You're never going to believe this, but Morrissey is once again publicly upset with his former Smiths bandmate Johnny Marr. Those two have been at odds with one another for decades, and Morrissey generally isn't shy about popping off on Marr online. It happened again yesterday.
Morrissey's latest issue seems to be something that Marr supposedly told The Guardian about how the Smiths got signed to Rough Trade records in 1983. Right now, Rough Trade is in the midst of celebrating its 50th anniversary, and the festivities include a Life Without Buildings reunion. It's certainly possible that The Guardian is planning a feature on that anniversary. On the Morrissey Central website yesterday, Morrissey posted a retort to an unpublished story about Marr and the late Smiths bassist Andy Rourke going to London to give Smiths' demo to the label.
Morrissey claims that Marr's story is "deliberately untrue" and that he's "aware" of its "distortion." Here's what he says:
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Rough Trade Records, Marr gave an interview with a writer from The Guardian (but of course!) in which it was explained how both Marr and Andy Rourke had traveled to Rough Trade Records many icebergs ago to offer the Smiths first recording ("Hand in Glove") in consideration of a contract. Naturally, this is deliberately untrue. It was Morrissey and Marr who made that journey to Rough Trade - at a time when Andy Rourke would not yet commit to becoming a group member. Marr must be fully aware of this distortion, but he nonetheless approved the text which, being written by a Guardian-stasi functionary, mentioned Morrissey only as a footnote in the Smiths history, and not as a founding member who solely created the group name. What is true will always be true, despite the efforts of Marr and his Guardian to shift the narrative.
Both Rough Trade Records and Warner Records (London) assured me that this 50th anniversary article will never be printed anywhere.
We shall see!
Maybe the article really never will be printed. In any case, the article in question isn't online yet. It's possible that the publication contacted Morrissey to fact-check ahead of publication and he's posting through it. Over the years, there have been a bunch of versions of the story about the Smiths getting their demo to Rough Trade, and a fansite commentator recently listed some of the variations on that story that have appeared in different memoirs and accounts.
Just before his complaint about this hypothetical Guardian article, Morrissey also posted about how it was always his idea for the Smiths to pose for photos outside Manchester's Salford Lads Club:
For those who care about detail, being photographed outside of Salford Lads Club was not a Smiths idea or design, it was solely my idea, to which as usual the other three initially viewed as more unnecessary Morrissey lunacy. Now that millions of people come from all over the world to be photographed on that very spot, it is claimed as a Smiths idea. It wasn't, it isn't, and it never shall be. If I had suggested a photo outside Kellogg's the likelihood is that the other three would have done that instead.
In 2024, Morrissey claimed that Marr had "blocked" various Smiths reissues because they couldn't agree on the artwork. Last month, there was speculation that a Smiths reissue, planned for the Rough Trade 50 festivities, had been canceled for the same reason. But Johnny Marr could not prevent Morrissey from picking some butt-ugly artwork for the deluxe single version of "Notre-Dame" (the song with the missing "terrorism" lyric) that Morrissey recently announced. That single is out May 22, and the bonus tracks are already out digitally. Look at this:
Last month, Morrissey called for a boycott of Brooklyn Vegan because of that site's post about the upcoming Darker Waves festival. Maybe that's because Brooklyn Vegan, like everyone else who posted that festival lineup, referenced Morrissey's habit of canceling shows. It could also because BV listed Smashing Pumpkins before him in their headline, even though Morrissey is the fest headliner.
Sadly, we may be in the final days of Morrissey posting his invective on the Morrissey Central website. Fortunately, though, he may be able to post them somewhere else instead. It appears that Morrissey may have finally claimed the Morrissey.com domain, or that whoever recently acquired it is doing free promo for Morrissey.
