viva hate

Steven Patrick Morrissey bounced back from the breakup of the Smiths in only six months with the somber janglepop of his Smithsonian solo album.   The end of the band had occurred during the production of their final album, 'Strangeways, Here We Come'.   Morrissey reflects on his former band:    "The Smiths were almost like a painting - every month you'd add a little bit here and a little bit there... but it wasn't quite complete and it was whipped away. And I find it quite hard to adapt to that. Those people who patted me on the back and said, 'Oh! Smiths split! Very clever, very wise, very cunning'... I hadn't a clue what they were talking about...Even people who enjoyed the music thought the split was very timely; it's a very popular attitude that the split occurred at the right time. I get quite violent when people say that to me...Within The Smiths, the reason it worked so well was that everybody knew their place and their capabilities and each other's position.  It was such a tight unit, and nobody it seemed could penetrate The Smiths' little secret private world. On the occasion that somebody did break through the mould everything fell in 25 different directions ... 
It's quite different for me now - and this might sound absurd - but there really isn't anything to judge it against. Times are very different and my life has moved on, since The Smiths, in very specific ways, and 'Viva Hate' is in no way the follow-up to 'Strangeways'. So in a sense I do feel that it is the first record...Certainly in a personal way, it's entirely changed. All the people that surrounded me 12 months ago have entirely changed, whether it's the group, the people around The Smiths, or Rough Trade. Practically everybody that surrounds me now wasn't there a year ago. And, yes, I'm very pleased with what I find."

Originally, the album was going to be called 'Education in Reverse'.  The sessions included:  Morrissey as vocalist, lyricist, and sleeve artist; Stephen Street as bassist, guitarist, songwriter, and producer; Vini Reilly as guitarist, keyboardist, and songwriter; Andrew Paresi as drummer; Alan Winstanley as producer; with Richard Koster and Fenella Barton on violin; Rachel Maguire, Mark Davies, Robert Woolhard on cello; and John Metcalf on viola.  Morrissey considers:   "Working with Stephen as a producer is quite different from writing with him, and even his personality has changed dramatically, within this sphere; he's more relaxed, and more exciting...Johnny was very hard, as a musician: he played in a very interesting, aggressive way. Stephen does not. but the gentle side of Stephen is something I find totally precious."

'Viva Hate' went to number seventy-three in Australia, forty-eight in the US, thirty-two in Canada, twenty-seven in Sweden, Twenty in Norway, and number one in the UK.  Morrissey explains the title:    "Like many other titles, it simply suggested itself and had to be. It was absolutely how I felt post-Smiths and the way I continue to feel. That's just the way the world is. I find hate omnipresent, and love very difficult to find. Hate makes the world go round...I do find people quite hateful, naturally. I think people feel hate very easily, and they need it in their lives, they need to distrust and to criticise...Well, it's just there really. But then I always thought the human race was very very over-rated - by rock critics generally."







http://uk.mporium.org/


http://www.morrissey-solo.com/


http://true-to-you.net/




"Suedehead" was a revelation when it was released in February of 1988.  Morrissey claims that it has nothing to do with the novel of the same name:  "I did happen to read the book when it came out and I was quite interested in the whole Richard Allen cult. But really I just like the word 'suedehead'."  It went to number forty-five in Australia, thirty in the Netherlands, eight in New Zealand, five in the UK, and number two in Ireland.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bOlSReSPwM


Why do you come here ?
And why do you hang around ?
I'm so sorry
I'm so sorry
Why do you come here
When you know it makes things hard for me ?
When you know, oh
Why do you come ?
Why do you telephone ? (Hmm...)
And why send me silly notes ?
I'm so sorry
I'm so sorry
Why do you come here
When you know it makes things hard for me ?
When you know, oh
Why do you come ?
You had to sneak into my room
'just' to read my diary
"It was just to see, just to see"
(All the things you knew I'd written about you...)
Oh, so many illustrations
Oh, but
I'm so very sickened
Oh, I am so sickened now
Oh, it was a good lay, good lay
It was a good lay, good lay
It was a good lay, good lay
Oh
It was a good lay, good lay
It was a good lay, good lay
Oh, it was a good lay, good lay
Oh
Oh, it was a good lay
It was a good lay
Oh, a good lay
Oh, it was a good lay
Good lay, good lay
Oh
It was a good lay


Morrissey Suedehead (live on Later with Jools... by HansonReagan




"Everyday Is Like Sunday" went to number nine in the UK and three in Ireland.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmPKVvxFb1c


Trudging slowly over wet sand
Back to the bench where your clothes were stolen
This is the coastal town
That they forgot to close down
Armageddon - come Armageddon!
Come, Armageddon! come!
Everyday is like sunday
Everyday is silent and grey
Hide on the promenade
Etch a postcard :
How I dearly wish I was not here
In the seaside town
...that they forgot to bomb
Come, come, come - nuclear bomb
Everyday is like sunday
Everyday is silent and grey
Trudging back over pebbles and sand
And a strange dust lands on your hands
(and on your face...)
(on your face...)
(on your face...)
(on your face...)
Everyday is like sunday
Win yourself a cheap tray
Share some greased tea with me
Everyday is silent and grey





"Hairdresser on Fire" was the b-side of the 'Suedehead' single and was included on US versions of the album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwtIJOLCwAM





"Late Night, Maudlin Street"





"The Ordinary Boys"              

'Viva Hate' 
part one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLTdPIARrrI


1 alsatian cousin 0:00
2 angel,angel,down we go together 3:12
3 bengali in platforms 4:52
4 break up the family 8:50
5 little man,what now 12:45



'Viva Hate' 
part two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQEQVg9GBRw


6 dial a cliché 0:00
7 everyday is like sunday 2:33
8 i don't mind if you forget me 6:07
9 margaret on the guillotine 9:25




'Viva Hate' 
full album:




1. Alsatian Cousin 00:00 
2. Little Man, What Now? 3:13 
3. Everyday Is Like Sunday 5:00 
4. Bengali In Platforms 8:36 
5. Angel, Angel We Go Together 12:32 
6. Late Night, Maudlin Street 14:10 
7. Suedehead 21:54 
8. Break Up The Family 25:45 
9. Hairdresser On Fire 29:40 
10. The Ordinary Boys 33:31 
11. I Don't Mind If You Forget Me 36:42 
12. Dial-a-Cliché 39:56 
13. Margaret On The Guillotine 42:24