"The story of NME in 70 (mostly) seminal songs" includes Morrissey and The Smiths (March 7, 2022)

Shoplifterromo sends the link:


Excerpt:

24. The Smiths, ‘How Soon Is Now?’ (1984)
Pre-Smiths, Morrissey was a regular correspondent to the NME letters page and sent in copious reviews in the hope of getting published. By the time the dank Doppler rockabilly lament ‘How Soon Is Now?’ emerged on the B-side of ‘William, It Was Really Nothing’, however, the paper hung on his every word. As the totemic act of primordial indie, The Smiths replaced The Jam (RIP) as the definitive NME band and perennial sweepers of Awards boards – they’d be voted Best Group by readers until they split, as reliably as Margaret Thatcher would win Creep Of The Year.

33. Morrissey, ‘Suedehead’ (1988)
What is this, the New Morrissey Express? In the wake of The Smiths’ split it certainly seemed so as, solo, Morrissey became something of an NME obsession, appearing on the cover of the 40th anniversary edition and having entire cover stories devoted to his annotated touring Polaroids. “It became like a fan magazine,” writer Andrew Collins told Pat Long, but all that was to change in 1992, when NME criticised Morrissey’s appearance at Madstock wrapped in a Union flag and singing ‘National Front Disco’. He wouldn’t speak to the paper for the next 12 years.
 
The National Front/BNP hated gay people & Irish Catholics.

They were in London ON THAT DAY to attack an Irish Republican march.

The 'Our Frank' video, featuring skinheads, was directed by John Maybury - who is gay.

Morrissey was attacked by the crowd who, according to Select Magazine, called him a 'poofy bastard'.

So you're basically arguing that an Irish Catholic 'poofy bastard' holding a Union Jack in front of a picture of two girls on a day the National Front was attacking Irish Catholics and he himself was attacked by skinheads who perceived him as gay - is racism.

What political party did Morrissey promote?
 
What political party did Morrissey promote?

That has nothing to do with the politics of 1992.

The far right deliberately started to use wedge issues in the early 2000s to soften their image & get themselves closer to the mainstream.

Morrissey supported a lesbian who became involved with the counter-jihad movement & he explicitly said he didn't believe she was fascist. She herself used to be in the Labour Party & still claims to be centre right.
 
Like it or not, the fact is that after it was co-opted by the NF and various other racist factions in the 1970s, displaying the Union flag had become a very distasteful thing to do. Even by the early 1990s, parading 'proudly' with the flag (other than in some kind of official pagentry-type capacity) was something only racists did. Morrissey, having been woefully out of touch with the real world since the minute he found fame, presumably didn't realise this. But it was true, and he got badly burned for it.

Yes, fast forward five years and you have Geri's dress, Noel's guitar etc etc. But by then Britain was at the height of what was embarrissingly termed Cool Britannia and Britain was once again culturally the centre of the universe. Appearing onstage with the Union flag at the Brit awards or a stadium concert was the perfect way to finally reclaim it from the far-Right, and (thanks Britpoppers!) it worked. So yes, it's hard to imagine - since then we've had famous images of people like Mo Farah and Lewis Hamilton proudly wrapping themselves in the flag - but for about 20-odd years it WAS a racist thing to do in Britain, because it had become the preserve of the far-Right.

Geri and Noel picked the perfect time to reclaim it from the racists. Morrissey didn't (if that was even his intention in the first place).
Please don't bring context and logic into it.
 
He didn't.
Yes, referencing the passage of a few years and a different take on what it meant to wear the flag or have it painted on a guitar is placing things in context.
I think if you disagree it's because you believe I'm trying to assign some specific meaning to Morrissey's actions and I'm not. I'm talking only about the way perception can change. That's all we're talking about.
I believe that Morrissey knew exactly what he was doing which was trolling, deliberately provoking controversy for a response. But that doesn't matter. What we're talking about is how it might have seemed logical to NME editors to trash Morrissey at that time. Maybe logical is the wrong word. The point is it gave them an excuse in the context of the time.
 
Yes, referencing the passage of a few years and a different take on what it meant to wear the flag or have it painted on a guitar is placing things in context.
I think if you disagree it's because you believe I'm trying to assign some specific meaning to Morrissey's actions and I'm not. I'm talking only about the way perception can change. That's all we're talking about.
I believe that Morrissey knew exactly what he was doing which was trolling, deliberately provoking controversy for a response. But that doesn't matter. What we're talking about is how it might have seemed logical to NME editors to trash Morrissey at that time. Maybe logical is the wrong word. The point is it gave them an excuse in the context of the time.

Bollocks. The NME made it up. They're the only publication that went for that angle.
 
Bollocks. The NME made it up. They're the only publication that went for that angle.
The NME made up what? That right wingers like to wave the flag?

The same thing has been happening in the US for the past few years. People that actually call for overthrow of the US government will at the same time call themselves Patriots and drive around with giant US flags on their trucks.
Context matters.

And I already said that it may have been an excuse to smear him more than a genuine belief that he was trying to promote far right politics. But he gave them what they needed.
 
The NME made up what? That right wingers like to wave the flag?

The same thing has been happening in the US for the past few years. People that actually call for overthrow of the US government will at the same time call themselves Patriots and drive around with giant US flags on their trucks.
Context matters.

And I already said that it may have been an excuse to smear him more than a genuine belief that he was trying to promote far right politics. But he gave them what they needed.

He did not give them what they needed.

The story was bollocks.
 
He did not give them what they needed.

