NME: "Does Rock 'N' Roll Kill Braincells?!" - Billy Bragg (October 21, 2021); Smiths / Morrissey mentions

JF3_1935-Billy-Bragg-20-4-21-RTUSE-1392x883.jpg


In Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?!, we quiz an artist on their own career to see how much they can remember – and find out if the booze, loud music and/or tour sweeties has knocked the knowledge out of them.


Talking about Boris Johnson...

“He wanted to include Kirsty’s cover of it. Here’s the thing: I listened to his Desert Island Discs and, as he was playing The Smiths, I was thinking: ‘He’s going to play ‘A New England’ – he’s going to play one of my songs and kill my reputation! This is going to be awful! But he didn’t – phew! (Laughs) You put out these songs and never know who’s going to hook onto them. I bumped into [austerity architect] George Osborne when he was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and he exclaimed: ‘Billy Bragg!’ at me, before singing: I was 21 years when I wrote this song/I’m 22 now…’ You can’t choose your fans!”

In 1987, NME readers voted you the second Most Wonderful Human Being. Who beat you?


“I wonder how those readers feel now about making Morrissey the Most Wonderful Human Being.”
CORRECT.
“I got used to coming second to Morrissey and The Smiths. That was par for the course in those days. That was cool. Their standard was so high that getting anywhere near them was good.”
You wrote a statement in 2019 condemning Morrissey for spreading far-right ideas. Can you separate the man from his art?
“As someone who writes political songs, there are plenty of people out there who are Tories who like my love songs, so clearly you can do that. I struggle. I’m OK listening to The Smiths, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to listen to his solo albums anymore – although I wasn’t much of a fan of those anyway.”

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Bragg has covered several Smiths songs (including Ask and Never Had No-one Ever) and has always been mates with Marr so I wouldn't say he was jealous of them. In response to another comment, he has challenged Morrissey's muddled political comments/stance in the past, way before the For Britain era. He has also said fairly recently (words to the effect of) that Johnny Marr is the best thing about The Smiths - if this is the case, why doesn't he cover Marr's solo songs? He has been pretty disingenuous about Morrissey over the years, but to blame Bragg for Morrissey's current situation is bonkers.

Bragg has his own set of muddled politics these days.
 
Bragg's a woke virtue signalling blow hard these days, it's a shame because in his early career he wasn't nearly as intolerable. If you followers on various social media outlets want him to shut up or get a word in before you are blocked ask him about grooming gangs in Rochdale and Rotherham (I know there's more), #Metoo didn't stretch to those young girls. He'll duck out of that exchange.

ask him about Lee Rigby or the recent MP who was murdered. Ask him about the murdered gay men in Reading? I guarantee you'll be left wondering!

Billy picks his 'isms' and phobias to suit his bullshit agenda. Like many these days that are much younger than himself he's not interested in conversation unless you are agreeing with him. The young people have a life to live yet and can be forgiven for seeing the world in absolutes. Bragg should know better. He's deliberately disingenuous these days.

I asked him why on the day of the murder of MP Simon Amess in Southend, which is not that far from Barking, he'd made no mention of it and suggested he didn't really care as much because the murderer was an immigrant and not "far-right" (i.e Jo Cox). Didn't to want to go there, so banned me.
 
This you?
Oh that's definitely me. What's your point? You said "there's nothing worse than a Gen X conservative"...OK. Well. I am not a conservative. Again I just don't see your point.

"A Gen X conservative." What does that even mean? How f***ed are you that you categorize people that way? Is your brain seriously that small and slow that you need to label people in such a manner?
 
Who's being disingenuous now? You've given a supposed situation there, with no examples, and then said this particular chap did nothing. I mean, he does nothing about thousands of issues. So do I.

Pack it in, you straw-grasping creep

Talking about yourself again, I see, Peter.

You should really take your own advice.
 
I last bumped into Billy in Covent Garden a few years ago. We both had the kids in tow. Half-term break, same hotel. He's a nice enough chap face to face but away with the faeries on any substantive debate, mistakes sloganeering and virtue-signaling for intellectual rigour. It's people like Bridport Billy who are responsible for the current calamities in Labour and his snotty Globslism over Brexit got right up the nose of yer average Red Tory-Blue Labour working class voters. He's one of those Socialist Worker rejects, probably thought the Soviet Union was 'work in progress' then switched to the EUropean Soviet Union Of Banker Capitalist Corporate Interests. Plays out prole as Method Actor on stage, throwing working man shapes but lives by choice in beautiful bijou enclave in Dorset.

In summary, just another lover Boomer ex-punk approaching old age, Selling England By The Pound via dodgy back catalogue karaoke and radical merch, but still imagining he is a rebel: like Morrissey.

#VegAnarchyInTheUK
 
I last bumped into Billy in Covent Garden a few years ago. We both had the kids in tow. Half-term break, same hotel. He's a nice enough chap face to face but away with the faeries on any substantive debate, mistakes sloganeering and virtue-signaling for intellectual rigour. It's people like Bridport Billy who are responsible for the current calamities in Labour and his snotty Globslism over Brexit got right up the nose of yer average Red Tory-Blue Labour working class voters. He's one of those Socialist Worker rejects, probably thought the Soviet Union was 'work in progress' then switched to the EUropean Soviet Union Of Banker Capitalist Corporate Interests. Plays out prole as Method Actor on stage, throwing working man shapes but lives by choice in beautiful bijou enclave in Dorset.

In summary, just another lover Boomer ex-punk approaching old age, Selling England By The Pound via dodgy back catalogue karaoke and radical merch, but still imagining he is a rebel: like Morrissey.

#VegAnarchyInTheUK
:rolleyes:

was the imaginary surface fam there 'bumping' into this annoying twat too? :lbf: :hammer:
 
:rolleyes:

was the imaginary surface fam there 'bumping' into this annoying twat too? :lbf: :hammer:
Yes! And so was the entire New Order band...and then Morrissey joined us for coffee and cake then we went to a disco to shake a leg at an afternoon senior citizen tea dance at the London Palladiunm. Morrissey is a real funky mofo on the dancefloor. Obviously he has to wear a disuise but I took him aside and gently explained, gentleman to gentleman, that that afro wig was 'problematic', a bit 'inappropriate...so I gave him one of my spare props: a Bobby Charlton combover toupee. It looked really good on him.

best
BB
Halloween-Aberdeen...it's the best!





Joyce vs Morrisey & Ors
 
Yes! And so was the entire New Order band...and then Morrissey joined us for coffee and cake then we went to a disco to shake a leg at an afternoon senior citizen tea dance at the London Palladiunm. Morrissey is a real funky mofo on the dancefloor. Obviously he has to wear a disuise but I took him aside and gently explained, gentleman to gentleman, that that afro wig was 'problematic', a bit 'inappropriate...so I gave him one of my spare props: a Bobby Charlton combover toupee. It looked really good on him.

best
BB
Halloween-Aberdeen...it's the best!





Joyce vs Morrisey & Ors


Hugh its very dangerous out there with the convid on the loose.:straightface:
have you considered buying a couple of skinny patents for safe measure? :hammer:
 
Bragg stayed at Morrissey's gaff overnight. Plastic undersheet on the bed if I recall correctly...
Even then, Bragg was a well known bedwetter, all that champagne to go with his socialism.
The Bard of Barfing
 

Trending Threads

Back
Top Bottom