moz answered more questions on TTY..its official....

[unruly_girl]

"The audience doesn't realize this but, I, in effect, come to see them, and my temperament depends on how they react and even how they look. I sing directly at the audience, and I look right into the audience - few singers do, I've noticed. I am addressing them with each line, and they react - one way or another - as if we are in conversation."

ohh, we KNOW Moz... and we Love you for it

This is a Fantastic Q&A !!

 

[Worm]

"The audience doesn't realize this but, I, in effect, come to see them, and my temperament depends on how they react and even how they look. I sing directly at the audience, and I look right into the audience - few singers do, I've noticed. I am addressing them with each line, and they react - one way or another - as if we are in conversation."

ohh, we KNOW Moz... and we Love you for it

This is a Fantastic Q&A !!

My favorite bit was the "Kill Uncle"/Mark Nevin talk. I always thought hiring Boz and Alain was the turning point for Morrissey's solo career. Obvious to anyone, really-- the first notes of his solo tour in Dublin instantly cleared away the dark clouds of 1990. Still, it's strange to read, after all these years, that he sees it the same way. That's exactly the advice I'd have given him in 1991: "'Kill Uncle' is rubbish, you need to get a real rock guitarist in there". Replacing Nevin with Boz-- one of the best choices he ever made.

Also the anecdote points to how his solo career has progressed. He only seems to find creative collaborators by accident or through friends, friends often being as accidental as anything else in his case (although interestingly he sought out a few of his best producers like Ronson and Visconti). Gives his solo career a kind of heroic glow, doesn't it? You appreciate that he's been lucky in some cases and unlucky in others, but whatever his fortunes may have been he could only ever do what his personality allowed. Unbreakable individuality, for good and for ill. His work as a singer starts to look like a shambolic series of beautiful accidents instead of a carefully planned trajectory, the only constant being the astonishing talent which found proper expression through some arrangements and not others. His genius looks all the more inevitable and unique for having flowered with such randomness (helped along with hefty doses of the old Morrissey stubbornness). This is a perspective which would not have been possible without YATQ and ROTT-- and Q & As. Thanks Julia.

Oh, and...Iran? I think this is a suitable occasion to trot out a nice little WTF.

On the other hand, maybe it's not so strange. I'm envisioning a modern-day update of "Top Secret", with Morrissey in the role of Nick Rivers, cultural attache for the West. Substitute the Iranians for the East Germans and you've got the makings of a great comedy. "Driver, why are we stopped here? This isn't the Howard Johnsons!". "I know a little Iraqi". "In women's tennis I always bet against the heterosexual". Etc. Concert in Tehran with crazed women throwing their hijabs onstage. That sort of thing. The rockabilly/crooner music is already written in, and doubtless the climactic scene in which two men have sexual congress inside a cow suit would combine at least a few of Morrissey's fantasies into one unforgettable cinematic moment. Call the Zuckers.

 

[Bluebirds]

My favorite bit was the "Kill Uncle"/Mark Nevin talk. I always thought hiring Boz and Alain was the turning point for Morrissey's solo career. Obvious to anyone, really-- the first notes of his solo tour in Dublin instantly cleared away the dark clouds of 1990. Still, it's strange to read, after all these years, that he sees it the same way. That's exactly the advice I'd have given him in 1991: "'Kill Uncle' is rubbish, you need to get a real rock guitarist in there". Replacing Nevin with Boz-- one of the best choices he ever made.

Also the anecdote points to how his solo career has progressed. He only seems to find creative collaborators by accident or through friends, friends often being as accidental as anything else in his case (although interestingly he sought out a few of his best producers like Ronson and Visconti). Gives his solo career a kind of heroic glow, doesn't it? You appreciate that he's been lucky in some cases and unlucky in others, but whatever his fortunes may have been he could only ever do what his personality allowed. Unbreakable individuality, for good and for ill. His work as a singer starts to look like a shambolic series of beautiful accidents instead of a carefully planned trajectory, the only constant being the astonishing talent which found proper expression through some arrangements and not others. His genius looks all the more inevitable and unique for having flowered with such randomness (helped along with hefty doses of the old Morrissey stubbornness). This is a perspective which would not have been possible without YATQ and ROTT-- and Q & As. Thanks Julia.

