The major German newspaper "Die Welt" (which is rather conservative but ambitious) had a review of the Morrissey's Cologne concert in their feature pages. A very nice pic was included and the whole article was pretty big, about half a page.

The heading reads "The Picture of Oscar Wilde" and concentrates mainly on Morrissey's ambition to be "more than a singer and Popstar". There are quite a lot of quotes from Dorian Gray in it and all in all it's a surprisingly well investigated and written article from someone who seems to know.

"'To die by your side would be such a heavenly way to die'. Cause one doesn't age in pop, only in the image which reflects the hurt and ill-fallen soul like the picture of Dorian Gray."

Yes, the Coachella festival is reviewed in today's NME. Needless to say Morrissey gets a roasting AGAIN, which is hardly surprising when you realise the article is by NME editor Steve Sutherland.

Basically the review acknowledges that the show was a great success, and Sutherland is somehow baffled by Morrissey's Hispanic fanbase. But he then reminds us that Morrissey's last albums are "stultifyingly bitter and dull".

He also says of Morrissey: "What a ham. What a liar!", and concludes the review by stating "No Marr. No matter. It is all somewhat miraculous".

It is plainly obvious that Sutherland flew out to LA with the sole purpose of getting the 'scoop of the decade', viz. Morrissey and Marr on stage together again. I am glad his trip was a wasted one.

This is the man who, when interviewing Anderson of Suede and David Bowie together, kept telling them that they were both SO wrong to think that Morrissey was brilliant. Enough said.

Sadly, here in the UK the NME (23/10/99) has decided to use the Coachella Festival to continue it's meaningless vendetta against SPM. I won't bore you with the full story but Steve Sutherland writes about Mozzer's "stultifyingly bitter and dull" solo albums and brands him " a showman, a ham and a liar".

Shame really , because the NME is prepared to trade on Mozzer's lustrous, if fading , grandeur to use him as a tag on the front page. Alongside Noel Gallagher, co-incidentally, in a "remember him?" motif.

Oh well, enough said.

80 Artists Rock Coachella Festival

Excerpt:

...Cult hero and former Smiths frontman Morrissey drew the biggest, loudest crowd of the day with his hour-long set, which included three Smiths songs.

A bit of Morrissey trivia from today’s Independent newspaper (20th Oct)…

There’s a ‘You Ask The Questions’ feature, and this week it’s Viv Nicholson.

Matthew Davis from Dartford, Kent asks:

"How did it feel to be on the cover of a Smiths’ single?"

Viv Nicholson replies:

"I felt no pain! It was strange. I didn’t realise how big it was, until it was done. I went to a Smiths’ concert and everyone mobbed me, wanting my autograph. I wasn’t used to that and I haven’t been to a concert since."

Strangely, for Moz watchers, next week the Independent are putting questions to Harry Hill (who did ‘This Charming Man’ on Celebrity Stars in their Eyes, the other week - which, by the way, I thought was pretty cool; he was definitely doing it with respect!) It will be interesting to see if any Moz related questions get through.

The Swedish band Weeping Willows are planning to release a cover album. They want to play "Always On My Mind" or "Any Day Now" (Elvis), "Sunday Morning" (Velvet Underground), "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" (Smiths), "After The Lights Go Out" (Walker Brothers), according to this article at Aftonbladet.

At Q online, ...in their review of the new James album Millionaires the writer quotes "We Hate it When Our Friends Become..."

Excerpt:

They say, although “they” are often wrong, that Morrissey’s 1992 single We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful was a rueful commentary on the career curve of James’s Tim Booth, whom Morrissey famously endorsed in their early days. If this is the case, then a better title might have been We Hate It When Our Friends Become Mildly Successful In A Bohemian Kind Of Way Then Nearly Split Up Then Become The Anthem Rockers Of Madchester Then Meet Brian Eno Then Nearly Split Up Again And Then Enter The Millennium Doing Really Rather Well Thank You....

On behalf of STILL ILL, the Greek Fan Club of The Smiths / Morrissey & Marr, I would like to inform Greek fans that we will be throwing a party to celebrate the occasion of the two gigs (unbelievable!)

The party will be held at:

Mad Club,
Syggrou 49, Athens
on October 27th.

Flyers can be found in central cd-stores
and at Mad Club, of course.

For further information, contact me or Alex.