'The Priest' new Johnny Marr/Maxine Peake video & interview; Morrissey political gap mentioned

New promo video for 'The Priest' plus interview, in which the interviewer tries and fails to interest Johnny in Morrissey's politics:“I don’t really care about it very much. I really don’t. It’s just a kind of story for other people. Genuinely, it’s, like, who cares?”

Johnny Marr and Maxine Peake: ‘You can’t avoid homelessness in Manchester. It touched us both’ - The Guardian

Excerpt:

Of late, the political gap between him and his former creative partner in the Smiths has become increasingly obvious. Marr says he was “crushed and heartbroken” by the vote for Brexit, whereas Morrissey seemed to rejoice in it. Though Marr has remained firmly on the political left, Morrissey now seems to champion the reactionary right. How does he feel about the fact that they have seemingly ended up at opposite ends of the political spectrum?

“I don’t really care about it very much. I really don’t. It’s just a kind of story for other people. Genuinely, it’s, like, who cares?”

But it’s true, isn’t it? They have diverged, massively.

“I’ve stayed the same. I’ve never changed. But … people tend to forget that it was 30 years ago that we were in a band together. Stop and think about it: 30 years. It’s a long time. So I honestly don’t care very much.”
 
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Why does any thread about Johnny immediately descend into a 'which one is better' discussion. It's art, not a f***ing competition. I'm sure they are both happy with what they have achieved apart - Johnny surely isn't crying himself to sleep every night because he didn't get to write something like 'The Kid's a Looker', any more than Morrissey is jealous he didn't get to play with Girls Aloud. The only thing that unites them is that they used to be in the same band three decades ago. Neither of them has achieved the same level of artistic acclaim apart as they did together, but I'm sure they are both loving the freedom to do what the hell they like without worrying about what the other fella thinks.

I know and I can't really understand it b/c I appreciate both on their own merits. Probably a huge generalization here, but I think it's mostly people who didn't start out as Smiths fans and out of some misguided 'loyalty' to Morrissey feel the need to hate on Johnny.
 
Boy, so many things to address here...

1.) The band in the video is not The Smiths minus Morrissey.

2.) So Morrissey and his current band would be "remembered" had they started together in 1982?

3.) Where would Morrissey be without Johnny? Considering he's not a musician/composer ... still in his bedroom trying to be the new Oscar Wilde meets Shelagh Delaney - just without music?

4.) How would Morrissey sound singing "There is A Light" while playing it on the guitar ... oh wait, he can't.

5.) There would never have been a Smiths without Morrissey AND Marr - period. I don't really get the need for some fans to denigrate Johnny's importance (and yes, he's done interesting things post-Smiths).

1.) The band in the video is not The Smiths minus Morrissey.


No, it's not. Do you think it would sound incredibly different if Joyce and Rourke had joined Marr for this awkward performance? I don't think so.... the music is fine actually, but if The Smiths had sounded like that, nobody would even remember them. The one who made the "miracle" is Morrissey.

2.) So Morrissey and his current band would be "remembered" had they started together in 1982?

Morrissey + a band of somehow good musicians (it can be his current band or any other musicians who know their job) would have been remembered, yes. I do not see a HUGE leap between the MUSIC of The Smiths and some other bands of their time (probably Echo and the Bunnymen, probably the Housemartins)... Without Morrissey, the Smiths would have probably sounded like that video or quite similar. Do you think that anyone would remember a song like that for decades?

3.) Where would Morrissey be without Johnny? Considering he's not a musician/composer ... still in his bedroom trying to be the new Oscar Wilde meets Shelagh Delaney - just without music?

Morrissey needs musicians, that's obvious. He is certainly not a person who can compose his music... but ANY good musician can do that "trick" for him (and Johnny Marr did it quite well, but many others did it too when The Smiths ceased to exist).

4.) How would Morrissey sound singing "There is A Light" while playing it on the guitar ... oh wait, he can't.


No, he needs someone to compose the music and a band to play the music. We all know he's unable to compose or play his music.

5.) There would never have been a Smiths without Morrissey AND Marr - period. I don't really get the need for some fans to denigrate Johnny's importance (and yes, he's done interesting things post-Smiths).

He is an excellent guitar player and an excellent composer... but you can find thousands of them.
There is nothing wrong with him, but Morrissey has shown more than once that he can work with different musicians and achieve fantastic results.
It is impossible to deny that Marr did his job very well, but any good guitar player could have done it.

I liked his work with The The (particularly The Beat(en) Generation and Slow Emotion Replay) and some of his work on Electronic and Kirsty McColl but it pales in comparison to Moz.

Yes, some of his works AFTER the Smiths have not been a disaster. some of them are OK.... I can listen to "Getting away with it" a few times and it's OK....

I know and I can't really understand it b/c I appreciate both on their own merits. Probably a huge generalization here, but I think it's mostly people who didn't start out as Smiths fans and out of some misguided 'loyalty' to Morrissey feel the need to hate on Johnny.

LOL... I began as a Smiths fan back in 1986, there were no solo works by Morrissey back then.
I simply mean that I can listen to this song:


.... And it's fantastic... and the idea of "how sad that Marr is not playing the guitar" does not come to my mind.

I do not hate Johnny, but I think his importance was accidental (He was at the right time and at the right place and he was good with the guitar, but that's all).
 
Thanks for going point-by-point on my points.

One of your criticisms seems to be that Johnny isn't as good of a singer as Morrissey. That is for sure. The Smiths would not have sounded like that video because Johnny never intended to be a lead singer. In other words, he would have found another singer had he not met Morrissey. However, I think it's awesome that he now chooses to sing the Smiths songs he created - yes, of course, with Morrissey's awesome words.

