Morrissey Central "KICK ‘EM WHEN THEY FALL DOWN" (February 17, 2024)

KICK ‘EM WHEN THEY FALL DOWN

KICK 'EM WHEN THEY FALL DOWN - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - KICK 'EM WHEN THEY FALL DOWN

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

www.morrisseycentral.com

 

[Famous when dead]

Great assessment, FWD, thank you. Small typo I think = Dog on a Chain came out on March 2020, not March 2022

Indeed, autofill has gone postal with dates. Sorted.
FWD.

 

[Anonymous]

That said, the UK was advised to 'stay home' on March 23 and were in full lockdown by March 26.
Physically buying music was made pretty impossible from that point onwards. To say covid had no impact on this record's performance would be a bit daft perhaps?

The album did not have great initial publicity or sales, but it did get some reasonable critical reviews. There is a possibility that had Morrissey been able to tour the album, and decided to actually promote the thing with some interviews and TV/radio appearances (by no means a sure bet in recent years, but always available if he could be bothered to put in the effort), then it might have performed more respectably over time. But yeah - it was released to a whimper, and COVID smothered any chance of it picking up any further traction. Shame - as it was his best record in years.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

That was the same for every artist, the number 1 album that week in the UK was After Hours by The Weekend, it was also number 1 in the USA and sold over 500k.

Apples and oranges.

Morrissey didn’t tour and so no promotion for the album. But still you think the shutdown had no influence on the sales of IANADOAC?

To be fair, the album came out March 20th, 2020.
He managed 3 gigs before it was all called off (March 6, 9 & 14th - Paris on the 11th was nixed due to their covid policy) and played 2-3 tracks from Dog each night.
The discussion here at the time was generally positive about the new songs (although not strictly a IANADOAC tour).
If anyone can find a source for an accurate sales figure, that might be useful. I would heavily doubt 7000 total being accurate unless a first week total (and probably not reflecting later digital sales). Given its reasonable charting with multi formats and the media response:

"PRAISE FOR ‘I AM NOT A DOG ON A CHAIN’
“Morrissey delivers his best music in years” - AP*
"His best album in years." - NME
"As great as anything he has ever written." - THE TELEGRAPH
“A mature work, the album stands apart in his catalog, displaying a hard-fought air of confidence that defies his roots in misery.” - RIFF MAGAZINE
"Hungry, tenacious & valid" - XS Noise
“Arguably his strongest collection in years.” - Louder Than War Magazine
"Ideal quarantine record.” - The Post Millennial
“An 11 track outing which quite frankly is one of his best albums to date... it sees him in fine form, with witty and acerbic lyrics, and a rich baritone voice that appears to be actually getting stronger the older he gets." - Wall Of Sound"

There was certainly interest in the album and more promotion than 'usual'.
That said, the UK was advised to 'stay home' on March 23 and were in full lockdown by March 26.
Physically buying music was made pretty impossible from that point onwards. To say covid had no impact on this record's performance would be a bit daft perhaps?
FWD.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Bobby is a great song! It's a psychedelic soul freak out.

I would have toured with Thelma Houston to support it.

Yes, it is a great song. I can’t understand the negativity.

if only he did a promo video for it.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Physically buying music might’ve been hard, but isn’t that always the case? Physical record shops have been dying for ages now. But we do have Amazon and the like.

 

[gashonthenail]

If anyone can find a source for an accurate sales figure, that might be useful. I would heavily doubt 7000 total being accurate unless a first week total (and probably not reflecting later digital sales). Given its reasonable charting with multi formats and the media response:

Agree. Google doesn't seem to have anything reporting on sales figures. It got to number 3 on the official album download charts which isn't bad for an artist whose name was mud at the time in the mainstream media. Just goes to show how savvy the average punter is. As Donald Sutherland's character says in JFK - ultimately people are suckers for the truth.

 

[TheSmiths_1985]

It wasn’t that hard to get hold of, I got multiple copies of each format when it came out without any bother at all.

 

[Famous when dead]

Physically buying music might’ve been hard, but isn’t that always the case? Physical record shops have been dying for ages now. But we do have Amazon and the like.

At the time of release, people had 3 days to get to the shops before being told to stay home (as 1 of those days was Sunday - make that probably 2 days). After that, it was digital sales only for a long time. Previous records like California Son benefited from multiple formats when it came to sales and charting - Dog may well have faired better had the government text message been a couple of weeks later.
Regards,
FWD.

 

[Eldritch]

To be fair, the album came out March 20th, 2020.
He managed 3 gigs before it was all called off (March 6, 9 & 14th - Paris on the 11th was nixed due to their covid policy) and played 2-3 tracks from Dog each night.
The discussion here at the time was generally positive about the new songs (although not strictly a IANADOAC tour).
If anyone can find a source for an accurate sales figure, that might be useful. I would heavily doubt 7000 total being accurate unless a first week total (and probably not reflecting later digital sales). Given its reasonable charting with multi formats and the media response:

"PRAISE FOR ‘I AM NOT A DOG ON A CHAIN’
“Morrissey delivers his best music in years” - AP*
"His best album in years." - NME
"As great as anything he has ever written." - THE TELEGRAPH
“A mature work, the album stands apart in his catalog, displaying a hard-fought air of confidence that defies his roots in misery.” - RIFF MAGAZINE
"Hungry, tenacious & valid" - XS Noise
“Arguably his strongest collection in years.” - Louder Than War Magazine
"Ideal quarantine record.” - The Post Millennial
“An 11 track outing which quite frankly is one of his best albums to date... it sees him in fine form, with witty and acerbic lyrics, and a rich baritone voice that appears to be actually getting stronger the older he gets." - Wall Of Sound"

There was certainly interest in the album and more promotion than 'usual'.
That said, the UK was advised to 'stay home' on March 23 and were in full lockdown by March 26.
Physically buying music was made pretty impossible from that point onwards. To say covid had no impact on this record's performance would be a bit daft perhaps?
FWD.

