Morrissey turns down $75 million for Smiths reunion.
Sigh. I thought his rejection of the $5 million offer from Coachella was a bit much, but it just gets more and more ridiculous.
Turns out Moz was approached with an offer of $75 million smackers, payable upon completion of at least 50 worldwide shows provided Johnny Marr was in the band
I can't verify the veracity of the offer or who it was from, but holy smokes, I can almost believe it. The Smiths are as legendary as they come. I do have a feeling Morrissey will acquiesce to a Smiths tour before he's out. I think he's just holding out to make people rabid, and to toy with Johnny Marr. He mentions whenever he can that Marr was the one responsible for the end of The Smiths when he wanted to keep on going. By most accounts Morrissey is full of pride and spite, so I draw my conclusions.
I do get tired of people saying the real reason is that Le Moz has too much integrity, and that he isn't making music for money, blah blah. Please, his tickets to his last show were running upwards of $85. So c'mon Mozzer -- the more you ignore this, the closer it gets. Take the easy way and give in.
And yes, while we're all sitting around incredulous, Morrissey is touring again, his "last [tour]...for the forseeable future." Riiight. 30 dates in the Americas, including 4 in a residency at the Fillmore in San Francisco and a whopping 10 at the Palladium in Hell-A. I may do it this time around, even for $65 (no one making music for the money here, eh?)
You know why I may go? Because yesterday I was listening to The Smiths' 'I Want the One I Can't Have' and 'This Charming Man' -- from Meat is Murder and The Smiths, respectively -- and these songs and albums are still as vital and visceral and perfect as when they were released in the early 80s. So if I can't see Johnny Marr play his incredible guitar jangle with the rest of The Smiths, I suppose holding out hope for hearing a few Smiths songs at least sung by Morrissey will have to do.
Or maybe I should reconsider in protest and just satisfy myself with this:
Johnny Marr at the end of 'Barbarism Begins at Home' -- wait for it. If only things could be that way again.
Labels: Johnny Marr, Morrissey, The Smiths, things that are tragic
posted by Ammie at 4:17 PM
5 Comments:
I daresay whatever happened to Mr. Morrisey's crooning anthems to the working class? $65? "A double bed and a stalwart lover for sure" for certain does not come close to paying for a 65-dollar ticket.
Booj motherfucker.
I dare say Morrissey and Marr get on pretty well these days, and their refusal to reform is due to a shared loathing of their former rhythm section. So, if they do ever play together again, for big bucks or otherwise, it'll be in a "Page & Plant" style set up, I'd guess. But I'm not holding my breath.
I've heard varying anecdotes about how "well" those two get on -- everything from how they can't stand each other to being holiday pals. But yes, there is some well documented public animosity between Rourke/Joyce and Morrissey for sure regarding royalties, and I know Morrissey has been very frank and consistent in his interviews and statements about his disdain for those two, especially Joyce. The whole situation is really ugly.
I know Marr and Rourke have recently patched things up though, long before the whole recent cancer fundraising gig. Marr and Joyce? Dunno.
My reasoning that it must be Marr or holding out on the Moz' part is that the stipulation was that only Marr be in the band. But yes, I suppose that even if Joyce and Rourke weren't included in the tour, they would conceivably receive royalities for the songs played, which I can see creating understandable spite on Morrissey's part. I'm still blown away by not wanting to make the lion's share of $75 million though. You've got to pay them anyway for the rest of your life, why not make enough in one shebang to retire?
Morrissey gets his right as an artist to do what he wants and spite who he wants and all. It's just unfortunate that this shit happens. And he's still right bourgeois in his ticket prices!
To clarify "the stipulation was that only Marr be in the band" -- I meant: the ONLY stipulation being that Marr be in the band.
Sigh. Well we at least have The Shaky Hands on i-tunes until The Smiths have a reunion.
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