Strange/unexpected Moz references?



THE SMITHS – LONDON

For their fourth and final Peel session in 1986, The Smiths recorded four songs: IS IT REALLY SO STRANGE? • LONDON • HALF A PERSON • SWEET AND TENDER HOOLIGAN.

LONDON was a frantic punky workout, Marr emulating the locomotion of a train with his scratchy, choppy guitar work and Mike Joyce rolling out a hefty beat.

“Alongside `Is It Really So Strange?' and ‘Half a Person’, 'London' formed part of a triptych of songs written between the spring and autumn of 1986, each taking a different perspective on the exodus from north to south,” wrote Simon Goddard in his excellent ‘Mozipedia’.

“Of the three, 'London' was Morrissey's most removed (written in the second person), juxtaposing the uncertainty of the nervous traveller boarding a train to Euston with the resentment of those still stuck in the dull northern province they're escaping.”

“Among The Smiths' most forceful tunes, Joyce's express-train rhythm and Marr's telegraphic feedback provided a brilliant onomatopoeic foil for Morrissey's train-carriage drama. Marr also praises Craig Gannon for his work on its powerful end section.”

“'The high picking part on the end is all Craig,' admitted Marr. 'He did a good job on that.'”
 


THE SMITHS – LONDON

For their fourth and final Peel session in 1986, The Smiths recorded four songs: IS IT REALLY SO STRANGE? • LONDON • HALF A PERSON • SWEET AND TENDER HOOLIGAN.

LONDON was a frantic punky workout, Marr emulating the locomotion of a train with his scratchy, choppy guitar work and Mike Joyce rolling out a hefty beat.

“Alongside `Is It Really So Strange?' and ‘Half a Person’, 'London' formed part of a triptych of songs written between the spring and autumn of 1986, each taking a different perspective on the exodus from north to south,” wrote Simon Goddard in his excellent ‘Mozipedia’.

“Of the three, 'London' was Morrissey's most removed (written in the second person), juxtaposing the uncertainty of the nervous traveller boarding a train to Euston with the resentment of those still stuck in the dull northern province they're escaping.”

“Among The Smiths' most forceful tunes, Joyce's express-train rhythm and Marr's telegraphic feedback provided a brilliant onomatopoeic foil for Morrissey's train-carriage drama. Marr also praises Craig Gannon for his work on its powerful end section.”

“'The high picking part on the end is all Craig,' admitted Marr. 'He did a good job on that.'”


Bloody hell it was great when they played it at the start of the Wembley show in March.
 

Metropolis: Spain (1985) (Very rare) Spanish TV Clip Potted history, translated Interview & film of the band walking around Madrid
Video donated by Stefan Sahlander.
Formerly the www.shopliftersunion.com webmaster


Thank you! That was nice.

Blessed stills...

SpanishTVStills.jpg
 
It really was! Great gig overall and amazing it was squeezed in a matter of hours before the dreaded lockdown.
I thought they were perhaps going to open with Panic, but London worked very well and wasn't as obvious a choice.
 
I thought they were perhaps going to open with Panic, but London worked very well and wasn't as obvious a choice.
Add in Half A Person and a fog bound Jack The Ripper complete with maniacal Moz laughter and you have three songs played that night with a nod to London...Panic would've been very welcome too!
 
Two Smiths tracks played on Radio 2 yesterday within their all day National Album day playlist. Firstly, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out played on Dermot O'Leary show (absolutely fantastic to hear this on the radio) and secondly I Started Something I Couldn't Finish on Paul Gambaccini's second Pick Of The Pops show yesterday. Really great to hear The Smiths on national radio, these songs are timeless!
 


MORRISSEY – SUEDEHEAD
[TVS Off The Wall – October 12th 1988]

A co-write between Morrissey and Stephen Street, and performed by Street on bass, guitarist Vini Reilly of Durutti Column and respected session drummer Andrew Paresi, Morrissey’s debut single SUEDEHEAD took its title from a novel by British author Richard Allen about post-skinhead gangs.

The lyrics however had little to do with the novel and Morrissey himself later described the song as being about the life he lived in his early teenage years around 1972.

