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Bona Drag

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BRIDGWOOD: Morrissey would come into the control room, have a listen and give his seal of approval, or not. Unlike other singers, he doesn’t interfere in the musical process, although he’ll steer it in a direction he’s comfortable with. A wheelchair-bound Morrissey, cultivating an air of suitable boredom, is pushed down a winding corridor by footballer Joey Barton. Cut to the band cranking up the song, with Moz now sprawled on a plastic chair, hands winged enigmatically behind his head. From here, it’s a sedentary performance enlivened slightly by a blink-and-you-miss-it scarf-twirling artiste of indeterminate gender. Barton, meanwhile, pops peanuts and manages to look both impressed and indifferent. Interviewed by Stuart Maconie for Q magazine on the release of Vauxhall And I, Morrissey asserted it was: “The best record I’ve ever made”. All these years later, he might just be right. According to Pitchfork, it was: “His most vital, entertaining and savage record since Vauxhall And I.” Read more: Johnny Marr interview Read more: Low In High School review The Essential Singles

The original album closes with "There Is a Place in Hell for Me and My Friends", a simple piano piece that reflects the existential longing of the album and showcases Morrissey's torch song influence. [3] This version was replaced in the 2013 expanded edition by the recording from the At KROQ live EP. Dingwall, John (18 April 2006). "The Worst Lyrics in the World..Ever – The Daily Record". Daily Record. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011 . Retrieved 10 February 2015. After releasing Viva Hate in March 1988, Morrissey modified his method of releasing music. Instead of choosing to produce an immediate follow-up album, he decided to release a string of independent singles in the hopes of achieving success in that market. Morrissey initially planned to release a second album after releasing a few holdover singles. Released in February 1988, the NME said: “It makes you feel vulnerable and provokes emotions you’ve forgotten about.”ARMSTRONG: Morrissey had the haunted master bedroom at Hook End Manor. It’d belonged to David Gilmour, but originally it was the Bishop of Reading’s place or something, from the 16th Century. It’s got a long history and there were creepy vibes in the house. I think Morrissey got quite into that. We did actually play ouija one night. All sorts of things were spelt out. Alcohol and various things had been taken, so I can’t really remember. But we were in a darkened room with a candle.

In our complete guide to the solo career of Morrissey we look at one of the true godfathers of Britpop… Written by David Burke. ANDREW PARESI, drummer: There was a terrific forward momentum throughout the recording. It was as if we were recording it on the Titanic and had half an hour to get it done. It had that kind of feel. And in that environment I think you can spark some very interesting things. Co-written with Stephen Street, it’s still a constant in his live shows and the sheer elegance of the melody – burnished by strings – and heady, undulating chorus still takes your breath away. Plagenhoef, Scott (15 October 2010). "Morrissey: Bona Drag[20th Anniversary Edition]". Pitchfork . Retrieved 15 October 2010. And then the wheels fell off. Morrissey began what was to be his follow-up album, Bona Drag, surrounded by acrimony and litigation. He had fallen out with producer Stephen Street, plus former Smiths bandmates Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke-- all of whom had played key roles in that successful string of hits. The breakup of his partnership with Street was the most devastating: He had co-written all of Viva Hate and served as an unofficial mentor for Morrissey's early solo years, performing on records and playing several instruments.Please Help the Cause Against Loneliness" (demo) (Outtake from Viva Hate, previously covered by Sandie Shaw) One of the several cut-and-paste compilations that invite a wide berth. It features some until-then unheard material that would have been better left in the studio vaults.

