Far Out: "From David Bowie to Morrissey: Tony Visconti names the favourite songs that he worked on" (March 3, 2021)

From David Bowie to Morrissey: Tony Visconti names the favourite songs that he worked on.jpg


Excerpt:

Morrissey’s 2006 track, ‘Ganglord’, is another one that Visconti adores, noting: “Sadly, ‘Dear God, Please Help Me’ and ‘You Have Killed Me’ from Ringleader of the Tormentors, the album I made with Morrissey, aren’t widely available. But ‘Ganglord’ is available on an album called Swords, a B-sides album. I’m so proud of it, and Morrissey still plays it in his shows. It comes from the sessions for Ringleader of the Tormentors, which came about because they’d sacked their first producer. I was a substitute producer, but that doesn’t matter to me.”


The usual Far Out article about another article.

The Tidal piece referenced is a bit more descriptive:

"2006 “Ganglord” (Morrissey):
Sadly, ‘Dear God, Please Help Me’ and ‘You Have Killed Me’ from Ringleader of the Tormentors, the album I made with Morrissey, aren’t widely available. But ‘Ganglord’ is available on an album called Swords, a B-sides album. I’m so proud of it, and Morrissey still plays it in his shows. It comes from the sessions for Ringleader of the Tormentors, which came about because they’d sacked their first producer. I was a substitute producer, but that doesn’t matter to me.

It was a funny situation, because the first evening, when I arrived, I got all the ground rules, especially about meat, because there was no meat in the studio. Morrissey can smell it on you, I was told! But I explained that I’m a diabetic, and I can’t just eat carbohydrates. So I ended up having to go to another part of Rome to eat. I don’t recall what the other rules were, but it was basically that they wanted to make sure I was in a good headspace.

So we made the album, but I started with the band. It was probably later that first night of work before I finally met Morrissey. He I arrived and he said to me, ‘Oh, Visconti, I thought you were dead.’ That was the way he greeted me.

I said, ‘No, here I am, unfortunately.’ So I knew it was going to be fun, because I think he’s a very funny guy. I mean, no one has ever intimidated me, and I wasn’t about to let him intimidate me, either, because you can’t work under those conditions. Other people might be able to, but I can’t work under those conditions. I’d rather walk away with dignity. So that’s the way we started off.

He came back after the first day of overdubs and closed his eyes while he listened to all our work — because I’d put all the guitar players through hoops — and opened his eyes at the end he said, ‘It’s beautiful.’ I thought I’d maybe be on the next plane back to New York, but he loved it and so we commenced to work that way.


Regards,
FWD.


Related item:
 
Yes

I think there’s a lot of great songs on Tormentors.


For me, it was a step in the right direction after the Jerry Finn production.

Though Morrissey went back to Finn for Refusal, maybe it was convenience, or he liked what Finn
did with Quarry I guess.

I was just being snarky.

Generally speaking, I have no issues with the songwriting on Ringleader. I always enjoy listening to live versions of most of the songs and Morrissey's voice was in top form on the record. We don't need to argue about the lyrics either.

But to me, sadly, it sounds like it was recorded in a tin can. I'm no fan of Quarry's production either...
 
...No offence, but you'd have to be a serious wimp to feel intimidated by Morrissey.
The only reason one "walks away with dignity" is to stop oneself from hitting him, generally.
 
The studio version yes but it becomes a different monster altogether live. Sorry having to edit to add I read Ganglord as Jack the Ripper, duh, but I think it still stands just not as much
Jack I f***ing worship.
 
"But I explained that I’m a diabetic, and I can’t just eat carbohydrates."
Hahaa!
These cornballs love to pretend that they have to eat meat because it's
the only way to tend to a health condition.
They woulda brought somethin' else in the studio for him.
 
I was just being snarky.

Generally speaking, I have no issues with the songwriting on Ringleader. I always enjoy listening to live versions of most of the songs and Morrissey's voice was in top form on the record. We don't need to argue about the lyrics either.

But to me, sadly, it sounds like it was recorded in a tin can. I'm no fan of Quarry's production either...

A tin can? Maybe I like the sound of being recorded in a tin can ! :lbf:


Actually my tastes are strange. For example, before ROTT was released,
someone passed on to me a leak of the album, they were hesitant to even give it to me, because it sounded so bad, a seventh generation copy or something, a haze of hiss, wobbly and garbled at times. But I listened to it anyway.

But when I finally heard the real release I was disappointed that the sound wasn’t a little closer to the shitty sounding tape I’ve been listening to! :lbf: :p
 
A tin can? Maybe I like the sound of being recorded in a tin can ! :lbf:


Actually my tastes are strange. For example, before ROTT was released,
someone passed on to me a leak of the album, they were hesitant to even give it to me, because it sounded so bad, a seventh generation copy or something, a haze of hiss, wobbly and garbled at times. But I listened to it anyway.

But when I finally heard the real release I was disappointed that the sound wasn’t a little closer to the shitty sounding tape I’ve been listening to! :lbf: :p

Maybe I would have liked that version better!
 
"But I explained that I’m a diabetic, and I can’t just eat carbohydrates."
Hahaa!
These cornballs love to pretend that they have to eat meat because it's
the only way to tend to a health condition.
They woulda brought somethin' else in the studio for him.

I remember Visconti saying in some other interview that the others just had spaghetti with plain tomato sauce in the studio every day :lbf:

And that Morrissey did indeed smell the meat on him after lunch (which I don't think is that unusual for vegetarians, is it? Meat does smell...).
 
