I don't agree with everything you say here Uncleskinny but in this instance we are as one.
The music industry has changed...it had to or else it would have died. Morrissey must change too...or else his career as a musician will die.
I still, perhaps naively, believe that he has at least one genuinely great album left in him. "Autobiography" showed that he still has a command of the English language that is, largely, unrivalled in the world of popular music. It also showed that his past has plenty to offer and to inform his lyrics. It doesn't have to be songs of bitterness or tired rants about this, that and the other...there is still beauty, sadness, love and character in him.
Recently the much maligned, perhaps correctly, Ordinary Boys have been using pledgemusic to promote/fund their new album. They post regular updates including a potted history of the band (with many mentions of Morrissey), ask fans for set-list requests, offer a wide range of merchandise (signed screen prints, cassette versions of the album, patches/badges and much more besides), produce Spotify playlists and make a genuine attempt to connect with their, still vibrant, fan base. Now, Preston is no Mozzer...he knows that, we knows that and Moz knows that. I also understand that much of the "joy" of Moz is in the fact that he does it his way BUT...if he is serious about being heard, if really wants to record music and if he wants to have one last moment in the spotlight then he needs to change.
I, and a fair few others here I am sure, would be more than happy to pledge in advance of a new album...with the right rewards I could be persuaded to offer up to £100; signed album, a screen print, advanced listen, priority tickets for a live show would be enough to see me cough up in advance. This was tried by Harvest but I don't think they got it quite right and I don't believe that it had the endorsement of Morrissey himself. I don't need him to email me or call me to thank me personally (although...) or to appear on Graham Norton with somebody from Eastenders but I would like to see him...give?
As for new songwriters...that is essential. Jesse Tobias is a competent musician and a fair songwriter but he lacks any real "pop" nous. Marr and Whyte are the two men responsible for his most successful and memorable "hits". What they had in common was a lightness of touch and a magpie ear. I don't know who fits that bill...people talk about Butler but I'm not sure; he's a prickly character in his own right. Strangely, Richard Oakes who wrote many of the biggest hits that Suede enjoyed in their career is the sort of character who may work well with Morrissey...I'm not suggesting Oakes but perhaps an unknown entity is what is needed. That or pick up the 'phone to Johnny...no Smiths reunion but a Morrissey Marr reunion. Ah, we all know that ain't gonna happen.
Without any change then we are all destined for a never-ending tour of enormodomes and a set-list that seems to genuinely be suggesting that "World Peace is None of Your Business" is a work of genius. It's not. It's a good album. It's got one or two brilliant moments but he is capable of more. At least I think he is. But what do I know?
Nothing.
What world do you live in?
Comparing Morrissey to the Ordinary Boys is reaching into the absurd. The band are truly awful, the singer can't sing and looks dreadful and is a middle class boy trying to pretend he's working class, not to mention a desperate man who sold his band down the river to go on Big Brother, then went down the Hello magazine route.
Everyone from Morrissey to Paul Weller knows they are crap. Those two usually like anyone who name checks them, especially Morrissey. Preston likes to put it around Brighton and to the media about his meeting with Morrissey and how they played Meltdown. What he never mentions is Meltdown was a gig about Morrissey, his influences and who he influenced. The Ordinary Boys were merely put in the queue as a few people dropped out and their manager got them a spot. As for the meeting, that was a case of chance.The Ordinary Boys happened to be playing Later with Jools Holland, at the same time as Morrissey. Preston (their singer) went up to Morrissey and all Morrissey said was "I know who you are" (lets face it Mozzer knows anyone who's wearing one of his tshirts, name checks him, lifts one of his song titles and etc.)Then he blanked them forever more, he banned them from even being in the same room hallways as him.
Brighton has many people who claim to on speaking terms with Morrissey. the singer from Gene. They also played Meltdown, in the reception area. Martin has also only met Morrissey once..and that was because one of the backing band set it up, not to mention it was an article in the music press, during a slow time.
Julie Burchill, lives in Brighton and also likes to put it about that shes friends with Morrissey. They aren't.They have only met once.
Steve Coogan often runs his mouth in regards to Morrissey but they aren't friends either.
There is that guy (Ally, Alex,Alan or something) who looks more like Morrissey than Morrissey and is meant to be rather like him, for one no one knows if he's gay or straight (I hear he's straight and went out with Kristeen Young, not sure if thats true.) and he's meant to be odd. Though I haven't seen him in Brighton for a while. I did hear a rumour that he was hanging out with Morrissey in LA, that was fairytale land. He met Morrissey in the pub in LA and thats it.
Doll and The Kicks were based in Brighton and of course toured with Morrissey and he did like them, not sure Doll had the same relationship with him that Kristeen had, though Kristeen's relationship wasn't as close as she liked to tell people.
Brighton is amass of Hipsters these days, its an empty place. I'm happy to have moved back to London away from all that bullshit.
Morrissey doesn't need kick starter, he wasn't in Menswear, he was in the Smiths and has number one books, sell out gigs around the world. He knows what he's doing.
