" - much more than you'll ever know "
ITEM! lennie peters out of peters & lee = charlie watts' uncle
ITEM! dvd "review": inside the smiths - a documentary putting forward the pov of andy rourke ( "the bass guitar" ) & mike joyce ( "the drums" ) - & bigging up their gontribution to the band - sadly it's a pretty shoddy fan effort - introduced by a skull headed bloke in a goth overcoat spouting his pro smiths manifesto in a cemetery - the filming = clearly influenced by derek jarman's videos for the smiths, but this is oh so cack-handed
said skull headed bloke is gredited as "the companion" aka mark standley - allegedly a "punk face" in manchester, he obv takes himself VERY seriously - unfortunately he looks like a wampire wacky wobbler - wandering round in the background throughout, totally determined to get himself as much camera time as possible - presumably supposed to represent an everyman smiths fan but he just comes across as an annoying twit
( a quick google reveals that m.standley was in the group V2 during the the sweet days of punk & more recently played the baddie in a skinflick james bond parody )
this is really just another in a never ending series of cash in dvds relying on the devotion/dedication of smiths/moz fans - they haven't got permission to play any proper smozza songs - & obv there's no input from moz or marr - so producer/director stephen petricco gets round this mostly by having (uncredited) jangly guitars playing smiths/moz lite on the soundtrack - is that suedehead? - no, it's just different enuff to avoid copyright problems
a gouple of exceptions: an approx recreation of the drum intro to the queen is dead ( abt 3 seconds long ) is used as a link between scenes ( this actually works quite well, tho it is overused ) - & we also get abt 10 seconds of rourke playing the bassline to the queen is dead but that's it - it's particularly jarring to hear none of the music they're talking abt when they do play songs by the buzzcocks & klaus nomi & prokofiev ( presumably out of copyright, god bless 'im )
there are lotsa celeb talking heads - pete shelley, steve diggle, richard boon ( acting like a cutprice tony wilson ) matt osman out of suede, the kaiser chiefs - all saying how much they like the smiths ( fair enuff ) but these mostly look as tho they've just been ambushed on the street, at a gig or festival & asked to say a few words abt the smiths unexpectedly
- & it's just embarrassing when poor preston out of the lordinary boys breaks down & begs chantelle to come back to him*
* this is not actually true, unfortunately
mark e smith comes up trumps tho: "he used to ring me up, steven - i never knew what he was on about half the time" - surprisingly he later adds: "i have a lot of respect for the man - don't get me wrong"
m.osman ( mozman - geddit? ) actually makes a goob point abt joyce being a punk drummer and rourke being a funk bassist - "in the whitest group in the world" - but such insights are few and far between
when comes to the time for bruce & rick to give us their point of view - it's basically: "well, we had fun while it lasted" - & then it wasn't so much fun - they don't really gomment on their infamous gourt gase versus moz & marr, except to say it was unfortunate & unpleasant - this must be the interviewer's fault really - i just don't think they were asked the right questions
craig gannon = not mentioned
rourke does brighten up when talking abt his & marr's mutual love of neil young & rory gallagher bringing 'em together at school - but most of his anecdotes = pretty poor - including the time that morrissey fell over on stage ( it takes him abt five mins to tell this ribtickler ) & that the band used to get eggbound on tour - & it cuts abruptly from jokey stuff to the hell of heroin addiction - & then peter hook brings it back to laffs by taking the piss out of his rival for his arrest for possession
question! ( - as beyonce wld say: ) was andy rourke's drug bust REALLY announced by trevor macdonald on the ten o'clock news? - i don't remember them being THAT famous - oh well, either way a.rourke does a goob trevor macdonut impersonation
cliches abound like mike joyce playing the drums in a cemetery - while the gompanion mugs away in the background - poor mr joyce particularly seems to be a haunted man - he was the biggest smiths fan in the world - & gouldn't believe his luck in he was actually in the group - and then somehow it all went wrong - money changes everything - lawyers/liars etc
then there's this v.weird bit where andy rourke & partner ( - & the gompanion, of course ) are off to see moz at last year's big manchester arena gig - then it cuts to another shot of a cemetery & the gig isn't mentioned again - huh? - what was the point of showing andy waving his ticket & turning up at the arena if we're not gonna hear what he thought abt seeing moz live after all these years...?
rourke & joyce WERE an important part of the smiths and if they want to tell their side of the story then they should do - unfortunately on this occasion they don't say anything that hasn't been well documented before - you'd have to be a pretty dedicated smiths fan to buy ( or even rent ) this - & if you are then there's nothing you won't know already - it's just a puff piece to say what nice blokes they are
the other two cash ins dvds made under under similar restrictions ( no cooperation from moz or marr & no smiths music allowed ) "morrissey - the jewel in the crown" & "the smiths - under review" at least make some attempt at gritical analysis & are both much more interesting - but the best smozza docs remain the southbank show's "the smiths from start to finish" & "the importance of being morrissey" ( both unavailable on official dvd but easy enuff to find elsewhere )
rourke & joyce both make the point that they'd jump at the chance of a smiths reunion ( - i think rourke would be happy if he could just meet up w/his mate johnny for a pint now & then ) - somehow i don't think it's up to them tho
anyway, inside the smiths is released in the UK on 16th july - the same day as another cash in dvd "smiths- still ill" ( which promises "rare footage" of the band - we shall see ) - two smiths documentaries both released on the same day - who da thunk it?
