Marr "I have a problem with a 50 year old singing adolescent pop music"

[Maurice E]

http://www.nme.com/news/the-smiths/48128

"I saw Television and they were really good, their music stood up to maturity and they didn't change." He said. "They had real command of their instruments and look at it, a lot of the music kind of had some kind of gravity when it started. It wasn't some adolescent pop stuff. I don't have a problem with adolescent pop music, but I do if it's a 50-year-old singing it." He explained.

Johnny Marr has said that the constant talk about The Smiths reforming is "Boring".

Currently a member of The Cribs, the band have recently finished a UK tour in support of their latest album 'Ignore The Ignorant'.

"I'm asked about it a lot, for obvious reasons." Johnny Marr told Spinner. "I don't really have any stock feelings about it either way, to be honest with you, it's kind of boring, really." He added.

 

[lainey]

am I getting this right, Marr thinks that The smiths music is adolescent pop music?

having a prpblem with a "50-year-old singing it" well, that's a good way to ruin your relationship with Morrissey

 

[Ultraglide]

I love the irony of a man 15 years older than his band mates, a group known for being juvenile, saying this.

 

[iamnicola]

Johnny Marr wants to be the new Mayor of Bitchytown.

 

[GlasgowChivas]

Sad to hear this as it effectively ends any chance of the two working together in the future.

Nevermind, nevermind, nevermind....

 

[Absurd]

Er, isn't that what he's been doing with The Cribs? Only it's worse, as The Cribs don't even have a shred of credibility.

 

[Kewpie]

Actually Marr interview was done by Spinner

Maurice, you could've posted original article of Spinner rather than NME link:

http://www.spinnermusic.co.uk/2009/10/29/johnny-marr-bored-by-smiths-reunion-talk/

Johnny Marr gets a lot of Smiths reunion questions, which should not come as a surprise to anyone. "These days I'm asked about being asked," he tells Spinner. "I'm asked about it a lot, for obvious reasons." And until he and Morrissey do or don't reunite, Marr, who is very happy these days playing "two guitars and new songs" with the Cribs, will continue to get those questions. "I don't really have any stock feelings about it either way, to be honest with you," he says. "It's kind of boring, really."

Still, we had to ask Marr, who says he puts himself in the mind of a fan, what band's reunion he would like to see. "In all honesty, I saw the Velvet Underground before and I was happy for them as individuals, but it really didn't mean very much in my life," he says. "And so the band I would've thought were my favorite band to reform already did and it came and went and was no big deal. They were pretty cool, but it's nothing really compared to what goes on in my imagination when I listen to the music."

There is a danger of letdown for every band reunion, but Marr did find one he really dug. "I saw Television and they were really good," he says. "Their music stood up to maturity and they didn't change. They had real command of their instruments and look at it, a lot of the music kind of had some kind of gravity when it started. It wasn't some adolescent pop stuff."

Now, Marr is not knocking pop music. "I don't have a problem with adolescent pop music," he says. "But I do if it's a 50-year-old singing it."

Well put, Johnny.

Steve Battin

 

[Maurice E]

Re: Actually Marr interview was done by Spinner

Maurice, you could've posted original article of Spinner rather than NME link:

http://www.spinnermusic.co.uk/2009/10/29/johnny-marr-bored-by-smiths-reunion-talk/

didn't see it referenced in the NME piece?
however, in terms of the context of what he said, feel free to change my quote in the thread title to;
"I don't have a problem with adolescent pop music, but I do if it's a 50-year-old singing it"
my paraphrasing made it seem slightly (but not much) worse than it was...

 

[CrookedLittleVein]

I really don't see this as a dig at Morrissey. I don't think for a second Marr thinks The Smiths created adolescent pop songs (in fact, there are any number of Marr quotes to the contrary).

Just unfortunate that he referred to the big five-oh, appearing to allude to Morrissey.

 

[Maurice E]

I really don't see this as a dig at Morrissey. I don't think for a second Marr thinks The Smiths created adolescent pop songs (in fact, there are any number of Marr quotes to the contrary).

Just unfortunate that he referred to the big five-oh, appearing to allude to Morrissey.

yeah, I think you're right. his decision to choose 50 is the problem.
Marr has actually sung Morrissey's lyrics himself in recent years (Please Please Please and Meat is Murder).
Some of the Smiths songs do have an adolescent vibe tho, especially stuff like How Soon Is Now. I really wish Moz would stop singing that song...

