Well, not EXACTLY the same courtesy... There's a big different between threatening to cut someone's throat and calling them a northern leech. Sure, not the friendliest gesture in the world, but nowhere near in the same department.

That I don't think anyone but them knows the whole truth in the whole smiths breakup/courtcase thing, I mean all the details to it, who's in the right/who's in the wrong etc..

Putting aside all of that, the impression I've gotten from a few interviews and things from Joyce and Rourke is that they're actually really nice guys and to their credit have taken all the shit Moz has slung at them really well, whether they deserved it or not :P

Could someone please tel me what song is it in and what is the line?

I like Joyce's joke at the bottom about Morrissey playing at the "enormodome," which is a reference to the movie Spinal Tap (wherein the Tap run into a former opening act who's now playing in stadiums while the former headlining act is now struggling to survive). Well done, Mike. Glad to see he knows a good film when he sees it (man does not live by "A Taste of Honey" references alone), and glad to know he has a sense of humor about all of this.

Cheers...

it's about time joyce n rourke moved on as well, there's plenty of work down the the job centre

Moz may seem a bit unprofessional in his approach to business and unkind towards his old band mates but Marr is a decent salt-of-the-earth chap and still stands by the original split for the royalties. He said quite recently that he couldn't believe Joyce didn't understand or agree with the original financial set-up in the first place. Marr settled because he wanted to finally be allowed to leave the Smiths, in his words, not because he thought it was a fair settlement.
J

Worryingly for Joyce and Rourke, he has a habit of being remarkably candid and honest in his interviews, and more worryingly for Joyce, his song lyrics!

broken

Having read the whole article I am bit surprised at the description of them as nice blokes. I can understand that they find it difficult to acknowledge the new stuff as being very good, but to describe it as "a bit like tomato ketchup, just there" is going way too far.

It's interesting they never complain about Marr, only Moz who lets face it has never endeared himself to joe public. That seems to suggest bitterness at his success without them more than anything - well maybe not more than the "joke" that the band would be better with them in it.

On the legal front, without having read the contract it is difficult to say, but I find it more than a little odd that people can be in a band, not get any songwriting credits for several years and fail to notice, or indeed complain. Basically I agree with Johnny Marr.

Joyce on Morrissey:

"Now he’s a bit like tomato ketchup. He’s just there and it’s a bit lame. But if I was playing for him it wouldn’t be… Ooh! Only joking … Where’s he playing, then? The enormodome?"

What a load of bollocks - Rourke or Joyce's sole purpose in life now is to live in wait of the phonecall from Morrissey - either of them would drag their faces through 15 miles of shit to work with him again. It is very brave of Joyce to slag off Mozza's music but both he and Joyce played with Morrissey for 2 years as a solo artist and managed to endure the so-called 'lame' music. The pair of them should be ashamed of themselves for saying that. I don't mind it when Marr occassionally says something detrimental about Moz because through his talent and achievements has earned the right to criticise, but Joyce and Rourke should keep their ungrateful gobs shut.

For the first time ever, I think, I feel angered by something Mike Joyce has said - namely, the "tomato ketchup" comment. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not overly impressed by Moz's recent efforts, even YATQ, but, if nothing else, 'First Of The Gang' is a cracking pop song, and more than Rourke, Joyce or Marr have achieved in recent years. As someone noted, Joyce never slags off Marr, yet the Healers album would certainly merit the tag "lame". Moreover, Morrissey to 1994 managed to put out one decent album (Viva Hate), one excellent album (Your Arsenal) and one masterpiece (Vauxhall and I). Rourke and Joyce managed bugger all. What songs has Mike Joyce written? None. So now they work with Vinny Peculiar, and that's great, but again, Vinny Peculiar is the truly talented one, they just add a very good rhythm section which is pretty much all they ever do. Without Vinny Peculiar, Mike Joyce would be sitting at home twiddling his thumbs. Without Morrissey and Marr he would never have been in the position to work with Vinny Peculiar. I find his bitching unnecessary really. He usually behaves with better grace in interviews.

After the Smiths Mike and Andy played with Sinead O'connor. I was Sinead's guitarist. This was in 1988. Andy was always borrowing money and he still owes me 10 quid. Doubt if I'll ever get that back. It gives me something to tell my mates about including the cheque that bounced from sinead's account for my wages!!! (still have the letter to proove it).
Dr John Mills