Stephen Street hits out at "bitchy" Morrissey - Hot Press

SMITHS PRODUCER HITS OUT AT "BITCHY" MORRISSEY
Stephen Street has criticised Morrissey for some of the personal attacks mounted in his Penguin Classic.
The Hot Press Newsdesk, 30 Oct 2013, 18:14
“People have often asked me, ‘Do you think The Smiths will ever reform’,” says the producer. “I always thought it unlikely. Having read ¾ of Morrissey’s book I would now say there’s not a hope in hell. Honestly, I am amazed at some of the character assassinations and jibes at certain people’s appearances in the book. People might say, ‘Well, you got off lightly’, and I agree I did but I don’t enjoy seeing other people who contributed to the success of the band and his solo career being put down in such a bitchy matter. What does it achieve?”
- See more at: http://www.hotpress.com/news/10376657.html
Regards,
FWD

But Morrissey claims, "It is quite true that I have never had anything in my life that I did not make for myself."

 

[BrummieBoy]

SMITHS PRODUCER HITS OUT AT "BITCHY" MORRISSEY
Stephen Street has criticised Morrissey for some of the personal attacks mounted in his Penguin Classic.
The Hot Press Newsdesk, 30 Oct 2013, 18:14
“People have often asked me, ‘Do you think The Smiths will ever reform’,” says the producer. “I always thought it unlikely. Having read ¾ of Morrissey’s book I would now say there’s not a hope in hell. Honestly, I am amazed at some of the character assassinations and jibes at certain people’s appearances in the book. People might say, ‘Well, you got off lightly’, and I agree I did but I don’t enjoy seeing other people who contributed to the success of the band and his solo career being put down in such a bitchy matter. What does it achieve?”
- See more at: http://www.hotpress.com/news/10376657.html
Regards,
FWD

What does it achieve? It perpetuates Morrissey's victim script, his pathetic conspiracy theories, and his absurd belief that credit for his success as a part of The Smiths collective, or as a 'solo' artist who doesn't write music, doesn't need to be appropriately shared with Johnny Marr, Stephen Street, Alain Whyte and Boz Boozer. Not to mention the cast of revolving "lawnmower parts". He puts others down because it makes him feel superior. Briefly, before the downward spiral resumes.

 

[Famous when dead]

SMITHS PRODUCER HITS OUT AT "BITCHY" MORRISSEY - Hot Press
Stephen Street has criticised Morrissey for some of the personal attacks mounted in his Penguin Classic.
The Hot Press Newsdesk, 30 Oct 2013, 18:14

“People have often asked me, ‘Do you think The Smiths will ever reform’,” says the producer. “I always thought it unlikely. Having read ¾ of Morrissey’s book I would now say there’s not a hope in hell. Honestly, I am amazed at some of the character assassinations and jibes at certain people’s appearances in the book. People might say, ‘Well, you got off lightly’, and I agree I did but I don’t enjoy seeing other people who contributed to the success of the band and his solo career being put down in such a bitchy matter. What does it achieve?”

 

[FAN]

Very well said by Street. Morrissey is nothing but an ungrateful bastard, yet the arse-kissers on here including certain vermin will tow his company line because they believe Morrissey can do no wrong.

Morrissey needs to grow up and recognize the great help he has received from skillful people mentioned above.

 

[g23]

What does it achieve? It perpetuates Morrissey's victim script, his pathetic conspiracy theories, and his absurd belief that credit for his success as a part of The Smiths collective, or as a 'solo' artist who doesn't write music, doesn't need to be appropriately shared with Johnny Marr, Stephen Street, Alain Whyte and Boz Boozer. Not to mention the cast of revolving "lawnmower parts". He puts others down because it makes him feel superior. Briefly, before the downward spiral resumes.

I never wanted to admit it, but after reading the book, it's dreadfully spot on. Well said, BB. My take? He wishes to be seen as endearingly human, yet fails to see the basic humanity in his contributors. He also gave away nearly all of the mystery of Moz, and the fact that he started taking his own character to heart, rendering it caricature after a point. Art vs Artifice. Which one piles up nowadays? It's sad. I love the man, but he's drifted so far from what made him incredible. Hopefully he can reconnect to that someday before it's too late.

 

[Anonymous]

I never wanted to admit it, but after reading the book, it's dreadfully spot on. Well said, BB. My take? He wishes to be seen as endearingly human, yet fails to see the basic humanity in his contributors. He also gave away nearly all of the mystery of Moz, and the fact that he started taking his own character to heart, rendering it caricature after a point. Art vs Artifice. Which one piles up nowadays? It's sad. I love the man, but he's drifted so far from what made him incredible. Hopefully he can reconnect to that someday before it's too late.

