Cuttings

FROM RUSHOLME WITH LOVE • “I'm working with Morrissey again,” says JOHNNY MARR to his old friends ANDY ROURKE and MIKE JOYCE, thus astonishing the world and adding a new frenzy to the upcoming nostalgia-fest of SMITHS CD reissues. Could it ever be so wonderful again? Will we see the return of the creative team that thrilled our bones and gave Britain its last truly great, guitar-slashing, flower-flouting youthquake? Or has the partnership been renewed for another, more mercenary reason? The NME investigation begins here - firstly with a fan's-eye account of how amazing it felt when The Smiths blossomed through the mid-’80s. JOHN HARRIS and TED KESSLER remember the highs and poll the inspired thoughts of the band’s many indie descendants - from Lush to the Manic Street Preachers. Over the page, JOHNNY ROGAN, author of The Severed Alliance and the world’s premier Smiths-watcher, talks to ex-Smiths Rourke and Joyce, reveals the bizarre machinations that have reunited Marr and Mo

'THE BEAUTIFUL MORRISSEY LOOKED AT ME' The tears! The screams! The bizarre marriage proposals! For the first time ever in Britain MORRISSEY took the plunge and ventured out to meet his devoted public... Nearly 5,000 of them turned up last week, in London and Manchester, queueing for hours in miserable weather, all for an autograph and a heart-stopping glimpse of their idol. Lacing up our red DM's, the NME joined the heaving crush at the crash barriers. Over the next four pages, we document these emotional meetings and delve into the minds of his adoring legions: do they think 'Vauxhall And I' is better than The Smiths7 Do they know who the mysterious Jake is? How do they feel about Moz’s flirtation with nationalist imagery at Finsbury Park? ANGELA LEWIS in London and STUART BAILIE in Manchester join the melee for a fan’s-eye view of the spectacular love-ins. PICTURES: KEVIN CUMMINS and ROGER SARGENT TUESDAY, MARCH 15, LONDON THERE ARE 20 people on the pavement

ANGST EDITED BY ANDREW COLLINS RIGHT OR WRONG - MOZ HOGS THE POST BAG THOSE THANK YOUS IN FULL Re: Morrissey: Flying The Flag Or Flirting With Disaster? NME , August 22. Thankfully, the NME didn’t take their usual defensive, often sycophantic position with Moz, and instead offered an extremely impressive, investigative piece of music journalism on this most urgent issue. It’s an insult to the re-release of ‘This Charming Man’ to hear that the very same singer has a skins backdrop at Finsbury Park. I’d like to dupe myself into believing that Moz’s interest in all this sad shit is merely a plot on his part to regain attention lost during the release of certain inferior singles - but I think not. The NME aren’t trying to ruin his career, the man’s digging his own grave. To refuse an interview; to not care to defend himself against recent racist allegations . . . what are we to conclude? Victoria Cullen, Hull How can Morrissey say you’re trying to ruin his career? For someone who’s been