The Guardian: "Michael Imperioli: ‘I still give Morrissey the benefit of the doubt’" (August 10, 2023)

1912.jpg


Michael Imperioli: ‘I still give Morrissey the benefit of the doubt’

Relevant parts:

"Loved your shows on NTS radio a few years ago. You played solo Morrissey tracks on each of them – what do you love about him, and his post-Smiths songwriting? And have your feelings towards him changed since he’s made some dubious comments in recent years? Pete Thorn

He’s uncompromising and very true to his art, to himself. As a lyricist, he’s on the level of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed to me: his intelligence, his wit and point of view. I think that’s why so many people connect to him, people who feel like outsiders. When they hear his lyrics and see him perform, they feel less alone in the world. I didn’t discover the Smiths until after I was finished with high school. I was very clueless musically. But when I was 17, I was in Manhattan and I had friends who quickly exposed me to the good stuff like the Smiths. I went from being in high school to going to acting classes with people in their 20s, 30s, 40s. In some ways I was happy to do that. But in other ways, I felt very much like a kid, straddling two worlds. I had moved in with my grandparents outside the city. I had a couple of friends and I enjoyed being in the city but I really didn’t feel like I belonged there. In many ways, I felt very alone. It’s a time of trying to figure out your identity. As a young person who wanted to be an artist, I felt I was looking for a certain freedom to express, and those other artists made me understand that that was possible.

I thought what he wrote about Sinéad O’Connor was spot on and brilliant – how easily she was abandoned by the music industry. He was as well. Bonfire of Teenagers was dropped by the label and still hasn’t come out. He’s on the edge of controversy a lot and they shy away from that. I’m not sure how racist the things he said were. To me they weren’t flagrantly racist. I’ve never met Morrissey but I do know a lot of people in the current band and people who have played with him in the past who are very smart, and the least racist people you could imagine. They adamantly express that racism is not a part of who he is, by any stretch of the imagination. I still give him the benefit of the doubt. I know a lot of people don’t, but somehow I still do. As an artist, considering what he’s done, he should always have the advantages of having a label promoting him. I think [his situation] is similar [to O’Connor’s] in a lot of ways."

&

"Top 5 albums of all-time? Screamadelica1

It’s so hard. The Wedding Present’s Seamonsters is tremendous. In Utero. There’s a two-disc Lou Reed live record, Take No Prisoners, from the Bottom Line [in New York, 1978] that is very revealing of who he was, especially at that point in time – he talks a lot through it. But also the performances are quite exceptional. Loveless is a towering giant of a record. I love Green Mind by Dinosaur Jr. The Smiths, all their albums. Vauxhall and I was my favourite of solo Morrissey. [Patti Smith’s] Horses is tremendous. The first Television album, Marquee Moon. The first New York Dolls album. So Alone by Johnny Thunders. I’m over the limit here but it’s too hard! [David Bowie’s] Hunky Dory really got me when I first heard that one, it was before I heard Ziggy Stardust and Diamond Dogs – my other two favourites. I got to meet Bowie backstage during the Reality tour, which was pretty thrilling. He was wonderful – friendly, present and kind. It was brief, but for me it was extremely important and memorable."


Registration nag screen removed:

Regards,
FWD.
 
Which camp would you place Johnny Marr?
Johnny Marr has moved on and is doing his own thing. He doesn’t live his life hanging on Morrissey’s every word. He praises Morrissey when it is deserved, and criticises what he doesn’t agree with. As most rational, well-rounded adults do.
 
Johnny Marr has moved on and is doing his own thing. He doesn’t live his life hanging on Morrissey’s every word. He praises Morrissey when it is deserved, and criticises what he doesn’t agree with. As most rational, well-rounded adults do.
If he has moved on, then why did Morrissey write a public letter asking him to stop criticizing him in his interviews?
 
No I'm a massive Morrissey Fan, saw the Smiths live in DC in the 80's, thought Dog on a Chain was his best record in years, love the melodic feel of Bonfire and totally understand where he is coming from, Notre Dame reminds me of Start me Up by the Stones and is an excellent track, and for the most part just put it down to Morrissey being Morrisey. May I ask is there anything an artist could do to stop you from loving their music? What if the artist was a convicted podophile would that sway you at all? Would you still buy their new record, wear their T shirts, and attend their concerts (after they were released from prison)? How about promoting (on the main page of your website) people that made there living from dead elementary school children i.e. Infowars and PWJ? Any limit at all or it all has nothing to do with the artist?

I’m sorry, but I simply can’t continue to have a conversation with a person that is reminded of Start Me Up when listening to Notre Dame, you anon have crossed the line!

 
Morrissey was a great lyricist. Now that he's appointed himself Prophet and lifecoach to the masses he sucks. He seems to excel at telling his listeners what to do and how to think. In that latest Solo graffitti post he repeats "the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls," next to scrawls of his own words. So he's a prophet now. (It must have been that trip to Israel.)

I can differentiate between the Morrissey of yore from the current version (pre-Refusal) without any problem. Keep telling yourself he's always been this way. :)
 
Morrissey was a great lyricist. Now that he's appointed himself Prophet and lifecoach to the masses he sucks. He seems to excel at telling his listeners what to do and how to think. In that latest Solo graffitti post he repeats "the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls," next to scrawls of his own words. So he's a prophet now. (It must have been that trip to Israel.)

