Stephen Street hits out at "bitchy" Morrissey - Hot Press

SMITHS PRODUCER HITS OUT AT "BITCHY" MORRISSEY
Stephen Street has criticised Morrissey for some of the personal attacks mounted in his Penguin Classic.
The Hot Press Newsdesk, 30 Oct 2013, 18:14
“People have often asked me, ‘Do you think The Smiths will ever reform’,” says the producer. “I always thought it unlikely. Having read ¾ of Morrissey’s book I would now say there’s not a hope in hell. Honestly, I am amazed at some of the character assassinations and jibes at certain people’s appearances in the book. People might say, ‘Well, you got off lightly’, and I agree I did but I don’t enjoy seeing other people who contributed to the success of the band and his solo career being put down in such a bitchy matter. What does it achieve?”
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Regards,
FWD

But Morrissey claims, "It is quite true that I have never had anything in my life that I did not make for myself."
 
What does it achieve? It perpetuates Morrissey's victim script, his pathetic conspiracy theories, and his absurd belief that credit for his success as a part of The Smiths collective, or as a 'solo' artist who doesn't write music, doesn't need to be appropriately shared with Johnny Marr, Stephen Street, Alain Whyte and Boz Boozer. Not to mention the cast of revolving "lawnmower parts". He puts others down because it makes him feel superior. Briefly, before the downward spiral resumes.

remind you of anyone bummie?
 
You can love the music (well up to Southpaw anyway). But you can't love the man.

SS' comment is the last word on Morrissey the man, and his book. Only the sadly deluded would buy it. Read a review, and then don't dignify spending money on it.

What was the lyric - it's so easy to hate, it take guts to be gentle and kind. The person who wrote that lyric is with us no more. Shame on you anyone who says anything positive about the book.

is this an order?
nothing deluded about spending your life on here pouring out vindictive rhetoric to other spurrned lovers, go boys.
 
I absolutely agree with Stephen Street, but also with Brummie Boy, Johnny Barleycorn, Neil Gee, Martin and jmc1808 above.

I deeply regret buying the book. I suppose the old fan inside got the better of me. Morrissey really is a self-centred sociopath who's lost every last ounce of touch with reality.

Aside from his increasingly insipid and self-obsessed music, for me the game was finally up last year when he ignorantly criticised Kate Middleton for the death of the pranked nurse Jacintha (note: I am probably more anti Royal Family than Morrissey) and when he gave that weird interview to that geezers' magazine in which he glorified UKIP and where the interviewer described how salt-of-the-earth Morrissey got his personal assistant to sprinkle salt on his chips (WTF?)

The similarities with Alan Partridge (UK readers will know what I mean) are just so obvious and so sad. If only Morrissey was even slightly in touch with contemporary culture and with what is considered bad taste, rude, socially inept, or simply UNCOOL, he wouldn't have written three quarters of that dull self-centred spitefest of his "autobiography". He comes across as such an olympic loser.

Not to mention his ungratefulness towards each and every person who helped him and -worse- his deep ignorance on most subjects he likes to pontificate on. You read his book and his grasp of anything, especially legal matters concerning The Smiths' court case, is a joke. Child-like, in fact.

And, finally, for someone who likes to portray himself as so different, so anti-mainstream, and so "anti-establishment", Morrissey really has some kind of pathological obsession with charting, copies sold, marketing, merchandising, and the rest. Petty. Pathetic. Hideous.

Yes, of course, he will always have his deluded army of gaze-eyed and Kool-aid guzzling "fans", but then again there has always been a tendency within section of mankind to adulate open nastiness - just look at so much of 20th century politics.

yeah i got to line two of your missive and knew everything i need to about you.
is the old fan side of you that keeps you here??? let go nobody minds, nobody will miss you, but no..........
 
truth hurts stephen
what did you expect? a sugar caoted reference?
you played a small part as did others, stop trying to reinvent it.
 
I absolutely agree with Stephen Street, but also with Brummie Boy, Johnny Barleycorn, Neil Gee, Martin and jmc1808 above.

I deeply regret buying the book. I suppose the old fan inside got the better of me. Morrissey really is a self-centred sociopath who's lost every last ounce of touch with reality.

Aside from his increasingly insipid and self-obsessed music, for me the game was finally up last year when he ignorantly criticised Kate Middleton for the death of the pranked nurse Jacintha (note: I am probably more anti Royal Family than Morrissey) and when he gave that weird interview to that geezers' magazine in which he glorified UKIP and where the interviewer described how salt-of-the-earth Morrissey got his personal assistant to sprinkle salt on his chips (WTF?)

