20 Years Ago: Morrissey loses a court battle, then loses his way on ‘Maladjusted’ by Nick DeRiso

20 Years Ago: Morrissey Loses a Court Battle, Then Loses His Way on ‘Maladjusted’ - Diffuser
By Nick DeRiso.

Excerpt:

"Morrissey was a musician without a sound, a citizen without a country, and man outside the mainstream by the time Maladjusted arrived on Aug. 11, 1997. Beset by all sides, he’d devolve into an unhappy figure who was “devious, truculent and unreliable.”

Those were the words of Judge John Weeks, anyway, as he ruled against Morrissey in a 1996 suit over back royalties brought by his former Smiths bandmate Mike Joyce. Morrissey bristled at the characterization, to the point where his next album was basically sunk by “Sorrow Will Come in the End,” a vicious, dirge-like response to the trial.

In fact, Island Records refused to include the song in U.K. pressings, fearing a libel suit. Morrissey tried to move the album to Mercury, even as he continued to grouse about the seemingly tossed-off cover image. He left England behind in this same darkly unstable period, moving to Los Angeles."

With lots of anniversaries coming up, I guess we should get used to these reflective articles. Some Moz quotes used and the court case rehashed.
Regards,
FWD.

 

[Anonymous]

While they are not top shelf tunes, "Roy's Keen" and "Papa Jack" were sabotaged by Morrissey himself. The backing vocals Alain added make the tunes.

Get rid of the synth strings, lose "Sorrow Will Come In The End," rearrange the tracks and switch out some of the other weaker tracks (e.g., "Ammunition," "He Cried," "Ambitious Outsiders") in favor of the B-sides and you had the potential for a really strong album. Unfortunately, he was so far out of f(l)avor at the time, that the commercial fortunes of the album would probably have remained the same.

He wasn't actually that far out of favour, at least here in the UK.
Alma Matters was A-listed on Radio 1, his last single ever to have achieved that privilege, and it was his first top 20 song since Ignore Me.
Maladjusted had 4 great songs (that's 3 more than You Are The Quarry) and 6 if we include Lost and Edges. Alma saw him on Top of the Pops and he played 'Satan' live on TfI Friday.
Maurice

 

[Sidnettle]

He wasn't actually that far out of favour, at least here in the UK.
6 if we include Lost and Edges.
Maurice

7 if we include I Can Have Both (not optional).

 

[BrummieBoy]

Dear Thomas Shelby,

Dagenham Dave is on Southpaw Grammar.

Yours sincerely,

FBI Agent Dale Cooper

Sorry, i'm not a 'fan' of this music, I'm just The Secretary. I type it up, BB just dictates it. I asked him about it and he laughed and said he'd slow down so I could follow his train of thought but that mistakes don't really matter as it's all one sludgy mess since Vauxhall but i don't really know what that means..BB talks really fast for a Brummie but he says he's from Small Heath and Irish and they do it all very differently...i'm from West Bromwich so i don't really know much about the Zulus but i've heard bad stuff about them. I think BB's their leader...i've seen his tattoos...

Shazza

 

[BrummieBoy]

A little odd but Dagenham Dave doesn't appear on most people's copy of Maladjusted. Kind of suggests you haven't got the slightest idea what you're talking about. Clown.

see my previous reply. I'm not a clown, I'm a Secretary!

Sharon

 

[BrummieBoy]

The lawn mower quote never came from Morrissey. It was a genius (if hugely cynical) move by Joyce Michael's legal team to use the term, hope that it would stick, and forever be linked to Morrissey. Simple folk (including you, apparently) have ever since assumed it was how Morrissey himself described the Smiths' rhythm section. Joyce accepted his financial terms during the Smiths, and, oddly, even continued to work with Morrissey for a good couple of years after they split. It was only after the Morrissey work dried up that he decided to take legal action about his Smiths financial arrangements. Funny that.

Have another look. Is the quote directly attributed to Morrissey? Is Morrissey responsible for how his Legal Representatives represent him? What's funny is that Morrissey continued to work with Joyce even as he received notice of intent to sue via a Letter of Action. Nobody can accept fraudulent or onerous contract terms that are unenforceable in English Law. Morrissey and Marr found that out to their cost. Morrissey appears to have spent 2 decades whining and trying to avoid concluding the matter, presenting himself as a victim. He is a victim: of his own greed and stupidity. As is Marr, but at least he's moderated his nonsense whether that's careerism or heart-felt remorse for having jointly aided and abetted Steven in ruining The Smiths legacy. Forever.