LILLYWHITE: Morrissey would spend a lot of time in the bath or in his bedroom. We had this dice game that we used to love playing and he would occasionally join in. But he was always on the outside looking in. He’d watch as all these other things went on, just observing. Morrissey enlisted the help of Stephen Street, engineer on the Smiths’ Meat Is Murder and The Queen Is Dead, and producer on Strangeways, Here We Come, and The Durutti Column’s Vini Reilly on his first album since the break-up of Manchester’s finest. Official UK Albums Top 100 – 21st January 2012 | The UK Charts | Top 40 | Official Charts Company". Theofficialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011 . Retrieved 17 January 2012. Big league producer Steve Lillywhite – who can list U2, Peter Gabriel and Simple Minds on his CV – expands the sonic spectrum on the sumptuously melancholic Now My Heart Is Full, the irresistible charming The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get and full-frontal assault of Speedway. Willman, Chris (25 November 1990). "Morrissey: 'Bona Drag' Reprise". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 1 February 2016.From 1990’s Bona Drag to 2011’s Very Best Of Morrissey, there are plenty of compilation albums dedicated to Mozzer. Here’s Classic Pop‘s own mixtape: This reissue of Bona Drag, a highpoint of his early solo career, comes as something of a victory lap, a thumb in the eye to those who doubted him around the time of the album’s original recording. Born out of the dissolution of his relationship with longtime collaborator and Smiths producer Stephen Street, as well as Moz’s struggles to produce enough solid material for the follow-up to 1988’s Viva Hate, Bona Drag saw him shaking off all of these pressures and further cementing his status as a one of the premier talents of his—and, all right, any—generation. Thompson, Dave. "Our Frank – Morrissey | Listen, Appearances, Song Review | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved 10 February 2015. The highpoints of the album are all here in punchy, remastered glory. “Everyday Is Like Sunday”, perhaps Morrissey’s finest song (period), blends Moz’s classically hyperbolic lyrics — “come Armageddon, come!” — with Vini Reilly’s beautifully mournful guitars to transport its listeners to the desolate seaside towns of England while also giving them one of the best pop songs the UK has ever produced. Stephen Street, still showing his mark, laces the composition with subtle washes of synths and swells of strings, judiciously allowing these flourishes to supplement the overall arrangements, leaving Morrissey’s voice and lyrics at center stage. The song is famously inspired by Nevil Shute’s apocalyptic novel, On the Beach, and Morrissey’s lyrics describe such a nuclear winter in restrained detail (“a strange dust lands on your hands…”). However, the song gets its real emotional power in his ability to let his lyrics function as both a dystopian character sketch and an entirely realistic depiction of the gentle melancholia experienced by two lovers sharing “some greased tea” in a nearly empty out-of-season resort town. It’s the type of song to wear out your record needle, or barring that, to dominate play counts in your digital music library. It’s a gift.

Another great title, another great refrain, another flurry of great couplets (“Beware! I bear more grudges/ Than lonely high court judges,” anyone?) – in short, another great single from someone who went from being a disciple of the art to one of its consummate practitioners. Kill Uncle was recorded during a transitional phase for Morrissey, having parted ways with record producer Stephen Street but not yet working with his future long-term team of guitarists Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer. The album was produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley with most of the music written by Fairground Attraction's Mark E. Nevin. A strange choice of director, given Sophie Muller’s association with artists such as Beyoncé and Coldplay for starters.

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It then moves to the streets of Fairmont in Indiana, the boyhood home of James Dean. It features the film star’s school and the cemetery where he’s buried alongside footage of Rebel Without A Cause. His devotees know the story well: Bona Drag was originally supposed to be the proper second album under Morrissey’s own name, but the singer ended up releasing a string of non-album singles instead, keeping his name on the charts while he waded through the personal and professional turmoil of the post- Viva Hate years. Rather than using the title for an album of all new material, Morrissey released Bona Drag in 1990 as a collection of those singles and assorted b-sides. It’s become a fan favorite and a critical darling in the years since. Elsewhere, the staunch animal rights activist slams David Bowie for feeding: “on the blood of living mammals.” But still, you’ve got to love the curmudgeonly eccentric who, whether his detractors care to admit it or not, has been a fascinating figure in British pop culture. The Must-Have Albums

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