"Kill Uncle" released 17 years ago today

[Corrissey]

I thought it was great at the time and very funny. Sing Your Life and Our Frank are very fun, and Found, Found, Found is a riff nearly as good as How Soon Is Now. The live versions of some of the songs were a lot better, but I never thought it was a bad record.

I probably did compare it to his other records, because I know I did that with other bands and artists, but I can't remember that. I just liked it a lot, and it was being played on the radio which was the first time that ever happened where I lived.

It was years later online that I discovered this record didn't have the best reputation. I think one of the reasons I didn't have a problem with the musical style on the record is because to me it's always been 90% about the lyrics and the singing. The Smiths were Morrissey's band to me. I liked him first for his interviews before I'd ever heard the music.

The music is great, and I don't mean to put it down at all. I just think that the appeal is Morrissey and his personality, and his style. I'd never heard anyone else sing like that or write those kinds of lyrics, and I didn't scrutinize that record so much as I was just glad that there was a new batch of Morrissey songs.

Excellent post! Tho, the bold is all I disagree with in only that--for me, it was his music first, then interviews. I could have cared less what the man ever said about anything. That VOICE...those FEELINGS...those LOOKS!

That's the one major virtue of "Kill Uncle". His voice does sound warmer and more intimate. The songs are calmer and in places almost conversational. It's his least emotional record, too. Most of the pain and upheaval is talked of matter of factly or he's observing it happen to someone else. The emotional distance between two "driving" songs, "Driving Your Girlfriend Home" and "There Is A Light That NEver Goes Out", gives all the contrast you need to see why "Kill Uncle" is different than his other albums-- and also why, in my opinion, it's inferior.

Another excellent post (you guys really help to express my feelings ) I never thought of it as 'conversational' - YES - that's it. His voice is very very warm... and there is an almost echo on a lot of the songs -very sublime and divine. I absolutely love End of the Family Line. Gah, that song just slays me. So bittersweet. A lot of people don't sense or feel the emotion in that song, but I get it. I even love Harsh Truth. I mean, THAT is a unique song! It makes me think of all of his pictures...

Our Frank is a killer opening track on Kill Uncle. I almost wish KU would end on There is a place in Hell -perfection- but just as you want to die... you're jammin to Tony the Pony (I guess that's the celebration after the funeral)

I could hang on this thread.

 

[Elevator]

WOW ... I remember that day VIVIDLY ...

... Unfortunately, I remember immediately feeling that this was the very first release from Moz and/or the Smiths that didn't COMPLETELY BLOW ME AWAY and then some (If I'm correct chronologically, "November Spawned a Monster" had come out as a single shortly before, and that was my favorite Moz solo song to date ... I suppose my expectations were a tad out of hand at that point!)

WOW I'M OLD!

 

[Worm]

It's funny because this past weekend I was doing some work in the house, and I put on the UCLA gig from the Kill Uncle tour and it gave me chills. It felt like just yesterday that I was at that gig, and I can remember everything so vividly from the moment the whole arena rushed the front during King Leer, to the crush of bodies against the front when the barrier broke, to the complete pandemonium and thousands of crushed chairs when he had to leave the stage, to walking outside and seeing dozens of ambulance vans and smashed and looted stalls. I mean, it's f***ing crazy! I remember being 15 and being crushed against that stage and going between extreme fear that I might possibly die, and complete excitement what I was witnessing was never going to happen again. Fear of death aside, I loved every second of it. I just have so much a better appreciation for Kill Uncle now. What I got out of it back then is completely different than what I get out of it now, but going through that transition over the years is part of the beauty of that record. Does that make any sense?

