Flatbasset Radio: Episode #112

Thanks for listening, thanks for understanding...

Well hello again, music fans. Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #112!

It's the last show of 2017, everybody and I, for one, couldn't be happier. 2017 was a trash can fire. Will 2018 be better? I don't know. What am I, Kreskin? I hope so, but I'm a practical man, so I'm sure not counting on it.

The one thing I can say with some certainty: This is an outstanding episode of Flatbasset Radio!

(Second thing I can say with some certainty: I am not great at segues.)

Anyway, continuing a theme from last week's episode, I'm making up for some lost time with this one. Over the course of 2017 I slept/worked/moped my way through too many weeks without putting together a show and, as such, I missed a bunch of classic anniversaries. I'm rectifying that here on Ep. #112. A semi-forgotten hip-hop classic, an old demo by a fallen power-pop god , TWO 50th anniversary classics, my favorite post-makeout-stroll album of 1997, the most perfect power-pop song ever written, some weirdo 70's instrumental stuff, one of the great forgotten punk bands of the 90's... all of these things make an appearance on this week's show (as well as a new one from the Twin Cities' favorite ex-pats). All that plus the Cover Of The Week & the Flatbasset Flatclassic.

As always, Flatbasset Radio is completely free. I've finally set up a decent downloading site, so if you'd like to download Flatbasset Radio: Episode #112 (with all the appropriate iTunes tagging), just click here.

If you don't have the time or desire to download the show, just click the Mixcloud player below and you're good to go.



Here's how Episode #112 plays out:

01. The Hold Steady - Entitlement Crew

02. Lupe Fiasco - Hip-Hop Saved My Life

03. The Beatles - Flying

04. Nirvana - Son Of A Gun

05. Rivers Cuomo - Chess

06. David Bowie - Moss Garden

07. R.E.M. - Nightswimming

08. Buffalo Springfield - Rock & Roll Woman

09. Wretch Like Me - Hello Hollywood, This Is David

10. Green Day - Last Ride In

11. Sugar - If I Can't Change Your Mind

12. The Smiths - I Won't Share You









There you have it. See you in hell, 2017!

For more of my rantings you can give me a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  Previous episodes of Flatbasset Radio are archived on my Mixcloud page.  Stop by Flatbasset Radio's Facebook Page & give it a "Like" if you have the time.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #79

"It takes strength to be gentle & kind..."

Well hello again, podcast fans! Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #79!

Folks, summer's officially upon us and, in tribute, I've got red-hot jams lined up for this week's episode. As per usual, sorry for the gap between episodes. I'm very lazy. Conversely, thanks to everybody who did check out Episode #78. My buddy Nick & I teamed up for that one and I think it turned out to be the best one we've ever teamed up for.

That, however, is the last episode. On this week's show I've got a jam from my favorite reunited punk band, a cut from an iconic soundtrack, a set for our brothers & sisters in England, a spotlight on Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week, some under-informed political talk, a check-in on some of our Twin Cities friends, a few anniversaries, a lot of sweating, even more swearing, and my absolute ultimate summer jam! All that plus the Cover Of The Week & one of the most classic Flatbasset Flatclassics ever!

As always, Flatbasset Radio is completely free. I've finally set up a decent downloading site, so if you'd like to download Flatbasset Radio: Episode #79 (with all the appropriate iTunes tagging), just click here.

If you don't have the time or desire to download the show, just click the Mixcloud player below and you're good to go.



Here's how Flatbasset Radio: Ep. #79 plays out:

01. Descendents - Victim Of Me

02. Joey Bada$$ - Brooklyn's Own

03. The Pooches - Rhythm Of The Rain

04. Sugar Ray - Fly (w/Super Cat)

05. The Jam - Going Underground

06. Primal Scream - Trainspotting

07. The Specials - Racist Friend

08. Clementine - Evergreens

09. Devata Daun - Be A Stranger

10. Dem Atlas - Grbge Trsh

11. Frankie Teardrop - Waiting For You

12. The Smiths - I Know It's Over









There you have it, folks. Drink lots of water.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  Previous episodes of Flatbasset Radio are archived on his Mixcloud page.  Stop by Flatbasset Radio's Facebook Page & give it a "Like" if you have the time.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #56

Get bit by the hounds...

Well hello again, everybody!  Welcome back to Flatbasset Radio!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was incredibly busy in March as such I haven't been able to post a new show in about six weeks.  Sorry.  I'm a busy guy.  You know what they say about the devil & idle hands...

Anyway, I'm back and I promise you that I will crank out new blog posts and new episodes of the podcast all summer long.  Word is bond, son, word is bond.

So, let's get on with it then.  In this week's show I attempt to justify my month-long absence from the show, play a forgotten jam from 2014, attempt to explain how Tim Armstrong was my Dylan, discuss my expectations of Blur's reunion, celebrate the anniversary of Bloc Party's best album, dig into my theory as to why EP's are sometimes the best work an artist puts out, struggle, yet again, to pronounce "Citroën," and, as is par for the course, go all fanboy on a Smiths Flatbasset Flatclassic.  All of that plus all the popped "P's" and audio drop-outs you can possibly stomach.  Enjoy!

As always, this episode is available to stream for free. Just click the Mixcloud player below

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #56 by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

01. Twin Graves - Love You To Death
02. Mike The Martyr - Build Clinton (w/Toki Wright)
03. Tim Armstrong - Black Lung
04. Greg Dulli - Paper Thin Hotel
05. Eric Mayson - Capital
06. Bloc Party - This Modern Love
07. Blur - Go Out
08. Aesop Rock - Zodiaccupuncture
09. Jens Lekman - Postcard #3
10. Citroën - Ghost
11. The Smiths - Well I Wonder

There you have it.  Feels good to be home, baby!

