Does Morrissey's Racism Tarnish The Smiths' Legacy?

[Crabwalk]

If anything I enjoy The Smiths more now than ever. Whereas before I empathised with Morrissey, now I can simply revel in his misery.

[non capisco]

I think it's a real extreme stretch to infer that verse in "Panic" is racist in any way. Finding it weird that it's been construed as that at all to be honest.

There is a bit of context to it. Morrissey gave an interview to Melody Maker a year before the release of 'Panic' where he came out with this shite.

Obviously to get on Top Of The Pops these days, one has to be, by law, black.

And more pertinently to the "Hang the DJ" thing

Ultimately, I don't have very cast iron opinions on black music other than black modern music which I detest. I detest Stevie Wonder. I think Diana Ross is awful. I hate all those records in the Top 40 — Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston. I think they're vile in the extreme.

Threatened by the militant ghetto sounds of Whitney Houston. Note he doesn't single out these artists for making songs he finds insipid, it's the fact they're black he seems to have a problem with. Imagine thinking Control era Janet Jackson was shit, anyway. Dead eared cunt.

Morrissey: "I think, as a result, that very aware younger groups that speak for now are being gagged."

Owen: "You seem to be saying that you believe that there is some sort of black pop conspiracy being organised to keep white indie groups down."

M: "Yes. I really do."

I agree there's nothing in Panic at face value to suggest he isn't just singing about the Top 40 being full of vapid bollocks but if you'd read that little diatribe of his you'd be justified in reading more into it. He's always been a racist and he outed himself as such in that Maker interview from '86. I'm guessing the inkies didn't make a bigger thing of it because The Smiths were their absolute bread and butter at the time. If memory serves they only started properly going for him about it round about the time of 'Your Arsenal' when he was coming on stage draped in the Union flag with a backdrop of some skinheads and singing songs like Bengali In Platforms and his shitty bigoted opinions had bled into his songwriting and were now impossible to ignore.

[Lemming]

As a teenager, I had a phase of loving The Smiths to the exclusion of all other music for a little bit, as many teens do. Even then, I thought Morrissey's seemingly endless gloom was a limitless source of amusement.

The Headmaster Ritual is a great song, made even greater by the mental image the lyrics conjure up of a child-Morrissey being kicked in the nuts by a lunatic headteacher. Sent flying, quiff all fucked up, tragic.

[The Culture Bunker]

I got into the Smiths in 1996 or so, when I was 15, and they were a refreshing tonic to all the macho shit that Oasis represented, at least to me. This was pre-internet, of course, so a lot of what Morrissey had said was completely unknown to me.

Perhaps the first love of my life was an Estonian girl who was equally into the Smiths as me, and we saw Morrissey together in Tallinn. It wasn't even that good a show, but it's a good memory because of the wider context.

Has all the shite Morrissey has spewed out since tarnished them? I'm not actually sure, but perhaps so. I've met Andy Rourke, who was lovely, and as a bassist myself, I can appreciate his contribution to the band's sound. And Johnny Marr seems a sound chap too, but it's hard to get past the fact the frontman was a large part of their appeal and I (eventually) found out he was an obnoxious prick, which given how much I believed I related to him in my youth, is quite the hurdle to get past in terms of enjoying their work.

[The Mollusk]

Thanks for the clarification guys, appreciated! I was being quite short sighted clearly, I knew Morrissey was always a smug knobhead but wasn't aware that it was to this extent. Grim.

[Pauline Walnuts]

Has all the shite Morrissey has spewed out since tarnished them? I'm not actually sure, but perhaps so. I've met Andy Rourke, who was lovely, and as a bassist myself, I can appreciate his contribution to the band's sound. And Johnny Marr seems a sound chap too, but it's hard to get past the fact the frontman was a large part of their appeal and I (eventually) found out he was an obnoxious prick, which given how much I believed I related to him in my youth, is quite the hurdle to get past in terms of enjoying their work.

Didn't Morrissey* effectively stealing the bass player and drummers money put you off the 'Devious, truculent and unreliable' Morrissey? It did me.



*And Johnny Marr. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/209224.stm

[Johnny Yesno]

Thanks for the clarification guys, appreciated! I was being quite short sighted clearly, I knew Morrissey was always a smug knobhead but wasn't aware that it was to this extent. Grim.

Seconded.

[good times]

I've seen it said a few times how incomprehensible it is that the "thoughtful, sensitive" (paraphrasing) Morrissey of the Smiths become what he is today.

However I don't think current day Morrissey is incongruous with the character singing the words in The Smiths. Essentially a bitter and twisted outcast who fetishes the idea of England, age that persona 35 years and him adding more overt racism into the mix isn't that shocking.

I'm going to posit that deep down all those uni students who idolised him were also subconscious fascists, and they're more angry at themselves than Morrissey.

[jamiefairlie]

I think we'll find that as they all age you'll get the next generation of 'Brexit Jam fans' emerging from amongst those sensitive souls. So Moz may not be as out of step with them as we may imagine.

[Kankurette]

"I would like to eventually turn into Germaine Greer"

monkey paw finger curls

They went full Yer Da. You NEVER go full Yer Da.

[Neomod]

I think we'll find that as they all age you'll get the next generation of 'Brexit Jam fans' emerging from amongst those sensitive souls. So Moz may not be as out of step with them as we may imagine.

Go to any Northern Soul/Mod night these days and you'll find most of the fifty something's have long forgone the internationalist mindset of Le Paris Match and become grumpy little Englanders.

[Brundle-Fly]

Go to any Northern Soul/Mod night these days and you'll find most of the fifty something's have long forgone the internationalist mindset of Le Paris Match and become grumpy little Englanders.

Hmm... I think that Style Council lofty tenet went over their heads even at the time.