SG- Any memorable ones?
RK- The Cramps- we were both massive fans, The Motels, a Canadian band. Martha Davis is the lead vocalist, she’s still singing to this day. She has a very emotive voice. Morrissey was well into them.

I still have a picture of us backstage with Martha and the guitarist from December 1980. I did have other photos taken in various places. He had a friend, James Maker, when he visited he’d be wearing court shoes & tight trousers. I took a classic photo in a local shopping precinct of Morrissey sitting on one side, James Maker on the other and two old ladies clutching their shopping bags rising to get up in sheer horror. There were others of them swinging from lamp posts & standing on park benches. I wish I still had this fantastic evidence

SG - So he’s not painfully shy?
RK- No he wasn’t with me. He didn’t appear shy. From that first meeting we’d go to each others houses, listen and discuss music generally. He turned me very much on to 60’s beat music. His record collection contained Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, Sandy Shaw, etc. We would crease up with laughter about anything. I think he’s one of the funniest people I’ve known. That really shows in interviews with people like Jonathan Ross and others. To me, he’s taking the mickey out of the interview without really doing it openly. He’s very much like a carry-on type of character.

SG - If you were shy you wouldn’t meet a total stranger who rings you up out of the blue (laughs). How did the friendship end?
RK- I saw the very first Smiths gig at the Ritz in Manchester. We simply drifted apart around the time of the Smiths debut LP. He was probably starting to write more songs which became important so the friendship fizzled out. I did get a postcard with Vivien Nicholson on the front saying “fame isn’t as great as it’s made out to be, yours Steven”. I took that to work and I’m sure somebody pinched it.