Tom dunne show (newstalk) has major moz feature this friday 16th.

[punky]

The University of Limerick is set up host Newstalk’s, Tom Dunne Show on Friday 16th September. 10am – 12 noon. The show will broadcast from the Allegro Café, University of Limerick to coincide with the launch of Morrissey: Fandom, Representations and Identities edited by Eoin Devereux, Aileen Dillane and Martin J. Power from the University of Limerick.

Guests will include Noel Hogan, guitarist and songwriter with The Cranberries; Peter Finan, the man who went on Mastermind with Morrissey as his specialist subject, Morrissey-Solo.Com and Morrissey’s favourite Tribute Band These Charming Men will play ‘unplugged’ during the broadcast.

 

[goinghome]

Listen again here - http://www.newstalk.ie/programmes/all/tom-dunne/listen-back/ (you can't fast-forward, that I can see, have to listen to news first etc)

I attended the launch that evening and made a few notes on proceedings:

Report on The Songs That Saved Your Life (Again) 2011: A Celebration of Morrissey

The Department of Sociology University of Limerick held the launch of a major book of essays edited by U.L. faculty Eoin Devereux, Aileen Dillane and Martin J. Power entitled Morrissey: Fandom, Representations and Identities on Friday night, September 16th in one of Ireland's most prestigious music venues, Dolans Warehouse - http://www.dolans.ie/pub.html

When the doors opened to the hall, beyond the bar/restaurant area, a screening of 'dunia tak akan mendengar' - the Indonesian version of video artist Phil Collins acclaimed work The World Won't Listen... was already showing, along with a roll of all sorts of photos on another screen which ran through most of the event. Some intermission videos followed before lights fell on the stage. Seated there was the panel of experts: the three editors; book contributor, John H. Baker; writer Len Brown ('Meetings With Morrissey'), and Peter Finan representing fans, or a cohort thereof, and later, obliging as DJ. A glorious bunch of red gladioli and lillies in their midst regularly caught the eye.

Eoin Devereux introduced the panel and the project, and stated that the first published copy of the book had been sent to Morrissey. Also, Len Brown said that he had emailed Morrissey to tell him that he was coming to speak on the panel. The lack of a response on both counts was received as an approval of sorts. A couple of the usual hotspots were then scratched and a video was played to the congregation of Morrissey at Madstock cavorting with the flag during Glamorous Glue - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6DnMA5IiB8. The panel agreed that his gesture was taken out of context and blown out of all proportion. Len Brown, former NME writer and record-breaking interviewer of Morrissey, spoke about the episode with care and precision, like someone who understands that 'the whispering may hurt you but the written word might kill you.' He described the reaction of the NME as patently over-simplistic and unfair, and considered Morrissey more an outsider than a martyr, akin to the verse on Oscar Wilde's grave about outcasts. Morrissey's unusual as an artist for retaining a sensitive radar picking up on victimisation experienced around him and dramatising that in original, complex and vibrant lyrics. His ability to write freshly about anything sets him apart. Aileen Dillane stressed Morrissey's masterly use of ambiguity as a major strength in his craft, during a discussion of her and Eoin Devereux's chapter on Speedway and its related contradictory messages about his presumably-implied martyrdom. Martin Power added that he managed to keep a left-wing outlook representing working-class people that was rare for a pop-star. A comment was made that the hostility of Thatcherism, to the Irish, working-class etc, was possibly a force that had kept the Smiths together, united in their identities.

John Baker concurred that this class-consciousness was still relevant and energising. He went on to speak a little about the chapter he wrote, In the Spirit of '69? Morrissey and the Skinhead Cult. He reckoned that where the shock of the over-reaction to Morrissey at Madstock was concerned, nobody could have seen it coming. A flag had been waved around by other bands on stage in Europe a few times before this, and no-one seemed to care. Morrissey had been added late to the festival supporting Madness. Confusion about the meaning of skinheads from inside and outside the movement made everything worse (a history of their rise and distortion - http://libcom.org/history/articles/skinheads)

A more recent video was then shown of the encore at Bradford, 2011 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD3hpZBZJ9E . A vocal mad element in the fan population who take advantage of the glass wall effect between them, their posts and other people, as afforded by cyber communication, was acknowledged. It was mentioned that about 99% of anonymous messages posted on www.morrissey-solo.com, the site central to the skirmish at Bradford, originated from about three individuals, and that, in certain cases at least, offensive or abusive posts could be acted upon, e.g. when one of the site's admin. team-members was threatened earlier this year, the police were called in to deal with the ill-judging culprit.

