HOT: That Darn Moz
As much as people have tried to defend his legacy in the wake of his far-right politics being revealed, Morrissey can’t seem to help but make things worse for his reputation. The latest problematic news item making the rounds came when photos of the former Smiths singer’s merch booth at a recent Hollywood Bowl concert emerged showing a collection of autographed albums for sale, the most expensive of which Morrissey had nothing to do with. For $300, fans could purchase LPs Moz has cited as highly influential on his own work, all emblazoned with Morrissey’s signature. To his credit, the albums are all stone-cold classics — Patti Smith’s Horses, Lou Reed’s Transformer, Iggy and the Stooges’ Raw Power and David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane. But you can get them all signature-free at your local record shop for about $20 a pop. Signed vinyl copies of a pair of albums Morrissey is responsible for — the recent California Son and a greatest hits collection — were pictured next to the other LPs, priced at a mere $200. When asked by NME for his valuation of the signed classic albums, the owner of the Manchester, U.K. record store Reel Around The Fountain (fitting!) said at best they’d maybe be worth less than half of what he was selling them for. “It’s more like he’s defacing them,” Nigel Young added. “How is he relating himself to Patti Smith, Lou Reed and all the rest of them? Most of those artists would cringe at his politics nowadays, I personally think.”
I think the original post got deleted but here’s the picture. The absolute hubris of charging $300 for a Bowie record signed by Morrissey is breathtaking. pic.twitter.com/bruSpDRSFY
— Robert Ham (@roberthamwriter) October 27, 2019
WARM: Reznor’s Change of Heart
Just a few years ago, Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor said he didn’t “give a shit” about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But following the recent announcement that NIN was up once again for induction honors, the singer/songwriter has had a change of heart. Reznor told Fortune magazine (that noted bastion of music journalism) that after his experience last year, when he gave the Rock Hall induction speech for The Cure, he now thinks the institution is actually pretty cool. Watching the response to The Cure’s induction — from the audience and the band members themselves — as well as seeing artists like Roxy Music get their due, Reznor said the recognition seemed validating. “It ended up being a pretty cool experience and I thought, ‘All right, it doesn’t feel as bullshit as I kind of snarkily dismissed it as.’ I don’t have any problem admitting I’ve changed my opinion about something,” he said. Reznor will find out if NIN is getting into the Hall this time around when the Class of 2020 is announced in January.
COLD: In the Name of Clicks
The content miners at major news outlets from CNN to People to Fox News got some quick and easy click fodder from a minor police blotter item out of rural Tennessee recently. You see, Tupac Shakur got arrested for possession of meth and aggravated assault. No, the stories all joked, not the legendary rapper — it was a different man named Tupac Shakur, who is obviously having a tough time and is facing tougher times in the years ahead now that his name and likeness (via mug shot) have been splashed across the internet, likely putting more obstacles in his way as he — hopefully — tries to get help and rebuild his life. The 40-year-old man was arrested near Bristol, Tennessee after pulling a knife on police.
This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 12, 2019.