 

[CrookedLittleVein]

yeah, I think you're right. his decision to choose 50 is the problem.
Marr has actually sung Morrissey's lyrics himself in recent years (Please Please Please and Meat is Murder).
Some of the Smiths songs do have an adolescent vibe tho, especially stuff like How Soon Is Now. I really wish Moz would stop singing that song...

I see what you mean. It does seem a little dishonest of Morrissey to talk about going to a club on his own, standing on his own etc when nothing could be further from the truth, these days. I suppose you could always argue that he means 'alone' in a more existential sense.

I wonder how Morrissey's going to respond to Marr's little faux pas (if that's what it was). He's notoriously sensitive. I seem to remember he thought Vic Reeve's Morrissey the Consumer Monkey was a deliberate attempt to hurt him, when almost everybody else saw it for what it was: brilliant Reevsian nonsense, comedy consciously crafted to have no deeper meaning or subtext.

 

[[email protected]]

....It's not really dishonest to sing about your past experiences after the event...I am 51 soon, and "How soon is now" STILL reminds me of nights like that...when I was a mere slip of a lad....
David Bowie has NEVER ( to my knowledge, anyway,) Ever been into space....Alice Cooper has never chopped up a prostitute, and the Beatles didn't all live in a Yellow submarine..somehow, I dealt with these facts.
Johnny Marr, though an ESSENTIAL part of the Smiths, is no longer needed onboard SS Morrisseys voyage. It will never happen. I couldn't give a flying one anyway...The past is the past...Therefore ALL Popstars/ musicians should NEVER play their back catalogue....I thunk......my head hurts now....

 

[Frank's Wild Years]

I've no doubt that this was just ill-phrased. I don't believe Marr would seek to denigrate Morrissey, not after recently admitting that he has occasional contact with him nowadays.

 

[Worm]

I don't read these comments as being Morrissey-directed, and if they are it just proves that he hasn't listened to Morrissey in a long time, because Morrissey has pretty consistently written songs reflective of his age.

But Johnny needs to be careful, because the unintentional message he's sending is, "I want to go out of my way to not give the fans what they want". And that is boring.

 

[Spyderfyngers]

Johnny Marr wants to be the new Mayor of Bitchytown.

 

[I am a Ghost]

David Bowie has NEVER ( to my knowledge, anyway,) Ever been into space....Alice Cooper has never chopped up a prostitute, and the Beatles didn't all live in a Yellow submarine..somehow, I dealt with these facts.

 

[Girl-with-the-Thorn]

I'm in two minds whether this comment was directed at Morrissey or not. If not, it's just unfortunate that he plucked the age of 50 out of the air. If he is though, like Worm said, he clearly hasn't listened to much of Morrissey's later solo work. Maybe he was referring to Moz still singing Smiths songs (which I don't really see as adolescent, but it all depends on your point of view really).

 

[Uncleskinny]

Johnny Marr is about to be interviwed shortly on the Simon Mayo show on Radio 5 Live, according to Mayo himself.

Peter

 

[CrookedLittleVein]

....It's not really dishonest to sing about your past experiences after the event...I am 51 soon, and "How soon is now" STILL reminds me of nights like that...when I was a mere slip of a lad....
David Bowie has NEVER ( to my knowledge, anyway,) Ever been into space....Alice Cooper has never chopped up a prostitute, and the Beatles didn't all live in a Yellow submarine..somehow, I dealt with these facts.
Johnny Marr, though an ESSENTIAL part of the Smiths, is no longer needed onboard SS Morrisseys voyage. It will never happen. I couldn't give a flying one anyway...The past is the past...Therefore ALL Popstars/ musicians should NEVER play their back catalogue....I thunk......my head hurts now....

Your examples are all flights of fancy. They weren't strictly true at the time of writing and recording, either.

Morrissey's songs are largely autobiographical or, at the very least, self-explorational.

I don't have a big issue with him singing songs from his back catalogue, though: they're great songs, so why wouldn't he? It would be strange if he didn't. It's just that some of them (particulalry the more 'angstolescent') do jar a little. But that's only to be expected. No big deal.

I think he's mostly motivated to sing the songs he physically enjoys. He loves to sing. He loves the feeling of singing. Some songs, no matter how melodic or lyrically brilliant, just don't provide him with that palpable pleasure.

 

[Anaesthesine]

It sounds to me like J. Marr's subconscious speaking; he's thinking of Morrissey, without referencing him directly.

Given their incredible history together, it's hardly surprising.