 

[BrummieBoy]

Okay but I want to say first that the song "Maladjusted" is great. If it's no good then he doesn't have any good ones. That's just opinion though and doesn't matter.

The other thing I think is interesting is this idea of The Smiths fooling everyone that they were a real band. I think the very idea of a band that is a gang and sort of out to take on the world, united as one, is pretty much always a myth anyway? I am just curious about your thoughts on this. It seems like The Smiths might have actually believed that, like many bands do, until the point that the money starts coming in.
And where does that idea come from? The Monkees all lived in the same house and ate cornflakes together at their shared breakfast table but they were a fantasy for kids kind of based on The Beatles. The Beatles were marketed as being the sort of group you're talking about but I don't think they ever really were, and if so, again, it stopped when the money started coming in.
The other part of this myth is that there are always people behind the scenes who tell "the star" that they don't need these other people, that the rest of them are just getting in the way. I'm sure that Morrissey especially, and Marr also, both heard this a lot.
My problem with them isn't that they may have sold a false image. I think that is just how things are done. I don't think there are any bands that really follow this noble ideal of a band of artists sharing equally and respectfully. Any successful bands, I mean.
So all I'm suggesting is that maybe if we were fooled by this ideal at some point then we can't point the finger just at the band who fooled us. They may have been fooled as well. Didn't the band start out dividing things equally and then switched it later? And Joyce and Rourke didn't really notice because 10% of A Lot is more than 25% of Not Very Much At All.
I agree with a lot of what you say but I am just curious if you don't think that the audience should take some responsibility for believing a lie about a mythical world where art is more important than ego or cash.

U2 are one of the most successful bands in musical history, financially. From the start they presented themselves as exactly what they claimed to be: 4 Dublin lads who were friends, formed a band to conquer the world but who shared everything 4 ways. I am not a huge devotee of most of their music though they do have some wonderful songs. I am a very huge admirer of their authenticity in terms of how they related to the concept of 'the band as a gang'. But I do not value those who tried to pose as 'the last gang in town' in rebellion against 80s spiv orthodoxy when they were part and parcel of it.

Several judges decided on separate occasions that Marr and Morrissey deliberately misrepresented terms of business. Given that, it's not unreasonable to probe the issue of how authentic their artistic and aesthetic representations really were. Why should anyone believe there was any genuine interest in or commitment to animal rights/queer culture or radical politics once you read the facts about the court case? Consider the way they briefly hitched their wagon to the Miner's Strike even as they were acting as dodgy employers to their subordinate band members. I wonder what Mike Joyce thinks now of his memories of being on stage at a benefit for employment protection and justice for striking miner's whilst he was being shafted for money by Marr and Morrissey? As for your claims that the 'lawn-mover parts' didn't notice. The courts ruled that irrelevant. What is astonishing is that years after these events both Marr and Morrissey were so clueless that they decided to place the entire history of The Smiths on a legal 'bonfire of vanities' rather than settle honourably, even though Marr seems to have got wind of the long-term reputational oblivion he was entering into and did indeed seek to end the ridiculous attempt to defend the indefensible. Morrissey STILL tries to use the mythos of the 'gang' in his current Smith Tribute Band set-up and has done so for the last 3 decades since he decided to impersonate himself for money once Marr told him to fcuk off. All that 'covered wagon' bollocks when it's clear his backing band have the status of circus clowns who must dress in ludicrous slogan t-shirts to please their bizarre Boss. And also note Morrissey's legal attempts to stop the proprietor of this site from reporting complaints about Morrissey's post-Smith's business dealings and ethics. The only performance that remains unsullied by The Smiths is 'Money Changes Everything'. It is also enhanced by the absence of Morrissey's whiny-fake Victim Script warbling. An instrumental set of The Smiths entire catalogue would be a welcome release for Marr to work on...it's entirely just and appropriate as an epitaph to The Smiths, a band that could have ruled the music world for decades if it's founder's hadn't been devious, truculent and unreliable in their personal and business ethics with regard to their band-mates. Karma is a bitch sometimes, but on this ocassion, it's like a wave of orgasmic pleasure to listen to that song and LOL at how the alabaster did indeed come crashing down around Morrissey and Marr but it took the world a few years to realise the depth and extent of their humiliations.

