posted by davidt on Saturday July 31 2004, @12:00PM
James Cherry writes:

This is from the current Popbitch email (30th July). For those of you who don't know, Popbitch is full of pop culture scandals and gossip, although more often than not is right on the money. I know there is no info to back the story but it does cause stirrings in your trousers, doesn't it?

>> How soon is now
Does Mozza heart Johnny?

Duran Duran have done it. The Pogues, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Doobie Brothers and Happy Mondays are all reforming too.

But the big news is that one 80s band no-one ever thought would be getting back together are in "early discussions."

The Smiths.
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  • Please "a reunion"

    who, just moz and johnny?
    that aint a reunion unless ANDY AND MIKE are there too. what is it with these nimrods reporters, HELLO there are four members that would make it a reunion. now if moz and johnny try to persue this without the better half of the smiths, then I WILL NOT SUPPORT IT.
    Anonymous -- Saturday July 31 2004, @12:42PM (#117378)
  • Moz doesn't need him anymore. He has written more songs as a soloist than as part of a group. Duran Duran, The Commodores and the like need reunions to continue dying careers. Moz has firmly reestablished his career with his latest album.
    Anonymous -- Saturday July 31 2004, @12:55PM (#117381)
  • I always hoped that Lloyd Cole would team up again with his old mates the Commotions.
    Anonymous -- Saturday July 31 2004, @01:01PM (#117384)
  • what sort of discussions do you need?

    "do you want to reform the band?"
    "er...ok."
    suzanne -- Saturday July 31 2004, @01:21PM (#117390)
    (User #36 Info)
    I scare dead people.
    • Re:it is or it isn't. by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday July 31 2004, @02:03PM
    • Re:it is or it isn't. by chrisarclark (Score:1) Sunday August 01 2004, @12:48PM
      • debating the "commercial viability" for this venture would be redundant because it's quite obvious. if it's just johnny and moz, obviously everything would be split 50-50, with whatever moz gets as being head of Attack (i suppose...can he pay himself a salary for being head of the label as well? either way, johnny's not entitled to that), and you can't sign a pre-nup for a band because members can leave when they want. they can't sue each other for that sort of thing.

        i guess the only discussions left would be "what about 1987?" and "do we want to release a full album, or do we just want to tour first and see?"
        suzanne -- Sunday August 01 2004, @05:42PM (#117536)
        (User #36 Info)
        I scare dead people.
  • It would be GREAT if Morrissey and Marr got back together again.

    Then again, look at Page and Plant...
    kimbo -- Saturday July 31 2004, @02:25PM (#117405)
    (User #8993 Info)
  • It could be... (Score:0, Redundant)

    If Alain is not coming back, Johnny could take his rightful place once more.

    Jesse out, Johnny in.

    I wonder if the old magic can be rekindled though....
    Eric Hartman -- Saturday July 31 2004, @03:14PM (#117410)
    (User #5103 Info | http://www.patcondell.net/)
    It is a very mixed blessing to be brought back from the dead.
    • Re:It could be... (Score:2, Insightful)

      There Will Not and Should Not be a full reunion, due to the obvious emotional obstacles. I think Alain is great and hope to see him back. These guys have done so much together that sometimes I don't even think of pre-Morrissey times. A Morrissey/Marr reunion would be great, but I believe it has been said, more than once, that The Smiths is Dead".
      malismo -- Saturday July 31 2004, @04:55PM (#117414)
      (User #12037 Info)
  • of all the "sample reunions" mentioned in the original article, duran duran, doobie brothers etc. etc., there is one group curiously not mentioned that, i think, is the success story that most closely mirrors a possible smiths reunion-- the pixies. NO ONE thought the pixies would get back together, frank black's musical stylings had changed, he and kim deal supposedly hate each other, all parties involved denied the possibility of a reunion in the strongest possible terms for years and years and years and years. 10, to be exact. and now they're back and better than ever. it might be a reunion for money, but no one i know of is saying "the new pixies suck". no, instead, everyone is saying they're as good as ever and needed as much as ever.

