Johnny Marr talks about the Smiths breakup in Rolling Stone Music Now podcast

Again? Say what you want about Morrissey but at least they can ask him about other things than this ancient history.
 
Interesting how charmingly evasive he is about the breakup. Good for him for not saying anything negative, but his very evasiveness makes people more curious.
 
Interesting how charmingly evasive he is about the breakup. Good for him for not saying anything negative, but his very evasiveness makes people more curious.

Agreed, and I thought this interviewer pushed the topic more than most have. Johnny didn't seem to like the way he was attempting to pigeonhole him as a "hired gun" and "freelance guitarist."
 
Interesting how charmingly evasive he is about the breakup. Good for him for not saying anything negative, but his very evasiveness makes people more curious.
I think he's saying it without saying it. If you know what I mean. When he talks about people who are very different personalities creating chemistry, but then eventually those differences are the things that will drive you apart. And then saying when relationships break down, 'mad shit happens'. That's pretty explicit.

Really, the only thing missing is the fine detail: 'Morrissey did this... then he threw a complete hissy fit when... then when we were supposed to be doing x, he.... and I couldn't take any more of the....' I guess some people would like this detail filled in (and I guess it could be entertaining, in a voyeuristic sort of way), but it wouldn't change the explanation Johnny has already given.
 
We will never know why exactly The Smiths split. NOTHING justifies their premature ending. I was devastated at the time, having gotten into them over the previous year, since October/November 1986.

They could have easily released another handful of fantastic albums and singles over the course of the following 4 or 5 years. They would have disbanded then circa 1992, or 3.

But then, would Morrissey have embarked on a successful solo career?

We will never know.

Anyways, as far as everything I have read about it, we will never know which one of them drew the line and how.
 
We will never know why exactly The Smiths split. NOTHING justifies their premature ending. I was devastated at the time, having gotten into them over the previous year, since October/November 1986.

They could have easily released another handful of fantastic albums and singles over the course of the following 4 or 5 years. They would have disbanded then circa 1992, or 3.

But then, would Morrissey have embarked on a successful solo career?

We will never know.

Anyways, as far as everything I have read about it, we will never know which one of them drew the line and how.
Nobody ever mentions that The Smiths could have degenerated into a shit band if they had gone on for much longer. I think the signs were there with a couple of Strangeways songs like Death At One's Elbow. Marr wrote a fair amount of crap songs after that (apart from helping The The). We'll never know. To me, Strangeways is their weakest studio album despite a few great songs on it like I Won't Share You, Last Night I Dreamt.
 
We will never know why exactly The Smiths split. NOTHING justifies their premature ending. I was devastated at the time, having gotten into them over the previous year, since October/November 1986.

They could have easily released another handful of fantastic albums and singles over the course of the following 4 or 5 years. They would have disbanded then circa 1992, or 3.

But then, would Morrissey have embarked on a successful solo career?

We will never know.

Anyways, as far as everything I have read about it, we will never know which one of them drew the line and how.

For purely selfish reasons I would agree. But as far as "NOTHING justifies their premature ending," if Johnny was as miserable and burnt out as he's suggested and didn't believe things would improve then I think that justifies it. A relationship shouldn't continue if all parties are not willing participants.
 
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I’d say Johnny’s got a pretty stellar life fella.

Why do people feel the need to slag Johnny for answering someone else’s questions?
 
It's a shame The Smiths will never reunite. They're getting up in age to where time is running out and they should reunite and do a grand worldwide farewell tour. I know the split had to do with Marr & Morrissey's creative differences, Andy's prior drug issues, Morrissey becoming a premadonna with his self proclaimed Elvis level of fame, and ultimately the lawsuit. I've spoken with some of Morrissey's current and former bandmates and they've all said it's Morrissey's show. If he's not in creative control and in control of everything else, he's besides himself.

I will say on the contrary, Morrissey has had a fantastic solo career and maybe it was a happy ending in disguise. Morrissey and Marr had outgrown The Smiths and had enough talent and material to start their own projects and so they did.

One thing that needs to happen for sure is Morrissey and Blue October going on tour together. Justin Furstenfeld is the version of Morrissey had he gotten married, had children, gotten a divorce, etc. I just met Boz before the Morrissey concert last November and asked if he had heard of Blue October and said that he did and loved Justin's admiration for Morrissey. I met Justin just a couple weeks ago and asked if he had tried to work with Morrissey for a tour and he said he had tried so many times but failed. It's sad Morrissey isolates himself so much from the world. I hope things change for the better soon .
 
For a guy who wants to move on from The Smiths he sure talks a lot about them.

