The Guardian: Johnny Marr - "You ask the questions" (February 6, 2022)

J'en ai marre?

Johnny Marr: ‘When I play Smiths songs I experience this huge wave of elation’

Particularly liked Bernard Butler's question...



Excerpt:
Did the Smiths ever fall out over football or politics?
Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester

We never discussed football so that’s that. And we never fell out over politics, but we probably would now.

Morrissey’s recent political views have cast a shadow over the Smiths for me – reaching back into the past and tainting something that was very important to me. I’m so disappointed in him. Has it impacted how you feel about the Smiths or are you able to separate the past from the present, the band from the man? I find it very difficult to do so.
Johnny Spence, Northern Ireland

It hasn’t impacted how I feel about the Smiths. That’s all I can say about that. I’m certainly able to separate the past from the present. I don’t know whether you can separate the band from the man, but I can separate myself from the man and what I did, so when I do see how disappointed people are, it really does make me sad. But it’s completely out of my control. And I can only really do what is in my control. So I play Smiths songs for reasons that I think are real. And over the years I’ve tried to take care of the catalogue and the releases as much as I was able to. As I would have done anyway. So, you know, I see it the way everybody else sees it. I don’t have any answers. And I don’t want to have any answers.

...

We have both had many casual musical flings but one very strong personal bond in our lives. How has your relationship with the wonderful Angie influenced your creativity, and does she have a favourite guitar?
Bernard Butler, musician

I’ll answer the easy bit first: Angie’s always loved Les Pauls. That’s to do with when we first met – she was 14 and I was 15. We were into Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, so she became bit of a Gibson fan. I’ve had a Gold Top guitar for 20-odd years and I think if I’ve ever got rid of that one, she’d leave me. The important thing I can say about my relationship with Angie is that she made me brave at 15, 16. Not only did Angie know me before everybody else knew me, but she knew me before I knew myself. She was there before the Smiths started: it was me and Angie. And then when that whole thing got together, it was me and Angie and Joe Moss [the late manager of the Smiths]. Not only was I with my soulmate, but I was with somebody who was very smart and very talented.
...

Johnny, out of 10 what would you give me for my turn as Mozzer on Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes? [Hill sang This Charming Man.] PS: if you and the fellas ever decide to regroup and his nibs won’t play ball, I still have the wig – and more importantly, the hearing aid.
Harry Hill, comedian

I sort of remember that. I’m going to have to give Harry a solid two out of 10 for that, and he can make of that what he will. As for the offer, I don’t even know what to make of that…!
 
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"But I don’t think I need to claim anything, because I wrote them."

Honestly, how hard would it be to say "co-wrote" in a sentence like that?

It's like Axel Scheffler saying he "wrote" The Gruffalo. No, he provided the amazing background art on to which Julia Donaldson could work her genius with words. (I'm being serious!)
 
How depressing it is that even this - a harmless Sunday interview with a nice bloke being nice - now has to be prefaced by Lettergate stuff and questions about how much Morrissey has disappointed and upset Smiths fans.

This is truly a nadir, a completely bleak time to be a fan, with so much inescapable bad feeling everywhere. Regardless of Lettergate, Morrissey needs to own a lot of responsibility for that. "I don't have any answers. I don't want to have answers." Nor do we, Johnny. :(
 
"But I don’t think I need to claim anything, because I wrote them."

Honestly, how hard would it be to say "co-wrote" in a sentence like that?

It's like Axel Scheffler saying he "wrote" The Gruffalo. No, he provided the amazing background art on to which Julia Donaldson could work her genius with words. (I'm being serious!)

I think it would be fairly stupid for Morrissey to have to qualify that he co-wrote them as well, they are two sides of a whole of course but i don't think it matters in a conversation when you're speaking like a normal human being.
 
"But I don’t think I need to claim anything, because I wrote them."

Honestly, how hard would it be to say "co-wrote" in a sentence like that?

It's like Axel Scheffler saying he "wrote" The Gruffalo. No, he provided the amazing background art on to which Julia Donaldson could work her genius with words. (I'm being serious!)
Is this where Lettergate has driven us - taking offence at JM just stating facts? They are his songs, as much as Morrissey's.
 
The Guardian journo praising Johnny for this "raven black" hair made me laugh!

It was quite a nice article actually - even with the usual hand-wringing over Morrissey's "politics". It's funny how Johnny's solo music gets a bit of a critical free pass from the press these days. Has he ever written a solo song that's up there with the best Smiths songs? I can't think of one.
 
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Is this where Lettergate has driven us - taking offence at JM just stating facts? They are his songs, as much as Morrissey's.
it just feels out of place given the article, Marr/Smiths fans asking questions. and an introduction that brings up the Man and explains some of the issues.
 
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It's funny how Johnny's solo music gets a bit of a critical free pass from the press these days.
It's an interview! What were you expecting?

"After I've told Johnny how shit his new album is, we sit down and I ask my first question."
 