    but, let's be clear: marr, rourke and joyce need this waaaay more than morrissey. just look at the lyrics to the healers' last album (yow, sorry johnny) and you can see that, all along, marr needed morrissey much more than the other way round. of course, some people think moz's current band is crap and he desperately needs johnny. personally i love the songs on the new album, but it would be fun to see johnny try his hand once more at writing songs for morrissey. let's hope.
    Anonymous -- Saturday July 31 2004, @05:04PM (#117416)
    • why not? by palandi (Score:1) Monday August 02 2004, @08:37AM
  • ..and probably will be for another 2 years. I don't believe it. If this reunion ever could have happened it would have in the years between 2000-2002 when morrissey was playing small venues with no label or management. why do it now? morrisseys new album has shipped 300,000!!!!! thats really good for how bad the industry is. he is in every magazine, his shows sell out (at 55 bucks a pop) and the list goes on. Moz doesn't need this reunion - and it's always about Moz. smiths reunion? it won't happen -
    Anonymous -- Saturday July 31 2004, @05:36PM (#117420)
  • reasons why a reunion will never happen:
    --moz and marr saying they'll never try to relive the past, it's over and done. just a month ago moz said the smiths will end in murder, for god's sake.
    --moz hates mike joyce, it's amazingly obvious. remember "a man who slits throats has time on his hands"??
    --marr wouldn't be able to make the kind of music that he broke up the smiths to make.

    reasons why a reunion could happen:
    --$$$$$$.
    --a chance to revisit/continue the greatness of the greatest english band in the last 30 years.
    Anonymous -- Saturday July 31 2004, @05:59PM (#117423)

  • The Smiths are dead, VIva Morrissey
    Project Morpheus -- Saturday July 31 2004, @09:13PM (#117431)
    (User #12038 Info)
    • Re:why bother by Anonymous (Score:0) Monday August 02 2004, @08:32AM
    • Re:why bother by Toaster (Score:1) Monday August 02 2004, @02:21PM
  • There's nothing more pathetic than seeing a group who were once great reunite for the money. Look at the Mondays... *shudder* that certainly went well.
    '
    I doubt there is even a speck of truth behind this, but if there is, Morrissey and Marr should let sleeping dogs lie.
    Anonymous -- Saturday July 31 2004, @10:02PM (#117437)
  • A) This rumour is rubbish, as they all are.

    B) If Marr and Morrissey saw eye to eye, I couldn't complain. Forget the other two, as skilled as they were. Why not bring in Mark Nevin on backup guitar while they're at it.

    C) They could call the new group "The Smithies". Or "The Other Two #2". (obscure that one.) Better still, a supergroup with other artists whose last names end with Smith: Patti Smith, Mark E. Smith, and Kendra Smith of Opal. But no Michael W. Smith.
    sadlad -- Saturday July 31 2004, @11:36PM (#117443)
    (User #5434 Info)
  • if morrissey and marr reunite they shure as hell will not try to be the smiths again. no one can. they "were" the smiths and they were a great band. no one can remake the magic again, not even if all 4 of them got back together.
    shane sarabia <[email protected]> -- Sunday August 01 2004, @12:34AM (#117448)
    (User #11459 Info)
    "My only mistake is i'm hoping"
  • When Moz and Marr get it together they will be called Morrissey and Marr, nothing else. The other two are not required. i don't think the time is right for them yet anyway, but that time will come and it will amazing.
    Having said the time's not right, i wonder if alain caught a wiff of a rumour about moz and marr and decided to jump ship?
    nug -- Sunday August 01 2004, @01:31AM (#117450)
    (User #9531 Info)
  • Well, here's my take on it:

    1. What kind of reunion are we talking? A one-off get together or a full scale, more permanent reunion? If the former, then why bother? If the latter, then I'm all for it - this is probably their last chance before they get too old - Moz will soon be 50!! The Pixies reunion has gone extraordinarily well - and no-one has dissed any of their shows so far! Apparently, Kim Deal wrote a new song, and it's really good! All the commentators are saying, yeah, well, they did it for the money, but bloody hell, it's good! That could happen with the Smiths too.

    2. The reunion is impossible because Moz DETESTS Mike Joyce. But a Moz/Marr collaboration - come on, who is insane enough to oppose it? Can Marr do it? I'm sure he can. Alain and Boz have been doing pedestrian music for seven years or so now, what's to oppose? As long as they call it Morrissey and Marr (like Anderson and Butler) and not The Smiths then that would be utterly fantastic. Anyone who'd rather have Whyte than JOHNNY MARR - you're not right in the head! No offence to Al, who's done some great stuff with Morrissey, but Johnny Marr is the guy with whom he did his most transcendental work, simple as that!

