David Byrne is a different animal. He’s always been clear about what he wants and expects. His vision is whole. “American Untopia” was a fantastic album and the vision and execution of the tour was 100% AMAZING. You’d do well to compare Morrissey to someone within his own level of artistry. Melvis and his minions don’t hold a candle to anything Byrne has done in the past 25 years.I also agree that Morrissey ruined Viva Hate with the reissue. Ordinary Boys may be my favorite song on the album and he got rid of it. I just couldn't believe it. And Maudlin is supposed to be an epic, it's a long drive home after a crazy night.
I wish I understood why Morrissey seems to destroy so many of his personal and professional relationships. I just read the book by Chris Frantz about drumming in Talking Heads and he seems to say David Byrne is very similar, "incapable of returning friendship."
People deserve payment for their work, it's really that simple. Trying to screw someone like Stephen Street out of fair payment for his work (and expecting him to be cool with that) is ridiculous.It does all come to money, of course it does , if your in receipt of any monies , owed,or incoming would you not keep a careful eye on it all, coz no c*** in rough trade did... did they ..... ? As I’ve posted earlier moz now in “some” kind of control over his financial affairs....
Or shall moz just accept the likes of Craig gammon .... with his £44k payout ... and for what.....
tweeking a couple of strings on 4king ASK.....
and been a 4king arsehole on a American tour where, Keith from Middlesbrough lives .....
Wierside jack is dead ..
Long live Keith..... you make Carlisle look like a very glamorous place that it is .... iiiiiinnnnnnniiiitttttt
Why? It's the same old story and we all know how it goes. The first mention of money and Moz runs away, gets other people to handle the conflict (whether that's Mum, Johnny, Boz, lawyers etc) and maybe sends out some passive-aggressive letters/postcards/faxes after the fact, basically letting the complainant know that they were a worm anyway and lucky to be in his presence. There have been several people in the exact same position as Street and the story never, ever changes.Would only be fair to hear both sides of the story.
David Byrne is a different animal. He’s always been clear about what he wants and expects. His vision is whole. “American Untopia” was a fantastic album and the vision and execution of the tour was 100% AMAZING. You’d do well to compare Morrissey to someone within his own level of artistry. Melvis and his minions don’t hold a candle to anything Byrne has done in the past 25 years.
Get a f***ing clue.
Why? It's the same old story and we all know how it goes. The first mention of money and Moz runs away, gets other people to handle the conflict (whether that's Mum, Johnny, Boz, lawyers etc) and maybe sends out some passive-aggressive letters/postcards/faxes after the fact, basically letting the complainant know that they were a worm anyway and lucky to be in his presence. There have been several people in the exact same position as Street and the story never, ever changes.
Why? It's the same old story and we all know how it goes. The first mention of money and Moz runs away, gets other people to handle the conflict (whether that's Mum, Johnny, Boz, lawyers etc) and maybe sends out some passive-aggressive letters/postcards/faxes after the fact, basically letting the complainant know that they were a worm anyway and lucky to be in his presence. There have been several people in the exact same position as Street and the story never, ever changes.
So says an anonymous someone on a Moz fansite. Haha.David Byrne is a different animal. He’s always been clear about what he wants and expects. His vision is whole. “American Untopia” was a fantastic album and the vision and execution of the tour was 100% AMAZING. You’d do well to compare Morrissey to someone within his own level of artistry. Melvis and his minions don’t hold a candle to anything Byrne has done in the past 25 years.
Get a f***ing clue.
£750 for Viva Hate? Are you serious? WTF!!That's right, the same story over and over. Vini Reilly only got £750 for Viva Hate and wanted 1500 for the next album and Morrissey said no. Seriously, he couldn't pay that for sublime guitar work? Disappointing.
£750 for Viva Hate? Are you serious? WTF!!
I wonder if Vini said this around the same time he said that he not Street wrote the songs on Viva Hate.
We need to hear both sides of the story.
I pity and new fan coming to Morrissey for the first time, and picking up the bastardised versions of Viva Hate, Kill Uncle etc - even stuff like Southpaw and trying to get a handle on the historical weight of those albums, and what they meant at the time. Sure, I'm grateful for the new previously unreleased material that has emerged on the reissues, but these should just have appeared as bonus extra tracks, rather than trying to do a George Lucas revision on the main album tracklistings themselves. He's left his solo back catalogue in a right old mess.I also agree that Morrissey ruined Viva Hate with the reissue. Ordinary Boys may be my favorite song on the album and he got rid of it. I just couldn't believe it. And Maudlin is supposed to be an epic, it's a long drive home after a crazy night.
Morrissey sounds awful to work with, I'm sure Stephen Street was being polite here. It's a shame Moz could not hold onto his most talented collaborators.
But they didn't fall out creatively. The only reason the relationship ended was because Morrissey was tight-fisted when it came to paying out the money. Which has been a bit of a recurring theme throughout his career....probably Street is marvelous, but I don't think Morrissey can work for too long with someone who has that way of thinking or that way of working.
Ha... I thought the opposite. It must have been awful for Morrissey to work with Stephen Street, even if Street did a great job.
Stephen Street in this article and in other articles always sounds as someone who wants to have the final word on how each person should play, how the music should sound, how the album should be mixed... and his idea is that Morrissey is an amazing singer and lyricist... for something that he seems to believe that it's his album with Morrissey on vocals.
It's not really a bad way of working, a lot of bands work like that (I really don't like Depeche Mode at all, but the frontman is not really the one in charge there, it's martin gore).
I can't imagine Morrissey being able to record hundreds of albums working like that... He seems to be the kind of person who wants to have the final word when it comes to his albums, and it's fair, the name of the artist on the album is "Morrissey", not "Stephen Street featuring Morrissey"... and probably Street is marvelous, but I don't think Morrissey can work for too long with someone who has that way of thinking or that way of working.
I see here people who often jokes about Morrissey choosing "yes men" as his collaborators... It is probably true. I think he doesn't want collaborators, he simply wants musicians who help him to do what he wants to do (as opposed to doing what they think it would sound better). An orchestra never has two directors.
This is what you always write in these debates. But we will never hear both sides, will we? Morrissey seems to always be in these kinds of situations, while Street has produced dozens of bands over the last four decades without a glitch. I find it hard to believe, that his demands would have been unreasonable. Yes, he was lucky to get to write and work with Morrissey -- but he still deserved to be paid for his efforts too.Would only be fair to hear both sides of the story.
Exactly. Moz had no complaints about Street's previous work on TQID or as a producer on Strangeways. In terms of there not being 'two directors' - well if anything, the musical and technical 'directors' in the Smiths were the producer(s) and Johnny, who worked very closely with them and learned a lot from them. Morrissey understood that dynamic and has praised producers like Jerry Finn, etc - he knows his technical limitations. This was about the ££££What you are describing is literally the job of a Producer. They shape the sound, direct the musicians and supervise the technical aspects. Morrissey may have the vision, but the job of the producer is to bring those ideas to fruition in the studio. A producer has to have strong ideas and both musical and technical knowledge. This is not a role that Morrissey can do.