Johnny Marr releases The Best of

[sotob]

I'll throw my hat in the ring. I find Johnny's solo work enjoyable and look forward to the hits release showing up at my door in a few days. With all new music you have to invest some time in listening to the new stuff and attempt to absorb it. Maybe you'll like it or won't? So much music to choose from these days...

I listened with open ears to his solo works looking for the hook or groove and its there for *me*. I feel others on here enjoy bashing JM because it is fun!?!?

 

[Surface]

 

[Surface]

 

[Gray Fruit]

Spirit Power is #7 on the Official Charts, #4 on Official Physical media charts, #2 in Vinyl Albums and it's the #1 Independent Album! Congrats to Johnny!

Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts

The UK's Top 100 biggest artist albums of the week, compiled by the Official Charts Company based on sales of CDs, downloads, vinyl, audio streams and video streams. View the biggest albums of 2023.

www.officialcharts.com

 

[Anonymous]

Johnny Marr on First wave Sirius XM

 

[Amy]

Johnny Marr on First wave Sirius XM

Nice pic. They look really good together.

 

[Surface]

Nice advert, as much as I like Somewhere, I wouldn't say it was a hit single?

 

[Gray Fruit]

Nice interview. One Morrissey mention.

 

[Famous when dead]

(might be a repeat, can't recall seeing it myself).

 

[WhalleyRange]

Just got back from seeing the Smiths tribute band 'These Smiths' turned on BBC 5 Live and there is a very familiar voice narrating a podcast about crime in sport....

BBC Radio 5 Live - Sport's Strangest Crimes, Friday Night Heists, Introducing... Friday Night Heists

A high school football star attempts one of the most daring heists in US history.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Newt2]

Just got back from seeing the Smiths tribute band 'These Smiths' turned on BBC 5 Live and there is a very familiar voice narrating a podcast about crime in sport....

BBC Radio 5 Live - Sport's Strangest Crimes, Friday Night Heists, Introducing... Friday Night Heists

A high school football star attempts one of the most daring heists in US history.

www.bbc.co.uk

That's amazing that Johnny is stretching out and doing so many different things like voiceovers. He was just on Radio 2 doing another guest dj/interview spot too. The orchestral shows sound totally cool and challenging.

 

[Mimi Ramone]

Quite! And my profound observation is that although I like Johnny Marr and enjoy seeing his concerts, he only ever seems to come truly alive when he sings the lyrics of Mr Steven P Morrissey.
Odd that. You'd think his own words would resonate more...

He certainly seems to really feel them, yes. But you can absolutely say the same about Morrissey. When he sings certain Smiths-songs they hit him on a whole different level and he seems to get quite emotional about it. And that's the beauty of it. They both said, that the Smiths got their best and that what they created was made with love. So it's absolutely natural that for both of them it will always remain something special and it's quite nice to see that it still does.

 

[Mike Rourke]

He certainly seems to really feel them, yes. But you can absolutely say the same about Morrissey. When he sings certain Smiths-songs they hit him on a whole different level and he seems to get quite emotional about it. And that's the beauty of it. They both said, that the Smiths got their best and that what they created was made with love. So it's absolutely natural that for both of them it will always remain something special and it's quite nice to see that it still does.

The point I'm making (or trying to make) is that Marr didn't write the lyrics to the Smiths songs, and he is clearly a very different person to the lyricist who wrote them. Yet he did write the lyrics to his own songs - they express what he feels and what he thinks, so you would expect him to be more animated when singing his own songs i.e. expressing his own feelings and not those of someone else. With the exception of covers, Morrissey writes all the lyrics that he sings, so it's not really the same.

 

[Mimi Ramone]

The point I'm making (or trying to make) is that Marr didn't write the lyrics to the Smiths songs, and he is clearly a very different person to the lyricist who wrote them. Yet he did write the lyrics to his own songs - they express what he feels and what he thinks, so you would expect him to be more animated when singing his own songs i.e. expressing his own feelings and not those of someone else. With the exception of covers, Morrissey writes all the lyrics that he sings, so it's not really the same.

