An article from the Daily Mail in which Marr speaks about his life and work and The Smiths and a bit about Morrissey and any chance of a Smiths reunion.

Here's Johnny: Marr on Morrissey, guitars and whether the Smiths will ever reform

"My old friend Gill Smith passed away earlier this year. I first met her at Record Mirror in 1985, where she was funny, loud and expressly alive. Everyone liked her, even Morrissey, who renamed her Nancy Culp after a character in the Beverly Hillbillies. She was an amusing gossip columnist, who used to get her sharpest stories from hairdressers to the stars. I also remember her swishing a riding crop around the office to discipline writers with errant deadlines. And in certain parts of the London demi-monde, herself and her pal Bev were saluted as the Rubber Goddesses..."

The full article by Stuart Bailie is at:
Licenced To Gill - BBC Blog

In his own words, here is Frank Portman's Book Notes music playlist for his short story collection, Andromeda Klein:

My new book, Andromeda Klein, is a portrait of a teenage occultist. Andromeda has no knowledge of or interest in rock and roll music whatsoever, until she accidentally discovers Led Zeppelin in a broken tape player in the third act. Till then she is a devotee of the medieval troubadour/composer Guillaume de Machaut and other examples of ars nova and ars subtilior. A playlist consisting solely of G. d. M. and Led Zeppelin wouldn't be without its own special charm, but it doesn't really say "party tape" to me.

So for my book launch party at my local, I just decided to make a mix of cool songs about magic and magicky things. And here it is:

11. "Ouija Board, Ouija Board" -- Morrissey

Included for the the subject matter, obviously, but also because this kind of seems like it was meant to be a rhyme at some point: "Well she has now gone from this unhappy planet, with all the carnivores and the destructors on it."