Just writing about a small article I saw in the Melody Maker (issue for 29 May), about the Morrissey-Joyce court appeal stuff. They outlined the details we already know; the article then finished:

'Joyce told Radio 1 last week: "Morrissey, in his infinite wisdom, took it upon himself to appeal at the House of Lords. Whether he'll take it to the European Court of Appeal I don't know - or NATO after that. Maybe we could have a national referendum on it!"'

There was an interview with Marr in a Belgian paper, he said that he was the sensitive one who didn't like the rock 'n roll circus and not Morrissey (who pushed everyone to do things). He also said that he left The Smiths because it made him drunk all the time.

In the latest edition of 'Rip It Up' (New Zealand music mag) there is a brief interview with Billy Bragg in conjunction with his recent concert here.

He was talking at one point about the brief but great careers of 80's bands like The Smiths and The Housemartins and went on to say that 'after the Smiths broke up, Morrissey shouldn't have made any more albums for a few years. But instead he did and made three shit ones in succession.'

I only saw it in a shop and didn't have any cash with me so it may not be the exact words, but it's pretty close.

Smiths rank a mere 15th of "the biggest bands of all time" according to KROQ listeners. Obviously the votes were split betwixt The Smiths and Morrissey, otherwise I think we know who'd be #1. It's one thing to have Depeche Mode ranked higher but Sublime?

From Nitin Nayar:

The Smiths ranked #15 in KROQ's audience-chosen top 106.7 bands of all time this Memorial Day weekend. Although I am part of the "what do we care what KROQ thinks" crowd, I must insist that the KROQ audience in Los Angeles is an accurate cross-section of America's "alternative"-listening audience as a whole. It's impressive the Smiths attained such a high listing given the list is peppered with "undiscussables" such as Korn, the Offspring and Sublime. Other alternative heavyweights such as New Order, David Bowie, REM, the Clash, the Police and Bob Marley failed to even break the top 20.

20. Tori Amos
19. Blink 182
18. Beck
17. No Doubt
16. Nine Inch Nails
15. The Smiths
14. Oingo Boingo
13. Garbage
12. Korn
11. Green Day

10. Rage Against the Machine
9. Sublime
8. Pearl Jam
7. The Smashing Pumpkins
6. Nirvana
5. The Cure
4. U2
3. The Offspring
2. Beastie Boys
1. Depeche Mode