    Of course it's not true, but then again - PLEASE GOD!! If this reunion can be staged like the Pixies one, then it will be the event of the decade!
    Anonymous -- Sunday August 01 2004, @03:13AM (#117457)
  • "Oh you ran back to Ma(rr)/Which set the pace for the rest of your days".

    Popbitch shouldn't be discounted. It suggested that Moz was winding the current band up at the end of the current tour because he was getting ready to collaborate with Bernard Butler (!). I think it would make perfect sense for Moz and Marr to reunite. Moz has stretched the current outfit as far as they it can go. Time to revisit old threads in new styles
    Max Mingus Jnr -- Sunday August 01 2004, @08:58AM (#117481)
    (User #5009 Info)
    • Re:Southpaw by Anonymous (Score:0) Sunday August 01 2004, @09:29AM
    • Re:Southpaw by suzanne (Score:1) Sunday August 01 2004, @12:03PM
  • then moz doesn't have anywhere to go, does he? No musical collaborator at the height of his solo-success? It seems natural he would turn to Marr, which is the probably only person with whom he would have a hope of continuing his current success. Plus, he's comfortable with marr.

    It's fun to speculate, but I really don't believe it. It's too good to be true, and I'm a pessimist.
    Anonymous -- Sunday August 01 2004, @10:09AM (#117491)
  • Well, if Morrissey and Johnny Marr ever decided to perform twenty Smiths songs at the Royal Albert Hall I might just consider going... For some reason I always picture Marr with a guitar and Moz with a mic... and nothing else. But that wouldn't stretch out enough, I don't think. I mean, it would probably be better with a full band. Unless they did 'Back To The Old House' and acoustic versions of 'There Is A Light...' etc etc etc. If it happens, it happens, and my life is complete. If it doesn't, well, it won't. Belch.
    Anonymous -- Sunday August 01 2004, @10:13AM (#117492)
  • Just Moz and Marr reuniting to collaborate on a NEW album under the monicker 'Morrissey/Marr'? HELL YEAH! Bring it on! It would be fabulous!

    Band reunion with a 'greatest hits' tour and nothing else? Nah, don't bother boys. That would be undiginified.

    Band reunion plus new material with all four involved? Yeah, I'd go with that, too, impossible though it is. But it'd have to focus on NEW material rather than past glories or they'll be seen to have sold out, and with some justification. Yeah, play some old songs at concerts but it'd have to be in tandem with new material, it really would.

    Still, I'm hoping for Moz/Marr alone to collaborate. Maintains their dignity and reunites an indisputably masterful songwriting partnership.
    Anonymous -- Sunday August 01 2004, @11:17AM (#117498)
  • anyone can.
    Anonymous -- Sunday August 01 2004, @11:27AM (#117501)
  • "Earth to Popbitch............

    Earth To Popbitch............

    What planet are you on???"

    Whilst I have never discounted the idea of Morrissey and Marr reuniting for a one-off, or even a tour of sorts, it has always seemed an unlikelyhood.
    A full band reunion on the other hand is just ludicrous. Did nobody read all the interviews that Morrissey did this year? He claims The Smiths have the most poisonous history of aany rock-band EVER. He claims/alleges that his mother and sister have been pestered by 'Joyce's people', and he claims the history of The Smiths will end in a murder.
    Somebody somewhere needs a reality check.

    A Page-and-Plant style comeback is the best we can ever hope for, but even that seems a tad unlikely.
    Requiescant Inpacce -- Sunday August 01 2004, @11:27AM (#117503)
    (User #10687 Info)
    "You should not go to them...let them come to you...just like I do..."
  • We all see to forget, or maybe just were never at a Smiths show, what about Craig Gannon? It could never be a true Smiths Live reunion with out Craig!!!!
    Anonymous -- Sunday August 01 2004, @04:08PM (#117530)
  • This rumour is something you keep hearing but always know it won't happen. Thinking about it now, though, The Smiths just seem like a long, long time ago. Morrissey has done so much on his own I can't really picture a reunion.

    Maybe what they will do someday is meet up at a pub and discuss it all. What was happening, how everyone felt and why it ended.

