Morrissey Central "OPEN LETTER TO JOHNNY MARR." (January 25, 2022)

This is not a rant or an hysterical bombast. It is a polite and calmly measured request: Would you please stop mentioning my name in your interviews?

Would you please, instead, discuss your own career, your own unstoppable solo achievements and your own music?

If you can, would you please just leave me out of it?

The fact is: you don’t know me. You know nothing of my life, my intentions, my thoughts, my feelings. Yet you talk as if you were my personal psychiatrist with consistent and uninterrupted access to my instincts. We haven’t known each other for 35 years - which is many lifetimes ago. When we met you and I were not successful. We both helped each other become whatever it is we are today. Can you not just leave it at that? Must you persistently, year after year, decade after decade, blame me for everything … from the 2007 Solomon Islands tsunami to the dribble on your grandma’s chin ?

You found me inspirational enough to make music with me for 6 years. If I was, as you claim, such an eyesore monster, where exactly did this leave you? Kidnapped? Mute? Chained? Abducted by cross-eyed extraterrestrials? It was YOU who played guitar on ‘Golden Lights’ - not me.

Yes, we all know that the British press will print anything you say about me as long as it’s cruel and savage. But you’ve done all that. Move on. It’s as if you can’t uncross your own legs without mentioning me. Our period together was many lifetimes ago, and a lot of blood has streamed under the bridge since then. There comes a time when you must take responsibility for your own actions and your own career, with which I wish you good health to enjoy. Just stop using my name as click-bait. I have not ever attacked your solo work or your solo life, and I have openly applauded your genius during the days of ‘Louder than bombs’ and ‘Strangeways, here we come’, yet you have positioned yourself ever-ready as rent-a-quote whenever the press require an ugly slant on something I half-said during the last glacial period as the Colorado River began to carve out the Grand Canyon. Please stop. It is 2022, not 1982.

Morrissey. January 2022.

OPEN LETTER TO JOHNNY MARR. - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - OPEN LETTER TO JOHNNY MARR.

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

www.morrisseycentral.com

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Marr, January 26th:


Some related posts moved to this thread: Johnny Marr responds to Morrissey's open letter via Twitter (January 26, 2022)

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Related item:

• Express: "The Smiths split ‘bruised me emotionally, it turned to s*** with Morrissey’ – Johnny Marr" via Uncut Magazine - January 13, 2022

Media items:

• BBC: Morrissey calls on Johnny Marr to 'stop using my name as clickbait' - January 26, 2022
• Daily Mail: There is a fight that never goes out: Morrissey accuses Johnny Marr of 'using my name as click bait' and insists The Smiths bandmate 'knows nothing of my life' in scathing letter - January 26, 2022
• Far Out: Morrissey pens scathing open letter to Johnny Marr: "You don't know me" - January 25, 2022
• Fiona Dodwell: "From Morrissey to Marr: Why THAT Open Letter Was a Long Time Coming" (January 26, 2022)
• Guardian: ‘You don’t know me’: Morrissey accuses Johnny Marr of using him for clickbait - January 26, 2022
• Independent: ‘Move on’: Morrissey tells Johnny Marr to stop talking about him in interviews - January 26, 2022
• MEN: 'Move on. It's as if you can’t uncross your own legs without mentioning me': Morrissey tells Johnny Marr to stop talking about him - January 26, 2022
• NME: Morrissey asks Johnny Marr to stop mentioning him in interviews - January 25, 2022
• Rolling Stone: Still Ill: Morrissey Really Wants Johnny Marr to Stop Talking About Him - January 26, 2022
• Stereogum: Morrissey To Johnny Marr: Keep My Name Out Of Your Mouth - January 25, 2022
• The Telegraph: Why Morrissey and Johnny Marr hate each other (paywalll) - January 27, 2022 (transcript at Yahoo!)

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Just a guess - reunion's off
FWD.

 

[Anonymous]

this is Marr's huge problem. He has traded his spectacular guitar work to stand in front of a microphone, with his eyes closes, and attempt to sing on Smiths songs which he does very poorly. His guitar playing and musicianship has really gone south in a big way as a result.

Very true. It's painful to watch Marr's live performances of, for example, 'Bigmouth Strikes Again'. It's bad enough listening to him murder the vocal melody, but then he has to suddenly switch focus and launch himself into that quickfire guitar break, and I've never once see him do it on various youtube clips without badly f**cking it up. But of course, all the brainless sycophants in the audience cheer at the end of the song anyway because, hey! it's Johnny f***ing Marr!