The similarities with Alan Partridge (UK readers will know what I mean) are just so obvious and so sad. If only Morrissey was even slightly in touch with contemporary culture and with what is considered bad taste, rude, socially inept, or simply UNCOOL, he wouldn't have written three quarters of that dull self-centred spitefest of his "autobiography". He comes across as such an olympic loser.

Not to mention his ungratefulness towards each and every person who helped him and -worse- his deep ignorance on most subjects he likes to pontificate on. You read his book and his grasp of anything, especially legal matters concerning The Smiths' court case, is a joke. Child-like, in fact.

And, finally, for someone who likes to portray himself as so different, so anti-mainstream, and so "anti-establishment", Morrissey really has some kind of pathological obsession with charting, copies sold, marketing, merchandising, and the rest. Petty. Pathetic. Hideous.

Yes, of course, he will always have his deluded army of gaze-eyed and Kool-aid guzzling "fans", but then again there has always been a tendency within section of mankind to adulate open nastiness - just look at so much of 20th century politics.

In fairness Claude he's not changed one jot since he first appeared. I'm not sure why people are suddenly so shocked like they've just discovered a new man. Examples, he was never in touch with contemporary culture, he's always been against the mainstream but wanted high chart placements, he's always been anti-royal yet put his views across in a deliberately antagonistic way. It all makes me think that people kind of never got him in the first place.

I don't always agree with him but I support him for speaking his mind. Always.
 
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In fairness Claude he's not changed one jot since he first appeared. I'm not sure why people are suddenly so shocked like they've just discovered a new man. Examples, he was never in touch with contemporary culture, he's always been against the mainstream but wanted high chart placements, he's always been anti-royal yet put his views across in a deliberately antagonistic way. It all makes me think that people kind of never got him in the first place.

I don't always agree with him but I support him for speaking his mind. Always.

Charlie Cheswick, you are probably right in the sense that Morrissey was probably always this way.
However...there are various possibilities:

1) That once people move on and mature a little and simply grow up and leave behind teenage-adulation they start seeing more through celebrity pap.

2) That Morrissey DID change...perhaps money and fame did get to his head after all? He wouldn't be the first human being nor will he be the last one to do that. Just that in his case, he was making such a big deal out of "it's so easy to laugh it's sop easy to hate, it takes guts to be gentle and kind", that the change is probably more pathetic than usual.

3) Perhaps Morrissey was very cunning in the way he orchestrated and cultivated his "vulnerable" persona for so many years. You read the book and you simply see a bully...just try counting how many borderline libelous physical insults are thrown gratuitously at other people.

Finally, you can't be "against the mainstream" and then OBSESS - literally OBSESS - over money, mass marketing campaigns and the amounts of copies sold. Seriously, guys? Grow up a little?
 
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I didn't like the things he said about Alain especially, and some of the celeb bitchiness was so unnecessary. The trial stuff was not unexpected. Still nobody seems to be making any concessions for Moz. The constant legal battles and bereavements would take their toll on anyone and he strikes me as quite a loyal person he still has many friends from childhood, and he remains friendly with exes. Credit where credits due.

Just curious: What did Moz say about Alain?

I admit I'm not wanting to add any more cash to Morrissey's wallet so if you can just paraphrase what was said, it would be appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Charlie Cheswick, you are probably right in the sense that Morrissey was probably always this way.
However...there are various possibilities:

1) That once people move on and mature a little and simply grow up and leave behind teenage-adulation they start seeing more through celebrity pap.

2) That Morrissey DID change...perhaps money and fame did get to his head after all? He wouldn't be the first human being nor will he be the last one to do that. Just that in his case, he was making such a big deal out of "it's so easy to laugh it's sop easy to hate, it takes guts to be gentle and kind", that the change is probably more pathetic than usual.

3) Perhaps Morrissey was very cunning in the way he orchestrated and cultivated his "vulnerable" persona for so many years. You read the book and you simply see a bully...just try counting how many borderline libelous physical insults are thrown gratuitously at other people.

Finally, you can't be "against the mainstream" and then OBSESS - literally OBSESS - over money, mass marketing campaigns and the amounts of copies sold. Seriously, guys? Grow up a little?

