NME: "Rick Astley tells us about his Glastonbury secret set of Smiths covers with Blossoms" (June 24, 2023)

Rick-Astley-and-Blossoms-Kentish-Town-Forum-13.9.21-c-Peter-Neill-1-1392x884.jpg


Astley on the reactions of Morrissey and Johnny Marr, and what it means to play Glasto: "I know it’s sacrilege and they should hang the lot of us on the line for doing it, but I also just don’t care"



Rick Astley/Blossoms play Smiths set at Glastonbury
 
I really wish i had seen them when they played in london, on paper it sounds like a disaster, but seeing the you tube clips it looked like an absolute joyous celebration of the Smiths. Blossoms sounding absolutely spot on and Rick channeling Moz even down to the flares.
It was hugely entertaining.
 
I really wish i had seen them when they played in london, on paper it sounds like a disaster, but seeing the you tube clips it looked like an absolute joyous celebration of the Smiths. Blossoms sounding absolutely spot on and Rick channeling Moz even down to the flares.
It was hugely entertaining.
They were fantastic in Manchester. Blossoms had the Smiths sound down to a tee, and they sounded just like the Smiths, with every song played perfectly - absolutely fantastic musicians.

Astley has a great voice, and he just comes across as a lovely man.

One of the best gigs I've ever been to.
 
I saw the Rick Astley-Blossoms tribute show in London and it was beyond euphoric. They could tour this all over the UK-USA, both festivals and theatres, as a profitable side project.

I wonder if Rick Astley is also a fan of Morrissey's solo era material? If he is, he might be open to doing a similar homage fronting Alain Whyte's new band. I'd love to hear Rick Astley belting out 'Everyday Is Like Sunday' and 'First Of The Gang To Die'. If he cherry-picked the gems from Morrissey's solo era it would make for an awesome show that would give folk the set-list they crave instead of the random batch of bangers, flops and deep cuts that Morrissey throws out.

Most of Morrissey's core audience are soon going to be in 'God's Waiting Room', moving to retirement flats in Eastbourne and Morecambe so a seaside tour of venues each summer by Astley and The Blossoms, from Bexhill to Scarborough, would probably be hugely popular and profitable. As I said on the Alain Whyte new band thread:

'I mean, after a few pints, how many people really care who's singing so long as they can hold a tune and throw shapes?'

Most of the revellers at Glastonbury are intoxicated to the point that it's kinda irrelevant whether the tiny figure on the distant stage is the 'real' Morrissey, Rick Astley, or Alain Whyte using Vocal AI software to impersonate Morrissey.

I saw the first 3 opening 'Avatar' ABBA 'Voyage' shows in London last year. It was an epiphany. 'Even Better Than The Real Thing'...

People are tired and bored of 'premium' events costing an arm and a leg to see a supposed 'star' icon in their dotage topping up their pension fund singing decades old 'rebel yell' ditties and meh obscurities. Most people don't care about that crap anymore, they seen through the sham.

Morrissey and Marr never resolved the issues that prevented a reunion of The Smiths and now that Andy Rourke has sadly passed, it's too late. A reunion of The Smiths would've been offered a headliner slot at Glastonbury or at least the Sunday 'legends' one.

Whoever owns the rights to the music of The Smiths is surely going be supportive of any initiatives that re-sell those songs to new generations of consumers? If Morrissey still profits from 'The Smiths' I guess the only real issue could be 'almost real' tribute bands cannibalising his live touring business model.

It would certainly be 'interesting' to monitor public reaction and ticket sales if Rick Astley and The Blossoms were to announce a pre-Christmas tour featuring 'The Greatest Hits' of Morrissey And The Smiths'...

As you age and approach that 'date with an undertaker', you're mostly listening to a nostalgic memory bank of the 'songs that saved your life' and there isn't cognitive or emotional bandwidth to process any more bizarre 'art' about 'terror trolling' or Jack Kerouac's taint-ed arse'n'all.

Even Madonna has accepted all this and is flogging her Greatest Hits pantomime after her last decade of ignored recordings. I'm sure the music industry record labels have told her bluntly that nobody gives a toss about any more of her 'reinventions' just as they have now told Morrissey that they can't market his latest 'terror trolling' magnus opus because there's no audience for 'that kind of thing' these days.

With AI innovations in audio-visual entertainment it's going to be interesting to see how far this 'tribute act' phenomenon can develop. Get ready for an Alain Whyte Band show featuring avatar simulations of Rick Astley impersonating Morrissey...that kind of craziness. The software that creates the ABBA Avatar show will soon be more widely available, customisable to any parameters. Someone could create a 'Morrissey Sings Vegas-Era Elvis At Gracelands' show...

