Mozipedia – The Encyclopedia of Morrissey and The Smiths

Mozipedia — The Encyclopedia of Morrissey and The Smiths
By Simon Goddard
(Plume)

There’s a lot to learn about Morrissey, one of the most iconic and fascinating artists of his generation, and Wikipedia’s got nothing on this lovingly crafted tome. As both the leader of The Smiths and in his own solo career, Morrissey has drawn the depressed, repressed, and just plain impressed to him like lonesome moths to an attractive lantern. You’ll want to look up your favorite songs (“I’ve Changed My Plea To Guilty”, “Last Night On Maudlin Street”) right away to find out all the details you never knew. Or read the whole thing, and absorb just about all there is to know about this Oscar Wilde devotee: What was the true nature of Moz’s relationship with Michael Stipe? Why do Latino teenagers love him? What is Morrisey’s favorite drink? Answer: Tea.

No detail escapes the author’s attention — the entry on “You’re The One For Me Fatty” offers clear cut connections to The Marvelletes, Neil Dunn’s 1963 novel Up The Junction, and British ska group Madness, and notes it’s “attractive Smiths-lite guitar riff, and Buddy Holly-esque vocal melody (aping the ‘a-hey’ hiccups of 1957’s “Every-day’).” He’s also not above editorializing, calling The Smith’s cover of “Golden Lights” “beyond question, the worst thing they ever committed to vinyl.” Frankly, Mr. Shankly, this book rocks!