View attachment 69218

Excerpt:

Morrissey’s 2006 track, ‘Ganglord’, is another one that Visconti adores, noting: “Sadly, ‘Dear God, Please Help Me’ and ‘You Have Killed Me’ from Ringleader of the Tormentors, the album I made with Morrissey, aren’t widely available. But ‘Ganglord’ is available on an album called Swords, a B-sides album. I’m so proud of it, and Morrissey still plays it in his shows. It comes from the sessions for Ringleader of the Tormentors, which came about because they’d sacked their first producer. I was a substitute producer, but that doesn’t matter to me.”


The usual Far Out article about another article.

The Tidal piece referenced is a bit more descriptive:

"2006 “Ganglord” (Morrissey):
Sadly, ‘Dear God, Please Help Me’ and ‘You Have Killed Me’ from Ringleader of the Tormentors, the album I made with Morrissey, aren’t widely available. But ‘Ganglord’ is available on an album called Swords, a B-sides album. I’m so proud of it, and Morrissey still plays it in his shows. It comes from the sessions for Ringleader of the Tormentors, which came about because they’d sacked their first producer. I was a substitute producer, but that doesn’t matter to me.

It was a funny situation, because the first evening, when I arrived, I got all the ground rules, especially about meat, because there was no meat in the studio. Morrissey can smell it on you, I was told! But I explained that I’m a diabetic, and I can’t just eat carbohydrates. So I ended up having to go to another part of Rome to eat. I don’t recall what the other rules were, but it was basically that they wanted to make sure I was in a good headspace.

So we made the album, but I started with the band. It was probably later that first night of work before I finally met Morrissey. He I arrived and he said to me, ‘Oh, Visconti, I thought you were dead.’ That was the way he greeted me.

I said, ‘No, here I am, unfortunately.’ So I knew it was going to be fun, because I think he’s a very funny guy. I mean, no one has ever intimidated me, and I wasn’t about to let him intimidate me, either, because you can’t work under those conditions. Other people might be able to, but I can’t work under those conditions. I’d rather walk away with dignity. So that’s the way we started off.

He came back after the first day of overdubs and closed his eyes while he listened to all our work — because I’d put all the guitar players through hoops — and opened his eyes at the end he said, ‘It’s beautiful.’ I thought I’d maybe be on the next plane back to New York, but he loved it and so we commenced to work that way.


Regards,
FWD.


Related item:
I'm managing a chat room in a Visconti interview on Tuesday https://iw.confetti.ac.uk/events/tony-visconti/ if anyone has any questions I can try slipping in!
 
I remember Visconti saying in some other interview that the others just had spaghetti with plain tomato sauce in the studio every day :lbf:

And that Morrissey did indeed smell the meat on him after lunch (which I don't think is that unusual for vegetarians, is it? Meat does smell...).

I think he has a phobia for the smell.

I have a phobia for cooked e**s. I mostly try to die quietly inside - but I have been known to cry, scream & run from a room. I won't even attempt a cure because I know they'd make me go near it.
 
But to me, sadly, it sounds like it was recorded in a tin can.

It's the mastering that is awful on ROTT, though, not the production. Visconti helped the band to create a more coherent sound than on Quarry, and the playing and singing are some of the best on any Morrissey album. He did a good job.
 
It's the mastering that is awful on ROTT, though, not the production. Visconti helped the band to create a more coherent sound than on Quarry, and the playing and singing are some of the best on any Morrissey album. He did a good job.

Yeah, okay, fair enough. It's an even bigger shame we won't get the remaster overseen by Visconti then. I really want to like Ringleader, it's just that in its current state I don't, which is sad because the whole band (including M) and Visconti seem to be very proud of it.
 
It’s a very northern thing to say to people who you haven’t seen in a long time....
I’ve said it many times to people, and people have also said it to me..
has your wife said it to you after sex?
 
I have never, and I’ve said this before, understood what’s so great about Ganglord. To me, it’s heavy handed and chugging, with no redeeming melody to it.
It's got an enormous chorus, big and bold and loud like something Oasis might have done. Which appealed to me but it is also the things you say. All a matter of opinion!
 
I have never, and I’ve said this before, understood what’s so great about Ganglord. To me, it’s heavy handed and chugging, with no redeeming melody to it.

the fluid rhythm of the vocal. It goes up. Punctuates and slides back down with the rhythm of the song. It’s an absolute gem to sing. I can also relate to the lyrics. That punctuation, something he’s been doing more and more (darling I also comes to mind) add drama and heft to the lyrics. Makes you feel like your I. The subject place getting hammered by all this outside pressure
 
What happened to the ‘rebooted’ version of ROTT?

 
The same could be said of How soon is now.
HSIN is almost an atmospheric mood piece. It also has incredible guitar from Johnny Marr and fantastic, universal lyrics. That said, I’ve never been a big fan of that song either, but I can see why a lot of people are.
 
the fluid rhythm of the vocal. It goes up. Punctuates and slides back down with the rhythm of the song. It’s an absolute gem to sing. I can also relate to the lyrics. That punctuation, something he’s been doing more and more (darling I also comes to mind) add drama and heft to the lyrics. Makes you feel like your I. The subject place getting hammered by all this outside pressure
Fair play. I appreciate your analysis.
 
It's got an enormous chorus, big and bold and loud like something Oasis might have done. Which appealed to me but it is also the things you say. All a matter of opinion!
Maybe Don’t Believe the Truth era Oasis. 1995 Noel would never have settled for something like that.
 

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