How Joan of Arc felt...

Side-blog of lyric-lili. Big fan of Johnny Marr. This is an archive of interesting articles, photos, video, and such. Enjoy. 

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     Johnny Marr singing with Morrissey on ’The Hand That Rocks The Cradle’, 1983 at the Hacienda.

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Selections from my IG @artofmarr

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1:14

Morrissey: I mean, who really cared about The Doors when they actually existed? (Camera zooms into Johnny) I don’t think they even had hit singles.

Johnny: (Raises eyebrows in disbelief, grimacing)

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my interpretations of david sylvian & johnny marr studio ghibli style.  

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underrated style icon: johnny marr

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The Smiths: Morrissey and Johnny Marr photographed by Nalinee Darmrong (from her new book)

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Photo by Colin Howe

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Unseen Smiths Photographs Are Unveiled at Salford Lads Club after Spending 32 Years in a Garage

by Neal Keeling

(from Manchester Evening News, November 2015)

For 32 years the negatives remained safely stored in an envelope in Colin Howe’s garage.

Now 18 unseen pictures of The Smiths are to be shown for the first time at the perfect venue - Salford Lads Club.

They capture the group at the very beginning when the single ‘Hand In Glove’ had been released and caused a stir.

But within a few months ‘This Charming Man’ would be issued and they would be on the path to being superstars and achieving global fame.

The pictures were taken by Colin before and after a concert in the canteen at Liverpool Polytechnic.

Salford Lads Club, in Ordsall, is forever linked to the band thanks to THAT picture taken by Stephen Wright.

But now Colin’s images, a few of which were only seen in a short-lived fanzine in 1983, are to be displayed at an exhibition at the venue.

He has agreed that they can be used to raise money for the club by being reproduced in a book, of which 200 copies have been made.

Some of the pictures will also be used on T-shirts, and posters, which will also be on sale.

Colin said: “I was running a fanzine, local to Liverpool, and was working on the first issue. I saw The Smiths were in town and they seemed an interesting band. I wrote to their management in Manchester to ask about an interview.

“I got a letter back from Morrissey, which was interesting, and idiosyncratic, telling me how to go about it.

“The interview was set up with Morrissey and Johnny Marr at the sound check for the gig at Liverpool Polytechnic and I took some pictures of the concert.

“I took a bedsheet as a backcloth for the pictures, put it on the wall with masking tape, and Morrissey said 'are they straight off the bed? I hope they have been washed'.

“I had taken him a Sandie Shaw LP as a thank you for giving me the interview and as I was getting it out of the bag afterwards I noticed a bunch of roses I had bought with me as a prop for the shoot.

“I said to Morrissey I had forgotten to use them and he said we should take one more picture using them. It was the best picture of the lot.

“I did get a sense that I was in the presence of somebody special, even though at the time they had not had a hit record.”

He later a received a thank you postcard from Morrissey, which said: “Dear Colin, The photographs are wonderful - thanks so much hope you’re happy, love Morrissey.”

Colin said: “I kept the negatives safe in my garage. Then my cousin, Clare Hunt, a Manchester historian, said she thought Amber Sanchez, a photographer and volunteer at the Lads Club, would be interested in them.”

Leslie Holmes, spokesman for the Lads CLub, said: “It’s incredible to be offered these photos at the end of the year that Stephen Wright generously allowed us to use his iconic photo of The Smiths on a T shirt, which raised over £45,000 for the club.

“We hope that Colin’s photos will have the same appeal, it’s a special opportunity for people to enjoy these rare pictures of The Smiths as well as supporting the future of Salford Lads Club.”

Colin will be at the club on December 5 to sign copies of the book.

A poster, book and T-shirt of the photos will be available from Saturday November 28, with all proceeds going towards the club. The CD-sized book of the exhibition will be £15, the A3 poster £10 and the T-shirt £15.

[jmarrtyr]

‘Without Joe Moss There Would Be No Smiths – Johnny Marr Pays Tribute to Late Band Manager

by Lee Thomas

(from Far Out Magazine, October 2015)

Joe Moss, the former manager of Johnny Marr and The Smiths, has died at the age of 72 after losing his battle with cancer.

Moss managed the Manchester band from their first shows and up until he parted with the group upon the release of ‘This Charming Man’ in 1983, linking up with Marr again in 1999 to manage the guitarist up until his death on October 22nd.

Marr released a statement on his official website to announce the sad news of Moss’ passing – taking the opportunity to heap praise on the former manager.

‘We regret to announce that, after a brave struggle with cancer, Joe Moss, manager of Johnny Marr and The Smiths, has died at the age of seventy-two,’ the statement read.

“Joe was a one off, an amazing person and totally unique,” Marr added.

“He started looking after me when I was 17; it was Joe who put the idea in my head to go and knock on Morrissey’s door. He invested his time and money in us when no one else wanted to know, and his belief in us kept us going.”

“Without him there wouldn’t have been any Smiths. He was an original beatnik and a true bohemian, respected by all. Everyone who met him loved him; he can never be replaced.”

Moss is survived by his wife Sarah and his children David, Rachael, Ivan, Stella and Edie.

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Johnny with a Roger Giffin Custom Telecaster Guitar.

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Johnny Marr joined Pet Shop Boys and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra on 'This Must Be The Place I Waited Years To Leave' for BBC Radio 2 in Concert, recorded on 5 December at BBC Media City in Salford, and broadcast on 6 December 2012. 

 "Now let me just set the scene for the millions of listeners at home and around the world listening on BBC Radio 2, if we start stage left, we'll see from Electronic Johnny Marr!" 

 "And the next song we're going to perform, it''s going to be the first one with Johnny on guitar and Johnny actually recorded on this with us when we made it in 1990, and the song is from Behaviour and it's called 'This Must Be The Place I Waited Years To Leave'. 

(Source)

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Photo by Clare Muller. 1983-1984.

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The Smiths play the Hacienda, in Manchester. February 4, 1983.

Paul Gallagher writes...

The performance of “What Do You See In Him?” was a very passionate one. The song would not remain in the Smiths’ set for long. After being dropped for a few months it would re-emerge in June as “Wonderful Woman”, with the same music, but different lyrics. 

There are some great shots of three of the band members in this short video. The camera pans to Johnny at 1:41. It seems like a professional fan recording. I have to say, my favorite part is around the two minute mark, when he glances at Morrissey with a smile. It’s very sweet; he seems impressed with his singing. Morrissey ends the song on a C5.

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someone take me out to a field at dusk and release me

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Which Smiths song is this

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Photo by Donna Santisi

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I was a huge Smiths fan when I was younger and never really thought about the music in terms of the arrangements. Then, in the last two years, I started revisiting the albums and trying to figure out just what he did. I think he’s such an innovative arranger and songwriter; also, reading more into his body of work and what kind of player he is, he’s into a lot of interesting musicians. Like, when he talks about being influenced by Nile Rodgers, then you hear Chic music again, it makes a lot of sense. But he’s so distinct: there’s no one that sounds like him. You hear it right away. I was recently listening to Rank, the live album, and it’s amazing that he could take that influence from disco but there’s a punk thing, too; it’s pretty powerful.

Steve Gunn on Johnny Marr, one of his favorite guitarists.

Interview by Martin Horsfield for The Guardian.

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Johnny Marr, photographed by Richard Saker for the Observer.