 

[Vegan Cro Spirit .444]

he has to look at his fingers when playing his dumb guitar
so he has to parade himself looking at his fingers around the stage, thats when you see him bump into stands and amps.
when he looks up to 'sing' is when he loses track of his fingers
and he starts with the stream of wrong chords and notes
also he cant pronounce correctly phonetically
a pretty picture its not

 

[CrazyFaceGenes]

They should give Moz a guitar and see how he does, some of you need to get a grip.

 

[Anonymous]

They should give Moz a guitar and see how he does, some of you need to get a grip.

Presumably he'd be as shit at doing Marr's job, as Marr is at doing Morrissey's - that's rather the point.

 

[Vegan Cro Spirit .444]

give Moz a guitar? what for? have LePepe stay home doing nothing while getting paid?
Moz has 2 Guitar Masters Jesse and Alain on the payroll he doesnt need to play the guitar FFS

 

[CrazyFaceGenes]

People seem more than happy at a Marr gig, "shit" is hyperbole. Marr is okay at the vocals, not as good as Morrissey obviously, but from the gigs i have been to of both, Marr gets the Smiths sound right(obviously it's easier to keep guitar tone similar over 40 years than vocals are).

Vegan, i'm never going to agree with you on this Marr v Jesse stuff(just opinion after all), but it's at least healthier than you going on about Marr's hair or how he looks in his undies in his holiday snaps. So it's all good.

 

[Hillster]

Mike Joyce, strangely has always had Morrissey’s back more than anyone else in The Smiths, despite the court case.

 

[TheSmiths_1985]

Mike Joyce, strangely has always had Morrissey’s back more than anyone else in The Smiths, despite the court case.

And the pathetic “rumours” (lies) that UnclePeter insists on alluding to, based on the absolutely abhorrent assumption that gay men love cock so much that they’ll make a pass at every good-looking man they know.

 

[CrazyFaceGenes]

Mike Joyce, strangely has always had Morrissey’s back more than anyone else in The Smiths, despite the court case.

According to Moz; Joyce has done very nicely out of him in particular post Smiths lol.

Rourke was Marr's mate before the Smiths and still is, so i don't know if he would go against Marr but he still kinda sticks up for Morrissey even recently.

 

[TheSmiths_1985]

People seem more than happy at a Marr gig, "shit" is hyperbole. Marr is okay at the vocals, not as good as Morrissey obviously, but from the gigs i have been to of both, Marr gets the Smiths sound right(obviously it's easier to keep guitar tone similar over 40 years than vocals are).

Vegan, i'm never going to agree with you on this Marr v Jesse stuff(just opinion after all), but it's at least healthier than you going on about Marr's hair or how he looks in his undies in his holiday snaps. So it's all good.

Marr is great live. The high points (i.e. The Smiths songs) are absolutely fantastic. The solo stuff is good live, too.
Morrissey gigs are a bit of a bore-fest now. Alma Matters, World Peace, Paris ad nauseam are relentlessly tedious, especially for someone with such a vast back catalogue.

 

[Johnny who?]

I have no doubt that Morrissey has several million pounds more in the bank, and can still play to bigger venues around the world. But the fact remains that Johnny has a record contract, is playing guitar on James Bond and other Hollywood movie soundtracks, is on the cover of magazines and is generally respected by his peers and the general public. Morrissey has no record contract, his songs are no longer played on the radio and his brand has become so toxic he is about as popular as the lovechild of Gary Glitter and JK Rowling - the only times he appears in the press now are people complaining about his 'far right' views, and how no one decent should listen to him.

Personally I would love to see Morrissey get his shit together and start making some kind of comeback. I thought 'Dog on a Chain' was his best record in years - but the fact remains that the sales were pitiful. At this stage it's really only his US fanbase who are keeping him afloat, and things like The Simpsons show that maybe even they are starting to come round to the whole 'Morrissey as right-wing nutter' narrative . Bottom line is you'd have to be wearing spectcularly rose-tinted glasses not to accept the fact that he is currently at a career low, and bound to be smarting at that.

Anyone who does not agree with you is stupid and blind, yes, message received
I won't bother explaining left wing lunatics in the US and how their views do not matter

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

They should give Moz a guitar and see how he does, some of you need to get a grip.

What?! Moz plays great here ....

Presumably he'd be as shit at doing Marr's job, as Marr is at doing Morrissey's - that's rather the point.

yep.

 

[CrazyFaceGenes]

What?! Moz plays great here ....








yep.

He's not exactly doing a lot with the guitar(look at the jack) and it's a music video.

 

[Vegan Cro Spirit .888]

People seem more than happy at a Marr gig, "shit" is hyperbole. Marr is okay at the vocals, not as good as Morrissey obviously, but from the gigs i have been to of both, Marr gets the Smiths sound right(obviously it's easier to keep guitar tone similar over 40 years than vocals are).