Well done g23 you've seen the light at last give yourself a pat on the back.
I have Not read his stupid book yet because he's not having a penny off me, I saw it in the bookshop at the weekend and even then I felt that I couldn't be arsed to look inside it. I'm sure I will get it in a charity shop before Christmas very cheap.
Nice to hear Stephen Streets take on it.


Benny-the-Butcher

 

[BrummieBoy]

I never wanted to admit it, but after reading the book, it's dreadfully spot on. Well said, BB. My take? He wishes to be seen as endearingly human, yet fails to see the basic humanity in his contributors. He also gave away nearly all of the mystery of Moz, and the fact that he started taking his own character to heart, rendering it caricature after a point. Art vs Artifice. Which one piles up nowadays? It's sad. I love the man, but he's drifted so far from what made him incredible. Hopefully he can reconnect to that someday before it's too late.

I love some of the music he's made with Boz, Alain, Johnny, Stephen, etc. I can separate the fraud personality from the enormously talented lyricist (of years gone by!) and the beautiful musical instrument that is now his voice. He worked hard on his singing, I knew one of his vocal coaches, he isn't lazy, unfortunately he's a careerist workaholic posing as depressive as his USP.

I find it helpful to vent, ventilate the nonsense, so I can hack away at the playlists and decide which of his collaborative efforts remain plausible and which are now completely discredited by the contents of the book. It seems that, like other corporations, most music entrepreneurs who 'make it' are borderline sociopath. With Oslo, China, David Banda, and now Madeleine McCann and the 'Israelite tribe conspiracy theory', Morrissey has reduced himself to ridicule and opprobrium. He's hung as a badge of hip by people who, largely, don't listen to his music or read his awful prose, but still assume that mentioning Moz at the dinner party is still a sign of hipsterism, rather than an alarm bell for cult deludo.

Enjoy his music. You've paid for it. He may well make some more amazing music if he finds a pathfinder producer and stops trying to re-do the Spiders From Mars played by Green Day. Who knows? If it's fresh, I'll buy. If it's tired, I'll pass by. Just like when I choose a bag of salad.

 

[Martin]

Go Team Streety. Very well put. And very well put BB. "Trying to re-do the Spiders From Mars played by Green Day". Spot on. And it only hurts because it's true.

 

[Johnny Barleycorn]

"Be nice to people on your way up because you meet them on your way down."

There's no borderline sociopathy about Morrissey. He's full on with both barrels. He's laid it out over nearly 500 pages in his own hand. He must have read it himself and thought "This paints me in a good light." The guy is deluded.

 

[jmc1808]

You can love the music (well up to Southpaw anyway). But you can't love the man.

SS' comment is the last word on Morrissey the man, and his book. Only the sadly deluded would buy it. Read a review, and then don't dignify spending money on it.

What was the lyric - it's so easy to hate, it take guts to be gentle and kind. The person who wrote that lyric is with us no more. Shame on you anyone who says anything positive about the book.

 

[Neil Gee]

The Stephen Street comments are the sanest thing I've read about this book so far. I read it because I wanted to be sure of something I've suspected since I heard the lyrics to Suede Head in 88, and now I'm quite sure about it.

 

[Anonymous]

Morrissey's always conducted interviews as if he's walking down the street with an old friend, and that nobody can overhear him. Why would his writing be any different? Being bitchy is fun for all.

 

[jdbabz]

Can we not agree that at least a small part of the bitchiness is justified. The record company took them for a ride and the NME deserved all the abuse they got.

 

[Johnny Barleycorn]

Can we not agree that at least a small part of the bitchiness is justified. The record company took them for a ride and the NME deserved all the abuse they got.

I agree about the NME in later years, but at the same time they supported the Smiths during their career in an unprecedented manner.

I'm not so sure about the record company, because he doesn't seem to have a good thing to say about any of them. That leads me to think the problem might lie with Morrissey himself. It's a big book, but he barely has a nice thing to say about anyone. They can't all be wrong, can they?

 

[jdbabz]

I agree about the NME in later years, but at the same time they supported the Smiths during their career in an unprecedented manner.

I'm not so sure about the record company, because he doesn't seem to have a good thing to say about any of them. That leads me to think the problem might lie with Morrissey himself. It's a big book, but he barely has a nice thing to say about anyone. They can't all be wrong, can they?

