Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

A very elegant car chase!

suedehead71 wrote:i wonder what happened on instrumental tracks like "money changes everything" and "the draize train," like, if morrissey just hated the music or came up dry with lyrics, but allowed them to become b-sides to apease johnny?

From NME, February 13, 1988:
"Initially the very notion of instrumentals was motivated by me. I suggested that 'Oscillate Wildly' should be an instrumental; up until that point Johnny had very little interest in non-vocal tracks. There was never any political heave-hoing about should we-shouldn't we have an instrumental and it was never a battle of powers between Johnny and myself. The very assumption that a Smiths instrumental track left Morrissey upstairs in his bedroom stamping his feet and kicking the furniture was untrue! I totally approved but, obviously, I didn't physically contribute. I was... asked to write words for... 'The Draize Train', which I thought was the weakest thing Johnny had ever done. Geoff Travis came to see me one day with the tape of it and said, 'It's the best thing Johnny's written and it's a Number One single if you put words to it'. But I said, 'No, Geoff, it's not right'. So, yes, there was pressure to write lyrics, but I thought they were better as they were."
-Morrissey

Yeah, I think Moz liked the instrumental tracks.....gave him a chance to wave Gladiolas around, writhe on the floor and unbutton his shirt at shows!

egosheep wrote:

suedehead71 wrote:i wonder what happened on instrumental tracks like "money changes everything" and "the draize train," like, if morrissey just hated the music or came up dry with lyrics, but allowed them to become b-sides to apease johnny?

From NME, February 13, 1988:
"Initially the very notion of instrumentals was motivated by me. I suggested that 'Oscillate Wildly' should be an instrumental; up until that point Johnny had very little interest in non-vocal tracks. There was never any political heave-hoing about should we-shouldn't we have an instrumental and it was never a battle of powers between Johnny and myself. The very assumption that a Smiths instrumental track left Morrissey upstairs in his bedroom stamping his feet and kicking the furniture was untrue! I totally approved but, obviously, I didn't physically contribute. I was... asked to write words for... 'The Draize Train', which I thought was the weakest thing Johnny had ever done. Geoff Travis came to see me one day with the tape of it and said, 'It's the best thing Johnny's written and it's a Number One single if you put words to it'. But I said, 'No, Geoff, it's not right'. So, yes, there was pressure to write lyrics, but I thought they were better as they were."
-Morrissey

thanks for answering that for me!

collin wrote:Yeah, I think Moz liked the instrumental tracks.....gave him a chance to wave Gladiolas around, writhe on the floor and unbutton his shirt at shows!

wow! that's precisely how i spent my Sunday!