I trust this further post elucidates my thinking on this important historical topic.

BB

edit: You need to make a clear distinction between 'Audience' and 'Fans'. As a member of the Audience you pay for product, take enjoyment from it but have no psychological attachement to the dramas of the performers beyond The Performance. As a 'fan' you enter into a delusional cult construct whereby you are invited to suspend critical judgement and support the performers uncritically. It is no different to joining any other batty cult. Both Morrissey and Marr ruthlessly mined this disturbing psychological dustbin of popular music to make money, with all that nonsense about 'Smith's apostles' and Morrissey claiming music had saved him when anyone with a brain could see that it was egotistic pursuit of Fame and Money that kept him going through the Mummy's Boy years. You can add in his nonsensical claims that there has been a 'conspiracy' by ruthless other music business profit-seeking Capitalists like himself to try and stop him gaining a wider audience. He never re-invests his personal profits from one project to another (except perhaps the ill-fated masters of WPINOYB..did that Joan of Arc cover edition ever surface?) but constantly whines that other music biz capitalists refuse to take a risky punt on his musical products when he keeps all his profits secure in Switzerland. A total fake, a total flake but a good singer and an amusing pantomime dame who may or may not be a closet case as well as a 'humasexual'. Who could possibly care anymore? I just hope he gives good comedy head with his new album and media meltdowns. He's very funny but not in the way he imagines....

 

[Anonymous]

yeah that Joan of Arc cover version of World Peace was as finished as the new album LOL

 

[Sidnettle]

U2 are one of the most successful bands in musical history, financially. From the start they presented themselves as exactly what they claimed to be: 4 Dublin lads who were friends, formed a band to conquer the world but who shared everything 4 ways. I am not a huge devotee of most of their music though they do have some wonderful songs. I am a very huge admirer of their authenticity in terms of how they related to the concept of 'the band as a gang'. But I do not value those who tried to pose as 'the last gang in town' in rebellion against 80s spiv orthodoxy when they were part and parcel of it.

.

U2 are a crock of shite

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

I know I am all for that but the people backing him in that case were all against that sort of thing at their workplace.

Double standards like I said. Online it is ok not to respond to things when you understand what was meant in the first place and if you do that anyway you expose yourself a bit.

My first post hurt bad and pushed all your buttons cause you know it was about you.

^^^^^^



Actually, I was just playing with your choice of word the word 'staff' , yes, innuendo, and yes, a bad joke. I wasn't commenting on your post nor did I give it much thought, because there's nothing in it to give much thought to, you dickhead.

 

[Anonymous]

He wasn't actually that far out of favour, at least here in the UK.
Alma Matters was A-listed on Radio 1, his last single ever to have achieved that privilege, and it was his first top 20 song since Ignore Me.
Maladjusted had 4 great songs (that's 3 more than You Are The Quarry) and 6 if we include Lost and Edges. Alma saw him on Top of the Pops and he played 'Satan' live on TfI Friday.
Maurice

Don't forget Roy is Keen's appearance on TOTP...

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Don't forget Roy is Keen's appearance on TOTP...

how could we? It's a great song!, and M is the master of introducing the strangest of subject matter into the pop music world. Only he could do it !

 

[Quando quando quando]

how could we? It's a great song!, and M is the master of introducing the strangest of subject matter into the pop music world. Only he could do it !

Thanks for sharing Ket!
Very nice to see this life.
Great song! Brilliant song!
Never understood why it was dropped for the reissue of Maladjusted.

 

[Anonymous]

^^^^^^



Actually, I was just playing with your choice of word the word 'staff' , yes, innuendo, and yes, a bad joke. I wasn't commenting on your post nor did I give it much thought, because there's nothing in it to give much thought to, you dickhead.

So why all the Uncleskinny style aggro if it didn't mean anything to you

Touche'

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, i'm not a 'fan' of this music, I'm just The Secretary. I type it up, BB just dictates it. I asked him about it and he laughed and said he'd slow down so I could follow his train of thought but that mistakes don't really matter as it's all one sludgy mess since Vauxhall but i don't really know what that means..BB talks really fast for a Brummie but he says he's from Small Heath and Irish and they do it all very differently...i'm from West Bromwich so i don't really know much about the Zulus but i've heard bad stuff about them. I think BB's their leader...i've seen his tattoos...