Vegan, i'm never going to agree with you on this Marr v Jesse stuff(just opinion after all), but it's at least healthier than you going on about Marr's hair or how he looks in his undies in his holiday snaps. So it's all good.

Opinion?????? WTF is this



whats wrong with him? whats wrong with
his vocal chords FFS??
what is this racket?

WHAT IS THIS WHAT TYPE OF SINGING AND WRONG GUITAR CHORDING IS THIS



PANIC at the pond
who is the other twat with the hair sticking up playing wrong notes too??
whats up with LePep?? whats going on here??

 

[Dingoatemybabby]

Very true. It's painful to watch Marr's live performances of, for example, 'Bigmouth Strikes Again'. It's bad enough listening to him murder the vocal melody, but then he has to suddenly switch focus and launch himself into that quickfire guitar break, and I've never once see him do it on various youtube clips without badly f**cking it up. But of course, all the brainless sycophants in the audience cheer at the end of the song anyway because, hey! it's Johnny f***ing Marr!

I think he acquits himself pretty well here, both singing and playing - how difficult that must be! Yes, the tens of thousands of brainless sycophants in the audience cheer!

 

[Amy]

The folks here who keep asking ‘what has Johnny said?’ won’t find anything truly cruel or heinous – he certainly hasn’t depicted Morrissey an ‘eyesore monster’ – but there are lots of little digs and very petty things over the years, which M will have noticed. Here’s just a few:

• Split happened because he was ‘stuck with a load of ideas and nowhere to play them’ (2007)
• Wins an award and thanks Joe Moss, Kirsty, Matt Johnson, Bernard Sumner “and whoever else”, to sniggering (2007)
• Claims to be too busy to read Autobio (2014)
• (Unbelievably) says he & Moz weren’t friends by the end of the Smiths and that ‘what he does, says or sings doesn’t interest me.’ (2018)
• Thanks Matt Johnson and Bernard Sumner first before “all the guys in the Smiths” at an award ceremony (2018)
• Doesn’t defend M from the insinuation that he’s ruining the Smiths legacy and says ‘it has nothing to do with my world and my life’ (2019)
• Stupid Nigel Farage comment (2019)
• Answers a question about ‘assembling a supergroup’ – puts both Isaac Brock and Matt Johnson on lead vocals, then calls it the ‘I Told You I Was Right’ tour (2019)
• Kicks “one certain member of the group” for being obsessed with media notoriety (2021)
• Modest Mouse was “the best time of my life” (2021)
• Isaac Brock is the ‘best lyricist I’ve ever worked with’ (2021)
• As you can see from the Glasto video above, he sings "Now I know how Johnny Marr felt" in Bigmouth - obviously implying that he was long-suffering in the Smiths

I believe a lot of JM’s comments are cherry-picked and it’s true that, in amongst this petty stuff, he has been genuinely kind about Morrissey many times - notably at the Oxford Union talk. It’s still there though, and some of these comments were absolutely needless.

I’ve even seen it myself. The second time I saw Johnny live (2019), he said from the stage, after playing tons of Smiths songs, “Thank God the other one isn’t here" - and the room cheered. Just why? It’s not too hard to see why Moz would be hurt. Someone he loved and praised to the ends of the earth repeatedly thanks others before him, makes silly digs just to make strangers laugh, allows his son to make all manner of offensive 'shitposts' - it's not dignified.

 

[Amy]

I guess Chrissie Hynde taught him the song. They’re friends, did you know that?

Chrissie is the one I'm hoping will 'rescue' the current Moz/Marr situation. She got them back on speaking terms before...she can do it again!

 

[TheSmiths_1985]

The folks here who keep asking ‘what has Johnny said?’ won’t find anything truly cruel or heinous – he certainly hasn’t depicted Morrissey an ‘eyesore monster’ – but there are lots of little digs and very petty things over the years, which M will have noticed. Here’s just a few:

• Split happened because he was ‘stuck with a load of ideas and nowhere to play them’ (2007)
• Wins an award and thanks Joe Moss, Kirsty, Matt Johnson, Bernard Sumner “and whoever else”, to sniggering (2007)
• Claims to be too busy to read Autobio (2014)
• (Unbelievably) says he & Moz weren’t friends by the end of the Smiths and that ‘what he does, says or sings doesn’t interest me.’ (2018)
• Thanks Matt Johnson and Bernard Sumner first before “all the guys in the Smiths” at an award ceremony (2018)
• Doesn’t defend M from the insinuation that he’s ruining the Smiths legacy and says ‘it has nothing to do with my world and my life’ (2019)
• Stupid Nigel Farage comment (2019)
• Answers a question about ‘assembling a supergroup’ – puts both Isaac Brock and Matt Johnson on lead vocals, then calls it the ‘I Told You I Was Right’ tour (2019)
• Kicks “one certain member of the group” for being obsessed with media notoriety (2021)
• Modest Mouse was “the best time of my life” (2021)
• Isaac Brock is the ‘best lyricist I’ve ever worked with’ (2021)
• As you can see from the Glasto video above, he sings "Now I know how Johnny Marr felt" in Bigmouth - obviously implying that he was long-suffering in the Smiths