Album Of The Week: "World Peace Is None Of Your Business" by Morrissey

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of September 15th-21st, 2014:

Morrissey - World Peace Is None Of Your Business

01. World Peace Is None Of Your Business
02. Neal Cassady Drops Dead
03. I'm Not A Man
04. Istanbul
05. Earth Is The Loneliest Planet
06. Staircase At The University
07. The Bullfighter Dies
08. Kiss Me A Lot
09. Smiler With Knife
10. Kick The Bride Down The Aisle
11. Mountjoy
12. Oboe Concerto

Let's just get this out of the way now: I'm a Morrissey fan.  And not just a, "Yeah, I dig Morrissey" sort of fan.  More like a "I own both a hardcover and paperback version of Mozzer's Autobiography and, incredibly, both of them were given to me as gifts" type of fan.  Looking at my Last.fm account, Morrissey & The Smiths have accounted for 4,417 plays, ranking them first and fourth overall in my library.  It's bordering on unhealthy.

It's been five years since Morrissey left us with the excellent Years Of Refusal.  In the interim he's done pretty much the most stereotypically Morrissey-esque things you can imagine.  He's booked massive tours, he's cancelled said tours, he's fallen ill, he's feuded with websites, feuded with record labels, feuded with concert venues, recorded songs that never saw the light of day, fired shots at British royalty, fired shots at American politicians, and recorded PSA's for PETA.  Honestly, outside of publishing the aforementioned Autobiography, Morrissey hasn't really done anything outside of the rote business of being Morrissey for quite some time.

I suppose, then, that I shouldn't have been surprised when World Peace Is None Of Your Business turned out to be the least interesting album of old Mozzer's career.  After five years, you'd think the man would have something, anything, new to say.  Alas, World Peace is arguably his most political record to date and, for a man who's built a career out of connecting with fans via personal struggles, this is not a turn for the more interesting.

Leading things off we're treated to the album's titular "World Peace Is None Of Your Business," an enjoyable and worthy follow up to You Are The Quarry's lead track "America Is Not The World."  Morrissey and boys sound fantastic as Morrissey laments a system that's so broken the only way to stop it is complete withdrawal. "Each time you vote, you support the process..." the man laments.  It's an intriguing turn from the typical "Your Vote Makes A Difference" jargon that most of us have been fed our whole lives, however, for a man who built a life & career of dropping out of systems he didn't care for, his strategy for change shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

After the comically trivial "Neal Cassady Drops Dead," the album loses all of it's momentum on the bordering-on-self-parody ballad "I'm Not A Man."  Morrissey's track record with large scale ballads has always been hit-and-miss.  For every brillliant "I Know It's Over" and "Now My Heart Is Full" we're treated to a handful of clunkers like "You Know I Couldn't Last" and "Life Is A Pigsty."  "I'm Not A Man" is, almost unquestionably, the worst of these ballads.  Beginning with over a minute of slow-burning noise (sucking the life out of the record), Morrissey goes on to warble cliche upon cliche as to why he's "not a man" because he doesn't eat animals or play sports.  These would have been understandable laments 30 years ago, but Mozzer's 55 years old now with a legacy that's already written in stone.  It's hard to believe that this is a man who feels the need to defend his own masculinity this far into his career.

From there we're treated to a run of songs that wouldn't have passed muster as You Are The Quarry B-sides.  "Istanbul" is an uninteresting re-working of Ringleader Of The Tormentor's "I Will See You In Far Off Places,"  "Earth Is The Loneliest Planet" is what you would title a song if you were making a novelty Morrissey playlist, "Staircase At The University," "The Bullfighter Dies," "Kiss Me A Lot..."  these tracks are all as lackluster as their titles imply (though "Kiss Me A Lot" features the albums best singalong hook, assuming you can make your peace with singing lyrics like "Kiss me a lot, kiss me all over the place...").

"Smiler With Knife" stands as the lone late album standout.  A curious little ballad that harkens back to Ringleader's "The Father Who Must Be Killed."  Guitarist Jesse Tobias takes a break from his usual punk-ish rush to pen a thoughtful, slow-burning number in which Mozzer mixes sex & violence in a manner that only three decades of pathos could sell. Unfortunately, "Smiler With Knife" also stands as an example of just what's wrong with World Peace Is None Of Your Business.  Morrissey's lyrics & melody are nearly completely separate from Tobias intriguing instrumentation.  They essentially take turns.

Now, if you'll allow the Mozzer nerd in me to come out (er... more so...), I'd like to bring up something Vini Reilly once said.  Reilly is known to some as the man behind Factory Records guitar nerds The Durrutti Column.  He's best known to Morrissey fans as the guitarist & sometimes co-writer on Viva Hate.  After recording Reilly's "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me," Reilly mentioned how impressed he was with Morrissey's ability to find new melodies in the instrumentals.  He was most surprised that Morrissey put the verse where Reilly had envisioned a chorus and vice versa.

Now, I'm not saying Morrissey has suddenly lost his ear for such a thing, but nearly every track of World Peace Is None Of Your Business reeks of a chosen path of least resistance.  Nowhere on the album are we treated to one of Morrissey's trademark melodic let turns.  Those brilliant moments when the listener expects the song to zig and Morrissey, with his unparalleled command of vocals, zags, giving the song a jolt of life, are sorely lacking here.  Even more than the lyrics and the persona, those hooks are the bedrock of Morrissey's career.  Even Morrissey, if he'd set his ego aside, would likely acknowledge that his career has had more than its share of clunker lyrics.  However, he'd also likely acknowledge the power of a good hook over lyrics.  I read Autobiography.  There's a reason he fell in love with Mott The Hoople just like there's a reason he's taking shots at Allan Ginsburg on "Neal Cassady Drops Dead."

