A Problem Called Morrissey And What To Do About It

gaporter said:
I can't say as though I'm as big of a Smiths fan as others are but I definitely have an adoration for a number of their songs so whenever I see Morrissey's "everyone ultimately prefers their own race" bullshit pop up in my Twitter feed, it's just twisting the knife. It's a very unfortunate part of getting older, realizing the artists behind some of your favorite records are absolute pieces of shit.
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It is much easier to say, "Moving forward, I'm not going to financially support "X" artist because of horrible shit they've said and done, and I won't be listening to their music anymore either". It is much harder to say, "I will no longer financially support or listen to music featuring "X" artist that I have enjoyed for decades because of things I have learned about the artist". Not saying that the latter isn't the actual proper response, but it is harder because there is so much more of an emotional investment from listening over many years. I was fully aware that Morrissey was super pretentious back then, but I just assumed that was part of his bit.
 
I generally don't know the politics of the musicians I enjoy, unless the music is political (i.e. DKs). I don't own any solo Morrissey stuff.

Billy Brag wrote, "Morrissey posted a white supremacist video on his website". I've tried to view the video in question through several sites but I keep getting an 'unavailable' error. Was the video removed, or is it geo-fenced? I'd like to be able to form an opinion of my own by watching the original video.
gaporter said:
At this point, I feel like most people have gotten to where they won't listen to solo Morrissey but are still trying to justify their love of the Smiths.
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I've always dug the Smiths. The Smiths are more than Morrissey.
Lee Newman said:
Eh... no. What good does it do to say you abhor those things and then profit from an audience that embraces them?
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I suspect that the people going to see Morrissey in the US just like his music or The Smiths and are not wired into his politics. Still, I'd be surprised if Interpol tours with them. If they do, it may be due to external reasons, such as being a tough contract to get out of, a label insisting they do it, or something along those lines.
 
High Rant District said:
I generally don't know the politics of the musicians I enjoy, unless the music is political (i.e. DKs). I don't own any solo Morrissey stuff.

Billy Brag wrote, "Morrissey posted a white supremacist video on his website". I've tried to view the video in question through several sites but I keep getting an 'unavailable' error. Was the video removed, or is it geo-fenced? I'd like to be able to form an opinion of my own by watching the original video.

I've always dug the Smiths. The Smiths are more than Morrissey.

I suspect that the people going to see Morrissey in the US just like his music or The Smiths and are not wired into his politics. Still, I'd be surprised if Interpol tours with them. If they do, it may be due to external reasons, such as being a tough contract to get out of, a label insisting they do it, or something along those lines.
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The response makes it seem like they had a say in it. Anyone who doesn’t know his politics at this point is willfully ignoring it.
 
I’d like to point out that The Smiths is, at the very least, equally the legacy of Johnny Marr who as well as being an unbelievably talented musician and composer also comes across as as pretty much everything that Morrissey isn’t as a human being.
 
Joe Mac said:
I’d like to point out that The Smiths is, at the very least, equally the legacy of Johnny Marr who as well as being an unbelievably talented musician and composer also comes across as as pretty much everything that Morrissey isn’t as a human being.
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I never really liked the Smiths. I respected their talent. Besides the point anyhow, I like Electronic, Marr’s solo work and even that Modest Mouse album people don’t like too.
 
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High Rant District said:
I dunno, not everyone at the same über-music-nerd level that many of here are. Inside the UK, yeah, I bet everyone knows his politics. The tabloids are ubiquitous there.
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To be honest even beyond the tabloids NME very publicly called him out on it in 1990ish and again around 2008ish.
 
I don't think there is a right or wrong answer with how people view his past work. It's up to individual how they separate the art and it's right to point out that the Smiths wasn't just Morrissey.

I do think people should be challenging his views and not financially supporting him moving forward until he stops being a massive racist. Society should be saying it's not OK to say these things and if you do there are consequences.
 
