Bona Drag

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The remastered and expanded 20th anniversary edition. Includes four never-before heard Morrissey songs." Ouija Board, Ouija Board" has a verse removed ("The glass is moving, no, I was not pushing that time") The thrill of being part of a gang – and maybe even the thrill of the violence that membership of same invariably entails – is brilliantly captured by the twin guitars of Alain Whyte (who shares a writing credit with Morrissey) and Boz Boorer. NEVIN: It was a bizarre experience. There was no sit-down or deciding what we were going to do. One reason was that Morrissey was so private and shy and wasn’t forthcoming. So nobody really took the lead on it. Clive did quite a lot of different things than I’d originally imagined. Where I’d perhaps put an electric guitar, he’d put a piano, which was very much his style from the Madness thing. “Asian Rut” was a good example of trying to bring in different instruments. There’s vibraphone, Indian violin and double bass bows. All these instruments hadn’t been heard on a Morrissey record before. However, The National Front Disco (especially the ambiguity of the line: “England for the English”) and We’ll Let You Know, with its assertion that football hooligans are: “the last truly British people you will ever meet”, definitely makes for uncomfortable listening.

JONNY BRIDGWOOD, bassist: There was a general air of excitement from day one. The feeling was that we were about to create something that was quite special. Everyone was keen and enthusiastic. Driving Your Girlfriend Home" is a ballad in which Morrissey tells of driving home the girlfriend of an unspecified person. [3] He reveals she asks him, "'How did I end up so deeply involved in the very existence I planned on avoiding?'" and that "She's laughing to stop herself crying." These outpourings are interspersed with directional instructions. Morrissey tells us "I can't tell her" the answer to her question and that the ride concludes with them "shaking hands goodnight so politely." [7] According to Pitchfork, it was: “His most vital, entertaining and savage record since Vauxhall And I.” Read more: Johnny Marr interview Read more: Low In High School review The Essential Singles It then moves to the streets of Fairmont in Indiana, the boyhood home of James Dean. It features the film star’s school and the cemetery where he’s buried alongside footage of Rebel Without A Cause. Kill Uncle was recorded during a transitional phase for Morrissey, having parted ways with record producer Stephen Street but not yet working with his future long-term team of guitarists Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer. The album was produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley with most of the music written by Fairground Attraction's Mark E. Nevin.

Power, Tony (15 September 2004). "Morrissey: Kill Uncle". Blender. Archived from the original on 23 November 2005 . Retrieved 18 November 2015. Bona Drag: 20th Anniversary vinyl and CD editions release information". True To You. 12 July 2010. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012 . Retrieved 17 January 2012. For someone almost as quintessentially English as the Carry On movies, Morrissey possesses a particular Irish sensibility, perhaps most pronounced in his proclivity for sadness.

And what a coup it was to secure an appearance by legendary actress Billie Whitelaw alongside Cheryl Murray, alias Suzie Birchall in Morrissey’s beloved Coronation Street. Solo debut, issued six months after final Smiths album, Strangeways, Here We Come. Guitarist Vini Reilly added descriptive ambience to songs like “Late Night, Maudlin Street” and “Bengali In Platforms”, while Morrissey scored two major hit singles with “Suedehead” (No 5) and “Every Day Is Like Sunday” (No 9). Another great title, another great refrain, another flurry of great couplets (“Beware! I bear more grudges/ Than lonely high court judges,” anyone?) – in short, another great single from someone who went from being a disciple of the art to one of its consummate practitioners.As such, he released " The Last of the Famous International Playboys", " Interesting Drug", and " Ouija Board, Ouija Board" over the course of 1989. The first two of these became top ten hits. However, by the end of 1989 it became apparent that he would not be able to put out an album of new material soon enough. I'd recommend this (with "Sister I'm a Poet") to anyone wanting to transition to Morrissey's solo work from the Smiths. LANGER: Morrissey had Madness come down for dinner, and also Vic and Bob one night. He’d say: “Clive, could you invite so-and-so down?” And when they’d come, he’d have dinner, then disappear. So I’d have to entertain them, which was interesting because I didn’t really know why they were there. Elsewhere, the television and Carry On culture that was a formative part of his upbringing, are referenced as is his opposition to carnivores manifest in young fan Lucette Henderson. The scene in which she intimidates a couple of fur coat-wearing old dears enjoying afternoon tea at a pier-side café, is pure comedy gold. The original album closes with "There Is a Place in Hell for Me and My Friends", a simple piano piece that reflects the existential longing of the album and showcases Morrissey's torch song influence. [3] This version was replaced in the 2013 expanded edition by the recording from the At KROQ live EP.

And then the wheels fell off. Morrissey began what was to be his follow-up album, Bona Drag, surrounded by acrimony and litigation. He had fallen out with producer Stephen Street, plus former Smiths bandmates Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke-- all of whom had played key roles in that successful string of hits. The breakup of his partnership with Street was the most devastating: He had co-written all of Viva Hate and served as an unofficial mentor for Morrissey's early solo years, performing on records and playing several instruments. Big league producer Steve Lillywhite – who can list U2, Peter Gabriel and Simple Minds on his CV – expands the sonic spectrum on the sumptuously melancholic Now My Heart Is Full, the irresistible charming The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get and full-frontal assault of Speedway.ANDREW PARESI, drummer: There was a terrific forward momentum throughout the recording. It was as if we were recording it on the Titanic and had half an hour to get it done. It had that kind of feel. And in that environment I think you can spark some very interesting things. On the whole, Morrissey’s post-Smiths career could hardly be called prolific – 13 studio albums in all, some of variable quality. However, when he’s good, he’s great – especially on the aforementioned Viva Hate and Vauxhall And I, alongside 2004’s You Are The Quarry. After a solid debut solo album in _Viva Hate_ following the demise of The Smiths, the lukewarm reception to it led Morrissey to abandon his plan of making albums; instead he elected to release his music in the form of singles, beginning the series in 1989. By late 1990, he had enough single material to fill an album, leading to the release of _Bona Drag_. It was a loved-up Morrissey who decamped to Rome for the recording of Ringleader Of The Tormentors. With producer Tony Visconti drafted in to work his magic on a dozen compositions, the album also features a cameo from Italian maestro Ennio Morricone, whose string arrangements adorn Dear God Please Help Me.

After releasing Viva Hate in March 1988, Morrissey modified his method of releasing music. Instead of choosing to produce an immediate follow-up album, he decided to release a string of independent singles in the hopes of achieving success in that market. Morrissey initially planned to release a second album after releasing a few holdover singles. Interviewed by Stuart Maconie for Q magazine on the release of Vauxhall And I, Morrissey asserted it was: “The best record I’ve ever made”. All these years later, he might just be right.Bona Drag features all of Morrissey's solo singles up to that point, two of which ("Suedehead" and "Everyday Is Like Sunday") were taken from his first solo album Viva Hate, while the others were making their first ever appearance on an album. Four of these singles were Top Ten hits. The album also includes several B-sides, none of which had appeared on an album before. Still, it would be churlish to begrudge a man who’s had his heart stolen and, if You Have Killed Me is to be believed, his cherry popped. LILLYWHITE: Morrissey would spend a lot of time in the bath or in his bedroom. We had this dice game that we used to love playing and he would occasionally join in. But he was always on the outside looking in. He’d watch as all these other things went on, just observing.