Oh, and...Iran? I think this is a suitable occasion to trot out a nice little WTF.

Ah that was lovely. A career in the TLS awaits

 

[Jones]

My favorite bit was the "Kill Uncle"/Mark Nevin talk. I always thought hiring Boz and Alain was the turning point for Morrissey's solo career. Obvious to anyone, really-- the first notes of his solo tour in Dublin instantly cleared away the dark clouds of 1990. Still, it's strange to read, after all these years, that he sees it the same way. That's exactly the advice I'd have given him in 1991: "'Kill Uncle' is rubbish, you need to get a real rock guitarist in there". Replacing Nevin with Boz-- one of the best choices he ever made.

Also the anecdote points to how his solo career has progressed. He only seems to find creative collaborators by accident or through friends, friends often being as accidental as anything else in his case (although interestingly he sought out a few of his best producers like Ronson and Visconti). Gives his solo career a kind of heroic glow, doesn't it? You appreciate that he's been lucky in some cases and unlucky in others, but whatever his fortunes may have been he could only ever do what his personality allowed. Unbreakable individuality, for good and for ill. His work as a singer starts to look like a shambolic series of beautiful accidents instead of a carefully planned trajectory, the only constant being the astonishing talent which found proper expression through some arrangements and not others. His genius looks all the more inevitable and unique for having flowered with such randomness (helped along with hefty doses of the old Morrissey stubbornness). This is a perspective which would not have been possible without YATQ and ROTT-- and Q & As. Thanks Julia.

I think his extreme shyness coupled with his suspicion of the business people in record companies meant it could not have happened any other way. He still seems to rely on the more socially confident members of his band to source people to work for him. Even when Visconti first agreed to produce ROTT his first meeting was with Boz.

 

[Worm]

I think his extreme shyness coupled with his suspicion of the business people in record companies meant it could not have happened any other way. He still seems to rely on the more socially confident members of his band to source people to work for him. Even when Visconti first agreed to produce ROTT his first meeting was with Boz.

Yes, exactly. It's completely the opposite from the image projected by P Diddy or Madonna or whoever else is supposed to embody the ideal superstar of the last twenty or thirty years-- the Machiavellian business mind, the kick-down-the-doors ambition, the "CEO pop star" fuled by the dream of "making it big". Here is a writer and singer almost completely at the mercy of fortune. Blazing talent and no idea of how the game is played (or, at any rate, no interest in playing it). He's lasted almost a quarter century, had innumerable triumphs, chart success, money, fame, and personal dreams fulfilled (reuniting the Dolls has to rank highly). Yet it's totally conceivable that he would still be waiting to be discovered in Manchester if Johnny had never knocked on his door! (Unlikely, but conceivable.) Savor the last answer he gives: no record contract, a choice to make between touring or recording an album. The way he answered, you can imagine him calmly reeling off another range of possibilities like writing an opera, opening a bakery, sleeping until 2009, walking the beach in Santa Monica with a metal-detector, etc. Who knows what he'll be doing in six months? No one-- least of all Morrissey.

 

[the judge]

Yes, exactly. It's completely the opposite from the image projected by P Diddy or Madonna or whoever else is supposed to embody the ideal superstar of the last twenty or thirty years-- the Machiavellian business mind, the kick-down-the-doors ambition, the "CEO pop star" fuled by the dream of "making it big". Here is a writer and singer almost completely at the mercy of fortune. Blazing talent and no idea of how the game is played (or, at any rate, no interest in playing it). He's lasted almost a quarter century, had innumerable triumphs, chart success, money, fame, and personal dreams fulfilled (reuniting the Dolls has to rank highly). Yet it's totally conceivable that he would still be waiting to be discovered in Manchester if Johnny had never knocked on his door! (Unlikely, but conceivable.) Savor the last answer he gives: no record contract, a choice to make between touring or recording an album. The way he answered, you can imagine him calmly reeling off another range of possibilities like writing an opera, opening a bakery, sleeping until 2009, walking the beach in Santa Monica with a metal-detector, etc. Who knows what he'll be doing in six months? No one-- least of all Morrissey.