I still haven't read the book in its totality, but that's because every time I try - whether I begin at page one, or page 131, or page 411 - I give up.

What is quite clear from the parts I have read and the reviews I've read and the quotes I've seen is that Morrissey isn't a very nice fellow.

Does this come as a great surprise? Well, no. Pretty much everyone, from journalists, to former fans, to former collaborators, to Morrissey himself, has said as much over the years. He was even described as 'the only truly evil man in music' by Tony Wilson.

Aside from Morrissey's personal qualities, the question is - is the book any good?

The body of opinion thus far seems to be a resounding 'NO!'

He did once say the autobiography would be 'career-spanning.' Perhaps at the time he didn't quite realise it might spell the end of his career and fulfil his pledge absolutely.

Ultimately, I will always love his music. He is a genius. But he's not a pleasant fellow, and he is a genuinely bad writer of prose, and unfortunately this autobiography - in destroying the enigma, revealing him as a bullying bitch, boring us all rigid (those who could make it past a few pages), and disappointing us all from a literary perspective - has done more harm than good; except to the bank balance of course.

Hilariously, the biography proves once and for all that he's not the author of MorrisseysWorld. Although they both use American spellings and both have a penchant for blue roses, the blog writer can actually write, whereas Moz can't!
 
I never wanted to admit it, but after reading the book, it's dreadfully spot on. Well said, BB. My take? He wishes to be seen as endearingly human, yet fails to see the basic humanity in his contributors. He also gave away nearly all of the mystery of Moz, and the fact that he started taking his own character to heart, rendering it caricature after a point. Art vs Artifice. Which one piles up nowadays? It's sad. I love the man, but he's drifted so far from what made him incredible. Hopefully he can reconnect to that someday before it's too late.

well it's now time for you and BB to take off and leave this awful place then?

- marred.
 
Evening all,
Are we talking about the same book here or what? I don't think the book is written bitchly at all. As i read it, it is Morrissey's take & observation on his life so far & of the people who have come in & out of his journey, including the above mentioned Stephen Street &his family - I loved & was touched by the sections about his Nannie & his feelings when she died. Throughout, he writes very honestly, humourously & wittily about the way people are/were & the way people react/reacted to him. isn't that what an autobiography should be?
Guess what, if i had the chance to pen my life THEN i would be honest also, no barrs hold. We take as we find don't we?
Really enjoying the book so far & i feel i have had an insight into "Morrissey the human being "as opposed to "Morrissey on stage". And to me he comes across as a genuine person, & i like real people. Hate Fake, always & forever.
Thank Gawd for Morrissey.
Night All. Jacxxx
 
Just curious: What did Moz say about Alain?

I admit I'm not wanting to add any more cash to Morrissey's wallet so if you can just paraphrase what was said, it would be appreciated.

Thanks.
*****Spoiler*********

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FynjQ4RYDdE In a nutshell, according to Moz Alain didn't like Boz, Alain was getting restless during the Quarry period, Morrissey was given two legal letters asking him to include Alain on future album covers and secondly to give his blessing to the writing of a book about Alain's life on the road with Moz, Morrissey was unimpressed. Alain left the band citing exhaustion and then sent Moz emails complaining. Morrissey thought Alain was unappreciative of their success (they were no longer close during ringleader of the tormentors) and he also told a very silly minor story about Alain with the intention of trying to paint him as a fool. He also said that he was vain (look who's talking!). Basically if there was any hope of Alain rejoining the band then it's well and truly foooked after this book :( On the positive side he praised his song writing, creativity and musical abilities but I don't think that's what Alain wil remember.
 
*****Spoiler*********

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FynjQ4RYDdE In a nutshell, according to Moz Alain didn't like Boz, Alain was getting restless during the Quarry period, Morrissey was given two legal letters asking him to include Alain on future album covers and secondly to give his blessing to the writing of a book about Alain's life on the road with Moz, Morrissey was unimpressed. Alain left the band citing exhaustion and then sent Moz emails complaining. Morrissey thought Alain was unappreciative of their success (they were no longer close during ringleader of the tormentors) and he also told a very silly minor story about Alain with the intention of trying to paint him as a fool. He also said that he was vain (look who's talking!). Basically if there was any hope of Alain rejoining the band then it's well and truly foooked after this book :( On the positive side he praised his song writing, creativity and musical abilities but I don't think that's what Alain will remember.

