Len Brown - Meetings with Morrissey

Hes the best lyricist Ive ever read hes fucking revered man. His records will be listened to until George Bush blows the planet up.

Noel Gallagher

I think The Smiths totally spoke for now. The most realistic voices, musically and lyrically, of the Eighties. And its not just self-bleatings. I think thats really, really true. Ive never heard a group like The Smiths.

Morrissey

Whether hes gay or not, he is the gay Elvis. He is among the greatest entertainers of our time. The banter, the dancing, the stage-craft, it all conspires and you know exactly what Morrissey is. He is heroic. He is a total package, like Dean Martin or Prince.

Rufus Wainwright

I think Im considered to be a British phenomenon as well as a sex symbol.

Morrissey

Hes an original of the species I dont get the miserable thing at all. I find him very funny.

Bono

We were just doing what came naturally, with full-on passionate intensity all bands that stand the test of time have a certain chemistry. Ours was peculiar and unique.

Johnny Marr

His work will last, and I have a very strong sense he knows that as well.

J.K. Rowling

Whether you like me or not, I remain an individual individually nauseating or individually interesting. The key word in my vocabulary is individualism.

Morrissey

For Bridget, Grace & Flora

In loving memory of my mother Janet (MacLarty) Brown (192593) and my brother Don (19601982)

I FIRST approached Morrissey about a biography many years ago, some time between the death of The Smiths and the unwanted (as far as Morrissey was concerned) birth of Johnny Rogans The Severed Alliance. After Morrissey had declared his famous fatwa on Rogan I went cold on the idea, despite several meetings with him. But in the summer of 2003, walking back along Deansgate in Manchester with Morrissey, after meeting him for a glass of Guinness in a pub near Granadas TV studios, he asked me if I owned the rights to my interviews with him. When I informed him I did, he seemed surprised I hadnt already cobbled them together into some sort of biographical collection. Im slow, of course, but this set me thinking. After approaching him again about a book he was non-committal but, when he played Manchester Opera House on Sunday May 7, 2006, he announced from the stage: As Len Brown will tell you I saw Mott The Hoople and Queen here in November 1973. (Id caught the same Seventies tour with my brother Don, at Newcastle City Hall, a week earlier.)

Nevertheless I am a reluctant biographer. Firstly, as someone who has deliberately renounced music criticism and decided against a career rubbing shoulders or crossing swords with celebrity, perhaps I lack the arrogance and self-confidence to tell this story. Secondly, although I know my subject well as a journalist and music fan, I certainly cannot pretend to be an intimate or confidant, lover or close friend. Quite simply, on the occasions weve met and spoken at length, Ive always liked Morrissey as a person and I still admire his art a great deal; his voice and his lyrics have played an important part in my life. As an interviewee, he always makes me laugh, hes provocative and thoughtful, and hes definitely one of the most interesting and original characters in popular culture. In fact, once youve met someone like Morrissey, 99 per cent of all other interviewees seem unintelligent, ordinary, safe, even bland.

This is not an authorised biography and I make no apology for, sometimes, going over old ground. There have been several Morrissey biographies before but most seem to have been written by cash-chasing opportunists, stalking fanatics, gay cavaliers or scissors-and-paste Google merchants. Feel free to pigeonhole as you wish. Until now all the biographies have been written (or rather assembled) by individuals whove never interviewed the man. By and large, these books are not without merit. They tell the obvious stories in a third hand, journalistic jumble sale way but, apart from one notable exception, its almost as if theyve been rattled off in an afternoon to catch the latest Smiths or Morrissey bandwagon.

The exception, of course, is Johnny Rogans The Severed Alliance. Even though Rogan did not meet Morrissey until 1996, he talked to the other Smiths and diligently tracked down the truth (or rather Rogans version of the truth) about Morrisseys life. As with all Rogans subjects The Byrds, Neil Young, Van Morrison, The Kinks, John Lennon the gumshoe detective work was impressive. Yet, for all his diligent research and scholarship, in my opinion The Severed Alliance failed to get to the heart and soul of its central character

This humble tome attempts to meet a need, perhaps fill a void. It is the first biography or memoir by someone who has had direct contact with Morrissey over a number of years. It is, inevitably, crammed with my own words and my impressions of Morrissey but I hope that, through my journalistic brushes with him from first witnessing The Smiths live back in 1983 through to meeting up with him again on the Ringleader Of The Tormentors tour in 2006 a more rounded and fleshed-out portrait of the artist, his music and his sources of inspiration will emerge.

He is an extraordinary character. I have, through my work as a freelance journalist and as a television producer/director, had the good fortune to meet many famous recording artists; inspiring individuals such as Kate Bush, Youssou NDour, Noel Gallagher, Gil Scott-Heron and Peter Gabriel; likeable-but-awkward characters like Rod Stewart, Ringo Starr and Elton John; even brilliant-but-difficult talents including Ray Davies and Dusty Springfield. But Morrissey has always seemed special. Not just because of the quality of his poetry, the clever reference points and his brave willingness to tackle taboo subjects, but also because of the way in which he has achieved his goals by overcoming depressive tendencies and an almost criminal shyness.

Although clearly one of his great achievements has been the celebration in lyrics, interviews, and through Smiths cover art of outcast men, Id also like to try and reclaim him from some of the minority groups who seem to think they own him. While hes rightly been embraced and championed by many members of the lesbian and gay community, and hes also become the darling of the animal rights and vegetarian lobbies, I also strongly feel its important to take a much wider, less restricted view of his art. Quite simply, over the past 25 years hes tried to achieve, within the sphere of popular music, what his hero Oscar Wilde achieved dramatically exactly a century before him.

Arguing that art is by nature dissident, Wilde once said that any attempt to extend the subject matter of art is extremely distasteful to the public; and yet the vitality and progress of art depend in a large measure on the continual extension of the subject matter. Morrissey has embraced this belief and risen to Wildes challenge. Love him or hate him there is no middle ground he has clearly extended the subject matter of popular music. While most pop songs fail to deal with the real world or draw attention to its many faults instead serving up a commercially attractive, radio-friendly, diet of love, money, conventional sex, the pursuit of wealth and the desire for status symbols Morrisseys lyrics have constantly questioned and challenged the status quo.