All of which is a real shame because Morrissey sounds great.  His vocals, whatever lyrics they may be in service of, sway and soar throughout the album in a manner usually reserved for merely a track or two.  His band, likewise, is in fine form.  They work their way through tried-and-true formulas and new experiments alike with aplomb, helping to give the album (and Morrissey) a solid foundation.  Sadly, that's only two-thirds of the equation and Mozzer's lackluster, hookless lyrics leave the album flat and tired.  Here's hoping he'll have something interesting to say in 2019.

Newest Industry Presents - Flatbasset Radio: Episode #33

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

When you're lonely, press play...

Hello again, free music fans! Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #33!
 
For those of you who are unaware of the Flatbasset Radio format, here's what you're looking at: TCDroogsma is our resident MP3 junkie. As you've probably noticed in his Songs Of The Week column, he's not always the most positive music fan. In an effort to prove that he is, in fact, a fan of music, we give him an hour each week to play the songs he's digging and talk a little bit about them. Once he's recorded his podcast we put it right here on the website for free to stream and/or download!

In this week's episode TCDroogsma is flying solo from Planet New Basset.  Episode #33 finds Droogsy celebrating some great local hip-hop, playing this generation's iconic British band celebrating THE iconic British band in his Cover Of The Week, suggesting a re-pressing for all the "vinyl nerds," mispronouncing people's names, imploring everybody to go to the Turf Club tomorrow night, finding common ground with a legendary artist via disappointing girlfriends, thanking Miami for "staying flithy," finding a band that sounds like "Ian Curtis somehow coming back & singing for New Order," wondering if he should have stuck with James Mercer, forgetting his own age, and explaining that you should never try to charm women with Morrissey lyrics!

You can download the podcast for free by clicking the episode's title or stream the episode by clicking on the Mixcloud player below.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #33

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #33 by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

01. Protomartyr - Come & See
02. Medium Zach - Achoo
03. Cars & Trains - History Of The Night
04. Arctic Monkeys - All My Loving (Live At MSG)
05. The Van Gobots - The Ghost
06. Boots - Dust
07. Damon Albarn - Lonely Press Play (Live On BBC2)
08. Atmosphere - Bitter
09. Twin Graves - Brothers
10. Broken Bells - After The Disco
11. The Underachivers - 6th Sense
12. The Smiths - Reel Around The Fountain

There you have it, music fans!  Enjoy!

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  Previous episodes of Flatbasset Radio are archived on his Mixcloud page.  Stop by Flatbasset Radio's Facebook Page & give it a "Like" if you have the time.

For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Newest Industry Presents: Flatbasset Radio - Episode #1

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY. PLEASE CLICK THAT LINK AND GIVE THAT BLOG A LOOK IF YOU HAVE THE TIME.  WE'RE WORKING REALLY HARD ON THAT ONE.)

"I guess this is my dissertation, homey, this shit is basic..."

Well hello, music fans, and welcome to the inaugural episode of Flatbasset Radio!

For those of you unfamiliar with Flatbasset, it's the work of our regular contributor TCDroogsma.  For years now he's been posting mixes of songs online each month under the name Flatbasset.  Evidently he's decided to change things up a little bit.

(Click play on the embedded player above to listen to the podcast. Click the link below to download the podcast.)

Flatbasset Radio - Episode #1

In this episode TCDroogsma claims the British government is hoarding rappers, explains the best Halloween he ever had, recaps the "Get Out The Vote" show at First Avenue, steals an idea from Sound Opinions, and laments Morrissey's ill mother.

Still, we're all new to this so, TCDroogsma, what gives?

Boy, that's a concise question.  Basically, I've been making those Flatbasset mixes for a few years now and I've found that they are not very successful.  I decided to change it up a little bit by turning the mixes into a podcast where I break up the songs by talking a little bit.

That was your plan?  To break up a bunch of great songs with your rabbling?

Well, when you frame it that way it doesn't make much sense.  More accurately, it wasn't quite fair just labeling it a "mix" as that implied that it was some chopped up party starter, which it obviously wasn't.

Plus, I realized that people weren't really reading the bits I wrote about each song.  Since people hate reading I thought they might rather listen to me explain why the songs are great.

So you don't think people like to read and yet you spend nearly all of your free time blogging?

(Sigh...)

Alright, let's get to this episode then.  Anything we need to know about it? 

Well, this was my first go at a podcast, so you just have to bear with me.  I think it turned out pretty well though.  Here's what the playlist looks like:

01. Kanye West
02. Nirvana
03. JJ Doom
04. PJ Harvey
05. Big Quarters (w/Sims)
06. Ryan Adams
07. Eyedea & Abilities
08. Air
09. Mark Mallman
10. MaLLy
11. I Self Devine
12. Brother Ali
13. The Smiths

Really, just give it a listen.  Even if you find my voice grating and my stories insufferable, the songs fucking kill.

Well alright then.  TCDroogsma, thanks for stopping by to explain yourself. 

Thanks.  I plan on doing this each week, so you'll be hearing from me a lot in the near future.

Great... great...

For more TCDroogsma you can give him a follow on Twitter or Instagram (@TCDroogsma) or check out his own blog Flatbasset.

This blog also has a Twitter home (@NewestIndustry1) that you should follow to stay up on all the work our contributors are doing.  More importantly we have a Facebook page here.  Be sure to stop by and give us a "like" if you have a minute.  Enough "likes" and we can get TCDroogsma a real microphone to record these things.

