A Selection of Great Smiths and Morrissey Covers by Female Artists

By Tom Hawking, Flavorwire, on May 13, 2013 4:30pm

Today is the 30th anniversary of the release of The Smiths’ first single, the enduringly  excellent “Hand in Glove.” The song failed to chart — but it was later covered, curiously enough, by British pop singer Sandie Shaw, whose version reached #27 in the UK charts and helped a great deal in introducing the general public to the band. The idea of female singers covering the Smiths and/or Morrissey is interesting, simply because their songs are so quintessentially male in their own effete way. And so, in a repeat of the thought exercise we carried out with Leonard Cohen a few weeks back, we’ve rounded up a selection of Smiths covers (with the occasional Morrissey song for good measure) by female artists — including one particularly amazing track by Tiffany, of all people

Click this link to read the original article.

Posted in Morrissey | Leave a comment

Morrissey: “Begrafenis Thatcher wrijft zout in de wonden”

© getty.

Morrissey steekt zijn mening over de recent overleden Margaret Thatcher niet onder stoelen of banken. Naar aanleiding van haar begrafenis zei hij dat het hele gebeuren een belediging is voor “al haar slachtoffers”. Ook de manier waarop de media haar leven en werk in beeld brengt, wrijft volgens hem zout in de wonden.

Toen op acht april bekend raakte dat Thatcher overleden was, deelde Morrissey met de wereld dat ze “geen reet om mensen gaf”. Twee dagen geleden publiceerde hij een uitgebreide statement op fansite ‘True To You’, waarin hij onder meer de manier aanklaagt waarop kranten schrijven over het leiderschap van de ‘Iron Lady’. Zo verwijt hij de media dat ze niet delen hoe het er echt aan toegaat op de Britse straten, maar enkel hoe ze het graag zouden hebben.

Niets

“Ik heb geluisterd en gekeken en heb een totaal gebrek aan waarheid ontdekt, waarvan ik nooit gedroomd had dat het zou bestaan in modern Brittannië. Margaret Thatcher is niet meer en kan dus niet de schuldige zijn van de verslagen over haar dood, verslagen die zo partijdig zijn en vol dreigende onverdraagzaamheid staan. We moeten ons bijna gaan afvragen hoe we ooit nog één woord kunnen geloven uit de Britse geschiedenisboeken. Aan al wie het ‘thatcherisme’ overleefde en wie zich Thatcher nog herinnert als een ‘living hell’… de Daily Mail en The Guardian hebben een boodschap voor ons: “Jij bent niets!”", schreef een misnoegde Morrissey.

Zout in de wonden

Over de begrafenis van Thatcher was hij ook niet bepaald te spreken: “Onze gedachten worden verder gekweld door de uitdagende extravagantie van de begrafenis en de militaire groet. Ze ontdoen haar slachtoffers van alles en wrijven pijnlijk zout in de wonden”.

Bron:  

Posted in Morrissey, Music | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Surely how I feel is not nothing? : Morrissey on Margaret Thatcher – Part 2.

16 April 2013
 

Surely how I feel is not nothing?

by Morrissey, 15 april 2013

I have listened and I have seen a lack of truth that we had dared not believe existed in modern Britain. Margaret Thatcher has left the order of the world, and she is not to blame for the reports of her own death – reports so dangerously biased and full of intolerant menace that we now wonder how we can possibly believe anything that has ever been recorded in British history books. The coverage by the British media of Thatcher’s death has been exclusively absorbed in Thatcher’s canonization to such a censorial degree that we suddenly see the modern British establishment as an uncivilized entity of delusion, giving the cold shoulder to truth, and offering indescribable disgust to anyone unimpressed by Thatcher. Even to contest Thatcher’s worth is termed “anarchist”, and this source of insanity – intolerant of debate, is spearheaded by the BBC reporting not on how things actually are on British streets, but on how they would prefer things to be. For those of us who survived despite Thatcherism, and who recall Thatcher as a living hell, The Daily Mail and The Guardian have a steadfast message for us: You are nothing. Our thoughts are further burdened by the taunting extravagance of Thatcher’s funeral; the ceremonial lavish, the military salute, stripping Thatcher’s victims of everything, and rubbing salt in wounds with teasing relish. It is all happening against us. In thought, we have killed Thatcher off a million times, but now that we have the reality of her death, the Metropolitan Police have set up new laws against us, and within paragraphs of law, we are not allowed to register our feelings so that anyone might overhear them. Echoes of Libya? Echoes of any Middle Eastern patch whose troubles are thought too uncivilized for a democratic England where chivalrous respect is afforded to “freedom”, and where we are all servile to “democracy.” It is, of course, The Big Lie. The fact that there will be such an enormous police presence at Thatcher’s funeral is evidence that her name is synonymous with trouble – a trouble she brought on herself. No one wished for it, or brought it to her, yet she created her subtle form of anarchy nonetheless. BBC News will scantily report on anti-Thatcher demonstrations as if those taking part aren’t real people. Lordly scorn is shown towards North Korea and Syria, and any distant country ruled by tyrannical means, yet the British government employs similar dictatorship tactics in order to protect their own arrogant interests. There will be no search for true wisdom this week, as the BBC gleefully report how Ding Dong the witch is dead “failed to reach number 1″, and they repeat the word “failed” four times within the brief report, and a shivering sovereign darkness clouds England – such identifications known only in China.