Shazza

Translation: The dog ate my Morrissey homework.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

So why all the Uncleskinny style aggro if it didn't mean anything to you

Touche'

^ fail.

 

[Calamine Lotion]

U2 are one of the most successful bands in musical history, financially. From the start they presented themselves as exactly what they claimed to be: 4 Dublin lads who were friends, formed a band to conquer the world but who shared everything 4 ways. I am not a huge devotee of most of their music though they do have some wonderful songs. I am a very huge admirer of their authenticity in terms of how they related to the concept of 'the band as a gang'. But I do not value those who tried to pose as 'the last gang in town' in rebellion against 80s spiv orthodoxy when they were part and parcel of it.

Several judges decided on separate occasions that Marr and Morrissey deliberately misrepresented terms of business. Given that, it's not unreasonable to probe the issue of how authentic their artistic and aesthetic representations really were. Why should anyone believe there was any genuine interest in or commitment to animal rights/queer culture or radical politics once you read the facts about the court case? Consider the way they briefly hitched their wagon to the Miner's Strike even as they were acting as dodgy employers to their subordinate band members. I wonder what Mike Joyce thinks now of his memories of being on stage at a benefit for employment protection and justice for striking miner's whilst he was being shafted for money by Marr and Morrissey? As for your claims that the 'lawn-mover parts' didn't notice. The courts ruled that irrelevant. What is astonishing is that years after these events both Marr and Morrissey were so clueless that they decided to place the entire history of The Smiths on a legal 'bonfire of vanities' rather than settle honourably, even though Marr seems to have got wind of the long-term reputational oblivion he was entering into and did indeed seek to end the ridiculous attempt to defend the indefensible. Morrissey STILL tries to use the mythos of the 'gang' in his current Smith Tribute Band set-up and has done so for the last 3 decades since he decided to impersonate himself for money once Marr told him to fcuk off. All that 'covered wagon' bollocks when it's clear his backing band have the status of circus clowns who must dress in ludicrous slogan t-shirts to please their bizarre Boss. And also note Morrissey's legal attempts to stop the proprietor of this site from reporting complaints about Morrissey's post-Smith's business dealings and ethics. The only performance that remains unsullied by The Smiths is 'Money Changes Everything'. It is also enhanced by the absence of Morrissey's whiny-fake Victim Script warbling. An instrumental set of The Smiths entire catalogue would be a welcome release for Marr to work on...it's entirely just and appropriate as an epitaph to The Smiths, a band that could have ruled the music world for decades if it's founder's hadn't been devious, truculent and unreliable in their personal and business ethics with regard to their band-mates. Karma is a bitch sometimes, but on this ocassion, it's like a wave of orgasmic pleasure to listen to that song and LOL at how the alabaster did indeed come crashing down around Morrissey and Marr but it took the world a few years to realise the depth and extent of their humiliations.

I trust this further post elucidates my thinking on this important historical topic.

BB

edit: You need to make a clear distinction between 'Audience' and 'Fans'. As a member of the Audience you pay for product, take enjoyment from it but have no psychological attachement to the dramas of the performers beyond The Performance. As a 'fan' you enter into a delusional cult construct whereby you are invited to suspend critical judgement and support the performers uncritically. It is no different to joining any other batty cult. Both Morrissey and Marr ruthlessly mined this disturbing psychological dustbin of popular music to make money, with all that nonsense about 'Smith's apostles' and Morrissey claiming music had saved him when anyone with a brain could see that it was egotistic pursuit of Fame and Money that kept him going through the Mummy's Boy years. You can add in his nonsensical claims that there has been a 'conspiracy' by ruthless other music business profit-seeking Capitalists like himself to try and stop him gaining a wider audience. He never re-invests his personal profits from one project to another (except perhaps the ill-fated masters of WPINOYB..did that Joan of Arc cover edition ever surface?) but constantly whines that other music biz capitalists refuse to take a risky punt on his musical products when he keeps all his profits secure in Switzerland. A total fake, a total flake but a good singer and an amusing pantomime dame who may or may not be a closet case as well as a 'humasexual'. Who could possibly care anymore? I just hope he gives good comedy head with his new album and media meltdowns. He's very funny but not in the way he imagines....