How depressing it is that even this - a harmless Sunday interview with a nice bloke being nice - now has to be prefaced by Lettergate stuff and questions about how much Morrissey has disappointed and upset Smiths fans.

This is truly a nadir, a completely bleak time to be a fan, with so much inescapable bad feeling everywhere. Regardless of Lettergate, Morrissey needs to own a lot of responsibility for that. "I don't have any answers. I don't want to have answers." Nor do we, Johnny. :(
Morrissey needs to categorically and on-record distance himself from right-wing politics once and for all.
He needs to make a very clear statement with words to the effect of 'in my life I've expressed admiration for a number of people from the full range of political spectrums both left and right, but I have these days become exclusively associated with the far-right. I would like to make it abundantly clear that I do not have far-right politics etc.' and ideally include a formal retraction of his support for Anne Waters and For Britain.
Until he does this he will forever be considered, however wrongly, as an intolerant far right w***er with horrible political views. The ball is in his court.
 
The Guardian journo praising Johnny for this "raven black" hair made me laugh!

It was a nice article actually - even with the usual hand-wringing over Morrissey's "politics". It's funny how Johnny's solo music gets a bit of a critical free pass from the press these days. Has he ever written a solo song that's up there with the best Smiths songs? I can't think of one.

It's hard to say with Marr as he went through the gun for hire phase where he avoided settling down on his own personal vision again like Morrissey did, he has done great work with other artists though. He left it way too late to come close to Morrissey's work as simply Johnny Marr, that's just how it is.
 
Morrissey needs to categorically and on-record distance himself from right-wing politics once and for all.
He needs to make a very clear statement with words to the effect of 'in my life I've expressed admiration for a number of people from the full range of political spectrums both left and right, but I have these days become exclusively associated with the far-right. I would like to make it abundantly clear that I do not have far-right politics etc.' and ideally include a formal retraction of his support for Anne Waters and For Britain.
Until he does this he will forever be considered, however wrongly, as an intolerant far right w***er with horrible political views. The ball is in his court.
Absolutely. The odd apology wouldn't go amiss either, he's burned a lot of bridges over the years. He needs a Panorama interview!
 
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It's an interview! What were you expecting?

"After I've told Johnny how shit his new album is, we sit down and I ask my first question."

What’s wrong with being honest?
 
The Guardian journo praising Johnny for this "raven black" hair made me laugh!

It was quite a nice article actually - even with the usual hand-wringing over Morrissey's "politics". It's funny how Johnny's solo music gets a bit of a critical free pass from the press these days. Has he ever written a solo song that's up there with the best Smiths songs? I can't think of one.
"New Town Velocity" comes close and is very Smiths-like, "Hi Hello" is virtually a re-write of There Is A Light.
Beyond that... I wouldn't say so.
 
Is this where Lettergate has driven us - taking offence at JM just stating facts? They are his songs, as much as Morrissey's.
Oh I know what you mean, they are his songs as much as Morrissey's, of course. It just feels a bit like he's trying to have his cake and eat it by saying in one interview that he never really related to the lyrics of those songs (which ties neatly into the current climate of anti-Morrissey feeling), while in another interview he's saying "I wrote them". Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it does seem disingenuous to argue both of those things at the same time.
 
Oh I know what you mean, they are his songs as much as Morrissey's, of course. It just feels a bit like he's trying to have his cake and eat it by saying in one interview that he never really related to the lyrics of those songs (which ties neatly into the current climate of anti-Morrissey feeling), while in another interview he's saying "I wrote them". Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it does seem disingenuous to argue both of those things at the same time.
I do think you're reading too much into it. I can understand why (Lettergate has rocked the boat) but yeah... let's not swing to the point where we're actively looking to trip JM up, I think that's a bit far.
 
Has he ever written a solo song that's up there with the best Smiths songs?

Up there with the best Smiths songs?? Marr can only dream of writing a song that's up there with worst Smiths sings - or, for that matter, the worst Morrissey songs; in fact he'd be lucky to come up with anything worthy of an Inspiral Carpets B-side, judging by his output to date.
 
o_O

OI the NOLIFE LePepe returns AGAIN>:straightface:
Incredible. why not dont a Moz mask and go door to door DEMANDING the inhabitants buy the dumb suco cd/
"buy or we make experiment" take the Comrade McMuffin with you.

:crocodile:⚽⚽ s is what he wrote FFS a lying machine this tiny Pep.

raven black WIG🦱 not 1 iota of sense

unreal talking tosh on the weekend🇭🇷>:hammer:
 
So being ultra left is fine? Roll on Stalin
 
Up there with the best Smiths songs?? Marr can only dream of writing a song that's up there with worst Smiths sings - or, for that matter, the worst Morrissey songs; in fact he'd be lucky to come up with anything worthy of an Inspiral Carpets B-side, judging by his output to date.


correct on all counts (y)
new suco velocity suc on:rabbitface:🥎🥎s

🇭🇷>:hammer:
 
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