Nobody Loves Us #6: Black-Eyed Susan

Well hello once again, Moz fans!

It's a bit of a time crunch here at the Nobody Loves Us Countdown, but I promise I will get to all 20 songs before Monday's show down at The Orpheum.  Be sure to stay tuned to the Twin Cities blog Newest Industry where I'll post a playlist of all 20 songs in order over the weekend.

Now, however, the countdown marches...er... downward?  Sure, downward.

If you haven't been following along, here's how the list looks so far:

20. One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
19. Driving Your Girlfriend Home
18. Munich Air Disaster 1958
17. Seasick, Yet Still Docked
16. I Don't Mind If You Forget Me
15. Sister I'm A Poet
14. On The Streets I Ran
13. There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends
12. Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
11. Come Back To Camden
10. Disappointed
09. I've Changed My Plea To Guilty
08. Break Up The Family
07. We'll Let You Know

And so here we are at #6:

#6. Black-Eyed Susan (Morrissey/Whyte)



B-Side from the Sunny single

Key Lyrics: "Black-eyed Susan, please remember... We were the first. We were the first."

A true lost classic from Morrissey's wilderness years, "Black-Eyed Susan" finds Morrissey at his most charismatically loathing, drawing a sketch of a woman with "heavy rings on bitten fingers..."

Oddly, or maybe expectedly, Morrissey's concern with his own legacy was reaching a feverish pitch in 1995.  With the success of Vauxhall & I well in the rearview and Southpaw Grammar failing to gain much traction, it's understandable that Mozzer would find himself simultaneously looking both to the sides and to the past.

Both "Black-Eyed Susan" and "Heir Apparent" (another b-side of the same era) ring as the distant echoes of the young man who was all-too-keenly aware of his fanbase in "Rubber Ring."  While their was a certain romanticism to the Morrissey of the late '80's.  "Don't forget the songs that made you cry and the songs that saved your life..." was all the the singer was asking of his fans.  He knew they'd outgrow the emotions that he never could.

Well, the passing of times and all of its sickening crimes left middle-aged Morrissey in quite a different state.  The titular character of "Black-Eyed Susan" (the "black-eyed referring to makeup rather than a punch up) seems to be a young Smiths fan grown up into her own stardom (and, according to Mozzer, took many cues from his own career to get there).  What we really find with "Black-Eyed Susan" is the portrait of a man mired in his own persecution complex, a complex that would find it's logical, if cliched, end point with tracks like, "You Know I Couldn't Last" and "All You Need Is Me" a decade later.

Over a poppy, enjoyable Alain Whyte tune Mozzer lays bare the traits that he knows all too well.  He sees his celibacy-controversy-baiting self ("What don't you believe in? 'No is always easier than yes!'"), the soapbox assuredness ("You must insist: You are a born again atheist..."), hell, even the blouse-and-flower sporting, fashion-eschewing spotlight monger ("Oh, heavy rings on bitten fingers...") before finally admonishing the starlet's talents entirely with the line, "Oh... Black-Eyed Susan, rest and do nothing, 'cause it's the only thing that you do quite well..."

However, taking into account the bizarre musical excursion of the third verse, it remains tough to tell if Morrissey is genuinely mocking the latest NME craze or if he's merely pointing out what seems obvious only to him.  One last jealousy-laden knife makes his sincerity clear: "Black-Eyed Susan, please remember: We were the first, we were the first..."

Nobody Loves Us #7: We'll Let You Know

Oh, hello.

As you can see, I'm trying to make up lost time this week that way the countdown still wraps up on Friday.  I'm planning a post for Sunday over at Newest Industry that has a downloadable version of this list.  So, onward and upward.

What is the Nobody Loves Us Countdown, you ask?  Well, I'm counting down my 20 favorite Morrissey Non-Singles each day up until his show on October 29th down at The Orpheum.  So far the list looks like this:

20. One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
19. Driving Your Girlfriend Home
18. Munich Air Disaster 1958
17. Seasick, Yet Still Docked
16. I Don't Mind If You Forget Me
15. Sister I'm A Poet
14. On The Streets I Ran
13. There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends
12. Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
11. Come Back To Camden
10. Disappointed
09. I've Changed My Plea To Guilty
08. Break Up The Family

And so here we are at #7.

#7. We'll Let You Know (Morrissey/Whyte)



From the album Your Arsenal

Key Lyrics: "We may seem cold, we may even be the most depressing people you have ever known, at heart, what's left, we sadly know... we are the last truly British people you will ever know..."

As I alluded to back in the "Seasick, Yet Still Docked" post, Your Arsenal is quite clearly Morrissey's "political" album.  Much has been made of the far-right-baiting song "The National Front Disco" and the skinhead imagery Mozzer was prone to using back in the early 90's, but neither of those really tells the whole story.  "We'll Let You Know" is really the centerpiece of both Your Arsenal and his political views of his native England.

"How sad are we?  And how sad have we been? We'll let you know." opens the song as a claim of confusion.  Certainly impassioned confusion, but confusion nonetheless.

Framing a nationalistic song based on sympathy for football hooligans is no easy task.  In and of themselves, football hooligans are the epitome of confusion.  The celebratory violence in which they live shares a clear connection with Morrissey (even if Mozzer's violence is typically more emotional than physical).  When one considers the lineage that can be drawn from Mozzer's Irish roots all the way through the last gasp of "truly  British people" and the lineage that connects grandfather to fathers to sons in the football world.  Both are representative of a rougher, more passionate, some would say more "xenophobic" times.

