Moz On Madonna: “I Wouldn’t Be Surprised If She Turned That Little African Boy Into A Coat”

Holy crap, dude.

Philebrity Moz Afterparty Rescheduled!

And fear not: The Morrissey Afterparty is BACK ON with the newly rescheduled date at the Mann. Moz-Smiths karaoke courtesy Karaoke Obscura and so much more. Related: We are told there are still some lawn seats available for the Mozzer, which is frankly mozboggling.

Breaking: Morrissey Not Dead Or Screwing Over Philly Fans

Following successful shows in Boston and Norfolk Morrissey’s US tour is back in full swing.

With that in mind we are delighted to announce rescheduled dates for Philadelphia at The Mann Centre on the 23rd of July and Atlantic City at the Borgata on the 24th of July.

It has not been possible to reschedule shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Holmdel, New Jersey’s PNC Arts Centre, Northampton, Mass’s, Pines Theatre or Baltimore’s Ram’s Head as despite our best efforts those venues are not available during the remaining tour period. It is hoped that we will be able to add a US leg to the tour this fall and that we will be able to play all of the above cities. In the meantime anyone holding tickets to those 4 shows should obtain a refund at the point of purchase. The tour continues this week with shows in Knoxville,TN; Clearwater, FL; Boca Raton, FL and Orlando, FL.

More details/party plans should be forthcoming…

Moz Cancels Boston, NYC, PHL But Checks In With Letterman For A Quick One

New Morrissey Live Video: “That’s How People Grow Up”

If you can overlook the shoddy visuals, here is a pretty high-quality audio clip of his new jam.

Moz Memories: Tower Records, South Street, 1994

And yep, that’s the one and only Mel Toxic.

Special To Mozblog: The Ring’s The Thing

13 July 1991, New York City: I have been interning for the entire summer in a record company office with no air conditioning. I am lonely and miserable in the hot, filthy city. But tonight everything is fine, because I am in the FRONT ROW at Madison Square Garden, where Morrissey is about to conclude his first post-Smiths US Tour in front of me and 20,000 other people. You know the feeling you get when the roller coaster you’re on slowly climbs the track’s first incline, then crests the peak before plunging downwards at 60 miles an hour? The excitement you feel at that last moment before you fall? Imagine that feeling lasting unabated for two hours. I didn’t breathe the entire time. This is how a superfan is born.

28 November 1992, Philadelphia: Morrissey comes to the Tower Theater for the final night of his US tour supporting “Your Arsenal”. Again, I am front row; and with the Tower’s low stage I can actually bend forward and lay my entire torso onto the stage where He is about to appear. The top-of-the-rollercoaster feeling comes over me again.

During the show, the lack of a barricade allows many of the faithful to climb onto the stage and touch, kiss and hug Him, which He appears to enjoy. At one point He even comes over to me, and when I reach out to touch Him He actually takes my hand with a strong grip and I sense that if I were to begin to climb up onto the stage, He would assist me in doing so. I remain where I am, mostly because I know that I will never get back to this perfect spot if I move.

The set ends, and for their encore the band begin playing the just-released dark and sexy b-side Jack The Ripper, which I adore, live for the very first time (Morrissey’s masterpiece The Never-Played Symphonies will also make its live debut at the Tower some 12 years on). Sensing that the end is near, many, many fans begin mounting the stage. The security is overwhelmed, and before He can sing “and I know a place where no one is likely to pass” Morrissey quickly finds himself at the bottom of a pile of at least 10 admirers. At this point, again not wanting to move from where I am, I happen to look down at the edge of the stage in front of me where I see a high school class ring, set with a crimson stone. I pick it up and hold it tightly in my fist. As I do this, the guards remove the pile of bodies on top of Him and Moz is finally freed. He immediately begins to scan the floor of the stage, as if He’s looking for a small object. His deep-set eyes are focused on nothing but the floorboards and I realize that what I am holding in my hand is a ring that just came off of Morrissey’s finger (obviously not originally his, it reads “Englewood Cliffs Upper School 1963”, with “DAVE” inscribed on the inside of the band). He then walks along the leading edge of the stage while holding up his pinky finger, saying to those of us at the front “Ring? Ring? Ring?” I experience a moment of agonizing indecision. Do I return the ring, or hold onto a priceless memento? I make a snap decision to choose the latter. Morrissey leaves the stage and does not return. The show is over.

