The tug of war over The Smiths‘ legacy between Morrissey and Johnny Marr continues. Earlier this month, Morrissey claimed that Marr turned down an offer for a Smiths reunion tour that Moz says he was willing to do, and now the singer says the guitarist has blocked a proposed new best-of compilation, The Smiths Rule OK!, and a reissue of their debut single, “Hand in Glove.”
In a post on his Morrissey Central site titled “Smiths Not OK,” he says that the comp and 7″ were set for a 2024 worldwide release by Warner Records, along with a 40th anniversary deluxe box set for The Smiths’ self-titled debut and a new 7″ of “This Charming Man.” Morrissey writes, “Warner approached Morrissey and Darren Evans to assemble artwork for all four releases, all of which were rejected and halted out of hand by J Marr.”
Just reading that last sentence, it sounds like Marr rejected the cover design, not the releases per se, and looking at the The Smiths Rule OK! and “Hand in Glove” artwork Morrissey included with this post, you can see why. They’re both bad. Morrissey did the classic sleeve art for all The Smiths’ releases during their original ’80s run and The Smiths Rule OK is particularly off-brand, visually, using graffiti-style lettering. The “Hand in Glove” artwork is closer to classic Smiths style but the colored type is not.
Check out the artwork Morrissey shared below.
Meanwhile, Morrissey’s guest-heavy album Bonfire of the Teenagers remains unreleased, and in a recent interview with The Telegraph, Morrissey now claims labels don’t want to touch it because of its “controversial” title track, which is about the 2017 terrorist attack outside an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena that left 22 dead.
“Controversial means intelligent, doesn’t it? We are still in the grip of Idiot Culture, it’s everywhere you look,” he told The Telegraph. “Naturally I’m one of the first to be gagged since my entire life has relied on free speech. No, I wouldn’t remove the title song because I wouldn’t abandon the murdered kids of Manchester. Their spirits cry out every single day for remembrance and recognition.”
You can catch Johnny Marr on tour with James this fall, including a NYC show at Brooklyn Paramount on October 8. He’s also giving his 2003 album Boomslang a new reissue in September.
Morrissey, meanwhile, is also scheduled to be on tour this fall, and plays Newark’s NJPAC on November 13.
