Mike Hinc
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He was the subject of a Central RIP post in January 2024.
From his art website:
Mike Hinc is an artist living and working in France and the UK. Having worked extensively in the music industry with artists including Jonathan Richman, Morrissey, The Smiths, Nico, Primal Scream, The Birthday Party, and The Sisters of Mercy, he is not unfamiliar with the cult of celebrity and its commodification. Mike works in diverse media - celebrating transience, inadequacy and the contradictions of a commodified world.
On October 18,1999, after Morrissey pulled out of a concert at Schlachthof, Dresden - Mike Hinc was quoted by the NME offering an explanation for the short notice cancellation:
“There was no direct access to the stage, we couldn’t put our lights up and it was just the wrong shape. It just couldn’t be done.”
(Although Schlachthof, Dresden being a converted slaughterhouse was thought to be the actual reason).
In Neil Taylor's: "Document and Eyewitness - An Intimate History of Rough Trade" (Orion, July 2010), Mike says of The Smiths in Europe:
"I'd booked them on the European tour. Italy was difficult, not least because the promoter had lied, basically, and didn't provide what was promised to be provided. He didn't meet hospitality requirements for band or crew, which would have included hotels, and one gig was meant to be in a theatre and the theatre turned out to be a large tent."
And further:
"We went to a venue where there was a catwalk leading out into the audience, which Morrissey was supposed to walk down. No way. I got the promoter aside and explained that he wasn't a model and that The Smiths had had a bad experience in Italy. The promoter suddenly stood up tall – he looked like something out of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, with hair down to his arse – loudly clicked his heels together in military fashion and said, 'We understand you English because unlike the Italians we are both military nations.' After that, everything went smoothly on the Spanish tour. I was pleased, if a little nonplussed. At this time, nothing was likely to be good enough for the band, in spite of everyone promising them the world. I think they knew what they were doing – getting themselves into a situation and then poking it to see if it moved."
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Related Forum Threads
- [Morrissey Central] "MIKE HINC, RIP" (January 9, 2023) - Morrissey-solo (Jan 09, 2024)