    I can picture that...
    Tiki Goddess -- Sunday August 01 2004, @10:52PM (#117552)
    (User #11842 Info)
    ...because we must...
  • a lot of points have been raised, Most of us agree that Marrs musical out put has been shit since The Smiths, but when he left the band he wanted to do something different.....maybe thats why his stuff is shite - Marr can't do anything different, his music in the smiths played to his strengths. Morrissey pushed marrs' creative genius and Marr vice versa. Someone on here said that marr was becoming over indulgent on Strangeways, crap! only Death at ones elbow fell short of the mark and it was standard smiths fare.
    So is it a reunion for money? How many of us have wanted to rekindle a relationship? To know if it could still work? to bang an ex girlfriend just for the feeling? the collaboration could be out of curiosity. imagine the press, the hype , the raised profiles. Morrissey has increased the number of smiths songs in his live set? is this a nostalgic yearning - age heals wounds. I would love to hear Morrissey with some fresh music - although i love YATH - the music has been by numbers and lumpen at times. I would welcome a change even for one album and lets face it how many duff albums did the smiths produce? a change in environment could do him good, a bit like taking your viva hate album out of your Alba midi and putting it on a beo sysytem.
    L'Estrange -- Monday August 02 2004, @02:32AM (#117573)
    (User #1939 Info | http://www.morrissey-solo.com/)
    L'Estrange
  • I disagree that Marr's musical output since the Smiths has been shit.Just check out The The's "Dusk" album for some of his best guitar playing, and the first Electronic album was excellent.Back in 1991 remember that Morrissey released "Kill uncle", sureley his alltime creative low.
    I agreed with Marr's comment in the recent mojo interview that the Smiths needed to split at the time they did as a really important new wave of music came along in the late 80's that "Would have made us look like the beach boys in our stripey shirts" - however, Morrissey did'nt seem to understand this ("Interesting drug" was the beginning of the end for me, and listening to "Fools gold", "Madchester rave on" and "Pacific 202" next to "Ouija board" was the final straw.)
    Since the mid-90's however, Marr has done nothing worthwhile, culminating in the dreadful Healers.
    I'd love to see both Morrissey and Marr get together, write a few songs and see what happens.I don't think it would do them any harm and now is the right time to do it - any time in the last 17 years hasn't been.
    Anonymous -- Monday August 02 2004, @03:47AM (#117579)
    • Well said by Anonymous (Score:0) Tuesday August 03 2004, @11:22AM
  • I've read Popbitch for a laugh for the last year or so and I'd reckon reliability is less than 50% - there are usually some source that ignite the story, but usually taken way out of proportion. It's quite common; about ten yrs ago I remember a story that ran in music press that Morrissey-Marr were back in the studio. The only thing, it turned out was they were seen leaving a design studio in London presenting the mockups for some upcoming Warner compilations.

    Feasible scenario, if a Marr-Morrissey collaboration would ever materialise, is as follows: Marr writes two/three songs for the next Moz album. Moz sticks to his old band but Marr do a couple of guitar-overlays, maybe just a drum loop. Sanctuary then hypes this to death - Marr says "I had two tunes which did not fit the Healers album but seemed to suit Morrisseys voice very well". Morrissey returns the kind words by saying Marr's singing abilities will never match his songwriting.

    And of course, the song fail to live up to the expectation drummed up by the press hype, or maybe it even stinks.
    Anonymous -- Monday August 02 2004, @04:43AM (#117586)
  • NO WAY!!!joyce would probably get in the way anyway, he will try to send his sollicitors, stop them from using the name (I don't think Morrissey would anyway!) As much as it would make me the happiest man on earth, it is mist unlikely Moz and Marr barely see or speak to each other these days.They just get on with their lives.
    Anonymous -- Monday August 02 2004, @07:12AM (#117597)
    • Re:Reunion by Anonymous (Score:0) Monday August 02 2004, @07:35AM
  • A source from the Manchester Evening News claims that Moz had tea round Johnny's house a few days before his MEN Arena gig.

    Alain goes AWOL shortly after, & Moz approaches Johnny about filling in for a few dates (Glastonbury etc). Johnny welcomes the advance, but says why not go 'full on' i.e a new Morrissey/Marr project?...
    Anonymous -- Monday August 02 2004, @10:31AM (#117635)
  • i don't believe it for a second. and even if they do reunite, tickets will sell out faster than i can bat an eye and log on to ticketmaster, so i'm just going to sit here and seeth endlessly.
    Anonymous -- Monday August 02 2004, @12:56PM (#117659)
  • What would really be the point?