In other words, just like his hero Alan Partridge, Morrissey finished yet another anecdote with "needless to say I had the last laugh." What a pathetic human being: to allude to Alain's 'exhaustion' when everyone knows how unwell he was; more unwell than Morrissey has ever been, overlooking his narcissistic self-loathing.

"Evening all,
Are we talking about the same book here or what? I don't think the book is written bitchly at all. As i read it, it is Morrissey's take & observation on his life so far & of the people who have come in & out of his journey, including the above mentioned Stephen Street &his family - I loved & was touched by the sections about his Nannie & his feelings when she died. Throughout, he writes very honestly, humourously & wittily about the way people are/were & the way people react/reacted to him. isn't that what an autobiography should be?
Guess what, if i had the chance to pen my life THEN i would be honest also, no barrs hold. We take as we find don't we?
Really enjoying the book so far & i feel i have had an insight into "Morrissey the human being "as opposed to "Morrissey on stage". And to me he comes across as a genuine person, & i like real people. Hate Fake, always & forever.
Thank Gawd for Morrissey.
Night All. Jacxxx"


Lord, you must be the only person in the world who thinks it's not a bitch-fest - including Morrissey. You appear to have less insight even than he does.

Do you seriously think Morrissey sat down to deride Burchill, call various people 'fat,' ridicule former colleagues and management by accident? To try to claim this man is honest is frankly ludicrous. Unless a high court judge, every one of his former band mates, most of the music press, many of his former fans, an internet website (or three!), the vast majority of humanity and a few animals too are plotting a grotesque conspiracy against him to make him appear nasty and dishonest, when in fact he's lovely - something even Moz himself disagrees with - then we can conclude he's probably not terribly pleasant.

I suppose artistes get the fans they deserve.

!
 
*****Spoiler*********

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FynjQ4RYDdE In a nutshell, according to Moz Alain didn't like Boz, Alain was getting restless during the Quarry period, Morrissey was given two legal letters asking him to include Alain on future album covers and secondly to give his blessing to the writing of a book about Alain's life on the road with Moz, Morrissey was unimpressed. Alain left the band citing exhaustion and then sent Moz emails complaining. Morrissey thought Alain was unappreciative of their success (they were no longer close during ringleader of the tormentors) and he also told a very silly minor story about Alain with the intention of trying to paint him as a fool. He also said that he was vain (look who's talking!). Basically if there was any hope of Alain rejoining the band then it's well and truly foooked after this book :( On the positive side he praised his song writing, creativity and musical abilities but I don't think that's what Alain wil remember.

He also on several occasions implied Alain was ungrateful for not acknowledging publicly that Morrissey "rescued" him from a crap job at Camden City Council and that Alain never said a "word" (in public, I guess) about the success of Morrissey's most recent albums.

There were at least two anecdotes said with the clear intention of depicting Alain as a proper thicko.

There's the maddening contradiction of mentioning something on the lines of (I paraphrase) "I have absolutely no idea why Alain the ungrateful left"... followed, two pages later by "I got a legal letter by Alain's lawyer demanding that I give permission for Alain's book detailing life around me and, well, no".... even though the letter refers to the period before he left. The man's all over the place.
 
. He's hung as a badge of hip by people who, largely, don't listen to his music or read his awful prose, but still assume that mentioning Moz at the dinner party is still a sign of hipsterism, rather than an alarm bell for cult deludo.
I live in the US where the hipsterism badge is more about knowing who he was. Generally people that are fans are not considered any more hipster than people that might now be fans of anything else that was big in the 80's and isn't played on the radio.

He must have read it himself and thought "This paints me in a good light." The guy is deluded.
This is profound. He read this, apparently, though maybe he only wrote it? But yes, it's queer that he chose to portray himself in ways that only the most delusional person would think are helpful to his public persona. And what else is there?
 
So Mozzer disses practically everyone he's ever worked with, excepting his current band of sisters. If Jesse left in the morning Moz would bad-mouth him too. I found the autobiography a tiring read and am well fed up of Moz constantly complaining and giving out about people. All we care about is the music. I should have saved my money and bought the Mozipedia instead.
 
In other words, just like his hero Alan Partridge, Morrissey finished yet another anecdote with "needless to say I had the last laugh." What a pathetic human being: to allude to Alain's 'exhaustion' when everyone knows how unwell he was; more unwell than Morrissey has ever been, overlooking his narcissistic self-loathing.

