"Something is Squeezin..." & Temazepam & Billy MacKenzie

[King Leer]

I was watching this not bad BBC documentary called "Caledonia Dreamin'" on the history of Scottish pop and after the TOTP clips of Billy MacKenzie (not my type of singing, but an amazing voice) looked him up on wikipedia and noticed he committed suicide by ODing on tamazepam?

Surely that, at least partially, led to its mention in Morrissey's new song "Something is Squeezing My Skull".

On a tangent, has there ever been any in depth discussion of Orange Juice having an influence on The Smiths' jangly sound? OJ predated them by a couple years.

 

[sistasheila]

On a tangent, has there ever been any in depth discussion of Orange Juice having an influence on The Smiths' jangly sound? OJ predated them by a couple years.

i read in an fanzine from the early 80ties that the writer for this fanzine compared the smiths sound to "the monochrome set"style of music
ive havent heard this band yet but i can remember moz mentioning them in his mackie letters..do you know them?are there any similarities?

 

[Brel]

Whenever I go on Lastfm.com and play "similar" to Morrissey/Smiths it throws up the Monochrome Set? I never quite know why, but thats half of the charm with Lastfm, it can make you laugh!

As for the MacKenzie references? We're treading over old ground again (William...etc).

 

[King Leer]

Maybe, but it's interesting if all these years later Morrissey is in fact including a veiled reference to William...

As for the MacKenzie references? We're treading over old ground again (William...etc).

 

[Kewpie]

Maybe, but it's interesting if all these years later Morrissey is in fact including a veiled reference to William...

Hmmm...it's just a coinsisdence that the lyrics of the song mention temazepam which Billy took overdose.


Monochrome Set is one of the very under-rated British guitar bands emerged in post punk era.
Many Japanese Smiths FC (only in Japan official FC exsisted) members were also fans of Monochrome Set, one of them gave me a cassette.
I haven't listened their stuff for ages.

 

[Bluebirds]

It was/is a good documentary up until Deacon Blue etc. And then gets good again with Teenage Fanclub Creation records etc

I think The Smiths owe Orange Juice an awful lot. Just not the jangly guitars but Edwyn Collins frontman persona and the "whimsical" (for want of a better word) lyrical content.

On a tangent this time next week we'll be taking the Cup out of England. Hopefully

 

[Raymond J Marks]

Good spot but I think you are looking for something that isn't there....
How many other drugs are also name checked? Who do they tie in with?
Simply coincidental IMHO

 

[mozmic_dancer]

Hmmm...it's just a coinsisdence that the lyrics of the song mention temazepam which Billy took overdose.


Monochrome Set is one of the very under-rated British guitar bands emerged in post punk era.
Many Japanese Smiths FC (only in Japan official FC exsisted) members were also fans of Monochrome Set, one of them gave me a cassette.
I haven't listened their stuff for ages.

I don't believe it's a coincidence, but it's an interesting story.

Regarding the Monochrome Set, I recall an appearance of this unusual band on "the Uncle Floyd Show" aka Floyd Vivino's, famous New Jersey native and entertainer, back in the early 80s.

Mojo recently had their song "My Frank" featured on one of their compilation disks that come with the purchase of the magazine with Smiths on the cover:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8Y1XIEPH

To me, their sound seems more reminiscent of the Velvet Underground, even the vocals pay homage to Lou Reed.

I don't recall Marr ever citing them with the "jangly" guitar sound to the Monocrome Set (a Morrissey favorite) , but he had mentioned 60s band the Byrds (Roger McGuinn and Barry Mcguire) and the 12-string Rickenbacher.

I'm not a musician; one could explain it better than I could.

 

[Worm]

Orange Juice was mentioned a few times in the early days of The Smiths as an influence but I don't think they were considered a strong influence. The great John Peel felt The Smiths were essentially sui generis. 'Nuff said.

 

[vivabob]

Orange Juice was mentioned a few times in the early days of The Smiths as an influence but I don't think they were considered a strong influence. The great John Peel felt The Smiths were essentially sui generis. 'Nuff said.

they were just another local indie band who made big at the tme , i remember everyone used to compair the smiths to the wedding present ... and for me they are miles apart

 

[Danny_]

A lot of bands had that type of sound at the time. The Smiths weren't exactly musically revolutionary.