But I remember him saying in the early years of The Smiths that he likes making plans. Does this count?

 

[Mars_Rover]

"I did a montage of Dolls photos for art class and the teacher was so appalled that she burst into tears and passed it around to each boy in the class denouncing the sickness and depravity of the Dolls. This teacher appeared years later on one of those bitchy Smiths television documentaries, still apparently upset."

Did Morrissey attend an all-boys school? Or maybe the teacher specifically wanted to impress upon the boys that they shouldn't wear make-up and shiny clothes... What an insensitive teacher; it sounds like a somewhat traumatising incident.

Another quote:
"The only bit I actually like is the time onstage, which I obviously love. Otherwise touring is quite lonely."

Mr. Morrissey, I can help you with this -- really, I can! I will selflessly volunteer myself as your road companion.

 

[Worm]

But I remember him saying in the early years of The Smiths that he likes making plans. Does this count?

I'm sure he had detailed plans to conquer the world from age eight. As any fan of Pinky & The Brain knows, plotting in your bedroom and making it happen out in the world are two different things. Whatever his plans may have been, in reality, like some drunken half-assed incubus, he could only emerge into materiality in the form of whichever mortal vessel presented itself. He's like one of those green vapor clouds on Star Trek that had to move randomly from red-shirted crew member to red-shirted crew member to work its evils on the Enterprise. I mean, he almost stumbled into rock history as the lead singer of Ed Banger and the Nosebleeds for Christ's sake.

I hope it's clear I'm saying this with much admiration.

 

[unruly_girl]

It's completely the opposite from the image projected by P Diddy or Madonna or whoever else is supposed to embody the ideal superstar of the last twenty or thirty years-- the Machiavellian business mind, the kick-down-the-doors ambition, the "CEO pop star" fuled by the dream of "making it big". Here is a writer and singer almost completely at the mercy of fortune. Blazing talent and no idea of how the game is played (or, at any rate, no interest in playing it). He's lasted almost a quarter century, had innumerable triumphs, chart success, money, fame, and personal dreams fulfilled (reuniting the Dolls has to rank highly). .

Exactly! the thing is Madonna and P Diddy are products of an industry that helps them be "ideal superstars" for the profit - because nobody is interested in anything else. Moz is the opposite -his Art means a lot to him... it's an important part of his life and so is fate -

Blazing talent and no idea of how the game is played (or, at any rate, no interest in playing it.

...
and thank God for that

Savor the last answer he gives: no record contract, a choice to make between touring or recording an album. The way he answered, you can imagine him calmly reeling off another range of possibilities like writing an opera, opening a bakery, sleeping until 2009, walking the beach in Santa Monica with a metal-detector, etc. Who knows what he'll be doing in six months? No one-- least of all Morrissey.

BLESS HIM - HE'S A TRULY FREE SPIRIT!!

 

[King Leer]

"My aim, mostly, is to have every moment of the song as a vocal hook.... that's the hope, anyway."

This is what makes Morrissey one of the greatest singers of all time.

I like the bass lines comment (I don't think it was sarcasm), his words about Bozman (awww), when he talks about his relationship with the audience (definitely a paragraph for the archives) and...Tehran!

No mention of touring Asia (NZ being the closest), though. Slightly crushed.

 

[Bluebirds]

Its defintely sarcasm. Read the context

 

[King Leer]

Well, whatever people think of Rourke, the bass lines are too good to discount as replaceable. The drums on the other hand could've been done by basically any competent musican.

So let's say "backhanded compliment" and leave it at that.