Whoever controls the audio-visual, photographic & video-image rights to The Smiths could, in a few years time, launch an AI generated reunion of 'The Smiths' unless, of course, Morrissey and Marr take legal action to ensure they control that legacy, assuming they own their own identities as half of 'The Smiths'

A vitual, eternal Glastonbury Festival featuring Prince, Elvis, Led Zeppelin and The Smiths coming soon on Apple VisionPro?...it's gonna be a wild ride... 😜

Kind regards

BrummieBoy

These digital representations of deceased artists have been met with a mixture of wonder and revulsion. Before his death in 2016, Prince called them ‘the most demonic thing imaginable… and I am not a demon’. Reviews of the Orbison and Houston tours, meanwhile, drew mixed reviews, with one critic describing ‘An Evening with Whitney’ as ‘a ghoulish cash-in’ by the late singer’s estate.

'I bought the apple vision pro to watch adele concert'




How ABBA’s 2022 virtual concerts could change the face of live music. Will this exciting digital technology allow musical icons to live for ever?


https://www.timeout.com/music/how-abbas-virtual-concerts-could-change-the-face-of-live-music-in-2022


Although many bands still tour nowadays, ticket prices can be extremely expensive depending on the musician that you want to see. Some people just really love live music, and with cover and tribute bands, you are able to see that in local establishments rather than at large music venues....

...The major connection between tribute bands and music therapy is that there is an aspect of psychology behind the reason that these bands bring people so much comfort and nostalgia. Music that you have known for a long time is stored in the deepest parts of your brain, so nothing can ever take that away from you– even Alzheimers or some sort of damage to the brain...


...Cover bands can trick the brain into thinking that they are hearing an old song for the first time when it is played by a cover band, which can evoke the same emotions that you felt when you heard your favorite song that first time, so long ago. It creates a combination of the new and the old, which brains love.'


https://www.incadence.org/post/what-are-tribute-bands-and-why-are-they-so-popular
 
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Astley on the reactions of Morrissey and Johnny Marr, and what it means to play Glasto: "I know it’s sacrilege and they should hang the lot of us on the line for doing it, but I also just don’t care"

1687621829499.gif


Strange. I guess Rick didn’t get the memo. Well, they, one of them, wouldn’t hang you Mr. Astley, that one being Morrissey. You’re welcome.




“IF THERE'S SOMETHING YOU'D LIKE TO TRY
ASTLEY, ASTLEY, ASTLEY

My sincere thanks to Rick and the Blossoms for their recent recentness.
Anything that generates interest in
that tired old Smiths warhorse is testimony to the wallop it packed.
THANK YOU!"


-Morrissey, October 2021.







 
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Astley on the reactions of Morrissey and Johnny Marr, and what it means to play Glasto: "I know it’s sacrilege and they should hang the lot of us on the line for doing it, but I also just don’t care"

View attachment 92243

Strange. I guess Rick didn’t get the memo. Well, they, one of them, wouldn’t hang you Mr. Astley, that one being Morrissey. You’re welcome.




“IF THERE'S SOMETHING YOU'D LIKE TO TRY
ASTLEY, ASTLEY, ASTLEY

My sincere thanks to Rick and the Blossoms for their recent recentness.
Anything that generates interest in
that tired old Smiths warhorse is testimony to the wallop it packed.
THANK YOU!"


-Morrissey, October 2021.









It literally says in the NME article that Morrissey thanked him and that Morrissey once asked Astley for a photo.
 
Is Rick Astley an actual twat or I'm reading too much into his words in the NME article?

Johnny Marr didn't take well their Smiths cover gigs, but it's ok.

Morrissey thanked them for doing the same, but... He takes Moz's acknowlegment with a grain of salt?

His picture with Morrissey was taken at M's behest?

Coward, ungrateful idiot.

Nowadays, it seems that nobody in the UK can say nice things about Morrissey without a but in the end of the interview.

Mr Astley, The Smiths is mostly Morrissey. If you're benefiting from singing his words, the least you can do is show some respect!
 
It literally says in the NME article that Morrissey thanked him and that Morrissey once asked Astley for a photo.

Ugh. You made me go to NME, which I dislike, having to navigate through the ads.
1687623623709.jpeg




Anyhoo.

‘Speaking of Morrissey’s praise, Astley added: “I take all of that with a pinch of salt.”

