Word In Your Ear / YouTube: Kevin Armstrong interview on working with Morrissey and being asked to join The Smiths (September 1, 2023)

New interview with former Morrissey guitarist Kevin Armstrong. Some references to working with Morrissey and being asked to join The Smiths at the 19:15 mark (there may be others, I haven't watched the whole thing yet).



Description:

Kevin Armstrong was the guitarist in the band David Bowie asked him to assemble for Live Aid and toured and recorded with him many times. Playing the guitar intro to Rebel Rebel in a stadium, he says, is “like lighting a match”. Start the Passenger with Iggy Pop and you’re greeted with “a great mass of love”. His memoir, Absolute Beginner, is “a window onto the high table of rock and roll” and full of insights into life in studios and on the road and the fathomless levels of diplomacy often required to collaborate. This entertaining pod expands upon …

… why he turned down the offer to join the Smiths.
… how Jim Osterberg transforms himself into Iggy Pop.
… the Sinead O’Connor’s tour manager’s trick to speed the band through security.
… the song Bowie dropped from the Live Aid set.
… why Michael Hutchence is “terrified of small crowds”.
… Bowie’s ex-Navy Seal minder and the old decoys-under-blankets ruse.
… why Morrissey is “thin-skinned”.
… and the eternal curse of “Imposter Syndrome”.

Order ‘Absolute Beginner’ here …

Absolute Beginner: Memoirs of... by Armstrong, Kevin

Absolute Beginner: Memoirs of... by Armstrong, Kevin

www.amazon.co.uk

(book releases October 17, 2023)

 

[j*e*t]

I must've been living under one of my many rocks. I had no idea Kevin was asked to be in The Smiths. Was that in Autobiography and I missed it?

I don't think Kevin is mentioned in Autobiography at all, but he has referred to being asked to join The Smiths in previous interviews, e.g. this one (at 1:01:20).

 

[Famous when dead]

Goddard: Songs That Saved...

"As Rough Trade issued that first contentious press statement confirming Marr’s exit, so Morrissey began vetting potential substitute guitarists. Among the first to be contacted was Kevin Armstrong, best known for his work with Thomas Dolby.
‘I got a call out of the blue from somebody at Rough Trade,’ says Armstrong. ‘They said Morrissey wanted to meet me because he was considering a replacement for Johnny Marr. Now, The Smiths were one of my favourite bands so to step into Johnny Marr’s shoes would have been amazing, but at the same time I thought he was mad. When I met him at Rough Trade I was quite nervous, but quite out-spoken. He said he wanted to carry on The Smiths and I said, “I don’t think you should carry on because you and Johnny are a once-in-a-lifetime creative thing, you’re not gonna repeat that straight away, he’s not replaceable. But if you’re thinking of going solo or something else then in that case it’d be great.” He said, “No, I’m going to carry on The Smiths. It doesn’t need Johnny”. And I said to him, “Look, you remind me of that knight in Monty Python And The Holy Grail, who has his arms and legs chopped off, sitting with blood pissing out, wriggling around shouting, “Come back, it’s only a flesh wound!” Maybe he appreciated my candour, I don’t know, but I thought it was a mental idea.’"

FWD.

 

[DagenhamDan]

It started in 2007 actually but they upped the output during covid

Oh right i didnt know that

 

[Jamie]

Goddard: Songs That Saved...

"As Rough Trade issued that first contentious press statement confirming Marr’s exit, so Morrissey began vetting potential substitute guitarists. Among the first to be contacted was Kevin Armstrong, best known for his work with Thomas Dolby.
‘I got a call out of the blue from somebody at Rough Trade,’ says Armstrong. ‘They said Morrissey wanted to meet me because he was considering a replacement for Johnny Marr. Now, The Smiths were one of my favourite bands so to step into Johnny Marr’s shoes would have been amazing, but at the same time I thought he was mad. When I met him at Rough Trade I was quite nervous, but quite out-spoken. He said he wanted to carry on The Smiths and I said, “I don’t think you should carry on because you and Johnny are a once-in-a-lifetime creative thing, you’re not gonna repeat that straight away, he’s not replaceable. But if you’re thinking of going solo or something else then in that case it’d be great.” He said, “No, I’m going to carry on The Smiths. It doesn’t need Johnny”. And I said to him, “Look, you remind me of that knight in Monty Python And The Holy Grail, who has his arms and legs chopped off, sitting with blood pissing out, wriggling around shouting, “Come back, it’s only a flesh wound!” Maybe he appreciated my candour, I don’t know, but I thought it was a mental idea.’"

FWD.

To be honest, I can see that kind of honesty redounding well on Kevin when Morrissey decided to no longer work with the other Smiths/Street after "Interesting Drug." It probably made him "first-call" in his mind.

It's also worth pointing out that both Armstrong and Matthew Seligman (bass - RIP) played on Bowie's "Absolute Beginners" session with Langer & Winstanley. So the "Ouija Board, Ouija Board" line-up was essentially a best-of-both-worlds conglomeration of Clanger/Winstanley's world (Armstrong, Seligman) and Morrissey's circle (Paresi & Steve Hopkins, who was a Manc that had worked with Ed Banger from the Nosebleeds and no doubt crossed paths with the pre-fame Steven Morrissey).

I find it a shame that Bona Drag couldn't be seen through as a full album, as originally conceived. The line-up of Armstrong, Rourke and Paresi was much stronger than that of Kill Uncle. Both "Striptease With a Difference" and "Oh Phoney" were viable enough as album tracks that he was relatively few tracks shy of a full album, considering Your Arsenal had only 10.

"November Spawned A Monster"
"He Knows I'd Love To See Him"
"Girl Least Likely To"
"Piccadilly Palare"
"Get Off The Stage"
"Striptease With a Difference"
"Oh Phoney"

And who knows if some of the lyrics for Kill Uncle songs were embryonically kicking around and could have been matched to music by Armstrong and Rourke? The tracks above are certainly far more satisfying than "Asian Rut," "Found Found Found," and "The Harsh Truth of the Camera Eye."

Really, it all would have likely come to the same end, as his ear/path were bending towards all things Good Mixer and Camden Workers Social Club.

 

[Crisstti]

always thought paul mc cartney lacked in the humour department,sacking someone for mentioning the rutles,so much for being a saint.

It's second hand though. It's what Elvis Costello told him. He could have been telling him what he thought and not necessarily what McCartney would have told him, or he could even have been joking.

I really find it a bit hard to believe tbh.