Thank you. I do appreciate your thoughts. I agree that being a fan of something is generally unhealthy and asking for trouble once you are out of your teens. I didn't know that U2 split everything equally. That still makes them an exception but yes Morrissey does seem to play both sides when it comes to the way he talks about and treats his band and dressing them up the way he does definitely reminds me of when I was an employee and had to wear something humiliating in addition to just doing the work I was paid for.

 

[Sidnettle]

Don't forget Roy is Keen's appearance on TOTP...

The one that wasn't shown because the song didn't make the Top 40 and was only dug out for TOTP2?

 

[Vesper Nocturne]

I trust this further post elucidates my thinking on this important historical topic.

Thank you. I do appreciate your thoughts. I agree that being a fan of something is generally unhealthy and asking for trouble once you are out of your teens. I didn't know that U2 split everything equally. That still makes them an exception but yes Morrissey does seem to play both sides when it comes to the way he talks about and treats his band and dressing them up the way he does definitely reminds me of when I was an employee and had to wear something humiliating in addition to just doing the work I was paid for.

Omg. omg. OMG!! Well, hell-oooOO there, sailors!! Listen to this, boys!

"Pitt's first job required him to dance around in a chicken suit to attract customers to an El Pollo Loco Restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood."

So, umm, Cala, are you Brad Pitt????????????? Cause, HI!!!

Just kidding. I can let you all know though that I was at the Range Rover dealership renting a car last week, and U2's Mysterious Ways came on. And unfortunately I am not kidding, about that. It sounded just like Jesus Jones. Which was really weird, because if you asked me what Jesus Jones sounds like, I would have said that I have NO idea, because I don't remember and can't name the title of even one single song.

But anyway, I came home and it turned out that Bono's 1991 "I'm-about-to-show-you-all-just-HOW-much-I-love-my-own-Master-of-The-Universe-Melodic-Stadium-Rock" efforts disrupted the balance of my day and knocked it off kilter enough so that I felt the need to google Mysterious Ways, and it said it was released in 1991. Which I can't disagree with, and besides which I think 1991 is probably the last time I heard Mysterious Ways, OR any Jesus Jones. I mean, thank f*** for small mercies and all that.

Anyway. Basically I just wanna know,

1. CALA, ARE YOU BRAD PITT IN DISGUISE HERE ON MOZ-SOLO?? and
2. BRUMMIE, DID YOU EVER HAVE A JESUS JONES TEE SHIRT??!!!

Cuz, inquiring minds want to know!

P.S. Hey Shazzy!!
Good for you girl, for sticking up for yourself in that other thread!! Clown, my left foot! Your makeup is SMOKIN'! And the rest of you!! Mwahhh!! Mwahhh!!!

 

[Calamine Lotion]

Omg. omg. OMG!! Well, hell-oooOO there, sailors!! Listen to this, boys!

"Pitt's first job required him to dance around in a chicken suit to attract customers to an El Pollo Loco Restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood."

So, umm, Cala, are you Brad Pitt????????????? Cause, HI!!!

Just kidding. I can let you all know though that I was at the Range Rover dealership renting a car last week, and U2's Mysterious Ways came on. And unfortunately I am not kidding, about that. It sounded just like Jesus Jones. Which was really weird, because if you asked me what Jesus Jones sounds like, I would have said that I have NO idea, because I don't remember and can't name the title of even one single song.

But anyway, I came home and it turned out that Bono's 1991 "I'm-about-to-show-you-all-just-HOW-much-I-love-my-own-Master-of-The-Universe-Melodic-Stadium-Rock" efforts disrupted the balance of my day and knocked it off kilter enough so that I felt the need to google Mysterious Ways, and it said it was released in 1991. Which I can't disagree with, and besides which I think 1991 is probably the last time I heard Mysterious Ways, OR any Jesus Jones. I mean, thank f*** for small mercies and all that.

Anyway. Basically I just wanna know,

1. CALA, ARE YOU BRAD PITT IN DISGUISE HERE ON MOZ-SOLO?? and
2. BRUMMIE, DID YOU EVER HAVE A JESUS JONES TEE SHIRT??!!!

Cuz, inquiring minds want to know!

P.S. Hey Shazzy!!
Good for you girl, for sticking up for yourself in that other thread!! Clown, my left foot! Your makeup is SMOKIN'! And the rest of you!! Mwahhh!! Mwahhh!!!

I'm Brad Spit.