True, but then he recruited them in 1988 for two singles and its B-sides. Which is still confusing, given the fact the lawsuits were already on, and if he thought they're so bad, why chose them for these singles? I get the point of the Wolverhampton gig, but why in the studio? Why let Andy Rourke submit demos, let alone recording and releasing those songs?
It was - in my opinion - precisely *because* he was getting sued by Joyce, Rourke and Gannon that Morrissey got back together with them for those singles. He was dangling a carrot in front of them - accept the financial pay off offer on the table to settle the Smiths business, we're all friends again, and you're back in the group with me as a solo artist, and just think of all the lovely money that may come your way in the future?
Joyce refused the offer, stuck to his guns, and soon got pushed out again. Rourke took the deal on the hope of a better future with Morrissey and settled out of court, and so he ended up being kept on for the 'November' single...though as soon as he could safely do so and the legal threat was gone, Morrissey threw him under the bus and - according to Rourke, he doesn't even get any royalty payments since then:
After the Smiths broke up, you went on tour with Morrissey, right?
"I did a little bit, yeah. I mainly played in the studio for the … I dunno, because it didn’t actually turn into an album. Initially it was just me and Mike Joyce. And then it was just me on my own, and I wrote, “Yes, I'm Blind” and “The Girl Least Likely To.”
You get the writing credit on those?
"Yeah. But I don’t get paid for it."
I guess a year ago they re-released those on...
"On the Very, Very, Very, Very Best of Morrissey. “The Girl Least Likely To” is on that."
But why not argue with Morrissey about royalties? Is it just not worth it?
"He’s impossible to get ahold of."
But lawyers do these things.
"Lend me some money to get a lawyer. It’s Laurel and Hardy here: give it to him, to give to you, to give to him." (The Daily Beast, 2013)
I understand Andy being tempted by the thought that he might have had years of success ahead of him joining Moz as a solo artist. But it strikes me as typically shrewd and cutthroat business from Moz to fob him off on non-existent future promises, then drop him as soon as he was legally safe to do so.