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Morrissey on Jobriath - Observer Music Monthly

posted by davidt on Sunday November 12 2006, @10:00AM
naomi writes:
Today's issue of the Observer Music Monthly (12/11/06) contains a list of 20 'of pop's landmark gay moments'. Morrissey contributes a few paragraphs on Jobriath:

9. The glam god
Morrissey on the first major label gay star

"I bought the first Jobriath album in 1974 at Rare Records in drizzle-fizzled Manchester. Neither for the ears of the elderly nor for those with middle-aged perspectives, Jobriath voiced the excess destitution of New York's most tormentedly aware, whose lives were favoured by darkness. Cinematic themes of desperate dramas in paranoid shadows were presented as choppy and carnivalesque melodies.

The hairy beasts who wrote for the music press laughed Jobriath off the face of the planet. He was, at best, merely considered to be 'insane'. It was clear that Jobriath was willing to go the gay distance, something that even the intelligentsia didn't much care for. Elton John knew this in 1973; Jobriath didn't. Surrounded on all sides by Journey, Styx, and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Jobriath was at society's mercy. Yet it could have worked so well.

Neither America nor England was quite ready. Thus, Jobriath quietly expired, buried without a single line of ceremony in any music publication throughout the world."
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  • Is it me, or are Morrissey's prose sharper than ever? Some great visual writing, and it made me laugh, too ("hairy beasts," "Surrounded on all sides...")

    Morrissey -- your autobiography, por favor!

    king leer -- Sunday November 12 2006, @10:23AM (#239451)
    (User #80 Info)
  • This excerpt was taken directly from the liner notes of "Lonely Planet Boy."

    Morrissey is a genius- and a very talented writer as well.

    My only complaint is about "Lonely Planet Boy" as a CD. First of all, I understand it did NOT sell very well.

    The packaging is terrible. Terrible choice of colours- and a terrible cover photo. Especially if you consider someone who is NOT familiar with Jobriath at all.

    The choice of tracks- and the order of tracks- is terrible.

    I appreciate what they tried to accomplish, but "Lonely Planet Boy" could have been SO much more. Cheers to Morrissey, however, for resurrecting Jobriath. Jobriath could have been a terrific success in the '70s and even '80s. I could almost cry when I think about it.

    For more info- please check out

    www.jobriath.org

    An aspiring young man has put together an amazing website! And he is really cool, too.

    With love,
    Ken S.

    ps- see you at the Chicago show.
    sycophantic_slag -- Sunday November 12 2006, @10:37AM (#239453)
    (User #3940 Info)
    "And I just can't explain/ So I won't even try to."
  • Am I the only fan on the planet that would prefer Morrissey keep his writing connected to song? His essays are slightly boring and make him appear that he's trying too hard.
    Harsh yes, but sometimes criticism needs to be.
    Anonymous -- Sunday November 12 2006, @03:02PM (#239477)
    • Re:Is it me? by Anonymous (Score:0) Sunday November 12 2006, @11:15PM
  • This is from the Observer Music Monthly which is edited this month by Dame Elton John. Hes decided to make it a gay issue. Can he talk about anything else these days?

    Question- if Elt knew about the genius of Jobraith in the Seventies why did he decline Morrissey's invitation to perform a concert solely of songs by Jobriath as a part of Meltdown?
    Strutting Rooster -- Monday November 13 2006, @12:14AM (#239495)
    (User #15031 Info | http://www.facebook.com/struttingrooster)
  • One of the reasons that I love Morrissey, other than his music, is the fact that he's attracted to and also fights for the under-dog. Bless him!
    Anonymous -- Monday November 13 2006, @12:57PM (#239557)
  • I second the complaint about his writing. It's amateur, which can be seen by the number of adjectives he uses. We're talking creative writing 101 here. Like Rogan did in his Smiths book, he tries too hard to impress with the creativity of his word selection rather than with the substance of his writing.

    With that being said, he's a creative person who clearly has a strong vocabulary. He just doesn't have any real prose training, or practice it seems.

    Remember, good writers are made, not born.
    Anonymous -- Monday November 13 2006, @05:55PM (#239584)
  • "Jobriath voiced the excess destitution of New York's most tormentedly aware, whose lives were favoured by darkness. Cinematic themes of desperate dramas in paranoid shadows were presented as choppy and carnivalesque melodies."

    You're kidding, right?

    Morrissey writes like a talented, yet clearly naive teenager.

    This is the kind of stuff that you would see in Sci-Fi magazine lit.
    Anonymous -- Monday November 13 2006, @05:59PM (#239585)
    • Re:No by king leer (Score:1) Monday November 13 2006, @07:24PM
  • I love Moz to bits, but fear this article is headed towards 'Private Eye' Pseuds Corner... Perhaps he should take note of Alan Bennetts more simple prose?

    Elsie
    Anonymous -- Tuesday November 14 2006, @05:16AM (#239611)
  • My impression- they asked for an item and got an essay. Told to cut it down M takes one word from each sentence and throws them all in a bag.
    Shake.. Tips them out on the page, and
    produces an article that gives an impression to the imagination without bothering about the rules of prose too much.. I found it entertaining, different to the other writers in the article, refreshing even.

    What a dull life I lead.yawn.........
    sinistra 21 -- Wednesday November 15 2006, @02:10AM (#239742)
    (User #16758 Info)

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