Madstock Enquiry

The Spirit of '69

The Spirit of '69

British Biker Boy
I'm currently writing an article on Morrissey and his relationship with the skinhead movement, and an important part of it is going to be a look back at Morrissey's appearance at Madstock in Finsbury Park in August 1992. I wasn't there (though I did manage to get to Alexandra Palace in December of that year) and am somewhat suspicious of media accounts of the event, especially having viewed contemporary footage. I'd be very interested in hearing from anyone who WAS there about what happened and how they felt about Morrissey's performance and the crowd's reaction to it. You will, of course, be acknowledged if I use any quotes in my article (if you want to be).

If you're interested, please PM me. Thanks!

John
 
Silke said:
You can watch it on YouTube.
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I have, thanks, and it was illuminating, but I think it will still be interesting to get some accounts by people who were there. I'm sure everyone present will have a slightly different angle on it.
 
Silke said:
What did you think when you watched it?
I noticed that Morrissey has the habit at concerts to pick things up that are thrown to him on stage and hold those objects in his hands, juggle around with them, try to stuff them in his pocket and so on. When he got a hand on the flag it seemed to me that he just did what he usually does with objects on stage. I say this partly because it reminded me of something that I used to do with the towel in my hand when I talked to people in the gym, partly in concentration, partly nervousness, until I got aware of it and put it aside or just stopped doing what I did.
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Good point. I'll have to watch it again and try to spot if someone threw the flag on stage and Morrissey grabbed it on the spur of the moment or whether he had it ready to hand. Either way, he hardly seemed to be 'brandishing' it in the nationalistic way the press made out. If anything, he seemed to treat it in a rather cavalier fashion - including whipping the floor with it, as he does with his mike lead -which may well have angered some of the more patriotic elements of the crowd.
 
i was there on both days and the second was the morrissey day , the first one wasnt his audience , there wasnt a huge amount of fans on day 1 on day 2 there was loads of fans but no moz

the skinhead thing had been getting done on the whole tour he didnt just show up and decide oh the skins will love this , maybe i should wave a flag and get danny baker all upset ..

morrissey in his early solo interviews is quoted in saying his idea of the perfect audience is skinheads in nail varnish
 
Does anyone have the actual video where it all kicked off at madstock? There seems to be a lot of vids on youtube but I can never seem to find the controversial one with the flag etc....

Many Thanks
 
The Spirit of '69 said:
I'm currently writing an article on Morrissey and his relationship with the skinhead movement, and an important part of it is going to be a look back at Morrissey's appearance at Madstock in Finsbury Park in August 1992. I wasn't there (though I did manage to get to Alexandra Palace in December of that year) and am somewhat suspicious of media accounts of the event, especially having viewed contemporary footage. I'd be very interested in hearing from anyone who WAS there about what happened and how they felt about Morrissey's performance and the crowd's reaction to it. You will, of course, be acknowledged if I use any quotes in my article (if you want to be).

If you're interested, please PM me. Thanks!

John
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Hi John,

two days ago I watched the 'unofficial' Morrissey documentary called 'The Jewel in the crown'. The whole dvd is uploaded to youtube, 11 parts à 10 minutes.

I can't exactly remember in which part - but I'm quite sure it was in the second half, maybe 7 or 8 - the Madstock festival is discussed just the way you need it: Morrissey<->skinheads, the NME & other interesting stuff.

Hope this helps!

 
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Oscarlette said:
Does anyone have the actual video where it all kicked off at madstock? There seems to be a lot of vids on youtube but I can never seem to find the controversial one with the flag etc....

Many Thanks
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whats controversial ??? waving a flag do you find the last night of the proms controversial was britpop controversial

stop reading the f***ing NME and step out the 90's
 
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DeanIsNotDead said:
Hi John,

two days ago I watched the 'unofficial' Morrissey documentary called 'The Jewel in the crown'. The whole dvd is uploaded to youtube, 11 parts à 10 minutes.

