wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Let me 1st say that I am a 30+ year old, married, HAPPY, African American, NPR loving, podcast junkie, music loving Morrissey Fan. I have seen him in concert twice and have many valuable albums both vinyl and plastic as well as his memorabilia so I think I qualify as a fan. That said, I haven't been a big fan of his music since Your Arsenal. His lyrics on this album, however, are both witty, introspective, simple and are *ahem* Sqeezing My Skull and I like it. The few albums between that album and this were (sans Boz Boorer) not up to his best but its likely he won't ever be equal to his years as a Smith (Johnny Marr was the key there). I feel like this is an album that if he continues to produce songs at least as good as this he will only add to his fan base on both sides of the pond.

Let me 1st say that I am a 30+ year old, married, happy, African American, NPR loving, podcast junkie, music loving Morrissey fan. Having seem him tour twice in the 90's and own a long and expensive collection of his music and memorabilia I think I qualify as his fan. That said I thought his music for the last few albums (sans Boz Boorer) were not very catchy in my mind. Mope or not I think his latest stuff is *ahem* Squeezing My Skull and I like it. To me he will never be as beautiful musically as his days with Johnny Marr but this is his best since Your Arsenal and for that I am happy because I haven't WANTED an album of his since that musical offering. His lyrics on this album are at once simple and also introspective. His fans are on both sides of the pond and his fame will only increase if he continues on like this.

Hey Jon -

Thanks for the smack down - it was fun!

I'm a veteran DJ of mostly dance music and music critic of all kinds...Have been listening to The Smiths/Morrissey since the 80's. No other singer/songwriter has ever touched my emotion/psych more than Morrissey because of who I though I was as a character--chauvinistic, macho and slightly homophobic. Morrissey's lyrics changed all. Thus, Morrissey is an icon, genius and...a legend.

what the discussion has revealed, yet again, is how both sides revert to stereotypes about the Smiths/Moz. One side is unapologetic in its defense of the Smiths (Electronic is not an album marked by genius), while the Smith-haters only see them in a monolithic, angst-ridden light.

We need to see more gray in this arguments . . . no more hagiography or overly romantic views of rock music.

He help create what Rachel Elder calls the hetero wimpster "is a man who has perfected his own male insecurity in an effort to manipulate women. He is a man who uses self-deprecation and vulnerability to prey upon a woman's need to nurture his massive ego."

Really, a *genius*? Like Mozart or John Coltrane? Please.

Morrissey and The Smiths music, more than all other artists I grew up listening to, stays with me as I get older. His voice and music will last with me until I can no longer hear.
MORRISSEY RULES!!!

Morrissey is not a bigot fer chrissakes. Reggae's almost all dreadful stuff.

He's a fantastic singer, his fetish for rockabilliy, though, has pushed him toward irrelevance.

Anyone else with good/bad Morrissey concert stories?

"Isn't he racist? He hates Pakistanis"

What race is Pakistani?

D'oh!

Morrissey Rules!!! Subsisted on the Smiths and Morrissey in high school. Have yet to find music since that time that has "spoken" to me and about me in quite the same way. In high school and college, I must have seen him 5 or 6 times in concert. Saw him again at the Apollo and was in love all over again.

will he cancel his NYC concert again this year?

Morrissey's lyrics are as good as ever, but without Johnny Marr the songs aren't as musically audacious as they used to be.

And as for the humor, if you can't see it maybe years of watching American teen movies have deadened your senses.

Morrissey: Great music(often under rated); sublimely witty lyrics, and, perhaps most of all an amazing mix of direct sincere emotion with sardonic intelligence. I have to admit that I love his songs.

Will he cancel his NYC concert again this year?

I'm a big fan of the Smiths. But whatever I listened to from the post-Smiths Morissey never grabbed me as much melodically. It seems that melody has become only a vehicle for his lyrics... I wonder what the guests/peers have to say about that.

Decorating with Morrissey: http://theruralmodernist.blogspot.com/2009/02/decorating-with-morrissey.html

interesting hearing M's voice on the new recording. I'm hearing more vibrato on the couple of samples you've played. Almost an Antony affect; is he pitched a little higher than he used to be?

Is, was, will be a genius. Admittedly I had to get past the strangely portrayed voice; kind of like anything quirky once you acquire a taste for it you can't imagine life without. I also admit that though I thought Marr made the gorgeous sound and Morrissey made the complexity of attitudes, I very much still continue to like Morrissey's solo output for the musicality as well as lyrics.

Rock-n-roll stars provocative??? Just been listening to Iggy Pop's Raw Power recently. So extremely crude and provocative like a cluster bomb, but brilliant. Or the New York Dolls first album. But about the Moz--this man is a pop genius. His time in the Smiths is marked by too many lyrically brilliant moments to count (anyone for This Charming Man), but this work must also be considered in conjunction with Johnny Marr;s guitar playing. I still miss it. But as a solo artist, he has not stopped remaining relevant. I don't fell he has been able to establish an analogously brilliant musical idiom, but he is still putting out quality stuff--a compelling vocal range, substantive, layered lyrics, and plenty of pleasing musical moments.