At the heart of the song, Morrissey is not calling for violence, but rather lamenting the creeping globalization of the early 90's.  As we've seen throughout his career (from "Still Ill" to "Come Back To Camden"), England truly is Morrissey's one true love.  "We'll Let You Know" is not an epitaph as much as a reminder of the fact that the England of yesteryear is quickly falling by the wayside.  Oddly, Morrissey essentially proved his love of the old England by leaving and never returning once the effects of globalization reduced England's "personality" to just another European country.  Admirable, in it's way.

Alain Whyte and Mick Ronson manage to build a superb backdrop for such a sentiment.  Beginning with a romantic and nostalgic acoustic strum, the song takes a gradual, yet poignant left turn in the middle as the sound of stomping crowd and young "lads" come to conquer the strumming.  Succumbing to the noise the band raises their volume (but in a compellingly polite, English way) as Morrissey lays bare his claim of being "the last truly British people you will ever know."  The track concludes with the faint echo of a military flute, an allusion to the idea that the England of Morrissey's youth is now as far bygone as its days as a colony-creating, world superpower.

Nobody Loves Us #8: Break Up The Family

Oh, hello again everybody.  Welcome back to the Nobody Loves Us Countdown.

If you don't know, I've been counting down my 20 favorite Mozzer non-singles each weekday until his concert on the 29th down at The Orpheum.  Unfortunately, the countdown was derailed last week thanks to technical difficulties, other blogging obligations, and a bout of bad health.

As it stands, two of those three problems have been resolved.  The computer seems to be running relatively smoothly again.  All the things that needed to be posted on Newest Industry were posted. Sadly, I'm still sick as a dog.  Frreal.

Yet, the blog marches on.  Here's what the list looks like so far:

20. One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
19. Driving Your Girlfriend Home
18. Munich Air Disaster 1958
17. Seasick, Yet Still Docked
16. I Don't Mind If You Forget Me
15. Sister I'm A Poet
14. On The Streets I Ran
13. There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends
12. Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
11. Come Back To Camden
10. Disappointed
09. I've Changed My Plea To Guilty

And so here we are, on to #8:


#8. Break Up The Family (Morrissey/Street)

From the album Viva Hate.

 

Key Line: "I'm so glad to grow older, to move away from those younger years... I'm in love for the first time and I don't feel bad..." 

It's nearly impossible to listen to Viva Hate without hearing references to the then-recent break up of The Smiths.  Songs like, "Angel, Angel Down We Go Together" and "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me" could hardly be about anything else.

Which brings us to "Break Up The Family."  On first glance, it seems that this song must be about the band.  Morrissey has claimed over the years that this is not the case.  He insists that the song is tied to the splitting of a group of youthful friends from his boyhood days.  In theory, I suppose, this is believable.  However, I'm choosing not to believe it.

To me, it seems that this song was written in the aftermath of the breakup of the band in one of those rare, lucid moments when emotions are removed from the equation and the practicality of ending the relationship becomes apparent.  We've all reached that place after the end of serious relationships, haven't we?  We're all familiar with that moment when the clouds break (however momentarily), bitterness is removed, and the "big picture" suddenly emerges.  Not completely unlike the hypothetical conversation between man & country that I brought up in my "Come Back To Camden" post, we find Mozzer in this place the first time around, wishing his former "family" the best and asking only that they return the favor.

When Morrissey sings the line, "I'm so glad to grow older, to move away from those awful times..." he toes the line between celebration and bitterness in exquisite fashion.  It's no secret that, outside of the actual recording and performing, the business of being in "The Smiths" had taken its toll on everybody. When he comes to the line, "Let me see all my old friends, let me put my arms around them... Now, does that sound mad," it seems that he's referring to his former bandmates as people and friends.  Essentially, he's stating that the breakup of the band had nothing to do with any personal animosity.  That they are still his friends, but that it's also time to "grow older."

Musically, Stephen Street crafted an "unexpectedly funky" track.  To this day, "Break Up The Family" still stands out among the rest of Viva Hate largely on the strength of the instrumentation.  Cleverly, Street fills out the sound with Mozzer's vocal inflections drifting in and out of the mix, a trick that would be used repeatedly by various Morrissey producers for years to come.

Honestly, and this is strictly personal, "Break Up The Family" can be used as a barometer to gauge just how passionate a Mozzer fan a person is.  It's a track that definitely rewards repeated listens, especially in the context of the LP being played in its entirety. When somebody claims they are a Morrissey fan, ask them what their favorite song on Viva Hate is.  If they answer anything but "Break Up The Family," be immediately skeptical.

Nobody Loves Us #9: I've Changed My Plea To Guilty

Hello again, Mozzer fans.  I told you I'd be back today.  As you can see from the post below, it's been a busy day.

For those of you just joining us, I'm counting down my 20 favorite Morrissey Non-Singles each and every weekday until the Mozfather's show at The Orpheum on the 29th.  Here's what the list looks like so far:

20. One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
19. Driving Your Girlfriend Home
18. Munich Air Disaster 1958
17. Seasick, Yet Still Docked
16. I Don't Mind If You Forget Me
15. Sister I'm A Poet
14. On The Streets I Ran
13. There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends
12. Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
11. Come Back To Camden
10. Disappointed

Take a second to scroll down and see my thoughts on those tracks.

So, now here we are at #9.

#9. I've Changed My Plea To Guilty (Morrissey/Nevin)

B-Side from the My Love Life single.

Key Line: "Something I have learned... If there's one thing in life I've observed... It's that everybody's got somebody..."

Returning to the same sparse structure that brought them so much success with "There's A Place In Hell For My And My Friends," Morrissey and Mark Nevin use only a piano and few found sounds to craft a b-side that is far superior to its accompanying a-side.