I believe a lot of JM’s comments are cherry-picked and it’s true that, in amongst this petty stuff, he has been genuinely kind about Morrissey many times - notably at the Oxford Union talk. It’s still there though, and some of these comments were absolutely needless.

I’ve even seen it myself. The second time I saw Johnny live (2019), he said from the stage, after playing tons of Smiths songs, “Thank God the other one isn’t here" - and the room cheered. Just why? It’s not too hard to see why Moz would be hurt. Someone he loved and praised to the ends of the earth repeatedly thanks others before him, makes silly digs just to make strangers laugh - it's not dignified.

I think you’ve summed it up pretty nicely. The little digs over the years add up; it’s an easy thumbs-up/like/retweet to make a negative comment about Morrissey.
I’m surprised he has remained tight-lipped for so long, especially given his propensity to go after people/things that irk him.

I thought it was interesting that he posted the open letter along with a picture of the Hand In Glove sleeve. “I’m saying all of this, and I mean it.. but…..”

 

[Dingoatemybabby]

The folks here who keep asking ‘what has Johnny said?’ won’t find anything truly cruel or heinous – he certainly hasn’t depicted Morrissey an ‘eyesore monster’ – but there are lots of little digs and very petty things over the years, which M will have noticed. Here’s just a few:

• Split happened because he was ‘stuck with a load of ideas and nowhere to play them’ (2007)
• Wins an award and thanks Joe Moss, Kirsty, Matt Johnson, Bernard Sumner “and whoever else”, to sniggering (2007)
• Claims to be too busy to read Autobio (2014)
• (Unbelievably) says he & Moz weren’t friends by the end of the Smiths and that ‘what he does, says or sings doesn’t interest me.’ (2018)
• Thanks Matt Johnson and Bernard Sumner first before “all the guys in the Smiths” at an award ceremony (2018)
• Doesn’t defend M from the insinuation that he’s ruining the Smiths legacy and says ‘it has nothing to do with my world and my life’ (2019)
• Stupid Nigel Farage comment (2019)
• Answers a question about ‘assembling a supergroup’ – puts both Isaac Brock and Matt Johnson on lead vocals, then calls it the ‘I Told You I Was Right’ tour (2019)
• Kicks “one certain member of the group” for being obsessed with media notoriety (2021)
• Modest Mouse was “the best time of my life” (2021)
• Isaac Brock is the ‘best lyricist I’ve ever worked with’ (2021)
• As you can see from the Glasto video above, he sings "Now I know how Johnny Marr felt" in Bigmouth - obviously implying that he was long-suffering in the Smiths

I believe a lot of JM’s comments are cherry-picked and it’s true that, in amongst this petty stuff, he has been genuinely kind about Morrissey many times - notably at the Oxford Union talk. It’s still there though, and some of these comments were absolutely needless.

I’ve even seen it myself. The second time I saw Johnny live (2019), he said from the stage, after playing tons of Smiths songs, “Thank God the other one isn’t here" - and the room cheered. Just why? It’s not too hard to see why Moz would be hurt. Someone he loved and praised to the ends of the earth repeatedly thanks others before him, makes silly digs just to make strangers laugh, allows his son to make all manner of offensive 'shitposts' - it's not dignified.

You realize to anyone who is not a Mozbot that this list is ridiculous. There is just nothing there that Morrissey should take complete offense to. Morrissey, who has wished death and dismemberment on any number of popstars and celebrities, can dish it out but he certainly cannot take it.

Half of the list are "sins" of omission, which is what Morrissey wants anyway, right? Where is the savagery and the cruelty he mentions? These are micro-aggressions at worst. Moz should be ashamed of himself for that letter - let's hope he was drunk and retracts it. The tone of his letter is that of a spurned teenager. It's yet another embarrassment for him.

 

[Mardie]

According to Moz; Joyce has done very nicely out of him in particular post Smiths lol.

Rourke was Marr's mate before the Smiths and still is, so i don't know if he would go against Marr but he still kinda sticks up for Morrissey even recently.

Morrissey would hate anyone, of any race, who performed Halal.