I can't exactly remember in which part - but I'm quite sure it was in the second half, maybe 7 or 8 - the Madstock festival is discussed just the way you need it: Morrissey<->skinheads, the NME & other interesting stuff.

Hope this helps!

Click to expand...


Cheers! :)
 
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vivabob said:
i was there on both days and the second was the morrissey day , the first one wasnt his audience , there wasnt a huge amount of fans on day 1 on day 2 there was loads of fans but no moz

the skinhead thing had been getting done on the whole tour he didnt just show up and decide oh the skins will love this , maybe i should wave a flag and get danny baker all upset ..

morrissey in his early solo interviews is quoted in saying his idea of the perfect audience is skinheads in nail varnish
Click to expand...

Exactly. I very much doubt he expected the hysterical reaction he got from the media. Morrissey's interest in skinheads certainly goes back quite a way, and it wasn't something he suddenly developed in 1992.
 
vivabob said:
whats controversial ??? waving a flag do you find the last night of the proms controversial was britpop controversial

stop reading the f***ing NME and step out the 90's
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Oh ffs, I'm only 21 and have only read the bloody NME once with the ghastly morrissey interview on immigration. And waving the flag at madstock was one of the coolest things morrissey has ever done.

In the history or morrissey's performances it rates pretty controversial.

The Spirit of '69 said:
It's his performance of 'Glamorous Glue':

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=M6DnMA5IiB8&feature=PlayList&p=2F72CFA64677BEA6&playnext=1&index=1

Thank you(Sorry, I have no idea how to imbed).

It doesn't exactly 'kick off', but quite a few of the crowd seem unimpressed.
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Thank you
 
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FYI, if you scroll down this thread you find the links of four earlier threads of the same topic.
It may give you more info about the incident.
 
A recent quote from hot topic interview

"He was so important to me because his vocal melodies were so strong and his appearance was so confrontational. Manchester, then, was full of boot boys and skinheads and macho-macho thugs, but I saw Bowie's appearance as the ultimate bravery. To me, it took guts to be David Bowie, not to be a shit-kicking skinhead in a pack."

Just in case anyone was falling into the trap that Morrissey's interest in skinheads is motivated by approval (which a lot of stupid journalists have done).
 
Danny_ said:
A recent quote from hot topic interview

"He was so important to me because his vocal melodies were so strong and his appearance was so confrontational. Manchester, then, was full of boot boys and skinheads and macho-macho thugs, but I saw Bowie's appearance as the ultimate bravery. To me, it took guts to be David Bowie, not to be a shit-kicking skinhead in a pack."

Just in case anyone was falling into the trap that Morrissey's interest in skinheads is motivated by approval (which a lot of stupid journalists have done).
Click to expand...

Nice quote! Thanks for pointing it out to me. :)
 
Always took his fascination with skinheads the same way one may become obsessed with the person who bullies them.
 
i read the first post of this topic yesterday. a few minutes ago i was browsing through some mozz-biographies and for some reason, call it faith if you will, i opened landscapes of the mind on page 155, the first page of chapter 10 (lodestar in samite and steel) and about halfway this page i read an interesting mozz-quote (from the french press - not state which magazine or paper) regarding the madstock thing which might explain the union jack, i retyped it in the way it was writen in the book: "Madness are old friends of mine. I wouldn't have done it otherwise. Gallon Drunk will be there, and maybe The Kinks. Paul weller should be there. The entire 'British Family'! It will be an expressly British weekend - no rave, no rap, no Americans! Just Vespas, Union Jacks, and afternoon teas."

i haven't got the time to read the whole topic and replies, but i find this quote very interesting in the sense that it might explain why mozz was carrying the UJ on stage (no rap, no rave, no Americans but -> ian dury, paul weller, the kinks etc). it might sound simplistic and i don't know how accurate david brett's sources are, but still ... i find this quite intriguing.
 
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