I don't follow all of his commenting closely, but it seems the question is more of him being asked about them rather than him speaking about them. He is placed in an awkward position every time he is confronted with this same old question.

I couldn't imagine if I were once married being asked over and over again why I divorced my wife. There is nothing wrong with keeping silent or being evasive here in my opinion. To me it shows true loyalty and an ultimate respect for the band that he doesn't air the specifics of the dirty laundry accumulated over the years of the band's existence.
 
But..but...Johnny is ASKED about the Smiths. And when asked he replies. Surely even the most hateful sods of So-Low must understand this? It's not as if Johnny forces himself onto journalists, demanding to be asked about his old band. For the love of God, chill with the misguided hatred.
 
For a guy who wants to move on from The Smiths he sure talks a lot about them.
Yeah. He's the one who left and people want to know why. He's been measured in his responses to the never-ending questions about th subject.

On the other hand, Morrissey has spen decades slagging-off the people who've supported him, spouting ignorant nonsense on politics, world issues and people's dietary choices. He's a f***ing man-child media whore.

Nobody asks Steve about music because his music is shite. His album sales are abysmal. He jacks his fans ob a regular basis. He can't even commit to and complete a basic tour.

The fawning, apologist defense of Morrissey's present fan base speaks for itself. His followers are spoon-fed, net-warrior illiterates who live in their mom's basements, sucking up soundbites, memes and half-baked, wing-nut revisionist history.

A self-entightled man-child for self-entitled children.

Read it again. If you can muster the limited level of cognitive ability to comprehend, you'll find basic f***ing facts.
 
For a guy who wants to move on from The Smiths he sure talks a lot about them.
Yeah. He's the one who left and people want to know why. He's been measured in his responses to the never-ending questions about the subject. He's also frequently asked about his art.

On the other hand, Morrissey has spent decades slagging-off the people who've supported him, spouting ignorant nonsense on politics, world issues and people's dietary choices. He's a f***ing man-child media whore.

Nobody asks Steve about music because his music is shite. His album sales are abysmal. He plays "top" by ass-f***ing his fans (without a reach-around) on a regular basis. He can't even commit to and complete a basic tour. ...but you'll dish for his garbage merch, so he doesn't have to bother.

The fawning, apologist defense of Morrissey's present fan base speaks for itself. His followers are spoon-fed, net-warrior illiterates who live in their mom's basements, sucking up soundbites, memes and half-baked, wing-nut revisionist history.

Morrissey is nothing more or less than a self-entightled man-child for self-entitled children.

Read it again. If you can muster the limited level of cognitive ability to comprehend, you'll find basic f***ing facts.

...and get a tiny grip. Morrissey making a covers album from the American songbook isn't Johnny Cash with Rick Rueben.

It's Pat Boone. Plain and simple.
 
But..but...Johnny is ASKED about the Smiths. And when asked he replies. Surely even the most hateful sods of So-Low must understand this? It's not as if Johnny forces himself onto journalists, demanding to be asked about his old band. For the love of God, chill with the misguided hatred.
I'm not sure what made my post so 'hateful'. It was just a comment. Of course you can't say anything these days without being branded by someone. If Johnny wants to avoid answering endless Smiths questions he could just stipulate to interviewers that he won't answer Smiths questions or personal questions about family, etc etc. Reckon I'll be attacked for saying that too.
 
Yeah. He's the one who left and people want to know why. He's been measured in his responses to the never-ending questions about the subject. He's also frequently asked about his art.

On the other hand, Morrissey has spent decades slagging-off the people who've supported him, spouting ignorant nonsense on politics, world issues and people's dietary choices. He's a f***ing man-child media whore.

Nobody asks Steve about music because his music is shite. His album sales are abysmal. He plays "top" by ass-f***ing his fans (without a reach-around) on a regular basis. He can't even commit to and complete a basic tour. ...but you'll dish for his garbage merch, so he doesn't have to bother.

The fawning, apologist defense of Morrissey's present fan base speaks for itself. His followers are spoon-fed, net-warrior illiterates who live in their mom's basements, sucking up soundbites, memes and half-baked, wing-nut revisionist history.

Morrissey is nothing more or less than a self-entightled man-child for self-entitled children.

Read it again. If you can muster the limited level of cognitive ability to comprehend, you'll find basic f***ing facts.

...and get a tiny grip. Morrissey making a covers album from the American songbook isn't Johnny Cash with Rick Rueben.

It's Pat Boone. Plain and simple.
If you think Moz's music is shite then why are you on 'Morrissey'-solo? I'll keep my reply short because nobody likes reading a long winded verbal fart like you squeezed out twice.
 

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