"I've Changed My Plea To Guilty" can easily be read as one of Morrissey's more clear statements regarding the constant homeseuxal/heterosexual/"fourth sex" rumours that followed the man from day one.  I don't mean to jump to conclusions, but it's nearly impossible to read lines like, "Freedom is wasted on me, see how your rules spoil the game..." without hearing a commentary on his own sexuality.  That's to say nothing of Mozzer's famous fandom regarding Oscar Wilde, himself "convicted" of homosexuality and sentenced to banishment in Gaol.

It's important to note, of course, that Morrissey never admits guilt.  In fact, the song opens with the line, "I'm standing in the dock with my innocent hand on my heart..."  As he has since day one, Morrissey's playing coy.  He's not guilty, he's merely tired of fighting, and taking a plea deal.

Regardless of the sexual overtones, "I've Changed My Plea To Guilty" stands as one of the great lost Morrissey tracks simply for it's vocal performance.  Rarely has Morrissey managed to sound both so self-assured and so vulnerable.  I can't think of another singer who could swing the pendulum back and forth within just one song quite so well.  Truly, no other singer in pop history could pull off a line like, "Outside there is pain, emotional air raids exhausted my heart, and it's safer to be inside..."

Two quick sidenotes about this track before I go:

Sidnote 1: On the version of the song that appears on the My Love Life single, Nevin opens the song with the piano and some muffled sounds.  According to Simon Goddard, one of those sounds is the voice of Nevin's friend, a waitress named Suzy Solan speaking into a dictaphone.  Why do I bring this up?  Because Ms. Solan was from Minneapolis!  As far as I can tell, this is the only Minnesota connection I've found anywhere in The Smiths/Morrissey catalog.  How you go so hard, MPLS?


Sidenote 2:  I'd always kind of liked this song, but I'd never had it ranked very highly on my list of "Great Mozzer Tracks."  This oversight became blindingly obvious after seeing Morrissey perform the song on the Ringleader Of The Tormentors tour.  Remember earlier when I mentioned that "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" lost something in the "full-band" treatment?  The opposite is true for "I've Changed My Plea To Guilty."  Have a look at the video above and you'll know just what I mean.

Nobody Loves Us #10: Disappointed

Hello again, everybody and welcome to the Nobody Loves Us Countdown.  For those just joining us, I'm counting down my 20 favorite Morrissey Non-Singles each weekday until his concert on the 29th at The Orpheum in beautiful downtown Minneapolis.

Let me quickly apologizing for not posting this blog yesterday.  Monday's are an especially tough day for me to be productive and I succumbed to sleep before I had a chance to jot this one down.  So, I'll post this one now and later today I'll post #9.  Hopefully this will help calm the rioting among Morrissey fans who were waiting with baited breath for my post yesterday.  People!  It's only a blog!  Life will go on!

If you haven't been paying attention here's what the list looks like so far:

20. One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
19. Driving Your Girlfriend Home
18. Munich Air Disaster 1958
17. Seasick, Yet Still Docked
16. I Don't Mind If You Forget Me
15. Sister I'm A Poet
14. On The Streets I Ran
13. There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends
12. Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
11. Come Back To Camden

Which brings us to the Top 10!

#10. Disappointed (Morrissey/Street)

B-side from the Everyday Is Like Sunday single

Key Line: "This is the last song I will every sing (crowd cheers), No, I've changed my mind again (crowd groans), goodnight and thank you..."

As I mentioned in the earlier post on "Sister I'm A Poet," the success had old Morrissey feeling very playful.  Obviously he felt quite validated by the success of his solo debut and that led to some of his most boastful and biting tracks.  Sadly, nearly all of them were relegated to b-sides (though eventually they were collected onto the album Bona Drag, arguably the most essential "odds and ends" album ever).

On "Disappointed" Morrissey masterfully walks the line between reality and myth, sarcasm and truth, and stereotypes and the truth behind them.

Before Morrissey even makes an appearance on the track, it's clear that he and Stephen Street are having a bit of laugh.  The music for the track is clearly meant to echo the atmosphere of The Smiths iconic "How Soon Is Now?"  In fact, according to Stephen Street, the initial version of the track didn't sound much like the finished bit.  At Morrissey's request, the song was re-worked into the "How Soon Is Now?" echo that was eventually presented to the public.  It's hard to believe that this wasn't intentional, with Morrissey sitting behind the producer's mixing board sporting a wry grin...

Lyrically, Morrissey's mix of sarcasm and truth is really the essence of Morrissey's early solo career.  Opening line, "Our unsleepable friend gets the message on an ill wind, 'All your friends and foes would rather die than to touch you..." is an obvious joke, as, by this point, a Morrissey concert was typically an open invitation for fans to run on stage to touch and hug the singer.  Clearly, Mozzer was not at a lack of people willing to touch him.

(Sidenote: Special kudos to Morrissey for inventing the term "Unsleepable," which draws the mind immediately to the Smiths' tracks "Unloveable" and "Asleep," two of Morrissey's best "I'm sad and alone" tracks.  Clever bastard.)

However, Morrissey also manages to mix in a healthy dose of truth and spite on the track.  A line such as, "Young boy, I wanna help you..." can easily be read as reference to Johnny Marr (though there's no proof that this is indeed a reference to Marr).  Further on, the lines, "Don't talk to me about people who are 'nice,' 'cause I have spent my whole life in ruins because of people who are 'nice.'" are nearly impossible to read as anything but truth.  Especially when one considers that the seeds of lawsuits from Mike Joyce, Andy Rourke, and Craig Gannon had been firmly planted by now.


