This Charming Man

I did it, yes, I did. I looked in the index of the Morrissey autobiography (cleverly called Autobiography) to see if I got a mention. I did a sitting with him in 1992 and it was a memorable experience. 

I knew of Morrissey’s difficult relationship with the press so I was expecting the worst but he was actually very sweet and charming (we got on so well that the session was in danger of not including enough photography). 

He asked me, “What sort of music do you like?” “I’m listening to a lot of Frank Sinatra and forties big band right now,” I answer. “No, what goes to the heart of you, what did you love when you were twelve?” he asks in a near whisper. “I was really into Kiss when I was twelve - pretty obsessively.” “Oh, how disappointing,” he says, looking away.

Top Image: My favorite part of Autobiography is Morrissey’s description of Rough Trade records and it’s staff. This is a scan of the beginning of that section - that rants on for pages, it’s awesome. (By the way, I don’t get mentioned - I guess that it was mostly memorable for me.)

Second Image: Morrissey from my Entertainment Weekly sitting with him in  September 1992, shot in Chicago. (This image has never been shown publicly before.)

Third Image: My favorite from our session.

Bottom Image: A live snapshot from when I saw The Smith’s live in 1985 at The Kingswood Theatre north of Toronto. The show was fantastic - he invited everyone to get up and dance (strictly forbidden), and I managed to get up on stage with the crowd by the end. Years later Johnny Marr told me with glee that the band was detained after the show for “Inciting Riot.”