Not such a grateful response.




 
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I saw the Rick Astley-Blossoms tribute show in London and it was beyond euphoric. They could tour this all over the UK-USA, both festivals and theatres, as a profitable side project.

I wonder if Rick Astley is also a fan of Morrissey's solo era material? If he is, he might be open to doing a similar homage fronting Alain Whyte's new band. I'd love to hear Rick Astley belting out 'Everyday Is Like Sunday' and 'First Of The Gang To Die'. If he cherry-picked the gems from Morrissey's solo era it would make for an awesome show that would give folk the set-list they crave instead of the random batch of bangers, flops and deep cuts that Morrissey throws out.

Most of Morrissey's core audience are soon going to be in 'God's Waiting Room', moving to retirement flats in Eastbourne and Morecambe so a seaside tour of venues each summer by Astley and The Blossoms, from Bexhill to Scarborough, would probably be hugely popular and profitable. As I said on the Alain Whyte new band thread:

'I mean, after a few pints, how many people really care who's singing so long as they can hold a tune and throw shapes?'

Most of the revellers at Glastonbury are intoxicated to the point that it's kinda irrelevant whether the tiny figure on the distant stage is the 'real' Morrissey, Rick Astley, or Alain Whyte using Vocal AI software to impersonate Morrissey.

I saw the first 3 opening 'Avatar' ABBA 'Voyage' shows in London last year. It was an epiphany. 'Even Better Than The Real Thing'...

People are tired and bored of 'premium' events costing an arm and a leg to see a supposed 'star' icon in their dotage topping up their pension fund singing decades old 'rebel yell' ditties and meh obscurities. Most people don't care about that crap anymore, they seen through the sham.

Morrissey and Marr never resolved the issues that prevented a reunion of The Smiths and now that Andy Rourke has sadly passed, it's too late. A reunion of The Smiths would've been offered a headliner slot at Glastonbury or at least the Sunday 'legends' one.

Whoever owns the rights to the music of The Smiths is surely going be supportive of any initiatives that re-sell those songs to new generations of consumers? If Morrissey still profits from 'The Smiths' I guess the only real issue could be 'almost real' tribute bands cannibalising his live touring business model.

It would certainly be 'interesting' to monitor public reaction and ticket sales if Rick Astley and The Blossoms were to announce a pre-Christmas tour featuring 'The Greatest Hits' of Morrissey And The Smiths'...

As you age and approach that 'date with an undertaker', you're mostly listening to a nostalgic memory bank of the 'songs that saved your life' and there isn't cognitive or emotional bandwidth to process any more bizarre 'art' about 'terror trolling' or Jack Kerouac's taint-ed arse'n'all.

Even Madonna has accepted all this and is flogging her Greatest Hits pantomime after her last decade of ignored recordings. I'm sure the music industry record labels have told her bluntly that nobody gives a toss about any more of her 'reinventions' just as they have now told Morrissey that they can't market his latest 'terror trolling' magnus opus because there's no audience for 'that kind of thing' these days.

With AI innovations in audio-visual entertainment it's going to be interesting to see how far this 'tribute act' phenomenon can develop. Get ready for an Alain Whyte Band show featuring avatar simulations of Rick Astley impersonating Morrissey...that kind of craziness. The software that creates the ABBA Avatar show will soon be more widely available, customisable to any parameters. Someone could create a 'Morrissey Sings Vegas-Era Elvis At Gracelands' show...

Whoever controls the audio-visual, photographic & video-image rights to The Smiths could, in a few years time, launch an AI generated reunion of 'The Smiths' unless, of course, Morrissey and Marr take legal action to ensure they control that legacy, assuming they own their own identities as half of 'The Smiths'

A vitual, eternal Glastonbury Festival featuring Prince, Elvis, Led Zeppelin and The Smiths coming soon on Apple VisionPro?...it's gonna be a wild ride... 😜

Kind regards

BrummieBoy

These digital representations of deceased artists have been met with a mixture of wonder and revulsion. Before his death in 2016, Prince called them ‘the most demonic thing imaginable… and I am not a demon’. Reviews of the Orbison and Houston tours, meanwhile, drew mixed reviews, with one critic describing ‘An Evening with Whitney’ as ‘a ghoulish cash-in’ by the late singer’s estate.

