Morrissey - on his own...
Nobody really thought that Morrissey could
move on as a solo artist but he kept writing
songs and he turned to long-time smiths
engineer/producer Steven Street. Street put
together some music and found Morrissey a new
guitar player, Vini Reilly. The skeptics quickly
changed their minds when the first single,
Suedehead, was released and the reviews were
very good. The track was irresistibly commercial and reached the UK top 5.
Morrissey's first solo album, Viva hate, came in
1988 and it sold very well. It actually hit
number 1 in the UK album charts soon after,
indicating a long and prosperous future with
EMI records.
In spite of his successes, Morrissey
was initially keen on promoting a Smiths reunion
but the closest this reached was the equivalent
of a farewell concert in the unlikely setting of
Wolverhampton civic hall. There, on 22 december 1988,
Morrissey performed alongside former Smiths
Andy Rourke, Mike Joyce and Craig Gannon for a
1,700 capacity audience, many of whom had queued
for days in order to gain admittance to the venue.
The following year brought several problems.
Although he continued to release strong singles
such as 'The last of the famous international playboys'
and 'Interesting drug', both reviews and chart
placings were slightly less successful than
expected.
In 1989 the partnership with Street
ended and Morrissey quickly put together a new
bunch of people and released the single
Quija board, quija board. Morrissey suffered the
most disappointing reviews of his career and,
despite its charm, the single only reached
number 18. Financial wrangles and management
changes, which had characterized the Smiths'
career, were repeated by morrissey the soloist.
The press turned on him and he was picked on
almost daily in the papers. Morrissey severed
all contact with the media and started to work
on a new album. The album, Bona Drag, was delayed
and eventually cancelled, although the title
served for a formidable hits and b-side compilation.
Instead he released a couple of singles, two of
them being November spawned a monster and
controversial Piccadilly palare. They proved
to be a success and the fans loved the new sound.
To Morrissey it proved that he really could
continue on his own.
In march 1991, Morrissey
issued the long-awaited Kill Uncle, for which
Morrissey had recruited a new guitarist,
Mark Nevin. The album was a light, yet not
unappealing work, produced by Clive Langer and
Alan Winstanley. Morrissey now hooked up with
guitarist Boz Boorer and members from a local Manchester
rock-a-billy band, Memphis Sinners. In the
summer and winter of 1991 the singer embarked
on a world tour with Memphis Sinners. The band´s raw energy and
enthusiasm brought a new dimension to his
recently understated studio work. The fruits of
this collaboration were revealed on Your Arsenal,
a neat fusion of 50s rockabilly influences and 70s
glam rock. The press was yet again positive.
The album was nominated for a grammy in the United
States and became Morrissey's biggest sales hit
ever.
Unfortunately, things turned yet again when
the song national front disco was interpreted as
pro-nationalist and the media portrayed him as a racist and a bigot.
(the madstock disaster - a live appearance in
support of a re-formed madness that saw Morrissey
bedecked in a Union Jack - which, when combined
with song titles such as bengali in platforms
and the national front disco, saw a huge debate
rage in the media over the artist's interpretation of "englishness").
As if this wasn't enough, two of Morrissey's close
friends passed away, and a biography entitled
Morrissey and Marr - the severed alliance hit
the stores. The book drew the conclusion that
it was Morrissey's vanity and ego that had put an end to The Smiths.
The next album, Beethoven Was Deaf, was a live
album that disappeared after only two weeks in
the charts. It was a dismal failure. However,
Morrissey was now beginning to cultivate a
following in the USA substantially beyond the
cult devotees who had followed The Smiths in
that country. This offered welcome succour at a
time when UK critics were predicting his imminent
downfall.
Despite the rough times, Morrissey
recorded a new album, Vauxhall And I, which was
released in 1994. It is Morrissey's most outstanding release to date, reaching
number 1 in the uk. It's lead single
The more you ignore me, the closer I get proved
to be his best selling single ever.
Vauxhall And I was to be his last album with EMI/HMV Records, apart from
the much-criticized compilation The World
Of Morrissey. Morrissey next moved to BGM Records
as they chose to revive another old label,
this time RCA - victor for 1995's Southpaw Grammar.
this set opened with The teachers are afraid of
the pupils, an arresting 11-minute update to
The Smiths' The headmaster ritual, which
placed the secondary school teacher in the
role of victim. Critics were not overly impressed
and the album disappeared from the play lists
and people's minds after a few weeks.
Morrissey made the headlines in 1997 with the long-standing
court case over Mike Joyce's claim on royalties.
The judge ruled against Morrissey and Marr.
Ploughing on, Morrissey released the delayed
Maladjusted for new label Island Records,
although he was forced to omit a track that
allegedly attacked Joyce and Rourke.
Since the Maladjusted album, Morrissey has not released another
album (not considering the compilations; Singles 1-2, and Best of in 2001).
Nevertheless, he has been touring the world and it now seems as though
he has got himself a new record deal. The story is that Morrissey
sent a fax to Janice Long at BBC 2 saying: "I have signed to Attack
on the Sanctuary label. Have begun recording my first album in
40 years". The fax was sent on the 27th of May 2003. Fortunately,
it seems as though Morrissey has picked up on Freddie Mercury`s words;
the show must go on....
More readings:
NME biography