"Evening all,
Are we talking about the same book here or what? I don't think the book is written bitchly at all. As i read it, it is Morrissey's take & observation on his life so far & of the people who have come in & out of his journey, including the above mentioned Stephen Street &his family - I loved & was touched by the sections about his Nannie & his feelings when she died. Throughout, he writes very honestly, humourously & wittily about the way people are/were & the way people react/reacted to him. isn't that what an autobiography should be?
Guess what, if i had the chance to pen my life THEN i would be honest also, no barrs hold. We take as we find don't we?
Really enjoying the book so far & i feel i have had an insight into "Morrissey the human being "as opposed to "Morrissey on stage". And to me he comes across as a genuine person, & i like real people. Hate Fake, always & forever.
Thank Gawd for Morrissey.
Night All. Jacxxx"


Lord, you must be the only person in the world who thinks it's not a bitch-fest - including Morrissey. You appear to have less insight even than he does.

Do you seriously think Morrissey sat down to deride Burchill, call various people 'fat,' ridicule former colleagues and management by accident? To try to claim this man is honest is frankly ludicrous. Unless a high court judge, every one of his former band mates, most of the music press, many of his former fans, an internet website (or three!), the vast majority of humanity and a few animals too are plotting a grotesque conspiracy against him to make him appear nasty and dishonest, when in fact he's lovely - something even Moz himself disagrees with - then we can conclude he's probably not terribly pleasant.

I suppose artistes get the fans they deserve.

!

With respect Anonymous. You know nothing about me, i certainly do have " insight " & I am great at sussing people out. Morrissey is a gem in a dull world where most people follow others like sheep & are wishy washy. If Morrissey ruffles people's stubble then good, the truth hurts sometimes but you grow a backbone & get over it.. He sticks to his guns which very few people in this life are afraid of doing.Yes of course i am a fan, a very realistic one. I think alot of people have missed the essence of a really good autobioraphy here where he shares alot about his upbringing, family, loves & losses & yes the ruthlessness of the music industry & media. i am deeply touched that you think i am "the only person in the world " with the exception of the author " who doesn't see it as a " Bitch Fest " says alot about me then doesn't it?. Take the artiste as you find, he is genuinely humourous & writes as such. He isn't perfect but who is?. Just saying.
 
Morrissey is a gem in a dull world where most people follow others like sheep & are wishy washy. If Morrissey ruffles people's stubble then good, the truth hurts sometimes but you grow a backbone & get over it.. He sticks to his guns which very few people in this life are afraid of doing.Yes of course i am a fan, a very realistic one.

See, unless you're a teenager who's just started discovering things, that's not really the case. Morrissey is NOT a gem in a dull world. He's duller than the rest. He goes on about record companies "throwing their weight", "cash sales", "record sales", "investing" and "marketing" and "merchandising" way more than the dullest most mainstream "artiste" (whatever that means) you could possibly name.

As for the truth hurts, what truth...poking fun at people's weight? Taking the mick out of their facial features? Calling people names? The last time I checked that was called playground bullying. And coming from a very rich man aged 54, that is ten times more pathetic.

As for sticking to his guns, pull the other one.
 
See, unless you're a teenager who's just started discovering things, that's not really the case. Morrissey is NOT a gem in a dull world. He's duller than the rest. He goes on about record companies "throwing their weight", "cash sales", "record sales", "investing" and "marketing" and "merchandising" way more than the dullest most mainstream "artiste" (whatever that means) you could possibly name.

As for the truth hurts, what truth...poking fun at people's weight? Taking the mick out of their facial features? Calling people names? The last time I checked that was called playground bullying. And coming from a very rich man aged 54, that is ten times more pathetic.

As for sticking to his guns, pull the other one.

Ha ha, your reply is laughable!

Teenager?Who moi?

I am a 46 year old woman, widowed, i live alone very happily & independently.
My gawd, i have had quite a life so far, you couldn't write the script, believe me. So sorry to disappoint you Claude but i am not just "discovering things" as you so inaccurately assumed.

You miss my point about the autobigraphy completely. His take on people is pure observation & character descriptions, fact - some people are overweight, some women walk around with lipstick on their teeth - this is not bullying. I am short but don't feel bullied if someone describes me as "diddy".

I could take you on & have a good game of table tennis on here, but i chose not to. You are entitled to your opinion just like i am entitled to mine, just saying.

Kind regards.
 

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