    Morrissey is a comfortable solo artist, if anything nowadays he's more recognisable as 'Morrissey', and with this new 'comeback' (in the eyes of the record buying public anyway) he's doing incredibly well, better than most among the Shapeshifters, Britineys and whatever bland act is calling themselves R'n'B this week (Don't make me laugh, R'n' B is soulful black men with guitars and throaty vocals, who understand life and it's pitfalls and making it sound sublime, not modern black/wannabe black artists singing in a mediocre fashion about what they just bought, sorry I digress)
    The point is unless it was something head-turningly artistic, there would be no point at all.

    Both artists don't NEED it at all, so it would have to benefit them more than just financial gain.

    Actualy would you like to sully the name of the Smiths with a mediocre record if you were Morrissey or Marr?
    usskerouac -- Monday August 02 2004, @03:28PM (#117698)
    (User #11148 Info)
    "Stop me from thinking, from thinking all the time"
  • morrisey & marr (m&m) elefant
    franz ferdinand the fever
    interpol brmc
    the pixies muse
    the stills secret machine
    new order the shore
    jumbo the killers
    the rapture
    for a line up at kroq inland invasion 04
    + or - a band or 2
    augustspawnedamonste -- Monday August 02 2004, @09:56PM (#117724)
    (User #11341 Info)
  • Exciting though a reunion sounds, try comparing the latest offerings from mssrs Marr and Whyte respectively. Johnny Marr and his Healers gave us a - frankly horrible - album last year. This year, Alain Whyte has been main songwriter on the strongest album of the year - including songs like 'First of the gang to die' and the #3 UK single 'Irish Blood, English Heart'.

    A Smiths tour would be fun, but there is really no reason for Morrissey to get a new guitarist just now.
    Joemoz -- Tuesday August 03 2004, @08:28AM (#117790)
    (User #1342 Info)
  • Ok, the ruling was that each Smith was entitled to 25% of the take, regardless of what they actually contributed. Do you REALLY believe Morrissey would be willing to take only 25% of the proceeds from the success of a Smiths reunion? Much less ALLOW his former drummer to receive 25% of anything Morrisey worked for? He tries to sabotage Smiths stuff NOW just to make sure Joyce doesn't get a single cent. Has everyone forgotten that remastered/best of/whatever Smiths CD that came out only about 4 years ago?
    Anonymous -- Tuesday August 03 2004, @01:33PM (#117836)
  • You people really do hoover it up don`t you?

    This whole thing smells of the sweatiest load of old bollocks.

    How many times have you heard this rumour over the years?

    How many times was it true?

    How likely is it to be true now, with a recent v successful album by Moz (doesn`t matter if you like it or not, it has been a huge commercial success), a new one due out from the Healers, and the usual caustic denials from all sides (most recently from Marr on Channel 4 Teletext yesterday)?

    Popbitch is occasionally accurate, but mainly spreads stuff out it knows will cause a fuss and a stir. The grand British tradition of shit-stiring.

    But some people make it just too easy for them...
    Ben G -- Wednesday August 04 2004, @06:03AM (#117922)
    (User #9622 Info)
    • Re:Yawn...... by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday August 04 2004, @07:25PM
  • personally i dont think marr or morrisseys music has been really all that great since the smiths broke up. i can throw on a moz album, and its good, but its not the smiths. morrissey can make another solo album, and thats fine. it will be decent like all the other ones. or morrissey can go with marr and the two can try to pull together and make something spectacular. i think you people have been with morrissey being mediocore for so long that you just dont care anymore. if they had reunited, we wouldnt have you are the quarry. instead wede probably have the best album for the past 20 years.
    Anonymous -- Wednesday August 04 2004, @08:08AM (#117928)
  • I think this posting is accurate, except for two points:

    1. Popbitch is right more often than not
    2. Morrissey and Marr will be collaborating.
    Anonymous -- Friday August 06 2004, @11:46AM (#118205)
  • For these two egos?
    GLEGS -- Wednesday August 11 2004, @03:19PM (#118995)
    (User #7174 Info)
    You see I cannot stand alone, I'm incapable of breathing, INCAPABLE OF LOVE


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