Bluebirds
Well-Known Member
I was going to post this in strange/ unexpected Moz references but thought the content worthy of its own thread (apologies if these have already been posted elsewhere)
Currently reading Nick Kent's 70s memoir Apathy For The Devil and Moz gets couple of mentions.... in 1973/4, according to the author, he was a regular correspondent to Nick Kent, "who wrote letters to me practically every week during that year." There then follows the subject of Morrissey's missives, namely the NY Dolls and how Moz's dream was to escape "dreary Manchester and reinvent himself as one of the Dolls' glitzy entourage in downtown Manhattan."
Nick Kent never replied, telling him as much 10 years later. Kent didn't want to inadvertently encourage an underage youth into embarking on a life of wilful self-destruction. "But I don't think he ever fully forgave me for ignoring him during his adolescent wallflower years."
Nick then thinks the song Reader Meet Author is about him: "Morrissey's supposed to have penned a particularly vituperative attack on my person that I've never bothered listening to- a song called Reader Meet Author that appeared on 1996's (sic) Southpaw Grammar."
Finally in his dealings with the legend that is Mark E Smith: "the only points of conflict we ran into revolved around my unstinting admiration of The Smiths. Let's just say that Mark Smith wasn't a big fan of the group's lead singer and would not let an oppurtunity pass to verbalise his contempt."
Following a chat about health-conscious Americans and unhealthy Brits follows, "I read the other day that your pal Morrissey has started working out at a gymnasium each day before he goes into the studio to record," MES remarked to me with a suitbale sardonic grin on his face. "Aye- all creative inspiration sweated out of the man before he can even get close to a microphone." This was in 1987.
An interesting entertaining book with some great anecdotes whose underlying theme is seemingly that the 70s was a very dark time, though Nick Kent often thinks he is the 70s equivalent of the bloke who invented the wheel. Recommended reading for anyone with a passing interest in popular music history
Currently reading Nick Kent's 70s memoir Apathy For The Devil and Moz gets couple of mentions.... in 1973/4, according to the author, he was a regular correspondent to Nick Kent, "who wrote letters to me practically every week during that year." There then follows the subject of Morrissey's missives, namely the NY Dolls and how Moz's dream was to escape "dreary Manchester and reinvent himself as one of the Dolls' glitzy entourage in downtown Manhattan."
Nick Kent never replied, telling him as much 10 years later. Kent didn't want to inadvertently encourage an underage youth into embarking on a life of wilful self-destruction. "But I don't think he ever fully forgave me for ignoring him during his adolescent wallflower years."
Nick then thinks the song Reader Meet Author is about him: "Morrissey's supposed to have penned a particularly vituperative attack on my person that I've never bothered listening to- a song called Reader Meet Author that appeared on 1996's (sic) Southpaw Grammar."
Finally in his dealings with the legend that is Mark E Smith: "the only points of conflict we ran into revolved around my unstinting admiration of The Smiths. Let's just say that Mark Smith wasn't a big fan of the group's lead singer and would not let an oppurtunity pass to verbalise his contempt."
Following a chat about health-conscious Americans and unhealthy Brits follows, "I read the other day that your pal Morrissey has started working out at a gymnasium each day before he goes into the studio to record," MES remarked to me with a suitbale sardonic grin on his face. "Aye- all creative inspiration sweated out of the man before he can even get close to a microphone." This was in 1987.
An interesting entertaining book with some great anecdotes whose underlying theme is seemingly that the 70s was a very dark time, though Nick Kent often thinks he is the 70s equivalent of the bloke who invented the wheel. Recommended reading for anyone with a passing interest in popular music history
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