High Rant District said:
I generally don't know the politics of the musicians I enjoy, unless the music is political (i.e. DKs). I don't own any solo Morrissey stuff.

Billy Brag wrote, "Morrissey posted a white supremacist video on his website". I've tried to view the video in question through several sites but I keep getting an 'unavailable' error. Was the video removed, or is it geo-fenced? I'd like to be able to form an opinion of my own by watching the original video.

I've always dug the Smiths. The Smiths are more than Morrissey.

I suspect that the people going to see Morrissey in the US just like his music or The Smiths and are not wired into his politics. Still, I'd be surprised if Interpol tours with them. If they do, it may be due to external reasons, such as being a tough contract to get out of, a label insisting they do it, or something along those lines.
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DKs? Dead Kennedys?
 
I was a big fan of his solo stuff as well as the Smiths, have seen him in concert 5 or 6 times and I find his recent actions indefensible. I haven’t purchased the newest album and while I gather i’ll Always enjoy Strangeways or Southpaw Grammar i doubt i’ll Be shouting it from rooftops. I guess it’s like being a Michael Jackson fan or Ryan Adams fan or whatever. The music isn’t theirs anymore. People have owndership of the Ignition Remix as much as the artist, just don’t expect us to continue to financially support artists when they are exposed as being shitty.
 
being a teen when the Smiths were making music, they are a huge part of my musical life. I still have several 7"s, 12"s and a couple of records. I never warmed much to Morrissey's solo music and I think he really needs a Marr collaborator to make his albums listenable. At this point I still might buy a Smiths record if I saw it used, but would not want to give him a penny now to buy a Smiths record new.

At this point I am trying to ignore him so he does not taint my love for The Smiths, but that seems to be a losing battle. It is funny that he is such a twat and Johnny Marr seems to be a really decent guy who just loves music. I personally think Johnny Marr is trying to get out in public more just to protect the legacy of The Smiths.

His little britain politics are such a joke, but his playing the victim every time someone says anything is beyond funny. He is like a guy with a swastika tattoo on his arm who gets pissy when you mention it, saying "my politics don't define me!!"
 
sorcerer said:
I sincerely doubt the majority of Morrissey's fanbase holds the same politics as Morrissey. It's far more likely they're like me and exclusively care about the music while disagreeing with / not even caring about his politics.
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I hear what you and @High Rant District are saying but Morrissey fans don’t seem like people who wouldn’t follow his every move and it just seems odd to me that you would want to support that by paying his income actively. He’s always been willing to speak his mind and has always been a celebrity as much as he was a singer... to my view anyhow.
 
Joe Mac said:
What actually surprised me more than Flowers’ comment was this one from Nick Cave, a bit more nuance but still I was kind of surprised...

pitchfork.com

Nick Cave Questions Morrissey’s Politics, Defends His Music and Free Speech in Open Letter

“Perhaps it is better to simply let Morrissey have his views, challenge them when and wherever possible, but allow his music to live on”
pitchfork.com pitchfork.com
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As always with music media turning Nick's Red Hand Files into articles, I would suggest reading the original:

www.theredhandfiles.com

Nick Cave - The Red Hand Files - Issue #48 - I was lucky enough to be at your recent London show and you played Cosmic Dancer by T Rex. It reminded me how Morrissey also covered and released this. In turn it reminded me of my current struggle reconci

Dear Mark, I understand it is very difficult when an artist you admire reveals something about themselves which you feel casts an unhappy shadow across...
www.theredhandfiles.com www.theredhandfiles.com

The question was is it possible to separate the latter artist from the earlier art? I find Nick puts forward a very reasonable 'yes' (note the difference between if we should and if we can).

You'll notice they asked separately for Nick's opinion on what Morrissey has been up to and he very blatantly avoids speaking about it, I suspect he may not even be aware of what Morrissey has been doing/saying in detail, but we can't know because he didn't even touch it.
 
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