12 July 2010

To celebrate its 20th Anniversary, on 27th September, EMI will release through the resurrected 1960s Major Minor label, with Morrissey's full cooperation, a remastered Special Edition of Bona Drag.

Originally released to much acclaim in October 1990, Bona Drag perfectly captures Morrissey's effortless transition in becoming a solo artist. It brings together his exceptional first seven singles, four of which went Top 10: his triumphant Top 5 debut, "Suedehead"; the anthemic, apocalyptic lament to wet seaside towns, "Everyday Is Like Sunday"; "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys"; and "Interesting Drug". The Top 20s "Ouija Board, Ouija Board", "November Spawned A Monster", and "Piccadilly Palare" and a selection of high quality b-sides from the singles complete the album.

The compilation has now been remastered and overseen by Morrissey, and is updated with the addition of six previously unreleased and much coveted songs from the era:

- "Happy Lovers At Last United"
(Outtake from "Sunday" sessions)

- "Lifeguard On Duty"
(Outtake from Viva Hate sessions)

- "Please Help The Cause Against Loneliness" (demo)
(Outtake from Viva Hate, previously covered by Sandie Shaw)

- "Oh Phoney"
(Outtake from Bona Drag sessions)

- "The Bed Took Fire" (early version of "At Amber")

- "Let The Right One Slip In" (alternate long mix)

Directing the artwork for the reissue, Morrissey has chosen to return the cover art - taken from the "November" video - back to its natural colour, so his shirt is black. In addition, he has also decided to update the back and inner artwork with a selection of favourite, hand-picked and rarely-seen photos.

The LP version will be a double heavyweight 180g vinyl, housed in a wide-spine sleeve with a pull-out poster. The CD will be housed in a gatefold, card sleeve with an eight-page booklet, which will contain the aforementioned photos.

Major Minor Records was started by Radio Caroline manager Phil Solomon. Its truly eclectic roster of artists and singles releases makes it a perfect home for Morrissey. These include such esteemed and high-watermark pop classics as:

David McWilliams - Days Of Pearly Spencer
Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg - Je t'aime... moi non plus
Them - Gloria
Tommy James and The Shondells - I Think We're Alone Now & Mony Mony
Taste - Blister On The Moon
July - My Clown
Frazer Hines - Who's Dr. Who?
Malcolm Roberts - May I Have The Next Dream With You
Isley Brothers - It's Your Thing
Karen Young – Nobody's Child
The Dubliners - Seven Drunken Nights

This will be the first release on the label since 1970.

There will be more Morrissey news to come in the next month.

Bona Drag tracklisting (running order subject to change):

1. Piccadilly Palare
2. Interesting Drug
3. November Spawned A Monster
4. Will Never Marry
5. Such A Little Thing Makes Such A Big Difference
6. The Last Of The Famous International Playboys
7. Ouija Board, Ouija Board
8. Hairdresser On Fire
9. Everyday Is Like Sunday
10. He Knows I'd Love To See Him
11. Yes, I Am Blind
12. Lucky Lisp
13. Suedehead
14. Disappointed
15. Happy Lovers At Last United (Previously unreleased)
16. Lifeguard On Duty (Previously unreleased)
17. Please Help The Cause Against Loneliness (Previously unreleased)
18. Oh Phoney (Previously unreleased)
19. The Bed Took Fire (Previously unreleased)
20. Let The Right One Slip In (Alternate long mix, previously unreleased)

8 July 2010

photograph of Rick Astley and Morrissey taken backstage at Top Of The Pops in London, February 1989. Morrissey's "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys" and Rick's "Hold Me In Your Arms" were released on the same day, and both charted on their first week of release.

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29 May 2010

According to a BBC press release, the sixth episode of I'm In A Rock 'N' Roll Band will be broadcast on Saturday, 5 June, at 10 p.m. on BBC Two, and will announce the top three favorites in each of the online polls for the series.

As previously posted, the polls include a best singers poll, in which Morrissey is one of the 10 singers shortlisted, and a best bands poll, in which the Smiths are one of the 10 bands shortlisted.

Voting is still open at the BBC website.

Please visit www.bbc.co.uk/rocknrollband/singers/ for details of how to vote for Morrissey, and www.bbc.co.uk/rocknrollband/best-band/ for details of how to vote for the Smiths.

Update: Please note that online voting will close on Thursday, 3 June, at 1:30 a.m. (BST).

The sixth episode of the series will also invite viewers to vote by telephone for favorites in each of the poll categories.

2 May 2010

Morrissey is one of the 10 singers shortlisted in the best singers poll for the new BBC Two series I'm In A Rock 'N' Roll Band. The Smiths are one of the 10 bands shortlisted in the best bands poll for the same series. The BBC compiled the shortlists with the help of a panel of 19 BBC Radio DJs.

Voting is now open at the BBC website.

Please visit www.bbc.co.uk/rocknrollband/singers/ for details of how to vote for Morrissey, and www.bbc.co.uk/rocknrollband/best-band/ for details of how to vote for the Smiths.

1 January 2010

Morrissey's recent single "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" is at #4 in the BBC 6 Music list of the 40 best tracks of 2009. Listeners voted for the Top 40 from a shortlist of 100. The full Top 40 list is available at www.bbc.co.uk/6music/events/top40/.

