Ged Duffy (Stockholm Monsters) on meeting Morrissey in 1980

I've just started reading this book and came across this little snippet inside.

Ged Duffy (no relation to Billy Duffy) was the bass player in the Factory Records band Stockholm Monsters and prior to that, he was working in venues around Manchester setting up / taking down gigs from the late 1970's onwards. He has written his memoir titled ''Factory Fairy Tales - Joy Division, New Order, Factory Records, The Hacienda & Me'' (Empire Publications)

Amongst the remarkably detailed gigs he either attended at the time as a fan or working behind the scenes on the night, Duffy recalls one day in 1980, when he encountered Morrissey in an awkward moment.

'Sometime during this year, Tony (France) and I were round Mark the Ted's place in Didsbury enjoying a spliff or two when this guy turns up to give Mark a copy of a book he'd just written. I'd seen the guy there a couple of times before, but this was the first time that Tony had been there when he was there as well. The guy looked like a student, wore an Afghan coat and was totally nondescript. He spent the whole time staring at Tony and when he went to the toilet, Tony asked Mark ''What the f***s wrong with him? He's creeping me out staring''. Mark said ''I've noticed that as well, I don't know what's up with him.''

His name was Steven Patrick Morrissey and the next time we saw him he was dressed in the same style as Tony and had his hair cut. He even ended up going in all of the same second hand shops as Tony and was buying all the clothes before Tony could get there!

One other thought, I'm sure Stockholm Monsters were putting 1950's movie stars on their record sleeves before The Smiths were even formed. And people say he influenced a generation with his fashion sense. I say Tony France had more style in his little finger!'

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Who does this old timer think he's foolin'?
Stockholm Monsters were cool, but they ain't
comin' close to what Moz did and is doin'.
This old timer's got a case of the pickled brain.
 
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Well he did influence a generation, by taking bits and pieces from here and there and turning it into something special.
 
Sounds bitter to me. And childish telling spiteful tales just to get a mention by name dropping Morrissey. He must be desperate for sales.
 
Supported The Smiths twice in '86.
FWD.
 
Or he is telling his truth. GD you people are weirdly cultish.
I didn't say he was lying. It probably is his interpretation of what happened, coloured by 43 years of other life memories. He could be 100% accurate. My point was it was curiously childish and pathetically petty to rake up a non-event like this in what sounds to me a spiteful tone.
 
Supported The Smiths twice in '86.
FWD.
Thanks. I haven't got that far in the book yet.

Edit: I just fast forwarded to 86 and no mention whatsoever of supporting The Smiths!

Edit to the edit: Ged had left the band at the time of The Smiths gigs
 
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It feels like every Factory also-ran has this kind of attitude towards Moz. Bitter that an awkward, introverted 'nobody' formed the Smiths and eclipsed them 🎸
 
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It feels like every Factory also-ran has this kind of attitude towards Moz. Bitter that an awkward, introverted 'nobody' formed the Smiths and eclipsed them 🎸
Can they all be wrong?
 
Can they all be wrong?
I didn't say they were wrong. By M's own admission he was difficult, awkward, a social 'casualty' that only his mother had time for, etc. Paul Morley called him 'the village idiot'. Even so, his peers could acknowledge his eventual success with a bit of grace, instead of rehashing these stories about sad sack Steven.
 
Didn't Moz once decry an upcoming Smiths 'special' magazine years ago by saying it would feature interviews with anyone with even a passing acquaintance with him and the band, even people he'd passed by on the stairs? Ged's miaow at Moz reminds me of that.
 
Didn't Moz once decry an upcoming Smiths 'special' magazine years ago by saying it would feature interviews with anyone with even a passing acquaintance with him and the band, even people he'd passed by on the stairs? Ged's miaow at Moz reminds me of that.
Miaow: another rather good, but forgotten, old Factory band. We’re rolling back the years, today.
 
I've just started reading this book and came across this little snippet inside.

Ged Duffy (no relation to Billy Duffy) was the bass player in the Factory Records band Stockholm Monsters and prior to that, he was working in venues around Manchester setting up / taking down gigs from the late 1970's onwards. He has written his memoir titled ''Factory Fairy Tales - Joy Division, New Order, Factory Records, The Hacienda & Me'' (Empire Publications)

Amongst the remarkably detailed gigs he either attended at the time as a fan or working behind the scenes on the night, Duffy recalls one day in 1980, when he encountered Morrissey in an awkward moment.

'Sometime during this year, Tony (France) and I were round Mark the Ted's place in Didsbury enjoying a spliff or two when this guy turns up to give Mark a copy of a book he'd just written. I'd seen the guy there a couple of times before, but this was the first time that Tony had been there when he was there as well. The guy looked like a student, wore an Afghan coat and was totally nondescript. He spent the whole time staring at Tony and when he went to the toilet, Tony asked Mark ''What the f***s wrong with him? He's creeping me out staring''. Mark said ''I've noticed that as well, I don't know what's up with him.''

His name was Steven Patrick Morrissey and the next time we saw him he was dressed in the same style as Tony and had his hair cut. He even ended up going in all of the same second hand shops as Tony and was buying all the clothes before Tony could get there!

One other thought, I'm sure Stockholm Monsters were putting 1950's movie stars on their record sleeves before The Smiths were even formed. And people say he influenced a generation with his fashion sense. I say Tony France had more style in his little finger!'

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This is funny. Morrissey didn’t have a pot to piss in at the time, but Ged would have you believe that he was wandering round the shops of Manchester clearing the rails with his American Express. Morrissey looked naff all like Tony.
 
This is funny. Morrissey didn’t have a pot to piss in at the time, but Ged would have you believe that he was wandering round the shops of Manchester clearing the rails with his American Express. Morrissey looked naff all like Tony.
It clearly states ‘second hand shops’—which were frequented by people without a pot to piss in, in the late 70s and early 80s.
 

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