the years go by. He wouldn't get interviews if he refused to talk about The Smiths, the break-up and Morrissey - it's all anyone's really waiting for. Everyone waits patiently while he does his usual round-up of all the third-rate collaborations he's done ("... and that's when I joined The The… blah blah blah… Modest Mouse....blah blah blah) and then politely pretends to admire his new 'work' (recycled Oasis b-sides) before getting round to asking the question we're all waiting for "Why did The Smiths split up and will they get back together?". And as I say, the only reason we're interested is because he keeps changing the answer.
 
If Johnny is a better songwriter since he left The Smiths, I sure would like to hear those songs.

Johnny IS a songwriter now, just not a good one. He can't write good songs, period, because he can't write decent lyrics or come up with interesting and strong vocal melodies. But pre-solo albums, he wasn't even a songwriter anyway - he composed backing music and others turned that into songs (usually not very good ones, with the exception of Morrissey's). Marr's own discussion and demonstrations in this video perfectly illustrate this. What was 'How Soon is Now?' for example before Morrissey recorded his vocal? A Bo Diddley beat that could, and would, have turned into ANY song - good, bad or mediocre - depending who added the words and vocal. 'Hand in Glove' was just a catchy riff. And it's when he sings Smiths songs that it becomes most apparent that he's singing someone else's songs, not his own (i.e. Morrissey's). Whereas when Morrissey sings them, he's clearly singing his own songs (albeit usually with a band that doesn't play them as well as the Smiths did).
 

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