The story was bollocks.
I don't feel like this part of the site is really welcoming to endless arguments so I'm going to wrap it up but I'll point out that you're not addressing any of the points being raised and just writing short assertions with no reasoning to back it up.

Whether or not the story was bollocks the point of a journal like the NME is to sell papers and this story certainly did that. And he did give them exactly what they needed; a visual to put on the cover. I doubt he was thinking "This should help the NME sell more copies, Job well done!" But he was certainly seeking attention. Of course, he was on stage.
Even if he never put the slightest intent into any of that he still provided a visual.
And someone who needed some copy was inspired by this .

It doesn't matter how true it was or not. It's music journalism. Especially in the UK they seem to love to create a sensation and then destroy it. The fans still bought the paper. And the NME got to posture.
If he hadn't gotten out there with the flag they would have found something else but it was too perfect. How could they resist. And it was clearly a success. We're still talking about it. What was on the cover the week after? Who knows?

So he gave them what they needed.
Enjoy your afternoon.
 
I don't feel like this part of the site is really welcoming to endless arguments so I'm going to wrap it up but I'll point out that you're not addressing any of the points being raised and just writing short assertions with no reasoning to back it up.

Whether or not the story was bollocks the point of a journal like the NME is to sell papers and this story certainly did that. And he did give them exactly what they needed; a visual to put on the cover. I doubt he was thinking "This should help the NME sell more copies, Job well done!" But he was certainly seeking attention. Of course, he was on stage.
Even if he never ut the slightest intent into any of that he still provided a visual.
And someone who needed some copy was inspired by this .

It doesn't matter how true it was or not. It's music journalism. Especially in the UK they seem to love to create a sensation and then destroy it. The fans still bought the paper. And the NME got to posture.
If he hadn't gotten out there with the flag they would have found something else but it was too perfect. How could the resist. And it was clearly a success. We're still talking about it. What was on the cover the week after? Who knows?

So he gave them what they needed.
Enjoy your afternoon.

I've gone into why the story was bollocks already.

2135960181british-flag-icons-gif-4.gif


40b5a95865a29faabcc8aa5d1c447941--los-beatles-british-invasion.jpg

20210404_162140.jpg
 
Someone threw a flag on stage, he twirled it around while singing a song with the lyrics “we won’t vote conservative”. This is a nothingburger hit piece and you’re out here trying to give it validity.

exactly. It wasn’t calculated, and it could have been any song, could have been ‘Fatty’ that he picked up the prop that was thrown on stage.

Artists like that work spontaneously with the environment in the moment, it’s what makes it more exciting than other acts that just stand in their spot. Yes, some artists can be still, and still be spellbinding, it’s very rare, though.
 
The NME made up what? That right wingers like to wave the flag?

The same thing has been happening in the US for the past few years. People that actually call for overthrow of the US government will at the same time call themselves Patriots and drive around with giant US flags on their trucks.
Context matters.

And I already said that it may have been an excuse to smear him more than a genuine belief that he was trying to promote far right politics. But he gave them what they needed.
:confused:

WTF? then Moz wanted to overthrow the govt???:crazy:
by waving the flag:greatbritain:
makes 0 sense.

in the USA commies dont wave the flag but want to overthrow the govt so that must mean that everybody in the USA wants to overthrow
the govt⁉️ WTF⁉️

none of this makes sense, as usual, its probably bollocks just like vex observed🧘‍♀️

:hammer:
 
exactly. It wasn’t calculated, and it could have been any song, could have been ‘Fatty’ that he picked up the prop that was thrown on stage.

Artists like that work spontaneously with the environment in the moment, it’s what makes it more exciting than other acts that just stand in their spot. Yes, some artists can be still, and still be spellbinding, it’s very rare, though.
Anyone who sees it otherwise has an axe to grind with Moz, nothing more.
 
:confused:

WTF? then Moz wanted to overthrow the govt???:crazy:
by waving the flag:greatbritain:
makes 0 sense.

in the USA commies dont wave the flag but want to overthrow the govt so that must mean that everybody in the USA wants to overthrow
the govt⁉️ WTF⁉️

none of this makes sense, as usual, its probably bollocks just like vex observed🧘‍♀️

:hammer:
What it means is that I don't write for you and that, intentionally or not, you always get it wrong in a way that only your fellow morons could find amusing.
 
And as someone else pointed out these things didn't all happen at the same time which is why I mentioned context.

There was never a time in UK cultural history when it was taboo to "drap yourself in a Union Jack".

Morrissey is literally the only pop star ever to get in trouble for it & he held it for less than 2 minutes, threw it away, is a queer Irish Catholic & was coined off stage by National Front skinheads who were calling him a "poofy bastard" on a day the National Front was in London to attack an Irish Republican march.
 
There was never a time in UK cultural history when it was taboo to "drap yourself in a Union Jack".

Morrissey is literally the only pop star ever to get in trouble for it & he held it for less than 2 minutes, threw it away, is a queer Irish Catholic & was coined off stage by National Front skinheads who were calling him a "poofy bastard" on a day the National Front was in London to attack an Irish Republican march.
Apparently there was.
 
Apparently there was.

No there wasn't. The NME kick started a "debate" - which was mostly a piss-take. Then it became a myth with younger hacks not bothering to fact check it.

The hard left hated the Union Jack because of the British Empire. The hard left has never been popular.

Edit: There was a Union Jack outside EMI's office building & the NME got a bunch of student journalists to protest beneath it. That's how ridiculous it is.

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