"Morrissey originally wanted the smiths to be a hardcore gay band..."

Hmmmm. I think Marr, Rourke and Joyce might strenuously dissagree with ya there. Moreover, if I'm not mistaken, most of their songs were written within non-gender specific perspective (much like the Buzzcocks), rendering their personal sexual preference moot.

Henry Rollins denies he's gay, too.

So I sat my ass down and cooled it for another hour 'til the show went on. It was great. He talked about his first time in Manchester. He talked about a talking show put on in L.A.... the same one that got taped for the video Talking from the Box. This is kind of funny... He talked about preparing for the show since he produced it as well as performed. At one point, somebody came up to him and asked if he could get a backstage pass for Morrissey. Rollins thought he was joking and told him to fuck off... a little while later he looked out into the audience and saw: it really was Morrissey. The Mo-man himself!

Later, during the show, he did this little bit where he talked about the riots in L.A. He talked about how he hit the streets to go check out the carnage. There was a record store (a chain store) that was being protected...rather pathetically, actually...by two unarmed security guards. "All right, you cement. Stay there!" So anyway, the looters started to close in on the record store. The rent-a-cops, in a wild mood of creativity, came over to the group of on-lookers (of which Rollins was a part) and put forth the proposition that they were going to deputize the group in order to 'protect the neighborhood.' Rollins, being "more cynical than your average stadium full of people" came up with the following argument against it:

"Ok...so what you're saying is you want me to take a rock in the face for Paula Abdul. Now, ok, let me get this right. I'm supposed to take a 2"x4" across my chest for Bono..."

Now I might interject this last bit of fun. Earlier on in the show, Rollins had to explain to the British audience the cultural differences of digital insults on either side of the Atlantic. The United States has its all-too-familiar method: clenching the fist with the exception of the single longest digit in the center of the hand - the eternal middle finger. In Britain, this is generally understood, but it's far more characteristic to use both the middle and index fingers (a reversal of the peace sign...ironically, all the hippies and peaceniks were/are just flipping themselves off.)

"...I'm supposed to stand in front of a huge piece of plate glass and try and defend it from five gnarly youths who want to go right over my head...for Morrissey."

It was at this point where Rollins flipped off Morrissey where he sat in the audience, all the while screaming "FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!" The audience, froze, turned to look straight at the Mo-Man, laughed, clammed up, and turned quickly back to face the stage. This occurred during the first ten or fifteen minutes of his talk. He had to sit and live with this insult for another hour or so. Ouch..

m.

Well, he's not. He'd probably be cooler if he was, but he's not.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf700/f787/f78733xbvry.jpg

m.

I love "Apocalypse Now" too, by the way. Does that make me gay?

The Scene: Jess's 9th Grade World Cultures Class

The Players: Jess & Nameless Girl

Nameless Girl: Who are you listening to?
Jess: The Smiths
Nameless Girl: Who is that?
Jess: Um, it's the band that Morrissey used to be in...
Nameless Girl: EW he is so fucking GAY!!

Fin

The Players: Jess & Nameless Girl

Nameless Girl: Who are you listening to?
Jess: The Smiths
Nameless Girl: Who is that?
Jess: Um, it's the band that Morrissey used to be in...
Nameless Girl: EW he is so fucking GAY!!

Fin"

Motherfucker ripped that off from a post on the Sonic Youth message boards.

Is the a trick question? Rourke, innit?

"I have an ear that's beyond most human being's ears when it comes tomusic. My library, all hip-hop put aside, what I listen to at the crib, you can't front on it. I play nothing but raw shit. I like rock music, all that. AC/DC, Rush, Pat Benetar, Joan Jett, Simple Minds, Yes, Led Zeppelin, the Cars, I know my shit! Blue Oyster Cult, I can go any direction!

I used to be one of the only people in my high school who would wear the punk rock gear, with the double belts, the boots and all that! I wasn't afraid of that at all. At that time, that was the rebel style. That went into hip-hop culture too, because I remember how Flash and them was dressed, with the leather and the spikes and all. That punk rock and New Wave era was dope. You can't even compare it to the "punk" that's out now, you gotta know about groups like Fad Gadget, Tones on Tail, Bauhaus, old Depeche Mode, the Smiths. Morrissey is gay and I understood his lyrics for what they were saying, but at the same time I liked his music. It was dope and you can't front on it. I respected him with an open mind. Most people who are homophobic have some problems that way anyway, so I wasn't really afraid of it. They're just human beings and that's their preference. But I was into the Smiths, I was into Siouxsie and the Banshees, Devo, the B-52s, Talk Talk, I went to all those concerts. As a matter of fact, I found my memory book from high school and I got mad concert tickets of all kinds of shows I went to. I've been to see AC/DC millions of times, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Genesis, all that."

that entire premo quote is the best thing ever. whence did it come?