There will be no report as to how “the British people have succeeded in downloading Ding dong the witch is dead to number 2″, and we are engulfed in Third Reich maneuvers as BBC Radio assume the role of sensible adult, finger-wagging at that naughty public who must not be allowed to hear the song that they have elected to number 2. By banning Ding dong the witch is dead (and only allowing four seconds of a song is, in fact, a ban) the BBC are effectively admitting that the witch in question can only possibly be Margaret Thatcher (and not Margaret Hamilton), even though Thatcher isn’t mentioned in the song, which is in fact a harmless, children’s song written over 70 years ago. Whilst the BBC tut-tut-tutted a polite disapproval at the Russian government for sending a “feminist punk” band to prison for recording an anti-government song, they engage in identical intolerance against Ding dong the witch is dead without a second’s hesitation. Thatcher’s funeral will be paid for by the public – who have not been asked if they object to paying, yet the public will be barred from attending. In their place, the cast are symbols of withering – as old as their prejudices, adroit at hiding Thatcher’s disasters. Ancestry and posterity, trimmed with pageantry, will block out anyone with a gripe. David Cameron will cling to Thatcher as she clung to the Malvinas, each in their last-ditch efforts to survive obscurity. Cameron achieves his own conclusions without any regard for the appalling social record of The Thatcher Destroyer – the protestors outside are simply not being British, or, even worse, are probably from Liverpool. When Cameron talks he is simply speaking his part, but he is adamant that the scorn Thatcher poured onto others should not be returned to her. Her mourning family must have considerations that were never shown to the families of the Hillsborough victims, and although Thatcher willingly played her part in the Hillsborough cover-up, let’s not go into all that now. Instead we’re asked to show respect for a Prime Minister whose own Cabinet were her rivals. Thatcher’s death gives added height to David Cameron (a Prime Minister who wasn’t actually voted in by the British people, yet there he is – reminding us all of our manners), and he does not understand how the best reason for doing something is because there’s nothing in it for you. The words of Cameron are assumed to have weight, yet his personal gain is the only reason why he speaks those words. Cameron tells us that the British people loved Thatcher, but we are all aware that Sunningdale and Chelsea are his Britain; he does not mean the people of Salford or Stockton-on-Tees, who are, in any case, somewhere north of Lord’s Cricket Ground. Can the BBC possibly interview someone with no careerist gain attached to their dribble? No. On the day that nine British citizens are arrested in Trafalgar Square for voicing their objections to the Baroness, the BBC News instead offer their opening platform to Carol Thatcher, a dumped non-star of I’m a celebrity get me out of here, and to Sir Mark Thatcher (Sir!), unseen since the disgrace of his involvement in selling arms to countries at odds with Britain (magically, he avoided a 15-year prison term and was financially bailed out by his mother – her moral conscience nowhere in sight as Sir Mark patriotically took his 64 million and fled to Gibraltar having been refused entry to Switzerland and Monaco. What kind of mother raised such a son?) Both Mark and Carol get the BBC spotlight because they mourn their mother’s death, whilst those honest civilians who mourn Thatcher’s life are shunted out of view. This is how we see Syrian TV operate, and this is most certainly NOT a week when David Cameron will advise: “hug a hoodie.” Whilst the quite astonishing social phenomenon of Ding Dong the witch is dead is ignored by the television news, instead we are shown an eight-minute clip of Psy, a funny little South Korean singer who is making all British newsreaders laugh with his funny little new video. Today, news items from South Korea, Belgium and China get precedence over homeland news of anti-Thatcher protests in Trafalgar Square, and the meaningless banality of Modern Media Britain casts a shameful shadow. Repeated and repeated, words strengthen. The truth sleeps as the heartlessness of Thatcher is re-written as a strength, for it was not exclusively because Thatcher destroyed the miners or murdered the boys of The Belgrano that we feel rage, but it was the lip-smacking relish with which she did both, and with which she sent armies of police to batter anyone who opposed her view. Gaddafi did the same thing in the same way. Thatcher could never show sympathy, or empathy, or understanding to those from whom David Cameron is now demanding a show of civil respect for a woman who, like Myra Hindley, proved to all of us that the female could be just as cruel as the male. By 1990 Thatcher was the gift that not even her own Cabinet wanted, and she was tufted out of office. How could such a catastrophic end warrant a statue in Trafalgar Square? Revenge was the vital juice of every move made by Thatcher, and her results produced the most dis-United Kingdom ever seen in history. Although Thatcher was never flesh, her demeanor took on an incurably demented sadness, and her broadcasting tones registered madness … as Britain burned. From all of this we see, in this April week of 2013, that modern media reporting in Britain is a disturbing fog of taboos and prejudices, reviving the divisions that Thatcher hatched, whilst hiding her horrors. Even in death, Thatcher remains ‘the enemy within.’

