The day Morrissey came to tea: an extract from Dave Haslam’s memoir

The day Morrissey came to tea: an extract from Dave Haslam’s memoir - The Observer
In book Sonic Youth Slept on My Floor, the DJ recalls how the Smiths changed British music, and his charming days spent with Morrissey – on photo shoots, at the Haçienda, and over cauliflower cheese

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Also, interview with Miranda Sawyer in which the changes in Morrissey are mused upon - Morrissey is now "...uninformed, charmless, bitter and twisted..."

Dave Haslam: ‘That music changed lives. It made Manchester what it is’ - The Observer

Excerpt:

What about Morrissey now? How do you feel about him?
In the context of music, the Smiths were so valuable, they made such an impact… But I have no explanations for why Morrissey ended up saying the stuff he does. It is almost as though he’s another person. Everything he was – informed, charming, gentle – he is the opposite now – uninformed, charmless, bitter and twisted. It’s a strange one, especially because he says he hasn’t changed. From my perspective, he has.

 

[Anonymous]

All the kindness, and any residual gentleness has been burned away, leaving a core of cruelty and bitterness.

Really? Are you with him 24/7? What we see and hear of him is a very small fraction of his life. Morrissey fans are as overdramatic as the man himself.

 

[Anonymous]

So he WAS a charming man when he met him back in the 80s? Maybe he would be charming now. But, guess what? He won't find out because doesn't talk to him nowadays.

 

[ACTON]

At least Haslam has the decency to say "from my perspective" which isn't a really intimate perspective from someone who last saw him in 1985. And this is the problem. We rarely get the point of view of people who knew/know him over a long period of time or who were/are really close to him. And when we do they are dismissed or not talked about. Instead we get the perspective of people who met him 5 times and therefore thought they knew him.

And yet even the most ardent fan usually ends up trying to find some positivity in what Moz says, or ends up trying to excuse him and say he is just misunderstood. We shouldn't have to. I think Moz has gotten more negative in the last 20 years and doesn't have any colleagues brave enough to make him cop on. Without doubt he is his own worst enemy but always will be.
I'd say all that negativity will make him sick eventually, which is a pity cos I think he has another few good albums in him.

 

[Try Anything Twice]

Possibly the worst food ever invented.

It’s sounds like it has a lot of potential, though. I like cauliflower and cheese. How could that go wrong? Please describe.

 

[Surface]

Brummie who enjoyed an expensive private education and sells himself as a streetwise Manc who was there when it all happened? I'm not interested in a word this man says. Total money-making phoney.

Not a phoney at all, saw him loads of times at many venues around Manchester and more recently he was involved in the 5 night New Order stint at the Old Granada studios where the did the synth orchestra gigs.

 

[vegan.cro spirit# 568]

Another in the line of "I met Morrissey otherwise Im a homeless twat" dudes who are trying
to raise a couple of pence off Moz.

Trying to raise funds to supplement the dole cheques.
Currently wearing second hand clothes, the poor twat.

 

[Nikita]

From total sympathy for the plight of the miners to the right-wing goon. What a journey.

A very short journey in fact.

 

[Tibby the cat 93]

There was a time when I'd have bought these dull books just to see the one interesting chapter/page/paragraph (delete as applicable).

 

[Anonymous]

Such a shame: he used to be one of the better (if more problematic) angels.

Anaes, since you bring up the subject, whenever I read your posts, I picture a tall scintillating figure dressed in white, not at all a wistful monkey (although it's a cutie). I'm not drunk or anything and not used to paying compliments as let's face it most people only show their baboon faces online and in reality, so forgive me if this is embarrassing. But to me you're the archangel of this site.

Now, most people, if they had to deal with problematic angels, would just kick their arses, pull their ears, and make them call "mummyyyyy!?!!!!" in a terrified voice. I for one, though I like to think of myself as a bit of a hippie, would enjoy doing that very much, as I believe it would be educational (in spite of the evidence that it isn't).