"I once suggested some lyrics could scan better. Morrissey just looked at me... I felt like a turd."

-- Alex in NYC (vassife...), June 17th, 2004.

I don't know who you are Mr. Alex in NYC but your fear is palpable. So what if you are gay? It don't make no difference one way or the other! I'm came here to read about Morrisey but your attitude has totally bummed me out. Ciao dude! Life in the closet ain't no picnic.

Well, he's not. He'd probably be cooler if he was, but he's not.

-- Alex in NYC (vassife...), June 17th, 2004.

But that, do you mean "all of the years of the Smiths"?

as far as the Henry Rollins thing....I don't have a tremendous knowledge of the man...but I will say (i think I mentioned this on another thread once) that I had a conversation with Grant Hart (the openly gay former drummer of Husker Du who did tons of touring with Hank back in the day)...and he kept saying how Henry needed to come out of the closet so he'd be less angry...obv. Hart is a somewhat scattershot, very eccentric drunken ex-junkie so take his opinion for what it's worth, but I thought it was interesting he kept saying that (and he brought it up like totally out of context of anything we were talking about)

but anyway...
in the new mojo moz says he was disappointed by the breakup of the Smiths because he thought they were going to be the next Queen... and i think that was always his ambition - to be like Queen, or his heroes the NY Dolls - simultaneously macho and queer(ish) (like the skinhead and rockabilly gang imagery he likes) but in a far less obvious way than even "my beautiful laundrette" or something. "hardcore gay" sounds a little trite, a little simplistic ... or maybe just a little uncloseted.

also, uk hardcore...VOORHEES?

I don't have the special edition, but I do have the latest Mojo and Joe Moss, their manager, is quoted as saying "James Maker [guy who stood on stage dressed in drag for their early gigs] was part of the band then...I just didn't know what he was there for. Initially Johnny [Marr] thought it was something that could be really good, but wouldn't be totally commercial. It was something that would really get him going...he thought it would appeal to the gay crowd...he just knew it would get him known."

I actually don't think Rollins is gay, despite following his career pretty closely for some years. I think if he was, he would have come out and said it by now. He's done standup bits where he's shown he's not a homophobe by any stretch. That story about Morrissey being in the audience really made me wince, though. Shame on Henry, Moz was a punter who might have even paid to get in.

Talkin' All That Jazz - STETSASONIC MDS
Do That Stuff - PARLIAMENT Universal (MCA)
Papa's Got A Brand New Bag - JAMES BROWN Universal
The Message - GRANDMASTER FLASH & THE FURIOUS FIVE BMG
Road To The Riches - KOOL G RAP & DJ POLO Warner
Microphone Fiend - ERIC B & RAKIM Warner

1:00am Let The Rythm Hit 'Em - ERIC B & RAKIM Universal
O.P.P. - NAUGHTY BY NATURE Fest/Mush
911 (Is A Joke) - PUBLIC ENEMY Sony
Run's House - RUN DMC Polydor
Down With The Kings - RUN DMC Fest/Mush
100 Miles & Running - N.W.A. Polydor

1:30am Who's The Mack - ICE CUBE Mushroom
Dre Day - DR. DRE & SNOOP DOGG Warner
Night Of The Living Baseheads - PUBLIC ENEMY Sony
Three MC's & One DJ - BEASTIE BOYS EMI
Guerilla Radio - RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE Sony
Hells Bells - AC/DC Sony

2:00am Purple Haze - JIMI HENDRIX Polydor
Sexuality - PRINCE Warner
Virtual Insanity - JAMIROQUAI Sony
They Want EFX - DAS EFX Warner
It Was A Good Day - ICE CUBE Mushroom
Still Dre - DR. DRE Universal (MCA)

2:30am Dear Mama - 2 PAC Jive/Zomba
Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off) - THE WU-TANG CLAN Sony
C.R.E.A.M. - THE WU-TANG CLAN BMG
Da Mystery Of Cheesboxin' - THE WU-TANG CLAN BMG
Nas Is Like - NAS Sony
Made You Look - NAS Sony
Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See - BUSTA RHYMES Warner

3:00am Woo-Hah!! (Got You All In Check) - BUSTA RHYMES Warner
Stand Up - LUDACRIS Universal
ABC - THE JACKSON FIVE Sony
Baby Love - THE SUPREMES Festival
Oooh - DE LA SOUL Fest/Mush
That's The Way Love Goes - JANET JACKSON Virgin
Gettin' In The Way - JILL SCOTT Sony

3:30am Ms. Jackson - OUTKAST BMG
911 - WYCLEF JEAN featuring MARY J. BLIGE Sony