Noel Gallagher comments on Morrissey and The Smiths in Hot Press interview, 3 July, 2023

[goinghome]

Giving the wide-ranging and spicy cover interview to the current issue of Hot Press to mark the release of his band's new album, Council Skies, Noel Gallagher talks a lot about Johnny Marr, who was involved in the songs, and a little about The Smiths in general, and about Morrissey:

"I’m a little hazier about The Smiths [seeing them for the first time], which was in a packed Hacienda. As great as they were, I’m probably more into them now than I was then. With the first album especially, it’s like, ‘That’s derived from nothing.’ There’s no blues or other traces of musical DNA in Morrissey’s singing. His melodies are completely unique and Johnny’s guitar… some of it is Afrobeat, some of it is rockabilly. It’s unbelievable.”

He shares an anecdote about meeting Joe Strummer soon after saying something perceptive in public that he got roundly criticised for, as happens to Morrissey:

“I met Joe Strummer a few times, the first occasion being in 1997 on the weekend of Lady Diana’s funeral. I’d flippantly said in an interview, ‘What are all these f***ing people doing in London for this woman they didn’t know? They wouldn’t go and put flowers on their mother’s graves yet they’ve flown in from f***ing wherever.’ The shit had really hit the fan over that when I bumped into Joe and he went, ‘That was a great thing you said, man!’ We used to sit around his campfire at Glastonbury. Joe Strummer was the real deal and there ain’t many of those.”

Cover Interview - Noel Gallagher: "Me, with my arms folded, telling Johnny Marr how to play guitar? I wouldn’t fucking dare!" | Hotpress

Oasis fans will consider it heresy, but Council Skies might just be Noel Gallagher’s finest collection of songs yet. In a similarly epic interview, he talk...

www.hotpress.com

 

[CrazyFaceGenes]

You didn't have to say much to cause a fuss during the mass hysteria phase of that funeral.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for this

 

[DagenhamDan]

He was right about Diana, people wailing in the street and sobbing more than if a member of their own family had died. It was a strange time

 

[Crisstti]

Nice. Moz should write something with Noel.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Joe Strummer. One of rock’s most beautiful souls. Painfully missed every single day.

 

[Luxo]

Lovely words about Joe Strummer. What a man.