16 December 2009

Statement from Morrissey to True-to-you

On these last days of the old year, I thank everyone who attended the 2009 concerts.
My personal favorites were:

1 Dublin
2 Dusseldorf
3 Munich
4 Pomona
5 Warsaw

The three Brixton concerts were dramatic and perfect for me, and there was a great air of adventure in both Estonia and Latvia. The Russian concerts were a big thrill, but in the absence of even a speckle of publicity .. it's difficult. You begin to feel as if you're playing to a private club - and, in fact, you are. We pondered on the massive poster-campaigns for others and we wondered how such things become possible. The audiences in Russia were loud and greatly inspiring.
Hope denied in Liverpool, and the physical limits were tipped in Swindon – these were life's unfortunate lows.
I spent the night at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon where the staff restored my faith in humanity. I had no idea such kindness existed.
There were more stop-start-trap-doors and cancellations this year than ever before, and it's difficult to keep your mental balance and to remain unclouded at such times. Since every living person appeared to have some strain of flu, there seemed no reason why I should escape it, and I could not listen to medical advice that cautioned me to stand back from the audience and not to shake anyone's hand. Life has come to this? By tours' end I had no face worth rearranging.

The landscape of familiar faces who have replaced the Irregular Regulars, and who attend as many of the concerts as possible, continue to astound me. I don't know how – or even why – they attend so many. It is remarkable, and the financial costs must wipe them out for good. I am repeatedly honored and speechless by their dedication.
There are no 2010 plans to fire me out of a cannon. Hopes of concerts in New Zealand and Australia collapsed under a mound of doubts. That's life.
Even though you see the death of culture all around you, you also want to raise whatever it is you do to a higher plane, yet there is no one, it seems, who can inch the Morrissey thing forwards. As we all now know, the world of music is purely market-driven – not even youth-driven anymore. Talent or merit or songs do not enter the equation for a split second; the campaign is the thing, the campaign is what is discussed amongst the public, the campaign is what impresses the press, and the songs are never a factor. The labels will only push the "artists" that they themselves have discovered, and have no interest in the self-made, blah, blah. But my parting with Universal is not a negative. I am sorry that "Swords" was such a meek disaster. It was proposed and accepted as a budget-priced CD, yet emerged everywhere as the most expensive CD in the racks. It was poorly distributed and didn't stand a chance, and ranks as the lowest chart position I've ever encountered. I remain steadfastly proud of "Years of refusal", which along with "You are the quarry" and "Ringleader of the tormentors" are my life's peaks. These three will allow me to die in peace. I am no longer in the thrall of anything that preceded them; the past is not me.
I was delighted at the radio airplay in England for "I'm throwing my arms around Paris", which seemed to match both "Suedehead" and "That's how people grow up" singles for rotation.
However, "I'm throwing my arms around Paris" did not chart in France! ... but everything has its time and place...

What does the future hold? What does the next minute hold? It all rests as ever on determination – that which springs from somewhere deeper than the body. Record label interest is zero, but the sun will creep back into the room one way or another. It always does.

Small and bowed, I offer you my eternal thanks, and my hopes for a steady 2010, full of good grace and no darkness.

MORRISSEY
London, December 2009.

28 November 2009

Morrissey's recent single "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" is on the BBC 6 Music shortlist of the 100 best tracks of 2009.

Voting is now open for the Top 40, which Steve Lamacq will play on New Year's Eve.

Please visit www.bbc.co.uk/6music/events/top40/ for details of how to vote for "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris."

Please note that voting will close at midday (GMT) on Friday 11th December.

17 November 2009

Swords is now available on the limited edition deluxe CD and double vinyl LP formats in the US. You can order the US deluxe CD and the US double vinyl LP now from Amazon.com.

3 November 2009

Swords, a brilliant compilation of b-sides of singles from Morrissey's recent albums, is released today in the US. Swords is available now on standard CD, standard download, and limited edition deluxe download. Two additional formats will be available later this month: limited edition deluxe CD and double vinyl LP.

The deluxe formats include Live In Warsaw: eight songs recorded live in July 2009. Physical copies of Live In Warsaw will only be available while stocks last, and the download format will only be available via iTunes for the first month of the release.

The deluxe download on iTunes additionally includes two bonus tracks: "The Slum Mums" and "Human Being."

Swords track listing:

"Good Looking Man About Town"
"Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice"
"If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look At Me"
"Ganglord"
"My Dearest Love"
"The Never-Played Symphonies"
"Sweetie-Pie"
"Christian Dior"
"Shame Is The Name"
"Munich Air Disaster 1958"
"I Knew I Was Next"
"It's Hard To Walk Tall When You're Small"
"Teenage Dad On His Estate"
"Children In Pieces"
"Friday Mourning"
"My Life Is A Succession Of People Saying Goodbye"
"Drive-In Saturday"
"Because Of My Poor Education"
"The Slum Mums" (bonus track included with deluxe download on iTunes)
"Human Being" (bonus track included with deluxe download on iTunes)

Live In Warsaw track listing:

"Black Cloud"
"I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris"
"I Just Want To See The Boy Happy"
"Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself"
"One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell"
"You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby"
"Life Is A Pigsty"
"I'm OK By Myself"

You can order Swords now from:

Amazon (US)
US standard CD

Barnes & Noble (US)
US standard CD

iTunes (US)
US standard download, US deluxe download

You can pre-order Swords now from:

Amazon (US)
US deluxe CD, US double vinyl LP

Barnes & Noble (US)
US deluxe CD, US double vinyl LP

Photo: Album artwork
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