thefirstpost.co.uk column on Morrissey and Cameron

Thanks for this, saw76.

I think this article makes a compelling argument in pointing out the Smiths' conservative viewpoint (see, I used little "c", too).

But what about the other viewpoints within the Smiths that are not conservative; animal rights, anti-war, pro-art, free expression, and good ol'fashion rock and roll?

Does one viewpoint cancel out the other?
 
In my opinion rather than the Smiths being conservative in their opinions I would say that they were often reactionary, upsetting the assumed viewpoint that many Conservatives had about youth culture and youths in general. Your 'free expression' point could well be the key point, are all viewpoints mutually exclusive, or can you be both in a rock band and celibate? Of course you can, however not everybody wants to be, and that is their decision. In articles such as these authors always stress the evidence that fits their argument to the detriment of evidence that doesn't. The presumption being that the average reader won't care too much about presenting both sides of the argument as they won't be equipped witht the suitable tools to differentiate between what was used and what was ignored. On the flipside to this, elements such as ourselves, the informed minority, can be dismissed as cranks with nothing better to do than sit around thinking how much better things would be if only life would improve.
 
fffs!
I'd sue them if i were Moz.
 
That article was ill-informed shit-stirring, mismatching individual quotes from Morrissey interviews about his personal self as defining values of The Smiths.

How could a band who began by rehearsing a Cookies song be against black music? (And Brendan O'Cretin, the "reggae is vile" quip was a J-O-K-E!)

As for the "Little Englander" iconography? Well let's take a look at the four main studio albums:

THE SMITHS - American hustler/actor Joe Dallesandro
MEAT IS MURDER - Unknown American soldier
THE QUEEN IS DEAD - French actor Alain Delon
STRANGEWAYS - American actor Richard Davalos (second choice after American actor Harvey Keitel)

Speaks for itself. And anybody who thinks The Smiths were "against" sex is a deaf fool. Stretch Out And Wait? This Charming Man?

What a miserable smear of an article.
 
a little bit concerned about foreigners
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they might have a point, I mean look at them!
 
I think the article overreaches considerably. Speaking as someone who was a a very active young conservative in the mid-eighties as well as an avid Smiths fan, I'd have to say that much as I would have loved to regard the Smiths as my own kind politically, it never occurred to me to do so. Even to someone with every incentive to see them that way, they clearly were not a conservative band, not even indirectly, unintentionally or in terms of broad orientation. I distinctly remember some people being surprised that a conservative would like the Smiths.

That being said, they did not seem to me a band with a very distinct political character in the other direction either. The whole issue of their politics always seemed to me rather irrelevant to what they were about.

In that sense though, the article makes a valid point. There isn't actually that much in the Smiths that represents an obstacle for someone experiencing the world from a right wing political viewpoint. It's not like Matt Johnson or Paul Weller, where you just have to accept you're dealing with a different world-view. Where's the politics in Morrissey's lyrics? "England is mine, it owes me a living"? "The Queen is Dead"? Republicanism isn't or wasn't actually a particularly burning political issue. Vegetarianism? That's not a left/right thing.
 
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I think the writer of this piece is getting confused between the Smiths and Morrissey's solo career in the early 90s (when it has to be admitted he was becoming ridiculously conservative, musically and politically - I can never think of him in the same way since he spoke favourably of John Redwood, of all the stupid, insipid things to do). So, yes, Morrissey can seem infuriatingly politically vague and unaware. But there were two people in the Smiths (or were there more than that? It's a long time ago...) and there's little doubt that Johnny is a dyed-in-the-wool leftie.

There's an interview with Morrissey at a Red Wedge (pro-Labour) gig and he says something like "politics is boring but if people really must vote then I suppose they should vote Labour". It's so obvious that the gig wasn't his decision.
 
There's an interview with Morrissey at a Red Wedge (pro-Labour) gig and he says something like "politics is boring but if people really must vote then I suppose they should vote Labour". It's so obvious that the gig wasn't his decision.

Marr & Billy Bragg were good friends around that time.
 
Marr & Billy Bragg were good friends around that time.

I believe Johnny and Andy were in Bragg's backing band for that tour, as well as playing with the Smiths and Johnny played on the "Talking With the Taxman" LP around the same time.

By the way, I'm not trying to suggest that Morrissey was a Tory at this time. But I think, in terms of analysing the Smiths, you're not going to find any right-of-centre ingredients because it would have been a red line (no pun intended) for Johnny.
 
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