I can differentiate between the Morrissey of yore from the current version (pre-Refusal) without any problem. Keep telling yourself he's always been this way. :)

It's a Paul Simon lyric.
 
I never doubt about Morrissey. Sometimes I think in a different way. That's the point about using your brain: you develop your own ideas. I suspect Morrissey is not against people who think differently because I never doubt about him.
 
Morrissey was a great lyricist. Now that he's appointed himself Prophet and lifecoach to the masses he sucks. He seems to excel at telling his listeners what to do and how to think.
Meat is Murder? 1985.
In that latest Solo graffitti post he repeats "the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls," next to scrawls of his own words. So he's a prophet now. (It must have been that trip to Israel.)
He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy.
 
I think what I find most laughable in The Guardian's list of J'accuse calumnies, linked to in the interview above, is the accusation that, at Finsbury Park, Moz was guilty of wrapping himself up in the union jack. He didn't just wave the flag, he wrapped himself up in it. Utterly ridiculous.
And taking the piss out of Sadiq Khan and Diane Abbott. Mr Jonze seems to suggest - how dare anyone take the piss out of them, London's first Muslim mayor, and someone who was Cambridge-educated. So we shouldn't take the piss out of Sadiq Khan cos he's Muslim, and we shouldn't take the piss out of Diane Abbott cos she's Britain's most prominent black MP. Isn't that, er, a really racist thing to suggest?
Laughable? Yes. But also, of course, designed to be destructive of a man's reputation and career. Shameful dishonesty.
 
Uhm, when was that? Cause I joined this site in 2012 and it seemed to have about as much negativity as it does now. And probably also coming from a few people, as now.

I joined in 2008 and I feel it was much more positive then, particularly over 2009 when he toured that spring.
 
I joined in 2008 and I feel it was much more positive then, particularly over 2009 when he toured that spring.
Times have certainly changed. I didn't really use the internet on any regular basis until the 2000s and I do remember visiting MozSolo regularly as a source of news primarily. I then started posting as anonymous for quite some time and then under a previous incarnation in about 2006.
I think MozSolo has always been a mixture of news, views, concert experiences, as well as praise, criticism, and bile. And some great humour and taking the piss. The jilted lover phenomenon of the likes of Skinny has always been around.
But let's be honest - although Moz has been a victim of the 'racism' nonsense since Bengali in Platforms and Finsbury Park, it was only really around 2017 that it became a braying mob. The negativity on here definitely did noticeably increase after that.
 
Doesn't seem like a technicality to me. Seems like a significant difference.

I have to completely disagree with you there. Him posting a couple PJW videos, which don't have a word against veganism, cannot and shouldn't be used to say his stance on veganism or animals is somehow less serious. I don't see why it should. Should he really be vetting every person for their stance on veganism?

About Ferry, I don't remember very well the whole thing. Was it really about Ferry eating veal? Can't seem to find it.
Bryan Ferry championed fox hunting.
 
Doesn't seem like a technicality to me. Seems like a significant difference.

I have to completely disagree with you there. Him posting a couple PJW videos, which don't have a word against veganism, cannot and shouldn't be used to say his stance on veganism or animals is somehow less serious. I don't see why it should. Should he really be vetting every person for their stance on veganism?

About Ferry, I don't remember very well the whole thing. Was it really about Ferry eating veal? Can't seem to find it.
Yes, page 84 in Autobiography: "But Roxy Music will drop quickly from the emotional radar soon, as singer Bryan Ferry announces that his favorite food is veal - second only to foie gras in savage cruelty." (Circa 1974, I think)
 
It does please me that one of favorite Victorians haunts one of my favorite novels. I like your own avatar. Là-Bas is a fine novel. At first I thought you might be a Catholic, but that turned out not to be the case. And even if you were, late 19th c. French Catholicism is probably the finest form (in terms of the arts, at least. The anti-Semitism is a blight).

In terms of Hitler's vegetarianism, I think your 1991 article might be outdated. A 2017 forensic survey of his teeth didn't turn up any traces of meat tartar. It appears the Führer abstained. "Hitler was vegetarian" is a tired line of carnivore apologists, but the fact that it's true doesn't make the appeal any less fallacious.
Yes, I had read that. I think though this study just confirmed that he hadn't eaten meat since about 1938. Whether this was due to an elimination diet to treat chronic dyspepsia, or was based on a philosophical decision, is unclear. Still, as we risk invoking Godwin's Law, and going off topic, and upsetting Malarkey, probably best to put this line of discussion to rest.
I've read everything by Huysmans, but À Rebours is my favourite. Des Esseintes is basically a 19th century fictional precursor of Morrissey. Religion does not appeal to me - or organised religion at least - although you can't beat a bit of ritual and spectacle. Catholicism does do that very well.
 
I don't think she's well, bless her. I used to think all that stuff about Moz being the victim of a homophobic conspiracy dating back to Finsbury Park was kind of sweet and endearing. But then she posts things like this and the only conclusion is that she needs professional help.
Btw I had to google astroturfer lol
Don't be mean to Malarkey, who does a great and enlightening job. Like many on here, including yourself.
 

Trending Threads

Back
Top Bottom