Morten Harket on Morrissey

UPDATE Apr. 6, 11:45PM PT:

Article is online, link from Uncleskinny:

Morten Harket: - Morrissey hadde store ereksjonsutfordringer i mitt nærvær - vg.no

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Morten is asked about fandom, and is also asked what he thinks about other musicians who’re inspired by his voice and a-ha.

Other famous artists are also known fans (of a-ha), Morrissey from the influential band The Smiths introduced himself as “Morten” at the Quart festival in 2004 (Kristiansand, Norway), after he’d entered the stage singing his own version of “The Sun Always shines on TV”?

"I’ve met him, he almost had an erection around me! We met up in New Orleans some time in the eighties."

Did you speak with the whole band, or just him?

"It’s him I remember. He thought it was a bit difficult I think, the whole thing. He said something… I thought he was decidedly on the gay side."

He’s never confirmed that he is?

"Well, then I don’t know. Then you can only speculate."

From an article to be published in the Norwegian newspaper VG (Verdens Gang)

 

[moz'art girl]

I am very surprised to read Morten and Moz had met just once.
You are a liar, Morten!

 

[Anonymous]

Come on guys. Taste in music is of course always a subjective thing, but the term "one hit wonder" is everything but a subjective opinion -- that term is based on facts and figures.

So let us see here...
Smiths albums sold: Hardly 4 million
Smiths singles sold: 1 million

a-ha albums sold: Hardly 40 million
a-ha singles sold: 17 million

Sure, Morten Harket's solo efforts wouldn't rise the a-ha numbers much, but that sure counts for Moz's releases too.
One-hit wonders? The Smiths definitely are, in that case.

 

[Anonymous]

Morten douchebag Harket thinks he can arouse Morrissey?

I am afraid he could.
I remember a very moving interview of Morrissey in Smash Hits in 1988, saying he had a crush for Morten Harket and that he had "just" bought ''stay on these roads". I think he has several a-ha albums, as he confessed having bought an a-ha album in I-D in 1987.

 

[Anonymous]

What? Take On Meeeeee? you must be bloody kidding.

One hit wonders

You are so funny, Davie, do you know why? Because Morrissey and The Smiths are not one hit wonders in my country, they are 0 hit wonder. No one know them here, they had absolutely no tune, no success here. No one know who they are.
That is an even worse score than a-ha !!!
That probably means The Smiths and Morrissey are atrociously bad...

 

[Anonymous]

Obviously you haven't listened to them. To the general public they are considered one hit wonders, which is criminally underrating them. I defy anyone to listen to Stay On These Roads (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWey1DBAchM&ob=av2n) and still claim they were fluff.

You could have sent something rockier,like cold as stone...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkZOpUfOt-I

 

[Peterb]

Morten meets Morrissey.

Fantastic anecdote, will Morrissey's account be in his upcoming auto-hagiography? Utterly predictable and hysterical overreaction to Morten's musings by Moz's myrmidons.

It's funny to think of a relaxed, confident Moz shamelessly and trollopisciously discomforting Morten by lasiviously giving him 'the eye'. I imagine if Morrissey was temescent it was because he had just dragged himself away from the mirror. Or maybe he was aroused by the extraordinary physicality of Morten's spoken voice, if it's anything like his miraculous singing.

Once again the gormless aim a pistol to their heads, proving they cannot handle complexity and ambiguity, although Morten respectfully does:

"Well, then I don’t know. Then you can only speculate."

"he said something...." erm, Morten, what did he say?

@Amy 'Moz said in one of the South Bank Show interviews that he'd been to see A-ha in '86, and thought the musicians and the whole show were overshadowed by screaming teenage girls.'

Oh dear. One can imagine the cerebral poise of Morrissey 'not getting it' at an A-ha gig. Equally, the mind's eye can see him 'not getting it' at an Elvis or Beatles gig? Why are these girls screaming at these 'unintelligent' lyrics?
Julie Burchill was right: the teenage girls just get the ecstatic exuberance of 'pop' whilst the teenage boys just want to cerebrally rock and 'think about the lyrics' .

Morrissey has spent his whole life trying to escape to Dionysian raptures. Morten just has to sing and it happens. Sometimes it happens when Morrissey sings. That's why he'll never stop singing until he croaks. Which is good or bad, depending on your point of view.....

It's sad that no duet ever came of this meeting. Morrissey could usefully make his next album less boring than the last by inviting Morten to a rematch, 'on mike'. I think they'd make great 'vocal sex' together. I'm pretty sure that's what Morrissey had in mind. It would be wonderful if he could actually follow through on these intuitions, fly his freak flag, step outside his comfort zone and tell his anal fanbase to drop dead.

regards
BrummieBoy




'

"trollopisciously" great word! Does it actually exist?
Also, I think you mean tumescent.

 

[VivaLove]

I am afraid he could.
I remember a very moving interview of Morrissey in Smash Hits in 1988, saying he had a crush for Morten Harket and that he had "just" bought ''stay on these roads". I think he has several a-ha albums, as he confessed having bought an a-ha album in I-D in 1987.

