Morrissey's Best?

[Milky Tears]

It's reported on Ceefax and BBC News:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6244153.stm

Morrissey in talks for Eurovision

Former Smiths singer Morrissey could represent the UK at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, the BBC has confirmed.

The Mancunian musician first expressed an interest in taking part after Daz Sampson's song, Teenage Life, came fifth from last in the 2006 contest.

"I was horrified but not surprised to see the UK fail," he said. "Why didn't they ask me?"

The BBC says it is in talks with the singer to write and possibly perform a track for this year's contest in May.

But a spokeswoman for the corporation warned "nothing is confirmed at the moment".

The BBC has approached several other high-profile acts as it tries to "up the ante on the calibre of artists" taking part in the annual competition, she added.

Devoted fans

Morrissey, 47, first found fame with indie group The Smiths, whose dark, brooding songs and social commentary on issues such as vegetarianism won a devoted following.

The band also released a series of acclaimed albums, including The Queen is Dead, which regularly feature in critics' all-time best lists.

They split up in 1987, after which Morrissey launched a successful solo career, scoring 10 top 10 singles in the UK.

He has been linked to the Eurovision song contest before, working with the UK's first winner, Sandie Shaw, in the 1980s.

Last year, the video for his You Have Killed Me single featured a pastiche of the kitsch Eurovision competitions of the 1970s.

However, to make it through to the real Eurovision, Morrissey would have to win the public's approval in the qualifying stages of the competition.

Former Blue singer Antony Costa and glamour model Jordan have seen their hopes dashed at this stage in previous years.

The winning entrant will compete against 23 other European nations in the final, which will be held in Helsinki after Finnish hard rock band Lordi won the contest in 2006.

Sounds good.

[Pip Madeley]

He should reunite the Smiths for it.

[Si Hunt]

I can just see "The Father Who Must Be Killed" or any number of other cheery ditties livening up "A Song For Europe".

Si.

[Dave Lewis]

Sorry, but I think it's possibly the worst suggestion in the world of music since Axl Rose was asked to do the vocals for the "Balamorey" theme tune.

[Perry Vale]

Saw this on Roobarb's forum this morning. What kept you?

[Paul Clement]

When was it renamed the Eurovision Dirge Contest hen?

[Dave Lewis]

the Eurovision Dirge Contest hen?

Is this some kind of mascot? A chicken wearing a big sash that comes on at the beginning?

[Paul Clement]

A chicken wearing a big sash that comes on at the beginning?

Well Terry Wogan's starting to look like a rubbery old chicken, not sure about his wearing a sash though.

[Carol Baynes]

No wayyyyyy????

[Wayne]

Surely Morrissey should represent Lithuania?


*Mr.Lewis won't like my cheap gag.

[Dave Lewis]

Who is this "Morrisey" of whom you speak?



Also, looking at that list, where is "Hungaryk"?

[Larry]

Sorry, but I think it's possibly the worst suggestion in the world of music since Axl Rose was asked to do the vocals for the "Balamorey" theme tune.

well he can't be any worse than the crap who have represented the UK over the last few years..

[Rob McCow]

Morrissey has made an unexpected – and to some of his fans a thoroughly unwelcome – contribution to Britain's loaded immigration debate. The musician has delivered a swingeing attack on what he perceives to be Britain's encroaching multiculturalism and the loss of national identity.

"England is a memory now," he says, in an interview with the NME published yesterday. "The gates are flooded and anybody can have access to England and join in."

He goes on: "Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears. So the price is enormous. Travel to England and you have no idea where you are. It matters because the British identity is very attractive. I grew up into it and I find it very quaint and amusing. Other countries have held on to their basic identity, yet it seems to me that England was thrown away.

"You can't say, 'Everybody come into my house, sit on the bed, have what you like, do what you like.' It wouldn't work."

Morrissey, 48, whose parents were Irish Catholic immigrants to Manchester, left Dublin a decade ago to set up home in Los Angeles. He now lives in Rome. He denied his remarks could be interpreted as being racist or xenophobic. "Whatever England is now, it's not what it was and it's lamentable that we've lost so much," he said.

Morrissey's manager, Merck Mercuriadis, called in the lawyers and threatened the NME editor, Conor McNicholas, with court action. Ahead of publication, he accused the NME of a "hatchet job". Mr McNicholas received a letter explaining that Morrissey was "extremely concerned that the article will be defamatory of him, in particular carrying expressly or by imputation the false assertion that our client is a racist or holds racist views".

Mr Mercuriadis accused the NME of trying "to create controversy to boost circulation at the expense of Morrissey's integrity".

It is not the first time that Morrissey has fallen out with the music industry bible. The NME has questioned his lyrics in songs such as the "National Front Disco", and in 1992, it accused him of flirting with racist imagery following a concert at Finsbury Park in which he appeared draped in a Union flag when there were reportedly National Front supporters in the crowd.

A spokeswoman for the NME said it stood by its story and awaited a writ. "We haven't done anything to make the interview read in a more inflammatory way," she said.

Well he lives in Rome, so he can't be that much of a British nationalist. Sounds to me that he was trying to make a point about national identity, but came across as an enormous bigot.

[Si Hunt]

I don't know what he's on about; it's not like we've lost our identity. Go to London, and it doesn't look like anywhere else but London does it?

