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.

 

[Sister I'm a Poet]

Nope it's funny as hell and I reckon he sat back and thought 'well done fella' once he'd finished it.

I found the letter sadly shrill and unfunny...

 

[Amy]

Moz is forgetting that he engaged in a fair share of blaming and dissing Johnny in Autobiography. He accused Johnny of cheating on him with Bryan Ferry, for being a falling down drunk (throwing up on mom’s eiderdown) and for being a useless idiot on the witness stand during the Joyce courtroom proceedings. Just to name a few. Johnny, however had not a single unkind word for Moz in his book, poorly written as it was.

I don't think those anecdotes were meant cruelly (especially not the eiderdown one) - but his analysis of Johnny in the courtroom was devastatingly accurate, i.e that JM bends under pressure and says whatever people want him to say, loyalty be damned. That's exactly what he's doing when he starts sniping at Moz in the press, bending to pressure. Moz just got fed up with it.

 

[Sister I'm a Poet]

Those of you who think Marr shouldn't have politely distanced himself from Morrissey's political views probably would have frowned on Jessica Mitford when she criticized her sisters Diana and Unity for their (figurative and literal) embrace of Mosley and Hitler.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

I found the letter sadly shrill and unfunny...

then you may have lost your sense of humor.

 

[Johnny who?]

I think it was long overdue, I watched a few documentaries over the weekend, one about The Smith and one about Morrissey's solo career and while you could come away with the feeling Morrissey is difficult, you definitely got the message that Johnny is a bully and a liar and he let Morrissey take the blame for a lot of things that were not his fault, but it was said Morrisssey doesn't usually defend himself.

I think you can just measure the solo careers to see who needs who here, Johnny is basically nothing without Morrisssey. For all the collaborations he has had with the upper echelon artists, no one has really asked him to stay around. He HAS to talk about Morrissey for anyone to even read an interview with him.

He has done several solo shows in Boston and has had to resort to charging for meet and greets because he cannot fill a venue bigger than The Paradise, which is really a starter club for artists here. Once when I saw him there, Evan Dando was outside and he was talking to someone about the openning act, who were his friends, no mention of Johnny at all, did not stick around to hand with Johnny. To me it is strange that given Evan's prominence as a Boston artist, they would not get together. Husband went to the meet and greet (I was home sick), said Johnny complimented the green cords he was wearing then went to change out of his black trousers into cords. I thought that was really strange. Like no one could wear cooler pants than him.

Marr seens quite unpleasant and unhappy, I see him arguing with fans on twitter quite a bit. Today it's with a woman who said hi to him in Manchester but didn't realize he is famous, he was very put off by it. I get the feeling Morrissey does not have that problem.

I have a friend out in CA who has worked for a few bands, she told me many years ago that Johnny was very conceited and difficult and Morrissey was pretty normal and shy, he was a fan of one of the bands she worked for and would attend gigs.

This epic smackdown has made my entire year

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Those of you who think Marr shouldn't have politely distanced himself from Morrissey's political views probably would have frowned on Jessica Mitford when she criticized her sisters Diana and Unity for their (figurative and literal) embrace of Mosley and Hitler.

Were political views mentioned?

 

[Vegan Cro Spirit 555]

I think it was long overdue, I watched a few documentaries over the weekend, one about The Smith and one about Morrissey's solo career and while you could come away with the feeling Morrissey is difficult, you definitely got the message that Johnny is a bully and a liar and he let Morrissey take the blame for a lot of things that were not his fault, but it was said Morrisssey doesn't usually defend himself.

I think you can just measure the solo careers to see who needs who here, Johnny is basically nothing without Morrisssey. For all the collaborations he has had with the upper echelon artists, no one has really asked him to stay around. He HAS to talk about Morrissey for anyone to even read an interview with him.

He has done several solo shows in Boston and has had to resort to charging for meet and greets because he cannot fill a venue bigger than The Paradise, which is really a starter club for artists here. Once when I saw him there, Evan Dando was outside and he was talking to someone about the openning act, who were his friends, no mention of Johnny at all, did not stick around to hand with Johnny. To me it is strange that given Evan's prominence as a Boston artist, they would not get together. Husband went to the meet and greet (I was home sick), said Johnny complimented the green cords he was wearing then went to change out of his black trousers into cords. I thought that was really strange. Like no one could wear cooler pants than him.

Marr seens quite unpleasant and unhappy, I see him arguing with fans on twitter quite a bit. Today it's with a woman who said hi to him in Manchester but didn't realize he is famous, he was very put off by it. I get the feeling Morrissey does not have that problem.

I have a friend out in CA who has worked for a few bands, she told me many years ago that Johnny was very conceited and difficult and Morrissey was pretty normal and shy, he was a fan of one of the bands she worked for and would attend gigs.

This epic smackdown has made my entire year

BRILLIANT!!! deserving of a POSTING OSCAR
(he wore the flowery shirt with the cords)

 

[kissmyshadestoo]

"This is not a rant or an hysterical bombast."

