First saw the link on MorrisseyTour.com. An anonymous person sends:

Morrissey Pulls a Sickie - VirginMegaMagazine Rumor Mill, May 26, 2004

Perhaps a little shopping and pub crawling is exactly what the doctor ordered. Or maybe the moody music icon was upset that up and coming Brit trio Keane has kept his new album out of the #1 slot in England for two weeks in a row. In any case, Morrissey cancelled commitments he had made on Monday to one of his biggest fans, Craig Kilborn, by having his record company send over a statement saying he had gotten the highly contagious disease, meningitis. Yet early Tuesday (5/25), Morrissey was spotted out and about town just hours after a very disappointed Craig Kilborn had appeared on the KROQ morning show with Kevin and Bean to voice his disappointment at the cancellation of the appearance of his music idol. Morrissey was scheduled to tape two songs Monday (5/24), including his new single "Irish Blood, English Heart," for broadcast on the The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn Monday and Tuesday. He was then scheduled to return Wednesday to tape three more songs to air throughout the week. "Morrissey has regretfully had to cancel his appearance on The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn this week," reads a statement sent to the late night show by Morrissey's label, Sanctuary Records. "He has been involved in an exhaustive global promotion campaign for (his new album) You Are The Quarry the past several months. Unfortunately the strain of his schedule and a recent bout with meningitis resulted in his doctor insisting that he cancel all current appearances ?" However, Morrissey was spotted DVD shopping at the Hollywood Virgin Megastore at about 1pm Tuesday (5/25), then hanging out outside of his favorite pub in Hollywood, The Cat & Fiddle. Remarked Keane drummer, Richard Hughes, from a private Silverlake party celebrating his band's US debut album, Hopes and Fears (Interscope), "I hope by knocking him out of #1 slot that we didn't upset him too much."

Con writes:

According to ARIA (Australian record industry association), Morrissey is at No 64. Not too bad considering minimal publicity & no airplay.

Pedro Marques writes:

Morrissey YATQ reached number 10 in the Portuguese TOP 30.
The amazing thing is, as far as i can rebember, Morrissey never reached to Portuguese TOP solo or even with The Smiths.

You can check it here.

dirk van gils writes:

MORRISSEY "you are the quarry" is on number 50 of top 50 albums Belgium of 22/05/2004. Its the first in his career that he entered the belgian album charts!! Only on indie charts "de afrekening" (studio brussels) he's now on number 19 (top 30 from the listeners)

P.S. New Morrissey review of Manchester concert at DE MORGEN (24/5/2004) --> If you want a copy please mail to [email protected] or [email protected]

torr sends the link:

MORRISSEY
Manchester Evening News Arena, 22 May 2004 - By Richard Smirke, Playlouder. Excerpt:

This gig could so easily have been an anti-climax... Morrissey’s first hometown concert in twelve years. All 15,000 tickets sold out in 63 minutes. The show that the man himself had been building up as "something special" in the countless press appearances that preceded it. And to top it all off, the bequiffed one’s forty-fifth birthday. Basically, anything short of truly fantastic was always going to result in a massive disappointment for all concerned…

Johan de Witt writes:

Great review of Moz's concert at the MEN Arena in Manchester
at leading Dutch broadcast organisation VPRO's website.

alainsane sends the link:

How Soon Is Then? by Dennis Lim, Village Voice

The Smiths' aging bigmouth messiah risks ridicule, wags his finger, and stamps his feet

blaster writes:

Very positive review of the new record:

YATQ Coke Machine Glow review by Garin Pirnia

Nobby Stiles writes:

I went to see Gene at Northumberland University, Newcastle last week and was amazed to hear the support band, Manchester band "Pioneers", play an absolutely amazing version of "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get" by the great man, Morrissey.

The lead singer shyly introduced the song without it's title and the crowd went mad after the opening line. He also thanked Morrissey at the end of the set. All of the songs were great and were not too disimilar to some of Moz's new work (maybe a bit like U2 as well?).

Their web address is www.pioneersmusic.co.uk for any interested Morrissey fans.

torr writes:

Stars Help Sinatra Pledge 'Love' - Billboard.com

Nancy Sinatra has drafted a cavalcade of stars to assist with her upcoming album, "To Nancy, With Love." As previously reported, the set will be released in late summer or early fall via Sanctuary's revived Attack imprint, which is being supervised by Morrissey. The first single is Sinatra's version of "Let Me Kiss You," which Morrissey recorded for his new album, "You Are the Quarry."

U2's Bono and the Edge offer "Two Shots of Happy," originally written for Sinatra's late father Frank. "It's a little difficult emotionally because this is about Dad, but it's a bang-on description of him," Nancy says in a statement.

Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker penned two songs for "To Nancy," which were recorded with such musicians as guitarist Richard Hawley, bassist Jim O'Rourke and former Smithereens drummer Dennis Diken. Pete Yorn contributes "Don't Mean Nothin'," while Jon Spencer plays guitar and sings on a new version of Sinatra's "Ain't No Easy Way."

Also expected to make the final cut is a duet with Elvis Costello titled "Comin' Home Baby" and tracks featuring E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt and desert rock act Calexico.

Sinatra's summer plans include a handful of live dates, highlighted by a June 20 appearance the Morrissey-curated Meltdown Festival in London.

-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

John, England writes:

Just seen this rather amusing article on RFT about Joel Madden from the Good Charlottes. He was rehearsing in a studio next to Morrissey's band. Moz wasn't there and he asked the band if he could sing along to Suedehead and they duly obliged. Joel claimed "It was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life"!

This Charming Man - Riverfront Times
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Same article published a week ago in a different paper, in case you missed it: Morrissey Influence article in Cleveland Scene newspaper (May 22, 2004).