I remember the gig well. I had been excited for weeks because (after a night camping out for wristbands) my friends and I were first in line to buy tickets. We had our tickets about one minute after they went on sale. As such we thought we'd be in the first ten or fifteen rows of the front section. Instead we were a good fifty or sixty rows back. It was a harsh lesson about VIPs and how tickets are allotted: we watched dozens of people who were pretty obviously not Morrissey fans walk past us, up to the front. I don't mean they were not as "cool" as we were-- I mean they looked like people who stumbled onto a free concert ticket for an artist with some industry "buzz" and had nothing better to do but head over to Westwood for the night. Anyone who has lived or spent time in L.A. knows what these types look like.

We were infuriated. I wasn't sorry when the "riot" broke out and the gig ended. I don't think anyone was seriously hurt-- I hope not-- but in any case I was disgusted by what I saw. Several of us felt that the sudden melee was justified. Everything about it was weird from the get-go, as were a few other southern California gigs (most notably the Forum). The atmospheres in the various venues were anemic, hesitant, over-policed. Maybe I was too restless, I don't know, but when Morrissey took the stage it's like the shows boiled into this strange, beautiful pandemonium that was all too frequently stifled. You sensed that somehow the venue had to be overcome, and that Morrissey sensed this as well. The best moments seemed to be the brief intervals when the dam would burst, and unfortunately a few people got hurt.

At least I had the pleasure of coming home to my worried mother, who had seen the "riot" on the Eleven O'Clock News and had feared for my safety. "Who is this Morrissey guy?" she asked, genuinely menaced by this strange effete man from England who professed the gospels of vegetarianism and gladioli yet seemed to walk in a cloud of threat and violence. One of my prouder moments.

 

[morrisseychic]

damn, i'm getting old. i was 16 when it came out

 

[Paulc]

At least I had the pleasure of coming home to my worried mother, who had seen the "riot" on the Eleven O'Clock News and had feared for my safety. "Who is this Morrissey guy?" she asked, genuinely menaced by this strange effete man from England who professed the gospels of vegetarianism and gladioli yet seemed to walk in a cloud of threat and violence. One of my prouder moments.

i love this!!!

So what actually happened at this gig, why was there a riot? did Morrissey leave because of the riot or did his leaving cause it?

I have found all the (standing) Morrissey gigs i have been to pretty rough including those recently in London. Its very hard to explain why but when describing the atmosphere to others i always say its like standing at an 80s English football match when its packed and everyones had a drink- you get pushed around, you are a bit drunk, you chant and sing and occassionally have a fight.

p.s. i ADORE Kill Uncle

 

[Worm]

i love this!!!

So what actually happened at this gig, why was there a riot? did Morrissey leave because of the riot or did his leaving cause it?

I have found all the (standing) Morrissey gigs i have been to pretty rough including those recently in London. Its very hard to explain why but when describing the atmosphere to others i always say its like standing at an 80s English football match when its packed and everyones had a drink- you get pushed around, you are a bit drunk, you chant and sing and occassionally have a fight.

p.s. i ADORE Kill Uncle

Yes, it's weird because I am in no way a violent person, but the electricity at a Morrissey gig is too much to resist. I know what you mean about a football match-- er, my reference being American football of course. You do feel under the sway of some massive force. Of course it has its frightening side, thinking of fascist rallies and so on, but I always thought it was "mass hysteria" in its, um, most benign and wonderful form. The closest I've ever come to understanding rave culture or hippies, to be sure.

The UCLA gig lasted about seven or eight songs. From the stage, Morrissey saw that everyone was staying in their seats due to the heavy security presence. Between songs he made a few comments about how quiet everyone was. Nothing big. Then, after one song, he said something like "You don't have to stay in your seats if you don't want to". That was all the incitement anyone needed. The restlessness turned into an all-out melee. It was like watching a crowd suddenly wake up and break through police barriers. One person ran by me. Then another. Then three or four more, all running toward the stage. The dam broke and people started streaming toward the stage. I don't remember how many got up there. Most of the action was taking place in the aisles below.