Sending out the album to reviewers is not really proper promotion but the bare minimum. To not do that would be scandalous. All albums had the same Covid problem as Morrissey. If you really wanted the album, you could order it online.

 

[Sheila’s Sister]

I see Morrissey is on a real nostalgic Smiths kick today. Fine - now sort out your beef with Johnny so we can get some more expanded anniversary edition boxsets. You can still technically do a 40th Anniversary Edition of the debut album, with a bunch of demos and the complete Troy Tate recordings. Then we can have a 'Meat is Murder 40th Edition' box next year.

Get your new manager on the case!

Let’s hope the new management get Bonfire and get M into a good place!

 

[Ashley_TakeABow]

KICK ‘EM WHEN THEY FALL DOWN

KICK 'EM WHEN THEY FALL DOWN - MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY - MORRISSEY CENTRAL - KICK 'EM WHEN THEY FALL DOWN

MESSAGES FROM MORRISSEY on MORRISSEY CENTRAL

www.morrisseycentral.com

I love the banding together of Solo, to be honest, the duality of opinions and suggestions is interesting and inspiring. (Well, let's be honest, some not so inspiring) I still wonder if Morrissey reads certain threads in Solo.

I hope Morrissey just does his best and I wish him luck with his new management and with his plans for 2024. I highly doubt Morrissey of all people, with his sense of intelligence and wit, has zero plans! I think he just likes to tease.

Unloveable is one of my favorite Smiths song. It says something to me about my life.. though not as much as it used to.. because I'm loved now by one, and that's all I need.

 

[Johnnie Ray]

It was his best album in years - massively better than High School yet High School sold 25,000 in week 1 compared with Dog;s 6,000. Why?
Spent the Day in Bed received airplay from all the indie radio stations - none of them went anywhere near the Dog songs. On the rare occasion that they gave a new song a spin (I'm only aware of BBC London once playing River Clean) the presenter effectively issued a disclaimer for playing a song by someone with Morrissey's political views.
That's what it all boils down to.

The songs were not strong. I never play Low In High School or Dog On A Chain. Neither contain essential music. It all boils down to quality. If the songs were great, none of the other stuff would matter. Period.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

At the time of release, people had 3 days to get to the shops before being told to stay home (as 1 of those days was Sunday - make that probably 2 days). After that, it was digital sales only for a long time. Previous records like California Son benefited from multiple formats when it came to sales and charting - Dog may well have faired better had the government text message been a couple of weeks later.
Regards,
FWD.

I don’t see the problem. You could order it online, which is what most people do anyway. The web didn’t shut down just because parts of society did.

 

[Famous when dead]

Re: sales.
The week of covid announcement the number 1 album was The Weekend with After Hours @ 26,000 sales (combined total - 22% physical / 78% streaming) .
Morrissey entered that chart at number 3 (sales figure unknown), but 7k total sales doesn't feel correct. That figure is likely to be physical sales that put it at number 1 on Friday the 20th carrying it forward.
Instead of further typing here, I'll do a timeline for the Wiki that will feature everything to do with the album from first announcement -> present.
FWD.

Edit:
Note - I'm questioning the TOTAL sales being 7k. Similarly, I'm querying whether covid had little/no impact on the record's sales.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

The songs were not strong. I never play Low In High School or Dog On A Chain. Neither contain essential music. It all boils down to quality. If the songs were great, none of the other stuff would matter. Period.

I think Dog is better than WP, even though WP has more peaks.

 

[Les Tameside]

I’ve heard it all now
The country in lockdown gives the country a great opportunity to listen to Dog, except it never happened. Did it?
Your logic is flawed.

Sales figures for music, during Covid’s entirety and after, suggest there’s something in what Gordy is saying—there is a relationship between those tangential social networks in pubs and clubs, and music sales.

 

[gordyboy9]

if only he did a promo video for it.

love the music on bobby.

 

[gordyboy9]

Re: sales.
The week of covid announcement the number 1 album was The Weekend with After Hours @ 26,000 sales (combined total - 22% physical / 78% streaming) .
Morrissey entered that chart at number 3 (sales figure unknown), but 7k total sales doesn't feel correct. That figure is likely to be physical sales that put it at number 1 on Friday the 20th carrying it forward.
Instead of further typing here, I'll do a timeline for the Wiki that will feature everything to do with the album from first announcement -> present.
FWD.

fwd can you send this info on a postcard to surface.22% of 26000 is 5720 according to miss alexa.

 

[gordyboy9]

I don’t see the problem. You could order it online, which is what most people do anyway. The web didn’t shut down just because parts of society did.

there was a huge problem in the uk at the start of the pandemic,one of the first questions was can you catch covid from parcels,people were very reluctant to order online incase the postman/delivery driver coughed all over their copy of woof woof on a chain.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

there was a huge problem in the uk at the start of the pandemic,one of the first questions was can you catch covid from parcels,people were very reluctant to order online incase the postman/delivery driver coughed all over their copy of woof woof on a chain.

I doubt this was a major reason why it didn’t sell very good.