Although I have no memory of it, someone from the crew apparently came to the mic after this and asked that whoever had Morrissey’s ring to please return it.1 I may have already left the building at that point, I’m not sure. Months later, I write to Moz and confess that I have his ring. I receive no reply. I’ve also worn it to several of his shows since then, but never been close enough to hand it back (which I would gladly do). I’ll be attending seven shows on the upcoming US tour, beginning in Sparks, Nevada and ending where the excitement all began 16 years ago, at Madison Square Garden. I may still get my chance.

PS: I’d like to say this: To walk this planet during the same years that Morrissey does is very, very special indeed. Tens, hundreds, and even thousands of years from now, people will look back and wonder what it was like to have lived during these years, when He was alive. To have actually lived through it, to have held His hand, heard His voice, worn His ring. Don’t let it pass you by.

1 *http://www.passionsjustlikemine.com/gigs/moz-g921128.htm

Spotlight: “In The Future When All’s Well”

A right burner from Ringleader Of The Tormentors.

THIS SUNDAY! APRIL 15TH!
PANIC
AN ALL NIGHT SMITHS & MORRISSEY DANCE PARTY!
UPSTAIRS AT SAL’S
200 S. 12TH ST. (JUST SOUTH OF WALNUT)

DJS KYLEM. MIKE T.
NO COVER!

Moz Speaks! “I Was NOT The President Of The New York Dolls Fan Club!”

From the Jools Holland show over in England.

Did Morrissey Just Lose His Label?

This just in, from Filter:

According to a source within the company, Sanctuary Records‘ U.S. label will cease to release new material this starting this summer. Similar to a recent move at V2 Records, Sanctuary will only continue to run its catalog and licensing operations. All affected staffers, which includes marketing, publicity and most sales personnel, will be let go by June 30th. The label will still work the albums they recently released such as Idlewild’s Make Another World, as well as upcoming albums from Tegan And Sara and former Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan. The label is home to artists from Morrissey to Motorhead.

Moz SPEAKS! “I Feel Sympathy For American Idol Contestants”

From an interview with David Fricke at last year’s South By Southwest.

From The Vaults: Sandie Shaw, “Jeane”

Here’s one near and dear to our hearts: In 1984, the then-quite-young Smiths were the toast of Britain, on TV with regularity and suddenly, quite surprisingly very famous, and having the wherewithal to do just about anything they damn well pleased. For Morrissey, this meant jump-starting the career of perhaps his favorite ’60s pop singers, Sandie Shaw. In quick turnaround, Moz marched The Smiths into the studio with Shaw for a 3-song EP of Smiths tunes: “Hand In Glove,” “I Don’t Owe You Anything” and “Jeane,” an early fave which only ever appeared as a B-side. But it’s “Jeane” that really captured the Moz spirit best, and proved why Shaw’s career was worth resurrecting in the first place. Ripped lovingly from our own vinyl copy, here it is:
Sandie Shaw: “Jeane” [mp3]
Simply gorgeous.

Moz In The News: FAN CAMP!

STOCKTON, CA - Ivan Betancourt didn’t sleep much Thursday night. He was probably awake most of last night as well.
His tent does little to keep out the cold, and the concrete sidewalk outside the Bob Hope Theatre is hard and uncomfortable.
Still, Betancourt doesn’t seem to mind losing sleep - it will be worth it when he gets tickets this morning for Morrissey’s summer tour kickoff concert April 27 at the Hope.
Betancourt, 19, of Delhi and friend Sarita Martinez, 25, of Modesto were first in line for Morrissey tickets, which go on sale at 10 a.m. today. They set up their tent at about 10 p.m. Thursday in the doorway of a vacant storefront next to the Hope ticket office.

RecordNet: It Was Like Woodstock For Zoloft-Takers

The Under-Appreciated Moz: “Boxers”

This has always been one of our favorite Moz clips. We like the song a lot, too.