Cuttings

CAUCASIAN RUT " A child in a curious phase... "?  Once he wore outsized blouses, hearing aids and gladioli, now MORRISSEY's accoutrements are the Union Jack, skinhead imagery and a series of questionable public pronouncements. Following the debacle at Finsbury Park, NME examines the latest controversy surrounding this most provocative of all modern pop icons. Opposite DELE FADELE, in a personal reminiscence about the Finsbury Park gig, asks: Is he actually a racist? Over the following pages, DANNY KELLY, GAVIN MARTIN and ANDREW COLLINS assess recent worrying developments. Has Morrissey gone too far this time?  Pop stars are especially strange creatures when it comes to giving that all-important 'image' an overhaul.  At one extreme, Kylie Minogue miraculously transforms herself from the jovial girl-next-door to a strutting nymphet who cavorts lustily with black 'dancers' to suggest risky sexuality. And, at the other extreme, Steven Patrick Morrissey under

THE PLAYBOY INTERVIEW (pt 2) The champ of English camp, Steven Patrick MORRISSEY, puts the boot into DJ Maggie T, Ronald McDonald, foreigners, travel and reckons 'the independent sector is being strangled by its own scarf' ... JAMES BROWN quaffs several litres of carpet cleaner and plunges into the underwear drawer. Playboy bun by LAWRENCE WATSON. There are five Ramones live bootlegs, two Fall LPs, even more Bowie, Raymonde, and Patti Smith tapes, and a multitude of Smiths albums. From James to the Buzzcocks, the cassettes in Morrissey's kitchen cabinet are stockpiled like an illegal collection of classic contemporary guitar rock recordings. Stretching from the colourful androgynous pose of early '70's glam to the sexless but sensitive pop poetry of the Rough Trade and Young Mancunian sounds of the mid '80's, it is an enviable but private collection kept behind a glass door. I only happen upon it whilst using the Moz-phone. The collection is what Morri

MORRISSEY: "I'm a total sex object. A lot of men and women find me unmistakably attractive." Behind the hand-selected security curtains, something stirs... After his triumphant Wolverhampton second coming, the Last of the Famous International Playboys is ignoring the front doorbell, preparing for a No 1 single and fighting a losing rearguard actions against the onset of manhood! JAMES ' I am not naturally evil ' BROWN asks MORRISSEY about ' all the new crimes you are perfecting ' - and plenty of the old ones as well! ' Dear hero imprisoned ' by LAWRENCE WATSON. The door bell rings once. Morrissey looks uncomfortable. “I can’t imagine who that is. We’ll just have to ignore it. But they may not go away. It happens.” There is not a second ring but Morrissey is clearly alarmed. “Some people sit and ring and ring and ring. And circle the house and peer through the windows. It’s very tedious and very embarrassing because I don’t know why they d

IT’S THAT MAN AGAIN! MORRISSEY, part three Following the domestic successes of pet sounds such as ‘Alsatian Cousin’, ‘I Won’t Share Ewe’, ‘How Soon Is Miaow?’ and ‘Pussycat William, It Was Really Nothing’,  sex kitten MORRISSEY concludes his NME interview with a tirade against television, 25 Years Of Top Of The Pops , and America. Words by JAMES BROWN, pic by LAWRENCE WATSON. "Obviously the situation is there for me to become a big pop face in Europe and be on prime time TV everyday, but I do nothing about it because I can’t travel. I arrive at destinations and look 61! The Smiths did about 10 European dates in 1984 which is paltry really. As far as America goes we did two very lengthy and successful tours. ‘I think it’s partly because I don’t travel that I have such a unique relationship with my fans. I think they sense that I do belong here; I'm not going to stray off and do sexy interviews with SKY TV. I’m not going to pop up in some greasy Greece festival, or at some wate