Damon Albarn asked Morrissey and Sade to appear on new Gorillaz album, but was turned down

Damon Albarn has 40-45 Gorillaz songs still to be released, plus there’s a TV series in the works - Consequence Of Sound
Albarn also reveals plans for a Chicago Demon Dayz Festival and reveals that Morrissey passed up an opportunity to collaborate on Humanz

Excerpt:

Though Humanz is chock full of all-star collaborators, including Grace Jones, Carly Simon, Mavis Staples, Noel Gallagher, and De La Soul, a few others passed up on the opportunity. Among them: Morrissey (lol!), Sade, and Dionne Warwick, “who passed for the second time because the lyrics conflicted with her religious sensibilities,” according to Q.
 
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I do remember Albarn making a snide comment about Morrissey around the time of V & I from memory goes like -

"Morrissey is the Fonz that has swapped his leather Jacket for a blazer."


Basically ensuing that he's lost his cool. Ironically Morrissey never wore a leather jacket for obvious reasons and has been wearing blazers since sliced bread came out. Morrissey's leather jacket has always been his denim jacket.
 
That's not true at all. Charmless Man was a nod to the Smiths. Morrissey actually said he liked the song back in the 90s. The character described is obviously nothing like him. A public-school educated toff who gets through life thanks to family connections.
Albarn's Britpop persona was a bit laddish but it was all an act. He's written a ton of melancholic songs - probably his best genre. Damon actually formed Blur as a response to Morrissey declaring that pop music was dying (in a South Bank Show in 87). Real shame that Moz said 'no' to this (possibly due to his feelings for rap music). Would love to see the emails they exchanged.
Hmmm looks like I may have been wrong about The Charmless Man so. The lyrics seemed a bit pointed to me, but I may have been reading too much into it.
There is also an old Moz Solo thread from 2002 where Alex James denied it had anything to do with Moz:
https://www.morrissey-solo.com/threads/blurs-charmless-man.11163/

The lyrics are a bit weird though so you could understand how it may have caused confusion.

I met him in a crowded room
Where people go to drink away their gloom
He sat me dawn and so began
The story of a charmless man
Educated the expensive way
He knows his claret from his beaujolais
I think he'd like to have been Ronnie Kray
But then nature didn't make him that way

He went na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na na
etc....
 
Charmless Man is more of an homage than anything, but with a story not pertaining to Moz or his Charming Man.

Moz and Damon are a dream collaboration for me. I feel quite sad that it didn't work out. I'm glad they had an entertaining and nice month long correspondence, so maybe in the future they can collaborate. I agree with the people here saying Moz needs to break out of his mold, and there couldn't have been a better person to help do that than Damon IMO.

Morrissey could've been such an amazing surprise on this album. Sigh.
 
I do remember Albarn making a snide comment about Morrissey around the time of V & I from memory goes like -

"Morrissey is the Fonz that has swapped his leather Jacket for a blazer."


Basically ensuing that he's lost his cool. Ironically Morrissey never wore a leather jacket for obvious reasons and has been wearing blazers since sliced bread came out. Morrissey's leather jacket has always been his denim jacket.

I think alburn was saying moz is a complete c*** who will soon be caught for paedophilia, not that he was cool.
 
Here's what All Bran said:

"The Smiths, the Morrissey/Marr partnership were very influential on what we are. It’s just a shame Morrissey can’t write songs any more. He’s become this forlorn exile who also happens to play the Hollywood Bowl. There was a magic about him and Marr, and it was a uniquely British thing. I can’t imagine a Spanish Morrissey because they’re liberated in many ways that we arn’t here. Sexually, for one. I’m liberated, but I still wish men would kiss each other more. The Smiths were a gang and now Morrissey’s an ex-gang member who’s had to get all his tattoos removed because he’s got a respectable job as an accountant. He’s the Fonz who took off his leather jacket for a suit and tie."
(Face Magazine, 1994)
 
Albarn is a twat and third-rate hack who never had a story to tell, you can see it in his face, there's nothing there. He will not be remembered no matter how hard he tries, and with every record he tries, like this one, it's just not going to happen. He will never know what it is like to make a difference.









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He will not be remembered no matter how hard he tries, and with every record he tries, like this one, it's just not going to happen. He will never know what it is like to make a difference.

You couldn't be more wrong. You can hate Damon Albarn or Blur, each to his own.... for many he already made a difference.
 
Albarn is a twat and third-rate hack who never had a story to tell, you can see it in his face, there's nothing there. He will not be remembered no matter how hard he tries, and with every record he tries, like this one, it's just not going to happen. He will never know what it is like to make a difference.
Steady on there! Albarn has a few good songs like To The End & This Is A Low. I'd rate him above a lot of other artists. I like his voice and he's a good looking man about town. Like most artists (except for Moz) Albarn has done his fair share of cack/crap songs too.
 