"A suedehead was an outgrown skinhead," Morrissey explained, "but outgrown only in the hair sense. An outgrown skinhead who was slightly softer. Not a football hooligan. Back in '71, when youth cults were on the rampage in Manchester, there was a tremendous air of intensity and potential unpleasantness. Something interesting grabbed me about the whole thing. I don't think there were any good guys; everybody had several chips on several shoulders. There was a great velocity of hate. Everybody got their head kicked in. It's made me what I am today."

With its devilishly handsome frame and Street's subtle orchestrations, the song was (ironically) awarded ‘single of the week’ by NME, reporting that "his vocals hit a pitch that turns your stomach with queasy delight. It makes you feel vulnerable and provokes emotions you've forgotten about."

In the 1988 NME ‘Year in Review’, the song was described as "The best No. 1 '88 never gave us".
 
Interview with Nancy Sinatra recorded in 2015. Moz bit starts at ~50 minutes in.

She recalls the first time meeting Morrissey in London ("So shy and sweet and dear"), speaks about her kids being big Smiths fans ("I live with you and you don't even know it") and briefly talks about her 2004 self-titled album, which was released on Attack Records and built "entirely around Let Me Kiss You".

 


MORRISSEY – SUEDEHEAD
[TVS Off The Wall – October 12th 1988]

A co-write between Morrissey and Stephen Street, and performed by Street on bass, guitarist Vini Reilly of Durutti Column and respected session drummer Andrew Paresi, Morrissey’s debut single SUEDEHEAD took its title from a novel by British author Richard Allen about post-skinhead gangs.

The lyrics however had little to do with the novel and Morrissey himself later described the song as being about the life he lived in his early teenage years around 1972.

"A suedehead was an outgrown skinhead," Morrissey explained, "but outgrown only in the hair sense. An outgrown skinhead who was slightly softer. Not a football hooligan. Back in '71, when youth cults were on the rampage in Manchester, there was a tremendous air of intensity and potential unpleasantness. Something interesting grabbed me about the whole thing. I don't think there were any good guys; everybody had several chips on several shoulders. There was a great velocity of hate. Everybody got their head kicked in. It's made me what I am today."

With its devilishly handsome frame and Street's subtle orchestrations, the song was (ironically) awarded ‘single of the week’ by NME, reporting that "his vocals hit a pitch that turns your stomach with queasy delight. It makes you feel vulnerable and provokes emotions you've forgotten about."

In the 1988 NME ‘Year in Review’, the song was described as "The best No. 1 '88 never gave us".


the song and video that changed everything for me. No regrets.


 
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The More You Ignore Me trailer:


This really hit home watching the clip of Morrissey on TOTP
I saw that too on that same Thursday night and I too was dumbstruck.
Thinking Who is this? and What is it? And where has it been? Instantly, it felt like I had found something that had been missing in a lack lustre existence another piece of my personal puzzle found.
At a party on the Saturday just two days later, I was to be even more dumbfounded, and joy of joys, when I asked the D.J. if he had the record he said yes!
And I danced my legs down the knees.
That was the beginning of my love and although life knocks the shine off it over the years, I polish the lamp from time to time and let the genie out.
 
Very brief Marr, Moz & Smiths mention (19:50):
A longer interview will surface on John Robb's YT channel (not uploaded yet).


"Obsessions | Sandie Shaw & Buddhism

Sandie Shaw, MBE, is an English singer. She had her first number 1 single in 1964 at the age of 17, with ‘Always Something There To Remind Me.’

Famous for her barefoot performances, she had more than 20 Top 40 hits and more number 1 hits than any female artist in the 1960’s, including the Eurovision Song Contest winner, ‘Puppet On A String’.

Sandie retired from the stage in 2013 and works as a qualified psychotherapist.

'Obsessions' is hosted by John Robb and produced by Sophie Porter and Andrew Paine.

The full unedited version of this interview can be see on John Robb’s Youtube page."


Regards,
FWD.
 
Part 1 of an interview with Boz (starts at about 16 minutes in).


Couple of Moz mentions, he briefly talks about meeting with Alain in January.
 
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