Give it a rest, won'y ya...

It’s not new by me, but the thought that sometimes we are witness to a certain exact moment in time when things change; the dynamic and context of change are different- maybe something about the national mood or the events @ a party in 1988 or even 2001. I always thought I’d seen and felt such a moment in time, a moment which embodied the changeover of a ‘before’ and an ‘after‘. It was the moment in time where “Morrissey lost his Supreme Relevance”. Before this moment, every Morrissey incident and interview was studied and restudied by fans and press and then stored in the Supreme Movements and Utterances Catalog. Then, after the moment, it was simply the collapse of all our hopes.

From the moment the British Press caught on that something unique was going on in Manchester in early 1983, Morrissey was given an avenue to yammer on about his views and ideas about anything through the press. He was an expressively different personality the press initially loved. He appealed to certain types who loved to hear his pronouncements. They may be heard through the press that came with releases or tours, this or that famous interview where he came out with whatever controversial saying was current, tv appearances that w ere like the restaging of Ed Sullivan style Beatlemania, etc… Much like Marx or Jesus, all Morrissey’s sayings and writings were read and copied out and endlessly debated and always new missives were yearned for by his public to set it all straight.

Record release time was an important in the press cycle. The band had a great output of singles for a longtime. It seemed that every few months they had a new song to release and market, and that meant loads more press and interviews. The way the craze about his views and the constant new Smiths material, especially via 45’s, again reminds me of an early-mid 60’s music scene. The constant press craze was neat, and The Smiths carried it off well. This sort of thing can go wrong. A maddening attempt to create such an atmosphere (maybe it wasn’t manufactured, but it seemed so @ the time) resulted in the Style Council releasing their material on mismatched Lp’s and Ep’s and 45‘s all over the world. It sucked, and their attempt seemed contrived.

But Morrissey, though he gathered his fair amount of stick over the years, rode the way larger reservoir of good will through the early part of his solo career. Despite details over the break up of the band and the general silliness of the entire Morrissey phenomenon, he was able to surf the love fer a long bit. Morrissey was able to back it all up by the excellence of his output. His first LP, Viva Hate, is as good as any Smiths release back to front.. That it was so good was a sensation when it was released.

As for 45‘s, “Suedehead”/“I know very well how I got my Name”/“Hairdressers on Fire” can only be equaled, not topped, by any Smiths 45’ release. He released singles that were quality releases- for a time.

Here is a chart of his single releases:

Suedehead 2-88
Lp-Viva Hate 3-88
Sunday 6-88
Playboy 2-89
Interesting Drug 4-89
Ouiji Board 11-89
November 4-90
Piccadilly Palare 10-90
LP(old stuff)-Bona Drag 10-90
Our frank 2-91
LP-Kill Uncle 3-91

That’s eight singles in three years. Not that large an output, really. However, a lot of this shit is tuff as hell. Suedehead and Sunday were blessed events, and Playboy was the first single after the outstanding Viva Hate. It’s message was that after such a great LP, Morrissey had yet more great stuff to get out to the masses. We waited, joyously, digesting whatever Holy Words and Bread were distributed every 2-89 or 4-89.
But then, there was a general decline. Drug, Board, November, and Palare were all so-so efforts -lazy, I bet Morrissey would have called them if they were someone else‘s work. It really tested our faith. We were suppliced temporarily with the release of Bona drag, a collection of singles, b-sides, and unreleased material akin to the Smiths perfect "Hatful of Hollow". It had the first seven singles listed above, plus the great b-sides “Disappointed” and “Hairdressers on Fire”. These songs collected to-gether, even the tepid ones, were a powerful reminder of the strength that Morrissey still had- like the Wermacht ireeling in retreat after Stalingrad still capable of turning out a Karkhov.

“Our Frank”, a single that I rank high in the Morrissey Canon for the simple reason that it marked the last moment of the Morrisey triumph , was released in Feb. 1991. Unlike the last four singles, it was fast and was lively. It had a great intro, was nicely propulsive and buoyant , and had several clever Morrisseyisms. It had two verses and a chorus and the slitest of nicest drum and piano brush bridge and a long fiddle solo’s fadeout. Nice song, a good song, unlike three of the last four singles, I felt. It bode well for the imminant LP.

Morrissey- He had Spoken, as Morrissey, for The Last Time.


The next month the LP. “Kill Uncle” came out. It led off with “Frank”, and there it ended. What a terrible LP. Every song on it was a soft little shuffle- and now, looking up, we could see that all of us had been deceived-those last four singles- they were all softy shuffles types- WE WERE LIED TO!!! Suddenly, on the realization that indeed we were not wrong- the last four singles sucked, and the whole of the LP, with the single exception of “Our Frank”, sucked. It didn’t suck:

Kill Uncle was a clownish disappointment.

Suddenly, Morrissey was not the perfect God- he was the Flawed God.

But for all of us, it was there to listen. There was a moment before, and a moment after. I’ve always thought that that moment for Morrissey came @ the 2.20 m point of “Our Frank”, when the long fadeout starts. The fadeout is what stands out for me. The release of the LP made this clear.

In the context of a 45’ release, it was a catchy song worthy of his catalog. It’s 3.36m long- great pop song.

But in …

...the context of the Lp, such a great tune like it in the midst of such aggressively bad crap-on top of the string of weak cheap shit he tried to peddle on us-- really changed my feelings on the song in the context of Morrissey's career. On the Lp, the start of the fade out/fiddle in “Our Frank” signals the end of the really rockin’ kool part of the song and the start of the dreadful death dirges that follow. About 2.20m into “Kill Uncle”, it all changes. Forever.

I feel, when I hear that fiddle start, alabaster cashing down….