MORRISSEY
Kirstyn Smith, 26 (below), a researcher from Edinburgh, agrees: ‘He er from Edinburgh, agrees: ‘He of reality, to embrace your l aws. says it’s OK to embrace the darker side of reality, to embrace your l aws. n a Morrissey fan since she was a It’s OK to be an outsider.’ Smith has been a Morrissey fan since she was a ys tickets for as many of the dates teenager. When he tours the UK she buys tickets for as many of the dates asonably afford’ and is saving to as she can ‘reasonably afford’ and is saving to the US later in the year. She has go to gigs in the US later in the year. She has s autograph on her arm (pictured a tattoo of his autograph on her arm (pictured ned after meeting him after a gig a above), obtained after meeting him after a gig a bjects to the image of few years ago. But she objects to the image of the Morrissey fan as a slavish devotee. ‘Nearly everybody has something [they are obsessed with],’ she says. ‘But it’s probably more socially acceptable to be a football fan. I’ve always been wary of the way I’m perceived – it feels like you have to i ght against the stereotype of depressed, crazy person. I know there’s a sort of sense that if you’re a big fan of somebody, particularly somebody as controversial as Morrissey, you must agree with everything he says. Obviously, this is nonsense.’
Smith has made some good friends at Morrissey gigs. The same is true for Robert Winning (right), the founder of Morrissey and The Smiths night Strangeways, which takes place several times a year in Glasgow and Edinburgh. ‘I plan my whole life around Morrissey gigs,’ he says, only half joking. ‘The Morrissey fan community is very close-knit, even though they come from all over. I’ve had people come [to Strangeways] from London and Ireland – we even had someone from Brazil. He’s still relevant and that’s why a younger generation is discovering his music.’
Old and new, Morrissey fans go that extra mile for their idol. A quick survey in the pub unearths stories of men who have left their wives, a woman who gave up her job to follow one of his European tours and a former l atmate who played ‘The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get’ i ve times every night before going to bed for 18 months. But what makes a fan, whether mad or measured? Author and cultural commentator Allan Brown (above, right) – who has written several books that attest to his own attention to obsessive detail – believes it’s a fate reserved for only the most romantic among us.
‘True obsessives i xate either on messianic individuals (Lennon, Bowie, Morrissey; the only ones wise enough to understand the obsessives’
16 THE LIST 19 Jul–2 Aug 2012
complex, unique complex, un thoughts) or thoughts) or on periods of periods of time (my own obsession, or (my own obsession, or Noel Gallagher’s, with the 196 Gallagher’s, with the 1960s). ‘Obsessives know in in their ‘Obsessives know their need their needs are they can they can’t help themselves; they want simply t themselves; they want simply to appear in the cosmic Super-8 movie of the thin in the cosmic Super-8 movie of the thing they love. They want to possess mething that comes from what they something that comes from what they believe to be a better, happier, time or to touch the more wholesome time or to touch the hem of an individual they believe to be blessed. that that wretched but wretched but
hearts hearts
‘All this is true, I think, of Morrissey, whose real obsessive constituency would be 40-year-olds who got laid to his records at college, or 25-year- olds who can’t visualise a world so golden as to contain him at his peak.’ Unhappy Birthday, Assembly 3, George Square, 2-22 Aug; Half a Person: My Life as Told by The Smiths, Zoo Southside, 3-27 Aug; Strangeways returns in Sep.
WIN A TATTY DEVINE NECKLACE Unhappy Birthday is all about Amy Lame’s obsession with Morrissey and The Smiths – exploring obsessive fandom – and as Tatty Devine are big fan’s of Amy’s style and work, they created a Morrissey necklace for Amy to wear in the show. To celebrate Amy’s new show starting this fortnight, Tatty Devine are offering i ve of their Morrissey necklaces to List readers. To enter, visit list.co.uk/offers.
Amy Lamé’s Unhappy Birthday runs 2–26 Aug at Assembly 3, 623 3030; full details at assemblyfestival.com and facebook.com/unhappybirthday. For more info on Tatty Devine products visit tattydevine.com or drop into Edinburgh stockists at The Red Door Gallery, 42 Victoria Street and Covet, 20 Thistle Street. .