ITEM! i never heard the expression "a two eyed steak" before - apparently a two-eyed steak = a kipper
ITEM! ladies finals day at wambledon yesterday: gongratulations to venus williams - once jankovic & serena got knocked out i was in the anyone but horrible henin camp - well done too to bartoli ( i've always enjoyed her olive oil ) - surprised to see martina navratilova explaining the finer points to ex-celeb bb housemate rula lenska
ITEM! dvd "review": inside the smiths - a documentary putting forward the pov of andy rourke ( "the bass guitar" ) & mike joyce ( "the drums" ) - & bigging up their gontribution to the band - sadly it's a pretty shoddy fan effort - introduced by a skull headed bloke in a goth overcoat spouting his pro smiths manifesto in a cemetery - the filming = clearly influenced by derek jarman's videos for the smiths, but this is oh so cack-handed
said skull headed bloke is gredited as "the companion" aka mark standley - allegedly a "punk face" in manchester, he obv takes himself VERY seriously - unfortunately he looks like a wampire wacky wobbler - wandering round in the background throughout, totally determined to get himself as much camera time as possible - presumably supposed to represent an everyman smiths fan but he just comes across as an annoying twit
( a quick google reveals that m.standley was in the group V2 during the the sweet days of punk & more recently played the baddie in a skinflick james bond parody )
this is really just another in a never ending series of cash in dvds relying on the devotion/dedication of smiths/moz fans - they haven't got permission to play any proper smozza songs - & obv there's no input from moz or marr - so producer/director stephen petricco gets round this mostly by having (uncredited) jangly guitars playing smiths/moz lite on the soundtrack - is that suedehead? - no, it's just different enuff to avoid copyright problems
a gouple of exceptions: an approx recreation of the drum intro to the queen is dead ( abt 3 seconds long ) is used as a link between scenes ( this actually works quite well, tho it is overused ) - & we also get abt 10 seconds of rourke playing the bassline to the queen is dead but that's it - it's particularly jarring to hear none of the music they're talking abt when they do play songs by the buzzcocks & klaus nomi & prokofiev ( presumably out of copyright, god bless 'im )
there are lotsa celeb talking heads - pete shelley, steve diggle, richard boon ( acting like a cutprice tony wilson ) matt osman out of suede, the kaiser chiefs - all saying how much they like the smiths ( fair enuff ) but these mostly look as tho they've just been ambushed on the street, at a gig or festival & asked to say a few words abt the smiths unexpectedly
- & it's just embarrassing when poor preston out of the lordinary boys breaks down & begs chantelle to come back to him*
* this is not actually true, unfortunately
mark e smith comes up trumps tho: "he used to ring me up, steven - i never knew what he was on about half the time" - surprisingly he later adds: "i have a lot of respect for the man - don't get me wrong"
m.osman ( mozman - geddit? ) actually makes a goob point abt joyce being a punk drummer and rourke being a funk bassist - "in the whitest group in the world" - but such insights are few and far between
when comes to the time for bruce & rick to give us their point of view - it's basically: "well, we had fun while it lasted" - & then it wasn't so much fun - they don't really gomment on their infamous gourt gase versus moz & marr, except to say it was unfortunate & unpleasant - this must be the interviewer's fault really - i just don't think they were asked the right questions
craig gannon = not mentioned
rourke does brighten up when talking abt his & marr's mutual love of neil young & rory gallagher bringing 'em together at school - but most of his anecdotes = pretty poor - including the time that morrissey fell over on stage ( it takes him abt five mins to tell this ribtickler ) & that the band used to get eggbound on tour - & it cuts abruptly from jokey stuff to the hell of heroin addiction - & then peter hook brings it back to laffs by taking the piss out of his rival for his arrest for possession
question! ( - as beyonce wld say: ) was andy rourke's drug bust REALLY announced by trevor macdonald on the ten o'clock news? - i don't remember them being THAT famous - oh well, either way a.rourke does a goob trevor macdonut impersonation
cliches abound like mike joyce playing the drums in a cemetery - while the gompanion mugs away in the background - poor mr joyce particularly seems to be a haunted man - he was the biggest smiths fan in the world - & gouldn't believe his luck in he was actually in the group - and then somehow it all went wrong - money changes everything - lawyers/liars etc
then there's this v.weird bit where andy rourke & partner ( - & the gompanion, of course ) are off to see moz at last year's big manchester arena gig - then it cuts to another shot of a cemetery & the gig isn't mentioned again - huh? - what was the point of showing andy waving his ticket & turning up at the arena if we're not gonna hear what he thought abt seeing moz live after all these years...?
rourke & joyce WERE an important part of the smiths and if they want to tell their side of the story then they should do - unfortunately on this occasion they don't say anything that hasn't been well documented before - you'd have to be a pretty dedicated smiths fan to buy ( or even rent ) this - & if you are then there's nothing you won't know already - it's just a puff piece to say what nice blokes they are
the other two cash ins dvds made under under similar restrictions ( no cooperation from moz or marr & no smiths music allowed ) "morrissey - the jewel in the crown" & "the smiths - under review" at least make some attempt at gritical analysis & are both much more interesting - but the best smozza docs remain the southbank show's "the smiths from start to finish" & "the importance of being morrissey" ( both unavailable on official dvd but easy enuff to find elsewhere )
rourke & joyce both make the point that they'd jump at the chance of a smiths reunion ( - i think rourke would be happy if he could just meet up w/his mate johnny for a pint now & then ) - somehow i don't think it's up to them tho
anyway, inside the smiths is released in the UK on 16th july - the same day as another cash in dvd "smiths- still ill" ( which promises "rare footage" of the band - we shall see ) - two smiths documentaries both released on the same day - who da thunk it?
ITEM! i never heard the expression "a two eyed steak" before - apparently a two-eyed steak = a kipper
ITEM! ladies finals day at wambledon yesterday: gongratulations to venus williams - once jankovic & serena got knocked out i was in the anyone but horrible henin camp - well done too to bartoli ( i've always enjoyed her olive oil ) - surprised to see martina navratilova explaining the finer points to ex-celeb bb housemate rula lenska