(Sidenote II:  I submit this video as reason number 3,065 why the 90's were the best thing ever.)

Still, the ending of the track sums up everything one needs to know about Morrissey at this stage of his career.  "This is the last song I will ever sing..." is met with "cheers" from an overdubbed crowd.  Followed by the line, "No, I've changed my mind again..." and the subsequent overdubbed jeers, it's clear that Morrissey is well aware of the many detractors lurking in his post-Smiths landscape.  By adding those crowd noises, Morrissey shows that he is keenly aware of his standing and is more than willing to take the piss out of it himself.

Nobody Loves Us #11: Come Back To Camden

Hello again, everybody. Welcome back to the Nobody Loves Us countdown.

If you don't know, I'm counting down my 20 favorite Morrissey Non-Singles each weekday up until his October 29^th concert at The Orpheum right here in Minneapolis.

Here's what the list looks like so far:

20. One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell

19. Driving Your Girlfriend Home

18. Munich Air Disaster 1958

17. Seasick, Yet Still Docked

16. I Don't Mind If You Forget Me

15. Sister I'm A Poet

14. On The Streets I Ran

13. There's Place In Hell For Me And My Friends

12. Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?

Take a minute and scroll down to read my thoughts on those songs. I'll wait...

(waiting...)

(waiting...)

Alright, on to #11:

#11. Come Back To Camden (Morrissey/Boorer)

From the album You Are The Quarry

Key Line: “Your leg came to rest against mine, then you lounged with knees up and apart... and me and my heart – we knew... we just knew...”

When Morrissey returned to the pop world in 2004 much was made of the opening track on You Are The Quarry. “America Is Not The World” proved to be an interesting way to reintroduce yourself to the world. Since the critical ruin of Maladjusted seven years prior, the only relevant piece of news to come out regarding Morrissey was that he was holed-up in Los Angeles. As far as public figures go, few are as intrinsically linked to their home as Morrissey is too England.

While the English press and, one assumes, English fans, were titillated even the title of the opening track (this was 2004, after all), they must have been a bit disappointed with the song's content. Mozzer runs down a list of cliched criticisms of the United States before finally conceding that he'd found a 'flawed-but-beautiful' place, ending the song with “America, I love you, I love you...”

What does all this have to do with “Come Back To Camden?” Well, here it is. Since coming to America Morrissey had treated England like an ex-lover in the most brutal of ways. He would barely take the time to even acknowledge his home country and when he did it was usually to criticize it in some form. Meanwhile England just had to sit and watch Mozzer have this fling with whorey old Los Angeles, knowing full well that L.A. could never love him like England loved him.

The second track on Quarry, “Irish Blood, English Heart” showed that Mozzer's passions for England hadn't dulled, but it was more like one last re-hashing of why he and his homeland were exes, though it came with the acknowledgment that they'd always be linked, that they'd always define each other, regardless of the circumstances.

“Come Back To Camden,” then, is the moment when Morrissey sits down makes his peace with England-the-ex. He's tired of ignoring her. He's tired of the vitriol coming from both directions. He's certainly not promising to come back, but at least he can look back at the past and smile. With an opening line of, “There is something I wanted to tell you, it's so funny you'll kill yourself laughing...” is exactly the kind of awkward, “rehearsed-in-the-mirror” type of thing one would say if they were sitting down for drinks with a long-estranged love.

The conversations that Mozzer undertakes with England in the song is delivered as personal (the song is rooted a real life relationship with someone in Camden). However, it's nearly impossible to listen to without hearing a plea for mutual acknowledgment between himself and his country. Though they've grown apart, it's important for them both to be able to look back and smile.

Mozzer brilliantly spells out a list of things that were annoyances during his relationship with England that, in hindsight, are charming in their triviality. “Slate-grey Victorian sky,” “tea with the taste of the Thames,” “taxi drivers (who) never stop talking...” All of these things bring him back to a time and place that was somehow both flawed and perfect. A place, though, that he knows he cannot return to. That time for England and for Morrissey, as it eventually becomes for any former loves, is past, that place no longer exists. Essentially, this is an elongated way of telling England, in a breathtakingly poetic manner, that, in his own strange way, he's always been true to her.

Nobody Loves Us #12: Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?

Well hello again, everybody, and welcome back to the Nobody Loves Us Countdown.

If you're just joining me I'm counting down my 20 favorite Morrissey Non-Singles each weekday up until his show October 29th at The Orpheum in beautiful downtown Minneapolis.

Obviously you can scroll down to have a look at the previous posts (as well as a couple of my posts that have turned up on the Newest Industry blog (please check that blog out when you have a chance.  All Twin Cities Everything!).

If you don't feel like scrolling down, here's what the list looks like so far:

20. One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
19. Driving Your Girlfriend Home
18. Munich Air Disaster 1958
17. Seasick, Yet Still Docked
16. I Don't Mind If You Forget Me
15. Sister I'm A Poet
14. On The Streets I Ran
13. There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends

And so, here we find ourselves:

#12. Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself? (Morrissey/White)

From the album Vauxhall And I

Key Line:  "Don't rake up my mistakes, I know exactly what they are... And what do you do?  Well, you just sit there..."

Morrissey's Vauxhall And I is, pretty much indisputably, the high-water mark for his solo career. It's a brilliantly constructed album that couples Morrissey's growing pathos with a band that, after a couple of albums, has finally figured out how best to back their singer musically.  Tracks like, "Now My Heart Is Full," "Hold On To Your Friends," and, of course, "The More You Ignore Me The Closer I Get," could really only have come from this group of musicians at this exact time.