In response to a question from the audience about the future for Morrissey, the consensus was positive, that the passionate writer from Manchester would go on doing great things. Len Brown noted that neither Johnny Marr nor Morrissey currently had recording contracts, that as indie figures they must again wheel and deal outside the industry. It hasn't stopped them before; why would it now? The best is yet to come - which that evening arrived, after a few more intermission video clips, in the form of These Charming Men who demonstrated why Morrissey will be celebrated now, today, tomorrow and always.

 

[Uncleskinny]

Great review, thanks, and nice to meet you again.

P.

 

[Amy]

It's interesting that Marr doesn't have a record deal either - will he be releasing the new Healers' album himself? I wonder if he is at stubborn as Moz about the "DIY" approach.

 

[CrystalGeezer]

Thanks for the copious notes, goinghome.

 

[Raphael Lambach]

It's a great news.

 

[Uncleskinny]

One thing I want to add - These Charming Men were, as every other time I've seen them, stupendously good. I remember Len Brown saying to me something along the lines of 'You know, if you turn your back for a second, it could almost be The Smiths'.

P.

 

[goinghome]

Thanks for the copious notes, goinghome.

Tá fáilte romhat!

Great review, thanks, and nice to meet you again.

P.

Nice to see you again too, uncleskinny, and exchange greetings in passing. It'd wear you down giving out to a decent skin who for some reason has stumbled out onto the frontline into the flak, although I still find it hard to get my head around why you can't do something about those three or so anonymous head-wreckers that keep posting anonymously when you must know their IP details, and nothing that the banned Jukebox Jury & co ever did comes near the mischief they cause - though needless to say they'd bounce back with legions of registered accounts, which are at least more trackable. Surely there must be similar sites out there that could serve as models?

(Something we touched on might be referred to here -

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=ca81c465-92f7-4a34-a6d1-eb135a05565d

and - http://www.geograph.ie/photo/344689

He sure got around, didn't he, for someone in his condition? All positive thinking, unlike this chappie! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmtLOQKeDs8 )

But yes, how lovely to partake of a civilised, stimulating and entertaining evening, most thoughtfully organised and hosted. If it could happen every year or every two years, acting as a sort of multi-agency container for reminding ourselves why Morrissey matters, getting as close to the spirit and music as possible, wouldn't that be good? I'm looking forward to soon tucking into the...

CONTENTS OF BOOK, 'MORRISSEY: FANDOM, REPRESENTATIONS AND IDENTITIES'

Edited by Eoin Devereux, Aileen Dillane and Martin J. Power

Available Now From Intellect Books

Preface By Len Brown

Introduction: But Don’t Forget the Songs that Made You Cry and the Songs that Saved Your Life … Eoin Devereux, Aileen Dillane and Martin J. Power.

Chapter 1: ‘Suedehead’: Paving the Pilgrimage Path to Morrissey’s and Dean’s
Fairmount, Indiana Erin Hazard.

Chapter 2: “The Seaside Town that They Forgot to Bomb”: Morrissey and
Betjeman on Urban Regeneration and British Identity Lawrence Foley

Chapter 3: In the Spirit of ’69? Morrissey and the Skinhead Cult
John H. Baker.

Chapter 4: Fanatics, Apostles and NMEs Colin Snowsell.

Chapter 5: The “Teenage Dad” and “Slum Mums” are Just “Certain People I Know”:Counter Hegemonic Representations of the Working/Underclass in the
Works of Morrissey Martin J. Power.

Chapter 6: In Our Different Ways We are the Same: Morrissey and Representations of Disability. Daniel Manco

Chapter 7: “My So Friendly Lens”: Morrissey as Mediated through His Public Image Melissa Connor.

Chapter 8: “Because I’ve only got Two Hands”: Western Art Undercurrents in the Poses and Gestures of Morrissey. Andrew Cope.