And it's a good point that he loves Englishness so much he doesn't even want to live here!

Si.

[SiHart]

Wasn't he in trouble for this kind of thing in the early 90s as well?

Si xx

[WhiteCrow]

Isn't his Bengali in Platforms about immigration?

Yeah funny how passionate people become about nationalism once they leave a country. Sean Connery did his best work for the SNP once he'd moved to Spain.

[Perry Vale]

I don't know what he's on about; it's not like we've lost our identity. Go to London, and it doesn't look like anywhere else but London does it?

I dunno, some parts round my way are starting to look like Poland.

I can see the point he's making, and have to agree really. It's a valid point, and one that hardly ever gets seriously discussed at political level due to our tabloids/media. It is a particularly bad piece by the NME, it must be said.

[Rob McCow]

I dunno, some parts round my way are starting to look like Poland.

Yup, paticularly in Willesden this Christmas Eve when I'll be going up to my Aunt's for our traditional Polish meal.

[Pip Madeley]

Morrissey's sueing the NME!

Morrissey is to sue the NME after it failed to apologise for an article focusing on his views on immigration. The magazine criticised the former Smiths star for allegedly telling a reporter Britain had lost its identity due to high levels of immigration.

A deadline to print the retraction passed at 1300GMT. His lawyers said they were now issuing legal proceedings for defamation on behalf of Morrissey against the NME and its editor Conor McNicholas.

In a statement, the singer's lawyers said: "The NME had until 1pm today to print a suitable apology to Morrissey. Their only response to this deadline was to say that they 'do not have time to respond to the allegations.'" Earlier, the NME released a statement which read: "We can confirm that Morrissey's legal representatives have been in contact with NME and, pending the outcome of these discussions, we won't be commenting any further."

The magazine quoted Morrissey allegedly saying: "Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears. So the price is enormous. If you travel to Germany, it's still absolutely Germany. If you travel to Sweden, it still has a Swedish identity. But travel to England and you have no idea where you are," the singer is reported to have said.

The 48-year-old, who has spent the last decade in Rome and Los Angeles, was apparently responding to a question about whether he would return to live in the UK. In a follow-up interview concerning his comments, the NME reported that Morrissey had said: "It could be construed that the reason I wouldn't wish to live in England is the immigration explosion. And that's not true at all. There are other reasons why I would find England very difficult, such as the expense and the pressure," he said. He is alleged to have added that he did not think his comments were inflammatory, but were "a statement of fact".

The singer's manager accused the NME of "character assassination" on the singer's fan website, True To You. Tim Jonze, the freelance journalist who interviewed Morrissey, told the BBC that he didn't approve of the singer's comments and had found them "offensive". He said he had asked for his name to be removed from the article because it had been rewritten. "I didn't want my name on something I hadn't written, even if some of it might have been similar to what I wrote originally," he said.

[Captain Tancredi]

I don't know what he's on about; it's not like we've lost our identity. Go to London, and it doesn't look like anywhere else but London does it?

Not sure about that, Si- it's not just immigration, there's an increasing tendency, with international franchises like Subway and Starbucks and the prevailing international styles in architecture that away from the tourist hotspots, most big modern European cities are starting to look like every other big European city. There's very little in Dublin, for example, that you wouldn't find in any provincial British city (except slightly fewer Irish pubs), and the distinctive architecture when I was in Rome a few months ago was all pre-1800 or thereabouts. The thing is, Britain has been somewhere people migrated to since Roman times and our identity has never been as fixed as somewhere like Sweden- and in fact, you can argue that when our sense of ourselves as a coherent nation was last strong- immediately before the post-war boom in immigration- our society was at its most repressed.

[WhiteCrow]

Bottom line is if "multi-culturalism" means we understand each other a little bit more, then that's no bad thing in my book.

[Si Hunt]

"Greatest Hits" tracklisting revealed:

01 "First Of The Gang To Die"
02 "In The Future When All's Well"
03 "I Just Want To See The Boy Happy"
04 "Irish Blood, English Heart"
05 "You Have Killed Me"
06 "That's How People Grow Up"
07 "Every Day Is Like Sunday"
08 "Redondo Beach"
09 "Suedehead"
10 "The Youngest Was The Most Loved"
11 "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys"
12 "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get"
13 "All You Need Is Me"
14 "Let Me Kiss You"
15 "I Have Forgiven Jesus"

It's a ludicrous tracklisting - basically all the singles from his last two albums then about four from the rest of his career. Hard to see what it's point is really!

But it'll be a nice listen and there are two new songs so I'll still be buying.

Si.

[Perry Vale]

Ridiculous, what a wasted opportunity. I can't even tell what the other new track is, is it 'All You Need Is Me'?

[Si Hunt]

Yes. "Rodondo Beach" sneaked out as a new song on a single around a year ago, so that will be nice to have.

Curiously when you look at this chart positions, it sort of IS a Greatest Hits because, due to the surge in his chart success when he returned in 2004, his Top 10 hits all sit at the very start of his career or between 05-07. So it's been compiled based entirely on chart positions, even though this skips about fifteen years of his career. But only a fool would think "Let Me Kiss You" is more worthy of a place here than "Interesting Drug" or "Picadilly Palare".

Si.

[Rob McCow]

"Lalala, it really really helped you, interesting 'Best Of'."

He'd be better off sticking his last four albums in a box set, maybe.