The production of Steve Lillywhite, though, is really the glue that brings the album together.  While the atmospherics on those singles is palpable, his production really shines through on some of the non-singles.  Tracks like, "Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning," and "I Am Hated For Loving" would have withered away in less capable hands.

The best example of all three of these elements is this track.  "Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?"  To those of us who have been following Morrissey throughout the 2000's, it's easy to lump this song in with many of the "victim" songs that have come to dominate his canon.  However, aside from the likes of "Frankly, Mr. Shankly" and "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby," Morrissey's portrayal of himself as a victim was typically limited to his role in specific personal relationships.  However, by 1994, Morrissey had suffered more slings and arrows professionally than any sane man could stand.

Once the darling of the English pop scene (a role he obviously relished), Morrissey's Kill Uncle was a clunker of an album that pushed him deeper into the "Rumours" column of the tabloids.  And, while Your Arsenal brought with it critical acclaim, the success was short-lived thanks to Mozzer's controversial appearance (and subsequent non-appearance) at the Madstock festival.  He quickly found himself squarely in the sights of both the critics and the public.  Throw in the perpetual disputes with his managers and record labels and it's no surprise that Moz found himself lashing out.

Immediately, Morrissey lays bare his predicament.  "The sanest days are mad, why don't you find out for yourself?" is at once a cry for help and an admission that he doesn't expect anybody to be able to relate to his problems.  "Some men here, they have a special interest in your career.  They want to help you to grow and then... siphon all your dough..." is a none-too-slight allusion to his brewing court battle with Mike Joyce, which would famously make it's way to England's High Court the following year.

Morrissey, of course, would expect nothing less. "You'll never believe me, so, why don't you find out for yourself?  Sick down to my heart, but that's just the way it goes."  After casting himself as the "outsider" his entire career, Morrissey finally found himself standing alone after all.  Nobody's walked the road he's walked, for if they had, they'd, "see the glass hidden in the grass."

Musically, Alain Whyte's tune was supposedly a much rougher track originally, with a distorted electric guitar taking the lead.  As legend goes, that version of the track is the version Morrissey's vocal take comes from, which goes a long way to explain the audible vitriol in the vocal delivery.

As mentioned earlier, the impact of Steve Lillywhite on Vauxhall cannot be overstated.  Altering the original take by reducing the electric lead to merely drifting in and out of the mix and bringing the acoustic guitar up to take the lead proved to be a stroke of genius.  By making Boz Boorer's high-harmonies far more prominent the song attains a "battered-but-still-punching" fragility that matches the lyrics.

"I've been stabbed in the back so many, many times I don't have any skin, but that's just the way it goes."  As it turned out, there were more stabs to come.  And the wound would never completely heal.

Nobody Loves Us #13: There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends

Well hello again my 25-50 year old, kinda sad, white friends. The Nobody Loves Us countdown continues today.

If you don't know what you're looking at right now, I've decided to countdown my 20 favorite Morrissey Non-Singles each weekday until the Mozfather's concert October 29^th at The Orpheum.

Here's what the list looks like so far:

20. One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell

19. Driving Your Girlfriend Home

18. Munich Air Disaster 1958

17. Seasick, Yet Still Docked

16. I Don't Mind If You Forget Me

15. Sister I'm A Poet

14. On The Streets I Ran

Which brings us to #13 on the list:

#13: There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends (Morrissey/Nevin)

From the album Kill Uncle

Key Line: “When we go, we all will go, so, you see, I'm never alone...”

Calling Kill Uncle an “up-and-down” album is a little bit like describing coffee as “caffeinated” or my blogging style as “tedious.” It seems obvious. Still, the spotty album ends on a high with “There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends.”

After trying on many different hats over the course of the album, Morrissey finds himself back in the same place that gave us songs like “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” and “I Won't Share You.” While “There Is A Place” is not on par with those classics, it does share the same structure (just some sparse instrumentation and Mozzer's pleas) and the same bizarrely backward optimism. It even punches in under 2:00.

Over what sounds vaguely like a church hymn, Morrissey seems prepared to lament the fate awaiting him & his company. However, he quickly makes it clear that the “place reserved for me and my friends” is more badge than a banishment. “When we go, we all will go...” is a line used to justify the way of living he's undertaken. You see, he's not alone. Something akin to the old, “50,000 Elvis fans” cliché.

This being Morrissey, of course, his biting English sense of self-deprecation delivers the most memorable line of the song. “All that we hope is when we go our skin, blood, and our bones don't get in your way, making you ill, the way they did when we lived...” There is no way Morrissey was taking his place in the underworld without taking one last shot at those who took him for granted.

While the song is a perfect closer for Kill Uncle, a slight, understated moment on an album sorely lacking both. When the track re-emerged a few years later in rockabilly form it seemed, on it's surface, to be a bit of an injustice. Try to imagine a rockabilly version of “Please, Please, Please...” or “I Won't Share You.” Seems blasephemous, no?

(Quick live sidenote: When I saw Mozzer in Chicago on the Ringleader tour the show closed with an expanded, full band version of “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want.” Now, that song is so good that even a dubstep version of it would kill, but I was still left with a bad taste in my mouth that such a perfectly fragile song could be pounded into submission like that.)

And yet, I'm actually a big fan of the rockabilly version that appeared as a b-side to the My Love Life single. As I mentioned in the “Driving Your Girlfriend Home” post, my love of Mozzer stems from his ability to wrap that voice around a hook more than the actual lyrics in the hook. I feel like the braggadocio aspect of the song really shines through on this version. Listen to the way he elongates “bonneesss...” The seething is palpable. Anyway, I'm firmly in the “Rockabilly Version” camp. But that's just me.