Yeah, but he wrote the music and as a guitarist maybe that's what he feels when he plays them. Just remembering the magic. I really don't understand why some people constantly feel the need to reduce the Smiths to the lyrics. The music is as good. I don't think even one of them would say otherwise. Marr wasn't a pawn in Morrissey's vision of a group or song, he was essential. Hearing the live version of "Some girls..." where Morrissey doesn't sing for example....the melody is so achingly beautiful. He has ever right to feel it and that's not only because Morrissey wrote the lyrics.

 

[Nakedbrunch]

Yeah, but he wrote the music and as a guitarist maybe that's what he feels when he plays them. Just remembering the magic. I really don't understand why some people constantly feel the need to reduce the Smiths to the lyrics. The music is as good. I don't think even one of them would say otherwise. Marr wasn't a pawn in Morrissey's vision of a group or song, he was essential. Hearing the live version of "Some girls..." where Morrissey doesn't sing for example....the melody is so achingly beautiful. He has ever right to feel it and that's not only because Morrissey wrote the lyrics.

It makes a somewhat nice change for people to minimise the music instead of the lyrics, although I don't think anyone actually has. Going by a lot of people's opinions alone, you'd be forgiven for thinking Morrissey was just some odd character who lurked in dark corners and mouthed off occasionally instead of being just as essential as Marr, and in terms of the artistic vision and ethos of the band, much more so.

 

[Anonymous]

Quite! And my profound observation is that although I like Johnny Marr and enjoy seeing his concerts, he only ever seems to come truly alive when he sings the lyrics of Mr Steven P Morrissey.
Odd that. You'd think his own words would resonate more...

I think that's just you, you're seeing what you feel or maybe he's feeding off the warmth of the audience to those songs. I think when he sings his own songs like Hi Hello or an Electronic song like Get the Message, he's just as engaged and alive.

 

[Mimi Ramone]

It makes a somewhat nice change for people to minimise the music instead of the lyrics, although I don't think anyone actually has. Going by a lot of people's opinions alone, you'd be forgiven for thinking Morrissey was just some odd character who lurked in dark corners and mouthed off occasionally instead of being just as essential as Marr, and in terms of the artistic vision and ethos of the band, much more so.

Really? I think it's more often the other way round.
But it's not about taking sides, my point is that they both contributed a huge amount to the Smiths, both in different ways but in an equal amount. It was their baby. Why choose? We had both (the Smiths) and it was awesome.

 

[Nakedbrunch]

Really? I think it's more often the other way round.
But it's not about taking sides, my point is that they both contributed a huge amount to the Smiths, both in different ways but in an equal amount. It was their baby. Why choose? We had both (the Smiths) and it was awesome.

I don't see too many people say "Love The Smiths Hate Marr" and try to claim he played a minor role in the band. Yes we can have both, but I do think the other users comment about Marr being more into singing Morrissey's lyrics than his own is valid. It makes sense though, his own lyrics don't seem particularly personal, more just a jumble of words. Whereas Morrissey's words are very personal and poignant, albeit not personal to Marr, and they draw a strong reaction from the audience; it's natural that Marr feeds off that. I've seen Marr sing This Charming Man without his guitar so I think it's safe to say that the lyrics stir something in him as well.

 

[Anonymous]

I've seen Marr sing This Charming Man without his guitar so I think it's safe to say that the lyrics stir something in him as well.

I think that was when the song was new to the set and he was learning to sing it and play it at the same time. As it stands now, he starts the song and the other guitarist takes over when he's singing. It's an intricate song and the way the two guitarists play it together without a noticeable change in who is playing is pretty incredible. It's the same with all of the Smiths songs, they do a great job and it does take two very talented guitarists.

 

[Nakedbrunch]

I think that was when the song was new to the set and he was learning to sing it and play it at the same time. As it stands now, he starts the song and the other guitarist takes over when he's singing. It's an intricate song and the way the two guitarists play it together without a noticeable change in who is playing is pretty incredible. It's the same with all of the Smiths songs, they do a great job and it does take two very talented guitarists.

It wasn't, it was quite recently.