Mick Middles letter regarding "The Smiths", NME

ODDS, SODS AND ODDS AND SODS

Dear Ian Pye, in days of old, before the NME even contemplated becoming the bible of the naive young hypocrite, Ian Pye’s subservient interview attitude towards young Steven Morrissey would have been known as ‘advertising’. No matter, I have been guilty of the same crime recently thanks to the overwhelming power that is afforded to those with money.

On a less cryptic front, I refer to the comments made about my Smiths book in mid-interview. Morrissey appears to have unwittingly grasped the idea behind the book, as such, his comments were both welcome and accurate. You, Ian, on the other hand have not only missed the point but have fallen for the parody. I can’t believe that you could be so gullible. To suggest that the book suffers from "...trainspotter mentality..." is not only absurd, it is the complete antithesis of the book in question. Or then again, perhaps you haven't really read it. Either way, in future I suppose that I'll have to write a simplified edition for those unable to understand a basic concept.

Digging dirt is not, and will never be, my profession.

Mick Middles, Manchester.

I must confess to allowing a fan’s enthusiasm to colour my previous interviews with Morrissey, though what relevance this has to your bookette I’m not quite sure. Anyway, sorry I failed to realise that your work was in fact a parody of the trainspotter mentality - all those ‘interesting facts’ about the group’s history, satire of the highest degree! But next time you choose to send up the trainspotters try the main station instead of the sidings - IP.