He always seemed a bit like a pretentious teenager who never quite got over the horrors of high school. I distinctly remember a point in my life when the Smiths became juvenile to me. When I listen to them now, I'm always more impressed with Johnny Marr.

the mexican teens love Morrisey to this day

I think that Morrissey, and the contributions that he's made as a lyricist-- as a member of both the Smiths and as a solo artist-- is absolutely crucial to the evolution of British music and the global music scene as a whole. His rapier-sharp wit and turn of the tongue has influenced a generation of fans and artists alike.

In the recent BBC documentary "Seven Ages of Rock," they even acknowledge that The Smiths hugely influenced a number of bands, including Blur (another band that uses wit and literary references), Oasis, Pulp, the Manchester "pre-rave" scene and beyond. They changed the course of British music, and Morrissey has a good deal to do with that (and let's not forget Johnny Marr, either).

Plus Morrissey gives great concert... I've never seen anyone whip a mic cord with such style!

The benefit of Morrissey is that he gave Long Island teenage boys a gay icon and a moody sensitivity that cloaked their misogyny.

John, tell your guests to shut up and listen to the man.

One thing I can't stand is "critics" overanalyzing an art form, especially one as personal as music.

Moz has always spoken to his audience for better or worse and his sound defined my generation.

I'd love to know what current junk your guests consider "Valid" by today's standards.

who is this guy who does not think there is humor in morrissey's lyrics? has he ever listened to morrissey or the smiths? does he get good music? moz has to be one of the greatest lyricist ever. his lyrics read like literature with great wit and depth.
dear tim, get with it.

Rumors of Morrissey's right-wing politics arose when some listeners, like Time Riley, were unable to detect the tongue-in-cheek in songs like "Bengali in Platforms."

He was best in the Smiths. His current music is just not the same with out Johnny Marr. However, he is "the poet" as some of my friends simply referred to him. He definitely wasn't being serious with most of his lyrics.

A little Morissey goes a long way for me. I liked the Smiths a lot (I'm 42) and in 1982-86, I had a really cool Morissey postcard up in my room & dorm.

But I haven't listened in years.

To your wonderings about his relevance, however: This fall, one of my freshmen leant me is iPod. In there with 50 Cent, Regina Spektor, and lots of other eclectic good writers was Morissey. It sounded great to me, and it was in heavy rotation for him.

I've also heard the right-wing rumors also - even heard him called a white supremacist.

Is this true?

When looked through this prism, some of his lyrics don't sound so 'intelligent and witty' after all.

I'm still bewildered as to why Gilbert Godfried is on the cover of Marc's book.
I've argued in the past that Morrissey has to have the ultimate ironic sense of humour, no one could survive those lyrics if they were sincere.

Frankly Mr. Riley.....
The venerable Tim Riley points out what I love about Morrissey -- a cutting, black humorish wit soooooo dry and sharp that even rock critics can miss it. I very much value Moz, even with the rehashing. Viva La Moz!

And by the way-- I used to be a vegetarian in the '80's, but nothing ever made me want to eat a big, fat burger than "Meat Is Murder".

Wow - the guy who is against ... not too impressive. Morissey is obviously a very smart man... Gah what a drag

Morrissey has an amazing voice, but the whole strain of his music is rather depressing. Also, he hasn't aged very well has he?

Tim Riley is my new pop icon! Morrissey has always been preposterous, thank god there's someone in the critic elite who can see thru this mopey total non-genius.

Morrissey never ceases to amuse and entertain me. After years of listening, I have yet to tire of him.

Washed up? No way.

Isn't he a racist? he hates Pakistanis.

He still is, and always has been, egocentric, washed up, pretentious, artsy-fartsy, angstier-than-thou, etc. He thinks he's smarter than everyone else and craves attention.

Why do vegetarians always get cast as "judgmental"? Despite the fact that I think meat is an ethical issue, I pretty much live and let live. It's the omnivores who always seem genuinely outraged by my choice not to contribute to such a damaging industry.

P.S. Moz is a-ok.

John,

An English friend of mine was telling me that Morrissey was a right wing hard liner. Associated with Skin heads and the Torre party in England, and totally controversial. Is this true?

Not that there is anything wrong with those things but I always thought he was more of a Dandy, like Oscar Wilde.

Dave

haven't heard the new album yet, but can it be much different than the last 2 albums? probably not.

is he covering any new ground? probably not.

does that make him washed up? not if you're a fan. 5 yrs ago, I walked up to the rear of the top balcony of the Apollo with my then-pregnant wife (she's still my wife, but no longer pregnant) to watch the man perform.

are we going to see him this year? not unless you get us tickets and a baby-sitter.

we still haven't listened to the last album. my kids aren't big fans - he doesn't appeal to the pre-school crowd, but maybe he can re-invent himself, like They Might Be Giants did with their alt-career as kid song artists for Disney. Would the Mouse Company hire someone so blatantly whatever-he-is?

Morrissey is playing 5 concerts in the area including Carneige Hall. All of which sold out immediately. You can't call that washed up!

What is there to debate? Moz was, is, always will be amazing. Nuff said...except hopefully there won't be a Smiths reunion tour, ever.