Morrisey and the band left, mid-song, and a few minutes later the lights came on and the crowd was told the show was over. Everyone piled out in disappointment. There was the usual sort of petty vandalism and trash-throwing inside and outside the venue, and that was that. The word "riot" was used on TV but it wasn't really as bad as that. I think a few people got hurt, which as I said was unfortunate.

I'm not certain it was taken at this gig but I think there's a photo of Morrissey backstage, looking extremely worried about the carnage he had caused-- it's in "Peepholism". I'd check but I don't have it front of me.

 

[Sharron Needles]

Yes, it's weird because I am in no way a violent person, but the electricity at a Morrissey gig is too much to resist. I know what you mean about a football match-- er, my reference being American football of course. You do feel under the sway of some massive force. Of course it has its frightening side, thinking of fascist rallies and so on, but I always thought it was "mass hysteria" in its, um, most benign and wonderful form. The closest I've ever come to understanding rave culture or hippies, to be sure.

The UCLA gig lasted about seven or eight songs. From the stage, Morrissey saw that everyone was staying in their seats due to the heavy security presence. Between songs he made a few comments about how quiet everyone was. Nothing big. Then, after one song, he said something like "You don't have to stay in your seats if you don't want to". That was all the incitement anyone needed. The restlessness turned into an all-out melee. It was like watching a crowd suddenly wake up and break through police barriers. One person ran by me. Then another. Then three or four more, all running toward the stage. The dam broke and people started streaming toward the stage. I don't remember how many got up there. Most of the action was taking place in the aisles below.

Morrisey and the band left, mid-song, and a few minutes later the lights came on and the crowd was told the show was over. Everyone piled out in disappointment. There was the usual sort of petty vandalism and trash-throwing inside and outside the venue, and that was that. The word "riot" was used on TV but it wasn't really as bad as that. I think a few people got hurt, which as I said was unfortunate.

I'm not certain it was taken at this gig but I think there's a photo of Morrissey backstage, looking extremely worried about the carnage he had caused-- it's in "Peepholism". I'd check but I don't have it front of me.

I admit, I was one of the ones that first started running forward. Did you follow us? I think part of the problem, besides the chairs, was the fact that they set up a second barricade further back, besides the one in front of the stage. There was also the same type crowd barricade between the 10th and 11th rows or something. Do you remember that? That was the first one to fall. You also failed to mention that after he left the stage, they made us wait down on that floor for over an hour to tell us that he actually left. Everyone passed all of the broken chairs towards the stage, we all sat down cross-legged on the floor, and sat and waited for a long time. I also missed all of the action outside and saw only the aftermath because since I was in front, I was one of the last to exit the arena, after I finally found my friends, whom of course, got separated from. I just saw the stretchers carrying people away and broken glass and trash everywhere.

 

[Worm]

I admit, I was one of the ones that first started running forward. Did you follow us? I think part of the problem, besides the chairs, was the fact that they set up a second barricade further back, besides the one in front of the stage. There was also the same type crowd barricade between the 10th and 11th rows or something. Do you remember that? That was the first one to fall. You also failed to mention that after he left the stage, they made us wait down on that floor for over an hour to tell us that he actually left. Everyone passed all of the broken chairs towards the stage, we all sat down cross-legged on the floor, and sat and waited for a long time. I also missed all of the action outside and saw only the aftermath because since I was in front, I was one of the last to exit the arena, after I finally found my friends, whom of course, got separated from. I just saw the stretchers carrying people away and broken glass and trash everywhere.

I'd forgotten about sitting cross-legged! That's really funny.

I was at the front too. Not the first to make the mad dash stageward but among the second wave. We were probably no more than ten or twenty feet from each other.

 

[Corrissey]

 

[EPbabe]

I love Kill Uncle. One of my fav Moz albums ever.

 

[joey]

I love this picture:

 

[Skinheads an Nail Varnish]

I must say "(I'm) The End of the Family Line" of which im listening to now,Is the song I will take to my grave,As I AM the last of my familly line.
Great song.