Its defintely sarcasm. Read the context

 

[Bluebirds]

I thought Johnny was the greatest .... and also .... those masterful bass-lines ...

--

THAT IS NO BACK-HANDED COMPLIMENT!

 

[Bluebirds]

But if it's morally within a person to avoid 'flesh food' then nothing need be explained to them.

So, is he gay?

 

[Bluebirds]

Its just completely full of gems!

Heres another:

I'm no good in the film because I felt too emotional and I could barely speak. But, me aside, it's so well done, and must be the best ever rock docu-film ever.

 

[King Leer]

You seem to be on something that gives you great insight, so please explain the purpose of sarcasm in this context.

I thought Johnny was the greatest .... and also .... those masterful bass-lines ...

--

THAT IS NO BACK-HANDED COMPLIMENT!

 

[unruly_girl]

"I did a montage of Dolls photos for art class and the teacher was so appalled that she burst into tears and passed it around to each boy in the class denouncing the sickness and depravity of the Dolls. This teacher appeared years later on one of those bitchy Smiths television documentaries, still apparently upset."

Did Morrissey attend an all-boys school? Or maybe the teacher specifically wanted to impress upon the boys that they shouldn't wear make-up and shiny clothes... What an insensitive teacher; it sounds like a somewhat traumatising incident.

Silly Teacher... I can Immagine Morrissey suffering at school, for being a sensitive boy with a different tast in art and music.

I remember reading something about him getting in trouble at school because a teacher asked the kids to write about their favorite book and Moz wrote about the dictionary? - Ah, AH, AH - the dictionary- that's just brilliant

 

[PregnantForTheLastTime]

Oh, my god... oh my god. He has absolutely made my week. My month.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluebirds
The audience doesn't realize this but, I, in effect, come to see them, and my temperament depends on how they react and even how they look. I sing directly at the audience, and I look right into the audience - few singers do, I've noticed. I am addressing them with each line, and they react - one way or another - as if we are in conversation. Often, because of the light, I can't see people - this is usually at festivals or outdoor amphitheaters and is nobody's fault, but I tend to lose the thread when I'm singing to blackness. Also, if the security at the front are too stroppy and too controlling my anger rises. The shape of the hall, and how the audience are positioned - whether free to move, or shackled to their seats, or being slapped back by security, are all elements that can make or break a night. I'm just there-somewhere-in the gaps.


I TELL YOU THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST "INTERVIEWS" MOZ HAS DONE.

I AGREE!

Does he really think we don't realize this? We DO, Moz! We know!!!! And we love you, btw, just in case you've ever doubted it!!!

And the part where he says Indianapolis was one of his favorite shows... I was in the front row in Indianapolis, right next to Claudia. And the other day she told me he looked at me, really looked, and made a sweet face at me. I must have been watching Jesse or Boz or had my eyes closed, just listening, because I DIDN'T SEE IT! But he did... it meant something to him, to watch me lost in HIS experience.

I wish so much that I had a way of giving something back to him to repay him for all he's given me. And I think I have, now, with what he's said today. I have goosebumps.

 

[vicarinatutugal]

I thought Johnny was the greatest .... and also .... those masterful bass-lines ...

--

THAT IS NO BACK-HANDED COMPLIMENT!

I agree, take it at face value people. I loved his answers, I thought the comment about Boz was very touching as well.

 

[PregnantForTheLastTime]

Silly Teacher... I can Immagine Morrissey suffering at school, for being a sensitive boy with a different tast in art and music.

I remember reading something about him getting in trouble at school because a teacher asked the kids to write about their favorite book and Moz wrote about the dictionary? - Ah, AH, AH - the dictionary- that's just brilliant

I got in trouble in school for reading The Portrait of Dorian Gray and Madame Bovary under my desk... and sneaking out the headphones for a little discreet Moz/Smiths fix. When Walkmen were confiscated, I just whipped mine out the moment class was over, and made do with singing the songs to myself mentally... Moz gave me permission to think differently, to THINK at all, to read things by dead people. He made it cool and gave me backup moral support.