The Smiths & Morrissey Rarities / FB Group: Recent photo of "Have-A-Go Merchant" promo cover star

Cover star of Have-A-Go Merchant.
The image was first published in Nick Knight's 1982 book "Skinhead".
Said page:

Regards,
FWD.

 

[bedlam breakout]

you would have thought he would have got a new shirt by now!

 

[Stephen Hofmann]

 

[SixteenClumsyShy]

What is up with Morrissey's fascination with skinheads or the skinhead culture?

 

[anonymous]

One the best cover star ! This was ante SER

 

[Gregor Samsa]

What is up with Morrissey's fascination with skinheads or the skinhead culture?

The romance of crime, lad culture, working class English culture, the gang mentality, the music, the clothes.

 

[Gaylord Deepstar]

 

[gashonthenail]

I didn't know there was a promo version of Have-A-Go Merchant and hadn't seen this pic before. Always assumed the song was just a b-side on Boxers. It's not the most complimentary of songs to be on the cover of - and he seems a likeable chap.
Going for 89 quid on Ebay.

Morrissey - ULTRA RARE - Have A Go Merchant PROMO CD | eBay

With a grading of near mint (NM or M-), this CD is in excellent condition and will make a great addition to any music collection.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Phranc & Open]

Love the promo asswellass the TMYIMTCIG promo with Moz and his best friend/brother/photographer/lover on the payroll.

 

[Stephen Hofmann]

What is up with Morrissey's fascination with skinheads or the skinhead culture?

I'm not sure......never was........if anything Moz is a rocker. Skinheads thankfully disappeared in the 80's for the most part. They were the most violent and aggressive of all UK sub-cultures.

 

[Johnny]

Great photo and to this day I love a Ben Sherman shirt.
Looks good, well done Sir.

 

[Stephen Hofmann]

The romance of crime, lad culture, working class English culture, the gang mentality, the music, the clothes.

There's no great skinhead music.........unless you're counting reggae.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

What is up with Morrissey's fascination with skinheads or the skinhead culture?

The romance of crime, lad culture, working class English culture, the gang mentality, the music, the clothes.

I'm not sure......never was........if anything Moz is a rocker. Skinheads thankfully disappeared in the 80's for the most part. They were the most violent and aggressive of all UK sub-cultures.

Yeah, that and, I always speculated the British skinhead culture represented an England to him that no longer exists. Around the same time he was singing of it’s ‘death’ and American cultures hand in that, with such songs as Glamorous Glue and We’ll Let You Know. Though being the contrarian he is, he would eventually move to L.A.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

There's no great skinhead music.........unless you're counting reggae.

I’m most definitely counting early ska and reggae. Absolutely magnificent music. But also bands like The Oppressed and The Angelic Upstarts. And the 2-Tone stuff. I don’t know how much of a puritan you are, but this is some great music associated with skinhead culture.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

There's no great skinhead music.........unless you're counting reggae.

 

[Malarkey]

What is up with Morrissey's fascination with skinheads or the skinhead culture?

He worked with 2 gay music video directors.

There was a skinhead gay subculture in the 80s & 90s - it's still around.

He'd given an interview to a gay magazine founded in a gay pub were skinheads gathered.

He sent a postcard featuring a gay skinhead taken from a gay newspaper.

Probably a bit of a gay thing.

 

[Malarkey]

Yeah, that and, I always speculated the British skinhead culture represented an England to him that no longer exists. Around the same time he was singing of it’s ‘death’ and American cultures hand in that, with such songs as Glamorous Glue and We’ll Let You Know. Though being the contrarian he is, he would eventually move to L.A.

It wasn't dead.

I think his "nostalgia" is for the days that are dead. It can never be 1967 again. You can never be at that place with those people doing that thing at that time again.

He writes a lot about death.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

It wasn't dead.

‘London is dead’. Dead to him.

I think his "nostalgia" is for the days that are dead. It can never be 1967 again. You can never be at that place with those people doing that thing at that time again.

Yes, exactly. That’s what I mean.

He writes a lot about death.

and life.

 

[Malarkey]

‘London is dead’. Dead to him.



Yes, exactly. That’s what I mean.



and life.

The skinhead culture wasn't dead. It had become very fashionable in a corner of London.

I've been interviewing some skinheads who were around in the 80s/90s. I went back to university part time - so that's what I'm working on. I was surprised how under-reseached it is. There's vast archives that haven't been sorted.

 

[TheSmiths_1985]

He worked with 2 gay music video directors.

There was a skinhead gay subculture in the 80s & 90s - it's still around.

He'd given an interview to a gay magazine founded in a gay pub were skinheads gathered.

He sent a postcard featuring a gay skinhead taken from a gay newspaper.

Probably a bit of a gay thing.

But our Mozi is humasexual, not homosexual.