I didn't like the things he said about Alain especially, and some of the celeb bitchiness was so unnecessary. The trial stuff was not unexpected. Still nobody seems to be making any concessions for Moz. The constant legal battles and bereavements would take their toll on anyone and he strikes me as quite a loyal person he still has many friends from childhood, and he remains friendly with exes. Credit where credits due.

 

[Claude]

I absolutely agree with Stephen Street, but also with Brummie Boy, Johnny Barleycorn, Neil Gee, Martin and jmc1808 above.

I deeply regret buying the book. I suppose the old fan inside got the better of me. Morrissey really is a self-centred sociopath who's lost every last ounce of touch with reality.

Aside from his increasingly insipid and self-obsessed music, for me the game was finally up last year when he ignorantly criticised Kate Middleton for the death of the pranked nurse Jacintha (note: I am probably more anti Royal Family than Morrissey) and when he gave that weird interview to that geezers' magazine in which he glorified UKIP and where the interviewer described how salt-of-the-earth Morrissey got his personal assistant to sprinkle salt on his chips (WTF?)

The similarities with Alan Partridge (UK readers will know what I mean) are just so obvious and so sad. If only Morrissey was even slightly in touch with contemporary culture and with what is considered bad taste, rude, socially inept, or simply UNCOOL, he wouldn't have written three quarters of that dull self-centred spitefest of his "autobiography". He comes across as such an olympic loser.

Not to mention his ungratefulness towards each and every person who helped him and -worse- his deep ignorance on most subjects he likes to pontificate on. You read his book and his grasp of anything, especially legal matters concerning The Smiths' court case, is a joke. Child-like, in fact.

And, finally, for someone who likes to portray himself as so different, so anti-mainstream, and so "anti-establishment", Morrissey really has some kind of pathological obsession with charting, copies sold, marketing, merchandising, and the rest. Petty. Pathetic. Hideous.

Yes, of course, he will always have his deluded army of gaze-eyed and Kool-aid guzzling "fans", but then again there has always been a tendency within section of mankind to adulate open nastiness - just look at so much of 20th century politics.

 

[Cornflakes]

Can we not agree that at least a small part of the bitchiness is justified. The record company took them for a ride and the NME deserved all the abuse they got.

I don't see what ride the Smiths were taken for. They signed to Rough Trade because they would get a huge profit share and an overriding say with regards to product, and because (at the time) they were into the left-wing ethos of the label. They wouldn't get the marketing muscle of a multi-national or get to shoot videos in the Indian Ocean. They may have regretted their choice later on, but it was their choice. Rough Trade may not have done everything perfectly but most of the mistakes (e.g. crap choices for singles) were really down to Morrissey and Johnny having too much control. And then there's the thing about Morrissey, not for the last time, being outraged those around him are unwilling to disregard how things are normally done to his benefit by treating a compilation as a studio album. All the while, no-one at Rough Trade is getting rich off it, because it is a co-op and because the Smiths are financially tiny compared to its distribution operation anyway.

And Morrissey would never have had a problem with the NME if he weren't so averse to taking responsibility for himself.

 

[Anonymous]

Kirsty Morrissey relationship envy

 

[Anonymous]

Kirsty Morrissey relationship envy

Please explain.......

 

[jdbabz]

I don't see what ride the Smiths were taken for. They signed to Rough Trade because they would get a huge profit share and an overriding say with regards to product, and because (at the time) they were into the left-wing ethos of the label. They wouldn't get the marketing muscle of a multi-national or get to shoot videos in the Indian Ocean. They may have regretted their choice later on, but it was their choice. Rough Trade may not have done everything perfectly but most of the mistakes (e.g. crap choices for singles) were really down to Morrissey and Johnny having too much control. And then there's the thing about Morrissey, not for the last time, being outraged those around him are unwilling to disregard how things are normally done to his benefit by treating a compilation as a studio album. All the while, no-one at Rough Trade is getting rich off it, because it is a co-op and because the Smiths are financially tiny compared to its distribution operation anyway.

And Morrissey would never have had a problem with the NME if he weren't so averse to taking responsibility for himself.

I don't agree with your NME comment it's clear that he had a legal case against them. They were naive to sign contracts without legal representation, rightly or wrongly Morrissey gives the impression that Rough Trade didn't appreciate what they had on their hands. The critics seem to have placed a blanket ignore policy on any of Morrissey's complaints. I don't like most of it but I think he may have a point some of the time. Perhaps I've overlooked somethings.