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Morrissey is one of the country’s most revered songwriters, most distinctive vocalists and most beloved cultural icons. Born Steven Patrick Morrissey near Manchester, he first came to worldwide attention as vocalist for the Smiths, where his poetic lyrics, combining passion with doleful wit, saw him adopted as a spokesman for a generation of misunderstood youths.

The Smiths were together for only five years but produced in that short time classic albums including Meat Is Murder and The Queen Is Dead, and songs that resonate today as much as the first time they were played: How Soon Is Now and There Is A Light That Never Goes Out to name but two.

The band broke up in 1987 but Morrissey remains a cult and sometimes controversial figure, and has continued to find new fans for his solo work, especially in the United States.

Famously obsessed by the New York Dolls, at Meltdown 2004 Morrissey fulfilled what must have been a lifelong dream for the teenage editor of a fanzine about the protopunk outfit: the band reunited for what would prove to be their last shows with original bass player Arthur ‘Killer’ Kane, whose untimely death came only weeks after their shows.

Showing the breadth of Morrissey’s influence, Meltdown saw rockers with wild reputations, the Dolls, Cockney Rejects and The Libertines, programmed side by side with the likes of Italian comedian Ennio Marchetto, the London Sinfonietta performing ethereal works by Henryk Górecki and Arvo Pärt and Britain’s most famous tea drinker, Alan Bennett.

Throw in the contrasting styles of chanteuses Jane Birkin and Nancy Sinatra, drag artist Lypsinka and folk singer Loudon Wainwright III and the result was an unforgettable fortnight of entertainment and an amazing insight into one of the UK’s most enigmatic cultural figures. 

www.itsmorrisseysworld.com
www.myspace.com/morrissey