In the latest issue of Melody Maker (06-02-99) they have done an interview with Stephen Street. Here is what was said about The Smiths & Moz:

"...his good fortune then continued when he met up with a band from Manchester who were about to start making more than a few waves in what had become a pretty stagnant music scene.

"Yeah, I worked for a long time with The Smiths," he nods, still very keenly aware of what a stroke of luck that meeting was, a stroke of luck that continued when he was asked to co-write Morrissey´s first solo effort.

"We´d just finished `Strangeways....´ and everybody thought that Morrissey and Marr were just having a tiff, but there was nothing left in the can for any B-sides, so I sent Morrissey some ideas for possible use and got a letter back saying; `Dear Stephen, I love what you sent me, let´s talk´, and it turned out that he wanted to make a solo album and asked if I had any more. Recording started in October, and by Christmas `Viva Hate´ was finished and I couldn´t believe the sudden surge of energy. It was incredible, although the tension ended up giving me stomach ulcers, because you can imagine trying to follow in Johnny Marr´s footsteps..." he says, shaking his head at that memory.

Though the album was a success (which, given the expectations surrounding any post-Smiths material, was something of a minor miracle), Mozzer threw one of his notorious strops and promptly stopped calling. Street went back into the studio..."

The interview was edited by Tony Horkins