RA: The Art of Production: 808 State (January 26, 2023) - Morrissey mention

A tiny mention of Morrissey in this expansive interview with Graham Massey of 808 State. Relevant section:

There's echoes of what people like Cabaret Voltaire were doing across the Pennines, experimenting with tape loops and guitars in an attic.

Yeah. A lot of Sheffield bands are unique, and Manchester was like that too. Each band in Manchester had its own identity. No one was particularly following a trend post-Buzzcocks and all that kind of thing. A few streets away from where we are now is 50 Newton Street, where the New Hormones label had their office. The most important thing in that office was the photocopier, and the person in charge of that photocopier was Steven Morrissey.
 
I thought our Moz hated fax machines, telephones, e-mail and other hi-tech cutting-edge inventions such as photocopiers and Ouija boards. And now we learn that all along he was pushing buttons and possibly even feeding paper into a strange machine that could have chewed up his microphone hand. What else don't we know about our mysterious musical maestro?
Fax was how he communicated for a number of years with people.
 
Steve Diggle from Buzzcocks also mentioned Morrissey being in the New Hormones office

The New Hormones office was like a homeless people's drop in centre. Total strangers drifted in off the street...... People were constantly using the phone and helping themselves to petty cash. Morrissey was always in there on the f***ing phone....''

Time hasn't been kind......there appears to be a tree growing out of it.
 
I don’t know. Ian especially is on a different level. But these are the Mancunians that to me are the most culturally significant, enduring. They are the faces of the Manchester pop music scene. They are what most people think of when they think of Manchester and its music scene.


Ian especially is on another level ???

Brown ?
Curtis ?

I'm guessing you mean Curtizzzzzzzzzzzz. About time someone stood up and said that Joy Division were basically a producer, some photo's on a bridge and a handful of songs away from being obscure shite.

Has there ever been a band who's reverence and myth has grown from so little......

deedum
 
Ian especially is on another level ???

Brown ?
Curtis ?

I'm guessing you mean Curtizzzzzzzzzzzz. About time someone stood up and said that Joy Division were basically a producer, some photo's on a bridge and a handful of songs away from being obscure shite.

Has there ever been a band who's reverence and myth has grown from so little......

deedum

Well who knows what they might have become if Ian hadn't passed away, they managed to re group and have done pretty well as New Order.

I saw them twice in the same week when they supported Buzzcocks and at both the shows the places were rammed for JD's set.
 
Ian especially is on another level ???

Brown ?
Curtis ?

I'm guessing you mean Curtizzzzzzzzzzzz. About time someone stood up and said that Joy Division were basically a producer, some photo's on a bridge and a handful of songs away from being obscure shite.

Has there ever been a band who's reverence and myth has grown from so little......

deedum
You again. You couldn’t stop yourself from being a completely ignorant prick to save your life. I’m not gonna argue about JD’s greatness with you, because you don’t really strike me as someone who has the intellectual or spiritual capacity to appreciate what they were doing. Instead, I wish you a pleasant evening and hope that you’ll enjoy your hooker and your pie.
 
Well who knows what they might have become if Ian hadn't passed away, they managed to re group and have done pretty well as New Order.

I saw them twice in the same week when they supported Buzzcocks and at both the shows the places were rammed for JD's set.

Yes, from things said by Genesis, Ian was really interested in what Throbbing Gristle were doing, and Ian seemed to want to move in a more experimental direction, opposite to what New Order became. It’s interesting, and I could easily imagine Ian would have left the band to follow his heART. Didn’t he also tell someone about wanting to leave JD and open up a small bookshop? Though that probably had more to do with all of the pressures he was feeling at that time.

 
I’m not gonna argue about JD’s greatness with you, because you don’t really strike me as someone who has the intellectual or spiritual capacity to appreciate what they were doing.
Morrissey and Johnny would argue though:



(As for me, I enjoy them myself from time to time. Although there's always the same lingering question of whether they were image over substance or vice versa.)
 
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Yes, from things said by Genesis, Ian was really interested in what Throbbing Gristle were doing, and Ian seemed to want to move in a more experimental direction, opposite to what New Order became. It’s interesting, and I could easily imagine Ian would have left the band to follow his heART. Didn’t he also tell someone about wanting to leave JD and open up a small bookshop? Though that probably had more to do with all of the pressures he was feeling at that time.



Bernard sort of touched on this, he once said - He (Ian) wanted to make extreme music, and he wanted to be totally extreme on stage, no half measures. If we were writing a song, he would say: “Let’s make it more manic! It’s too straight, let’s make it more manic!”
 
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This video is Joy Division supporting Buzzcocks at Manchester Apollo in October 79, it includes the magnificent They Walked In Line and Love Will Tear Us Apart which at that time wasn't even recorded. If your into JD, stick your headphones on and play it loud as its a brilliant recording on behalf of Richard Boon (Buzzcocks manager)

 
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Morrissey and Johnny would argue though:



(As for me, I enjoy them myself from time to time. Although there's always the same lingering question of whether they were image over substance or vice versa.)

In all my years listening to JD, I’ve never doubted their intentions. To me, it’s always been glaringly obvious that what they were doing was 100 percent for real. Too real, almost.
 
I love 808 State so I'll take a Morrissey mention even if it's meaningless.
 
I love 808 State so I'll take a Morrissey mention even if it's meaningless.

Yes? no? I like bits of info like this. It’s a small pleasure imagining the younger M at the copier. It’s also a piece of the puzzle, his art and drive and what became his vision for putting together those iconic Smiths sleeves.
 

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