Chapter 9: Moz: art: Adorno Meets Morrissey in the Cultural Divisions
Rachel M. Brett.

Chapter 10: Speedway for Beginners: Morrissey, Martyrdom and Ambiguity
Eoin Devereux and Aileen Dillane.

Chapter 11: No Love in Modern Life: Matters of Performance and Production in a Morrissey Song. Eirik Askerøi.

Chapter 12: ‘Vicar In A Tutu’: Dialogism, Iconicity and the Carnivalesque in
Morrissey. Pierpaolo Martino.

Chapter 13: Smiths Night: A Dream World Created Through Other People’s Music. Dan Jacobson and Ian Jeffrey.

Chapter 14: Talent Borrows, Genius Steals: Morrissey and the Art of Appropriation. Lee Brooks

Chapter 15: ‘I’m Not The Man You Think I Am’: Morrissey’s Negotiation of Dominant Gender and Sexuality Codes. Elisabeth Woronzoff.

Chapter 16: Melodramatic Morrissey: Kill Uncle, Cavell and the Question of the
Human Voice. Johanna Sjöstedt.

Chapter 17: ‘You Have Killed Me’ – Tropes of Hyperbole and Sentimentality in
Morrissey’s Musical Expression. Stan Hawkins.

 

[Uncleskinny]

Here's some pics from earlier at the Allegro cafe at the University of Limerick


Aileen Dillane, Eoin Devereux and Martin Power


Aileen Dillane, Eoin Devereux and Martin Power


Aileen Dillane, Eoin Devereux, Martin Power and Tom Dunne (Newstalk Radio)


Aileen Dillane, Martin Power and Eoin Devereux. at the back, Gavin Murphy and Lee Brady of These Charming Men, and Tom Dunne.

 

[Uncleskinny]

Tá fáilte romhat!



Nice to see you again too, uncleskinny, and exchange greetings in passing. It'd wear you down giving out to a decent skin who for some reason has stumbled out onto the frontline into the flak, although I still find it hard to get my head around why you can't do something about those three or so anonymous head-wreckers that keep posting anonymously when you must know their IP details, and nothing that the banned Jukebox Jury & co ever did comes near the mischief they cause - though needless to say they'd bounce back with legions of registered accounts, which are at least more trackable. Surely there must be similar sites out there that could serve as models?

(Something we touched on might be referred to here -

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=ca81c465-92f7-4a34-a6d1-eb135a05565d

and - http://www.geograph.ie/photo/344689

He sure got around, didn't he, for someone in his condition? All positive thinking, unlike this chappie! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmtLOQKeDs8 )

What can I say? My foot is falling off, and has been for years. Many years ago, Mrs F and I went to this place, for obvious reasons. We'd met a guy in a bar the night before who said he'd row us to the island to see the bones, so we turned up the next day, and yer man was there by the shore. "Will you row us to the island for a tenner?", we said? "Sure", he replied, so off we went. Visited the bones of the Saint, came back, and as we approached the shore, there's another guy there with a boat. We got out, said thank you, and drove off. Turned out the guy waiting was the one supposed to take us and the one who did take us was just a fisherman. Hey ho.

P.

 

[CrystalGeezer]

Chapter 12 looks intriguing.

 

[goinghome]

What can I say? My foot is falling off, and has been for years. Many years ago, Mrs F and I went to this place, for obvious reasons. We'd met a guy in a bar the night before who said he'd row us to the island to see the bones, so we turned up the next day, and yer man was there by the shore. "Will you row us to the island for a tenner?", we said? "Sure", he replied, so off we went. Visited the bones of the Saint, came back, and as we approached the shore, there's another guy there with a boat. We got out, said thank you, and drove off. Turned out the guy waiting was the one supposed to take us and the one who did take us was just a fisherman. Hey ho.
P.

You got out of that pickle lightly enough, for a tourist.

"There is a place
With a bit more time
And a few more
Gentler words
And looking back
We will forgive
(We had no choice
We always did)
All that we hope
Is when we go
Our skin
And our blood
And our bones
Don't get in your way
Making you ill
The way they did
When we lived..."

 

[CrystalGeezer]

Such a beautiful song.