'I bought the apple vision pro to watch adele concert'




How ABBA’s 2022 virtual concerts could change the face of live music. Will this exciting digital technology allow musical icons to live for ever?


https://www.timeout.com/music/how-abbas-virtual-concerts-could-change-the-face-of-live-music-in-2022


Although many bands still tour nowadays, ticket prices can be extremely expensive depending on the musician that you want to see. Some people just really love live music, and with cover and tribute bands, you are able to see that in local establishments rather than at large music venues....

...The major connection between tribute bands and music therapy is that there is an aspect of psychology behind the reason that these bands bring people so much comfort and nostalgia. Music that you have known for a long time is stored in the deepest parts of your brain, so nothing can ever take that away from you– even Alzheimers or some sort of damage to the brain...


...Cover bands can trick the brain into thinking that they are hearing an old song for the first time when it is played by a cover band, which can evoke the same emotions that you felt when you heard your favorite song that first time, so long ago. It creates a combination of the new and the old, which brains love.'


https://www.incadence.org/post/what-are-tribute-bands-and-why-are-they-so-popular

Lol, if that is truly whst the view of the concert is through the Vision Pro that would be f***ing hilarious, because Taylor is literally like watching that (for fake) from like the LAST row in the venue at that Adele concert. :lbf:

If not from outside the venue and across the street. Across town, maybe even. I hope he gets his wish come true and that he does get that song tattooed on his forehead!
 
I have to say that I was VERY upset about Rick being on the cover of "LOTFIP". So much so that I vowed never to buy another Morrissey single ever again. I had collected every single up to that point when it was released. I was wrong! I love that Rick did these shows and he has won my respect!


Update: for those that might be confused. David Bowie was originally slated to be on the cover. David refused and then came the Astley cover. Rick at the time was associated with "Rick Roll" and cheesy pop music. It was unclear why Moz would lift up a mindless pop music artist that the Smith's were against.
 
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Ugh. You made me go to NME, which I dislike, having to navigate through the ads.
View attachment 92245



Anyhoo.

‘Speaking of Morrissey’s praise, Astley added: “I take all of that with a pinch of salt.”

Not such a grateful response.





Do you think so?? That’s not how I read that at all. I wonder if you’re right though! I read it as even if they’ve had the absolute greatest and most positive response ever, which they have, Rick still knows it’s still sooooooooooooooooo cheeky! And especially to keep doing it, now!

This is basically like if Mozzy was WHITNEY, but like NOT cracked out Whitney and totally in her prime Whitney, with like instead of deteriorating voice, BEST voice ever of her life Whitney…. and then along comes Rick Astley who is like, basically a Des’ree or someone. And this is allll while Whitney is still on tout and doing GREAT, and Des’ree answers the press and she goes “yeah well i don’t care!”

Whit would hit the roof! I mean people maybe love it and go wild for it, but that’s because people LOVE Whit, and Des’ree is just kind of like “well yeah, i’m not gonna stay in my lane, so what!”

I could definitely see why Des’ree would be taking anything with a pinch of salt.

I’m gonna watch it later and then i’ll see if i need to reassess or add anything to my commentary. I haven’t seen any of it yet, ha!
 
Lol, if that is truly whst the view of the concert is through the Vision Pro that would be f***ing hilarious, because Taylor is literally like watching that (for fake) from like the LAST row in the venue at that Adele concert. :lbf:

If not from outside the venue and across the street. Across town, maybe even. I hope he gets his wish come true and that he does get that song tattooed on his forehead!
I think you'll be able to zoom in , change seats, create a 'virtual moshpit' with your mates, rush the front, stage invade, duet with the artist..etc once all this technology ramps up...

I just watched a bit of Rick Astley's solo set at Glastonbury. He was impersonating Harry Styles, singing 'As It Was'. Quite nice.
 
TCM, WDDIM, Bigmouth, Cemetry Gates (weird lover Wilde...), Ask, Hand In Glove (harmonica), Some Girls..., Thorn, Coma, HKIMN, Panic, William, Barbarism, Please, HSIN, TIALTNGO.
 
I think you'll be able to zoom in , change seats, create a 'virtual moshpit' with your mates, rush the front, stage invade, duet with the artist..etc once all this technology ramps up...

I just watched a bit of Rick Astley's solo set at Glastonbury. He was impersonating Harry Styles, singing 'As It Was'. Quite nice.
And there was me thinking it was from last row or from across the street because Apple knew that even that’s already too close to Adele … for anyone with half a brain

I need to see this Rick Astley karaoke, going to go find a cold drink first though!
 
He's very theatrical.
I think he's cooking in the heat.
The band are sounding good.
FWD.
 

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