But it is......

 

[Sister I'm a Poet]

Were political views mentioned?

What else has Marr said about Morrissey? All I can think he has said is that he disagreed with Morrissey on politics and that he hasn't listened to his solo work. Is there anything else Marr has said about Morrissey in the last several years?

 

[Vegan Cro Spirit 555]

that annoying video where he goes on and on about how "proud" he was of moz
and the lawnmowers while 'he based the song on his dumb circular"
as if he were phil spector when in reality he wasnt even the producer of the song!!!!
"O im soooooooooooo proud" OI totally insufferable.

 

[Darius Meo]

A classy letter addressed to a frustrated guitarist who could never live up to the lofty expectations that the music press held for him these many decades ago. Let's be honest here, Johnny's anger and derision isn't directed at Morrissey and Morrissey's political views, it's aimed squarely at Morrissey's success as a solo artist and well-earned iconic status. Johnny is in danger of becoming a sad music industry version of George Takei, always sniping at Morrissey's William Shatner, just to desperately cling to some piddling media attention. Hopefully he reads Morrissey's letter and takes it to heart.

 

[Ferghal]

Wow! Probably a response to his latest comment that he is friends with everyone he worked with except ' the Obvious one' which is hurtful even from previous friends, I should know. I have so many.

 

[Dingoatemybabby]

I think it was long overdue, I watched a few documentaries over the weekend, one about The Smith and one about Morrissey's solo career and while you could come away with the feeling Morrissey is difficult, you definitely got the message that Johnny is a bully and a liar and he let Morrissey take the blame for a lot of things that were not his fault, but it was said Morrisssey doesn't usually defend himself.

I think you can just measure the solo careers to see who needs who here, Johnny is basically nothing without Morrisssey. For all the collaborations he has had with the upper echelon artists, no one has really asked him to stay around. He HAS to talk about Morrissey for anyone to even read an interview with him.

He has done several solo shows in Boston and has had to resort to charging for meet and greets because he cannot fill a venue bigger than The Paradise, which is really a starter club for artists here. Once when I saw him there, Evan Dando was outside and he was talking to someone about the openning act, who were his friends, no mention of Johnny at all, did not stick around to hand with Johnny. To me it is strange that given Evan's prominence as a Boston artist, they would not get together. Husband went to the meet and greet (I was home sick), said Johnny complimented the green cords he was wearing then went to change out of his black trousers into cords. I thought that was really strange. Like no one could wear cooler pants than him.

Marr seens quite unpleasant and unhappy, I see him arguing with fans on twitter quite a bit. Today it's with a woman who said hi to him in Manchester but didn't realize he is famous, he was very put off by it. I get the feeling Morrissey does not have that problem.

I have a friend out in CA who has worked for a few bands, she told me many years ago that Johnny was very conceited and difficult and Morrissey was pretty normal and shy, he was a fan of one of the bands she worked for and would attend gigs.

This epic smackdown has made my entire year

Morrissey, normal?? That's obviously a lie!

 

[Sister I'm a Poet]

It is very interesting that Moz posted this along with the single artwork from "Hand in Glove", which of course was his and Marr's statement of perfect artistic partnership against all comers,
"Hand in glove
The sun shines out of our behinds
No, it's not like any other love
This one is different, because it's us"
It is sad that that beautiful union ever ended...

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

What else has Marr said about Morrissey? All I can think he has said is that he disagreed with Morrissey on politics and that he hasn't listened to his solo work. Is there anything else Marr has said about Morrissey in the last several years?

It’s more than just politics that seems to have troubled Morrissey enough to write this.

 

[KeithIrons]

I view the letter as a possible intervention for Johnny. It really isn't healthy to keep dredging up the past like this over and over. It's like someone who can't stop talking about his first marriage...from 35 years ago.

 

[Dingoatemybabby]

It’s more than just politics that seems to have troubled Morrissey enough to write this.

I think it's because Marr has a heavily promoted album coming out on his former label BMG.

 

[Dean B]

View attachment 78903

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

---

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:

• Far Out: Morrissey pens scathing open letter to Johnny Marr: "You don't know me" - January 25, 2022
• NME: Morrissey asks Johnny Marr to stop mentioning him in interviews - January 25, 2022
• Stereogum: Morrissey To Johnny Marr: Keep My Name Out Of Your Mouth - January 25, 2022

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Just a guess - reunion's off
FWD.

Morrissey is the last icon. The others still living ...with the possible exception of John Lydon...have become conformist, censorship mad, virtue signaling bores who wouldn't DARE challenge the tiresome shitlib orthodoxy.

 

[Sister I'm a Poet]

It’s more than just politics that seems to have troubled Morrissey enough to write this.

Yes, but when I ask to give an example of a heinous thing that Marr has said about Morrissey, you don't answer. Because he didn't really...

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Morrissey, normal?? That's obviously a lie!

and the thank the gods for that !!!

I think it's because Marr has a heavily promoted album coming out on his former label BMG.