I don't think you are giving enough importance to the chemistry between Johnny and Morrissey. I believe that Johnny's belief in Morrissey's talent was absolutely vital to unlocking it. Johnny catered to Morrissey and was patient with his many idiosyncrasies (until the patience well ran dry) in a way that not just any good guitarist would have been. Morrissey needed to be drawn out and frankly coddled - we all know he has a huge ego - yet he was quite fragile and prone to waves of depression. Johnny was out hustling trying to put a band together while Morrissey was in his bedroom waiting to be discovered.

I don't think there's anything wrong or unfair in saying that they needed each other equally as both possessed talents the other lacked.

Finally, I think the esteem that Johnny's held in by contemporaries and bands that came after them shows that he not simply just a "good guitar player".
 
His confidence was important to morrisseys creation for sure. It’s a hard to think about what the smiths would have sounded like without morrissey but I think it’s fair to say they wouldn’t be remembered as the legends they are today seen as. Johnny is not just a good guitar player he’s a great one but great guitar players and music writers aren’t always appreciated as they probably should be. Most remember the vocal melodies and the words which were both highly original. It’s what they sing to themselves on the bus and at work and people don’t count that melody as being as important as it is to the final song. The smiths could have taken the same music to another singer but the song that resulted wouldn’t have sounded nearly as good or have been even close to morrissey version. Sure marr probably did cater to morrissey but his catering to his opinion on the songs worked out well and I’m betting that Marr wrote around morrisseys odd song structures a lot giving him an influence on the music. It’s not fair that withers post smiths music should be compared in the way it is with people trying to fight some war that only exists in the heads of fans but if I’m being honest it was morrissey that made the smiths a legendary band both lyrically and musically instead of a great band. Morrissey went on to satisfy smiths fans musically in ways that Johnny Marr didn’t and proved himself an existing musical force no matter who he wrote with which lends weight to the idea that he was critically important to the smiths success musically. It must also be said he’s never reached the heights he did when he had marr behind him though
 
Thanks for going point-by-point on my points.

One of your criticisms seems to be that Johnny isn't as good of a singer as Morrissey. That is for sure. The Smiths would not have sounded like that video because Johnny never intended to be a lead singer. In other words, he would have found another singer had he not met Morrissey. However, I think it's awesome that he now chooses to sing the Smiths songs he created - yes, of course, with Morrissey's awesome words.

I don't think you are giving enough importance to the chemistry between Johnny and Morrissey. I believe that Johnny's belief in Morrissey's talent was absolutely vital to unlocking it. Johnny catered to Morrissey and was patient with his many idiosyncrasies (until the patience well ran dry) in a way that not just any good guitarist would have been. Morrissey needed to be drawn out and frankly coddled - we all know he has a huge ego - yet he was quite fragile and prone to waves of depression. Johnny was out hustling trying to put a band together while Morrissey was in his bedroom waiting to be discovered.

I don't think there's anything wrong or unfair in saying that they needed each other equally as both possessed talents the other lacked.

Finally, I think the esteem that Johnny's held in by contemporaries and bands that came after them shows that he not simply just a "good guitar player".

I am sure there was an interesting chemistry between Marr and Morrissey.
Johnny could have found ANOTHER singer who is not Morrissey and do something as good as The Smiths? Well... He has had some 30 years to do such thing after the split of The Smiths, but he hasn't found one.

I don't dislike him, but I think that without Morrissey, nobody would know who is Johnny Marr (and I can't say "and viceversa").
 
I am sure there was an interesting chemistry between Marr and Morrissey.
Johnny could have found ANOTHER singer who is not Morrissey and do something as good as The Smiths? Well... He has had some 30 years to do such thing after the split of The Smiths, but he hasn't found one.

I don't dislike him, but I think that without Morrissey, nobody would know who is Johnny Marr (and I can't say "and viceversa").

Cool, I've enjoyed discussing the topic with you. BTW, I spend way too much time speaking for people I don't actually know (Morrissey/Marr/etc.). It's also proof that people can be civil toward each other on so-low.
 
Cool, I've enjoyed discussing the topic with you. BTW, I spend way too much time speaking for people I don't actually know (Morrissey/Marr/etc.). It's also proof that people can be civil toward each other on so-low.

Yes, I know there are some people around here who are impossible.
You write something they don't agree with and they reply "f*** you" and rate your post as troll.

We have different ideas about Marr, but I am not a skinny lunatic! :crazy:
 
Comparing the two is as pointless as pitching Bowie against Mick Ronson. Johnny Marr is an alright bloke who muddles along on his own terms and has produced some decent tunes. For a guitarist he’s done pretty well and he seems happy. Nuff said...

I would argue Bowie needed Ronson to get going and his best work by far was done with him. What would Prince have been without the Revolution? What would Bowie have been without Mick Ronson? What would Morrissey have been without Johnny Marr? I think the answer to all is nowhere near as good, in Morrissey's case maybe he'd have never done anything at all.
 
I do not hate Johnny, but I think his importance was accidental (He was at the right time and at the right place and he was good with the guitar, but that's all).
Aside from the fact that without him, Morrissey would still be in his bedroom writing plays about toast, the success of those early Smiths records is largely down to Johnny - not Morrissey. The reason 'This Charming Man' and 'What Difference Does it Make' made such a huge impact is because of those epic guitar riffs - Morrissey's talent as a vocalist didn't really blossom until later. I'm convinced that pretty much any half decent vocalists and those songs would have been hit singles - Morrissey just happenned to be lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
 

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