Well to be honest, I couldn't care less if young Mozzer once got a boner when standing next to MH; moreso, at least those news prevent the average solo-hater from speculating he's being impotent. It's just that I really don't like neither Morten nor his band, music, comments, basically everything about him. It's quite audacious and also attention-seeking to spit out such a comment about Morrissey. What's his intention there, I'd like to know.

 

[Anonymous]

Well to be honest, I couldn't care less if young Mozzer once got a boner when standing next to MH; moreso, at least those news prevent the average solo-hater from speculating he's being impotent. It's just that I really don't like neither Morten nor his band, music, comments, basically everything about him. It's quite audacious and also attention-seeking to spit out such a comment about Morrissey. What's his intention there, I'd like to know.

He wants some publicity,I am afraid.
By the way, are we sure of the translation?
I have met Morten, he is a nice guy.
Well, Paul Savoy from a-ha is a lot more talented guy than what you think.

 

[Worm]

Perhaps something was lost in translation? In America, a fellow might say "I have a hard-on for Lingonberry jam" even though he is merely a connoisseur of its delicious flavor and doesn't actually intend to copulate with it. Perhaps Morten merely wanted to convey Morrissey's boyish enthusiasm for his incredible vocal range and not a homosexual crush.

 

[Amy]

Perhaps something was lost in translation? In America, a fellow might say "I have a hard-on for Lingonberry jam" even though he is merely a connoisseur of its delicious flavor and doesn't actually intend to copulate with it. Perhaps Morten merely wanted to convey Morrissey's boyish enthusiasm for his incredible vocal range and not a homosexual crush.

Except he immediately followed it up with, "I thought he was decidedly on the gay side" (!).

 

[Worm]

Except he immediately followed it up with, "I thought he was decidedly on the gay side" (!).

I guess I just don't want to believe Morten. Although I'm not sure which part of the story horrifies me more, that Morrissey had an erection for the lead singer of A-Ha or that Morrissey had an erection in the first place.

 

[squiggle]

a-ha were the first new band I liked so I was always very pleased that Morrissey liked them, too. Morten was very pretty (still is, actually) but I was more of a Pa(u)l groupie. He looked like a Scandinavian elf.

Their later albums are often excellent, by the way.

 

[Anonymous]

hey this is not corect. u like Morrissey and u don t like very much Morten s music but it does not mean it s not good. it just means u don t like it which is fine by me but i for example love his music and he s solo projects too. i find myself in his music. some like melancolic music some more dinamic cos it feats the temperament. it does not mean it sucks just cos u don t like it. the nordic sound it has some melancholy in it. it doesn t feat u so it s ok but don t so critic with the others. and what morten said about morrissey i m sure it s true cos he had no reason to invent it really. he was asked about it so he answerd ...simple.

 

[Anonymous]

morten who??? A washed up ham, with no solo career what-so-ever. The nothing group it was in had one decent record with two decent tunes and that's about it. IF what's reported here is even partly correct, Morrissey should certainly up his standards. But then again, " a hard one has no conscience".

it s not fair just cos u don t like morten doesn t mean u have to say these things . he s music is great and the solo projects too. i don t like Morrissey s music but i don t have to use so hard words like "nothing group" ,"washed up ham" etc. to say u don t like it is quite enough. sure what Morten said about that moment when he meat Morrissey is true cos he had no reason to invent such a thing. he was asked how it was and he answered... simple. Anyway it s hard to discuss preferences cos the music u like showes a part of your temperament. Morten has a kind of melancholic nordic sound maybe u prefer something more dinamic .but it would be a stange thing if all people would feel the same.

 

[Ale]

I must say, people here are very defensive when it comes to Morrissey and his singing capabilities and even sexual orientations. I honestly have never heard of him until a few month ago, related to an a-ha matter, again. I couldn't care less if you, his fans, think Morten is a bad human being, you don't know him. But I have to be defensive too with a-ha's music. Sure, this is a Morrissey thread, but I feel that you are missing out on the amazing part of a-ha, by only thinking of Take On Me and other very early songs. Have you ever listened to their "East Of The Sun..." album? Or the "Scoundrel Days" one? They are absolutely amazing, masterpieces of alternative rock. "Rolling Thunder", their version of "Crying in the Rain", "East of the Sun", "Early Morning", "Non Stop July", "Scoundrel Days", etc. are just a few of the simply great songs they made. I recommend them with all my heart. And please stop with this fight, I am absolutely sure Morten was either translated badly or he was only joking, he has a good sense of humor. Peace!

 

[Anonymous]

Come on, anything with a pulse and a sexual orientation towards males has had a thing for Morten Harket. Something he's never really enjoyed, and only brought up willingly because the context was a bit more interesting than usual. It was just meant as a humorous comment. Morrissey is nothing in Norway, especially compared to him, and it wouldn't impress anyone. At least it shows he has some taste.