"Billy Duffy on kickstarting Morrissey's singing career" - BBC 6 Music

This morning BBC 6 Music Breakfast show with Shawn Keavney featured Billy Duffy interview who talks about how he got to know Morrissey.

You can listen again from iPlayer 1:40 (region restricted).



MORRIZSEY sends the link:

"Billy Duffy on kickstarting Morrissey's singing career" - BBC 6 Music

DURATION: 02:07
BBC 6 Music's Linda Serck spoke to The Cult co-founder and guitarist Billy Duffy about how he helped Morrissey's singing career.

The Cult returned earlier this year with a new album Choice Of Weapon and have also released a prequel to that album, called Weapon of Choice.

During the interview with BBC 6 Music, Billy talked about his youth growing up in Manchester and his involvement in city's punk scene in the late 70s, which led to him giving his friend Morrissey a leg-up in the music world.



Transcript by davidt:

We were all music obsessives in Manchester and somebody said there's this guy who's obsessed with the New York Dolls, which was this kind of glam rock, underground, fairly esoteric New York band that was slightly pre-punk.

I was really into him and so we met up and became sort of friends and we used to go to gigs together. Punk at this point had happened in the UK and was very, very strong very quickly in Manchester after London. We used to go to gigs together and he obviously obsessed on being a lead singer and I already started playing guitar and wanted to be a guitarist. Sooner or later an opportunity arose to join a band from my area who some of the guys had left. I got the audition and passed the audition for the band, The Nosebleeds.

I got in the band and somebody said, 'Do you know any singers?" I said, "I know a guy called Steven who's aspirational to be a singer." Although you've got to remember this was the time when people were spitting on each other and fighting and there was all this confusion about what punk was and all the cliches were being formed, and Steven had a different approach.

To the benefit of the two guys who were the remaining members of The Nosebleeds, Toby who was the drummer and Pete Crookes the bass player, both from my part of Manchester, they gave him a shot. We did a couple of gigs and me and Morrissey wrote some songs, of which none of them remain recorded anywhere and that was it, that was Morrissey's first, or Steven's first time trekking the board.

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Really wish I could hear some of those early recordings...
 
Really wish I could hear some of those early recordings...

No you don't.

Well, if you are obsessive like many of us that tread this board, then you really, REALLY do. But in general, I doubt we'd hear any sign posts as to what was ahead for either of them. Okay, we'd all hear stuff, but only because we are obsessives and want to. Trust me, not may musicians/vocalists want anything heard from any of their bands before they made it. There are some exceptions, but it takes time for one to find their voice/sound/style.

I love hearing early versions and demos of songs so I can see how they were constructed and how they evolved. This just sounds like learning.
 
Billy Duffy is a top bloke, from Wythenshawe, and a mad Manchester City fan too :cool:
In the late 1980's he subscribed to a fanzine I used to write for, called 'Blue Print' and we had an LA address to send each issue to.

Jukebox Jury
 
Bit disappointed with that. An insistence on calling him Steven was about it when it could have been so much more interesting and enlightening.
 
...and Electric is a truly stunning rock album.

Rick Rubin to do a Morrissey album with Billy on guitar?!...
 
...and Electric is a truly stunning rock album.

Rick Rubin to do a Morrissey album with Billy on guitar?!...


Don't know about Billy on guitar but Rick Rubin producing would be a really interesting choice for Moz to make ...
 

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