Morrissey A-Z: "Moon Over Kentucky"

BookishBoy

Well-Known Member






We can maybe give ourselves a slight breather today with the live-only cover version of a Ron Mael / Jim Mankey composition, first included on the Sparks album A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing from 1973.

Any thoughts on this one? (The next two days feature cover versions as well, but both recorded.)
 
I am more a fan of Denny's "Moons Over My Hammy".

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I was at the Brixton gig (IIRC) when this first got covered. I’d never heard it previously, if I’m honest. It’s not a song I return to, in any of its formats. Good effort though, Moz.
 
I was at the Brixton gig (IIRC) when this first got covered. I’d never heard it previously, if I’m honest. It’s not a song I return to, in any of its formats. Good effort though, Moz.
I like sparks version mind I’ve got the chorus stuck in my head
 
I seem to remember he only played this a couple of times? Anyway - a deliciously weird song, and nice to know he could still hit those high notes. Not something you'd want to hear on a regular basis, but it was cool to be in the audience when he did something obscure like this, just to say you experienced such a rarity in the flesh, rather than summit like 'Meat is Murder' for the 800th time.
 
A bigger debate here, maybe: if you're paying £60 / $100 / whatever to see Morrissey, how many cover versions are acceptable during a 20-25 song setlist?
 
skip,next,fast forward,time-travel to tomorrow.
5 kens/10 tuckys.
 
God knows, I've tried. Tried to look behind the fascination of the Sparks. A single in the 90s, a Best Of in the 00s, but no spark. The mixture of tragic comedy, vaudeville, glam and pop in quantum leaps remained hidden beauties for me. Accordingly, I have a hard time with Morrissey's obsessive love for the Russell brothers. I also don't think their music suits him well live, it works better with the NYDs.
 
I think to give the song added drama, Morrissey should only have performed it once.
In Kentucky.
And, as he reached the finale, he should have turned his back to the audience, slowly lowered his jeans, uncupped his pearly-white buttocks, and mooned everyone present. :)
 
I simply adore Sparks; should I have seen Morrissey perform this wonderful number I would have been over the (Kentucky) moon! If only this had been given the full studio treatment…
 
God knows, I've tried. Tried to look behind the fascination of the Sparks. A single in the 90s, a Best Of in the 00s, but no spark. The mixture of tragic comedy, vaudeville, glam and pop in quantum leaps remained hidden beauties for me. Accordingly, I have a hard time with Morrissey's obsessive love for the Russell brothers. I also don't think their music suits him well live, it works better with the NYDs.
I've never understood the appeal of Sparks, either. But fair play to those who adore them, I guess...
 
Sparks are a quality band and have certainly had a positive influence on Morrissey in my opinion (most directly with Such a Little Thing, of course, as we will come back to later).

I don't think this is one of their strongest songs however, and this cover is only a very minor moment in Morrissey's career. A shame that it wasn't properly recorded, in spite of that.

A bigger debate here, maybe: if you're paying £60 / $100 / whatever to see Morrissey, how many cover versions are acceptable during a 20-25 song setlist?

An interesting question. Morrissey has very often tended to base his solo shows on the most recent two or three albums, so no surprise that covers have featured prominently over the past couple of years. I would hope that any new shows would be more focused on I Am Not a Dog on a Chain, with maybe a couple of new songs, and that there would be no more than 3 or 4 covers.
 
The lyrics on this song are pretty amazing, with a narrator comparing his own miserable first relationship to the first people on the moon, and begging the moon to go away and find a new planet to hang with, as people on this one will walk all over it and ruin it.

"I heard somewhere that they're stamping, trampling all upon you,
Your pocked face remains impassive though I know it hurts you..."


Even if you don't dig the music (though I think it's pleasantly eerie), it's easy to see why Morrissey was impressed with Sparks and Ron Mael's lyrics in particular.
 
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I seem to remember he only played this a couple of times? Anyway - a deliciously weird song, and nice to know he could still hit those high notes. Not something you'd want to hear on a regular basis, but it was cool to be in the audience when he did something obscure like this, just to say you experienced such a rarity in the flesh, rather than summit like 'Meat is Murder' for the 800th time.
Three times in 2009, once in Kentucky, 2016 and it died a death thereafter.
Regards,
FWD.
 
A bigger debate here, maybe: if you're paying £60 / $100 / whatever to see Morrissey, how many cover versions are acceptable during a 20-25 song setlist?
He can do as many Smiths covers as he wants, but other than that, I'd say one cover at most.
And preferably something more exciting than this one, Rose Garden for example.
 
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