And the truth sleeps.

Posted in Morrissey, Music, Other | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Morrissey on Margaret Thatcher

9 April 2013

Margaret Thatcher

The difficulty with giving a comment on Margaret Thatcher’s death to the British tabloids is that, no matter how calmly and measuredly you speak, the comment must be reported as an “outburst” or an “explosive attack” if your view is not pro-establishment. If you reference “the Malvinas”, it will be switched to “the Falklands”, and your “Thatcher” will be softened to a “Maggie.” This is generally how things are structured in a non-democratic society. Thatcher’s name must be protected not because of all the wrong that she had done, but because the people around her allowed her to do it, and therefore any criticism of Thatcher throws a dangerously absurd light on the entire machinery of British politics. Thatcher was not a strong or formidable leader. She simply did not give a shit about people, and this coarseness has been neatly transformed into bravery by the British press who are attempting to re-write history in order to protect patriotism. As a result, any opposing view is stifled or ridiculed, whereas we must all endure the obligatory praise for Thatcher from David Cameron without any suggestion from the BBC that his praise just might be an outburst of pro-Thatcher extremism from someone whose praise might possibly protect his own current interests. The fact that Thatcher ignited the British public into street-riots, violent demonstrations and a social disorder previously unseen in British history is completely ignored by David Cameron in 2013. In truth, of course, no British politician has ever been more despised by the British people than Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher’s funeral on Wednesday will be heavily policed for fear that the British tax-payer will want to finally express their view of Thatcher. They are certain to be tear-gassed out of sight by the police.

 

United Kingdom? Syria? China? What’s the difference?

 

Morrissey

9 April 2013

Posted in Morrissey, Music | Leave a comment

The Smiths – The Ultimate Music Guide! Uncut special on sale this week

This Thursday, March 14, 2013 the next in UNCUT’s ongoing series of Ultimate Music Guides hits the shops. This one is dedicated to The Smiths.

Read more at UNCUT

Source: UNCUT

Posted in Music, The Smiths | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Tony Visconti on Morrissey’s current recording situation

Rolling Stone interviewed producer Tony Visconti about his work on David Bowie‘s new album “The Next Day“. Visconti said a few words on Morrissey‘s current recording situation:


Do you think that you and Morrissey will ever work together again?
Hopefully we will. I’m going to see him Friday night in Brooklyn. We email a lot. We talk a lot. He’s very reluctant to have a deal with anybody. Cause nowadays, the problem is, when a label signs you – right now, he has no label – so if I sign a new label deal, he has to sign a 360 deal. They want a piece of everything. If you write a book, if you write a song, if you’re in a movie, they want part of your fee for all these things. So that’s the deal that the big labels are offering now and that’s because sales are so low and they have to make up their money some way. He’s totally against that. He’s old-school. Actually I don’t blame him.

He could pull a Radiohead and post it online for a fee.
I know. He’s also old school about paying for it himself. Traditionally, the label’s gotta pay for him. I understand that, and there’s an old saying in show business that you never invest your own money in a show. It kinda follows onto recording to some extent, but that attitude has changed.

He could also sign to an indie label that wouldn’t make him sign a 360. . . But beyond that, he has enough fans that he’d make a killing charging $10 for an album online?
Yeah, he’ll make his money back, yeah. He’s playing his new songs onstage, they’re being recorded on cell phones every night of the week and they’re wonderful songs.


Read the interview @ Rolling Stonehttp://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/david-bowies-the-next-day-album-a-track-by-track-preview-20130115

Source: Rolling Stone

Posted in David Bowie, Morrissey, Music | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

David Bowie’s ‘The Next’ Day’ Album: A Track-by-Track Preview

Longtime producer Tony Visconti says Bowie may do a single concert to celebrate new LP

Tony Visconti has been producing David Bowie‘s albums since Space Oddity in 1969. They’ve worked together on many of Bowie’s greatest triumphs, including Heroes, Young Americans and Scary Monsters. After a long break, they joined forces again in the early 2000s for Heathen and Reality. Two years ago, he started working with Bowie on his long-awaited new album, The Next Day.

Rolling Stone spoke to Visconti about the pair’s secret sessions, how medieval English history inspired some of the songs and why it’s unlikely that Bowie will tour – though a single show remains possible. As the producer noted, his other longtime collaborator, Morrissey, has the opposite plan. . . but he’ll get to that.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/david-bowies-the-next-day-album-a-track-by-track-preview-20130115

Source: Rolling Stone

Posted in David Bowie, Music | Tagged , , | 1 Comment