Here's what All Bran said:

"The Smiths, the Morrissey/Marr partnership were very influential on what we are. It’s just a shame Morrissey can’t write songs any more. He’s become this forlorn exile who also happens to play the Hollywood Bowl. There was a magic about him and Marr, and it was a uniquely British thing. I can’t imagine a Spanish Morrissey because they’re liberated in many ways that we arn’t here. Sexually, for one. I’m liberated, but I still wish men would kiss each other more. The Smiths were a gang and now Morrissey’s an ex-gang member who’s had to get all his tattoos removed because he’s got a respectable job as an accountant. He’s the Fonz who took off his leather jacket for a suit and tie."
(Face Magazine, 1994)

Didn't stop Moz to exchange entertaining emails with him for a month. Maybe he isn't always as unforgiving as one might think.
 
Reckon Uncle Steve would never collaborate with Sade "all reggae is vile". It's too bad his dream of collaborating with Aunt Nancy's dad never happened.

As I understand, he didn't say: All reggae is vile.
But: Reggae is vile.
And so, keeping the possibility open to record a reggae tune, which he did with Redondo Beach which actually is a very good song.
When trying to imagine Frank Sinatra doing this song I think it would be brilliant!

He doesn't mind calling music vile equally as he doesn't mind others calling his music vile.
And, maybe his opinion on this subject changed?

He would have loved to write a song for Sinatra and be outrageously happy if it turned out to be a great hit.
But singing together on stage? I doubt it.
 
The rumour was that Damon Albarn in Blur wrote 'The Charmless Man' about Morrissey. If that is true then of course Moz would never collaborate with him. Anyway Albarn would be far too lager loutish for Moz. That said, Albarn is a damn fine singer and has worked very well with Stephen Street down through the years.
Moz's biggest mistake was ending the Street collab just because the poor guy had the balls to ask to be paid.

i agree about losing stephen street. i can't see that there would have been so many musical missteps with street providing the production and musical backdrop. he seemed to really care about the songs too, and morrissey. i guess the band members in the years since were treated like lawn mover parts, paid accordingly and delivered material accordingly.
 
Reckon me think Uncle Steve would of loved to have done a duet with his "father in law", but not on stage. Reckon Frank would of liked that better than having Paul Hewson drool all over him. Reckon Uncle Steve could eat him under the table during the famous spaghetti dinners.
 
i agree about losing stephen street. i can't see that there would have been so many musical missteps with street providing the production and musical backdrop. he seemed to really care about the songs too, and morrissey. i guess the band members in the years since were treated like lawn mover parts, paid accordingly and delivered material accordingly.

Without Street we got Your Arsenal, Vauxhall & I and Southpaw Grammar (which I like). Wouldn't have happened if he stayed, so I'm fine with it.
 
I have always adored Blur/Albarn, so the news is a little disappointing but certainly not shocking.
 
Here's what All Bran said:

"The Smiths, the Morrissey/Marr partnership were very influential on what we are. It’s just a shame Morrissey can’t write songs any more. He’s become this forlorn exile who also happens to play the Hollywood Bowl. There was a magic about him and Marr, and it was a uniquely British thing. I can’t imagine a Spanish Morrissey because they’re liberated in many ways that we arn’t here. Sexually, for one. I’m liberated, but I still wish men would kiss each other more. The Smiths were a gang and now Morrissey’s an ex-gang member who’s had to get all his tattoos removed because he’s got a respectable job as an accountant. He’s the Fonz who took off his leather jacket for a suit and tie."
(Face Magazine, 1994)
Thanks. The full quote makes damon out to be even more of a dick than I ever thought he was.

Oh and blur sucked.
 
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Without Street we got Your Arsenal, Vauxhall & I and Southpaw Grammar (which I like). Wouldn't have happened if he stayed, so I'm fine with it.

Agreed. I hate southpaw but arsenal and mick Ronson were great and vauxhal had one of his biggest singles so I think he did just fine
 
Agreed. I hate southpaw but arsenal and mick Ronson were great and vauxhal had one of his biggest singles so I think he did just fine
Maybe Moz could have done one or two more albums with Street and then gone on to do Arsenal and Vauxhall (fantastic albums) after that, and kept Street friendly for the odd brilliant single. KILL UNCLE was crap. Maladjusted wasn't great. Southpaw was just about ok. All You Need Is Me and Thats How People Grow Up are septic scour. Street could have bailed Moz out a few times.
Overall Moz is great but if he didn't burn every bridge he could have built up a stable of ace songwriters to work with instead of just his current crew.
 

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