But you wouldn't do that. You would just look at them, tilt your head and tut tut quietly and your disappointment in them would just about kill them I'm sure.

When I grow up I wanna be just like you. ( < and I don't do that very often, trust me.)

 

[Anonymous]

When you're a charming young twat, people never think you can become an old horrible one.

Great - now I've got a song called 'This Charming Twat' stuck playing in my head.

 

[Thewlis]

At least Haslam has the decency to say "from my perspective" which isn't a really intimate perspective from someone who last saw him in 1985. And this is the problem. We rarely get the point of view of people who knew/know him over a long period of time or who were/are really close to him. And when we do they are dismissed or not talked about. Instead we get the perspective of people who met him 5 times and therefore thought they knew him.

He never Said that, that was Miranda Sawyer.
Very strange how we don’t get a quote from Haslam, who still likes Morrissey a great deal, but do get a pointless one from Miranda whatshername. Bad, or biased, moderation I guess.

 

[Anonymous]

He never Said that, that was Miranda Sawyer.
Very strange how we don’t get a quote from Haslam, who still likes Morrissey a great deal, but do get a pointless one from Miranda whatshername. Bad, or biased, moderation I guess.

What about Morrissey now? How do you feel about him?
In the context of music, the Smiths were so valuable, they made such an impact… But I have no explanations for why Morrissey ended up saying the stuff he does. It is almost as though he’s another person. Everything he was – informed, charming, gentle – he is the opposite now – uninformed, charmless, bitter and twisted. It’s a strange one, especially because he says he hasn’t changed. From my perspective, he has.

 

[Peppermint]

It’s sounds like it has a lot of potential, though. I like cauliflower and cheese. How could that go wrong? Please describe.

Allow me to explain, TAT, as I've probably made all of the official cauliflower cheese errors over the years:
1. Lumpy cheese sauce (from an inexperienced/incompetent sauce maker)
2. Mushy cauliflower due to over-boiling
3. Flavourless sauce due to cheap quality (or worse still, 'low fat') ingredients: it should use butter, full fat milk and plenty of mature cheddar
4. Failure to put extra cheese on top, resulting in less intense flavour
5. Failure to bake until golden brown, also resulting in less flavour

 

[E Scott]

Mix cheddar and guyere cheese with a bit of mustard in sauce - this is my method.

 

[Peppermint]

Mix cheddar and guyere cheese with a bit of mustard in sauce - this is my method.

Oooh, nice. I bet that gives a lovely rich flavour. I like to sprinkle the finished bake with pieces of crispy bacon (although not one for the veggies among us, obviously).

 

[Anonymous]

He never Said that, that was Miranda Sawyer.
Very strange how we don’t get a quote from Haslam, who still likes Morrissey a great deal, but do get a pointless one from Miranda whatshername. Bad, or biased, moderation I guess.

Okayyy so now all Guardian interviews are entirely written by journalists? Or someone here didn't bother clicking on a link?
Interesting what he says about clubbing. (Not to bring us back to Tel Aviv or anything. Had enough of that for a lifetime...)

 

[Charlie Cheswick]

It’s sounds like it has a lot of potential, though. I like cauliflower and cheese. How could that go wrong? Please describe.

Ah, you might like it then. I can only find cauliflower bearable in curry cause it doesn't taste of cauliflower then.

 

[E Scott]

If I make a veggie roast dinner I always have nut roast with cauliflower cheese as a side. I think bacon would make it a different dish like a bake or gratin. Americans are keen on adding bacon to things - aquired taste.

 

[Peppermint]

If I make a veggie roast dinner I always have nut roast with cauliflower cheese as a side. I think bacon would make it a different dish like a bake or gratin. Americans are keen on adding bacon to things - aquired taste.

Adding bacon to most things usually improves it, in my experience. Unless it's like a milk shake or something, obviously.

 

[E Scott]

Loads of people find the notion of giving up bacon the deal breaker in any decision about going veggatarian.