Morrissey Marr: The Severed Alliance

720 Pages·2016·5.5 MB·English

by  Johnny Rogan

By the same author

Timeless Flight: The Definitive Biography Of The Byrds
Neil Young: Here We Are In The Years
Roxy Music: Style With Substance
Van Morrison: A Portrait Of The Artist
The Kinks: The Sound And The Fury
Wham! (Confidential) The Death Of A Supergroup
Starmakers & Svengalis: The History Of British Pop Management
The Football Managers
The Guinness Encyclopaedia Of Popular Music (co-ed.)
Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance
The Smiths: The Visual Documentary
The Complete Guide To The Music Of The Smiths & Morrissey/Marr
The Complete Guide To The Music Of Neil Young
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: The Visual Documentary
The Complete Guide To The Music Of John Lennon
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited – The Sequel
The Complete Guide To The Music Of The Kinks
Neil Young: Zero To Sixty: A Critical Biography
Van Morrison: No Surrender
Morrissey: The Albums
Lennon: The Albums
Byrds: Requiem For The Timeless, Volume 1
Anthology Contributions
The Bowie Companion
The Encyclopedia Of Popular Music
The Mojo Collection
Oxford Dictionary Of National Biography
Oxford Originals: An Anthology Of Writing From Lady Margaret Hall, 1879–
2001

Copyright © 2012 Johnny Rogan
This edition © 2012 Omnibus Press
(A Division of Music Sales Limited, 14-15 Berners Street, London W1T 3LJ)
EISBN: 978-0-85712-782-2
The Author hereby asserts his / her right to be identified as the author of this
work in accordance with Sections 77 to 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer
who may quote brief passages.
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of the photographs in
this book, but one or two were unreachable. We would be grateful if the
photographers concerned would contact us.
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library.
For all your musical needs including instruments, sheet music and accessories,
visit www.musicroom.com
For on-demand sheet music straight to your home printer, visit
www.sheetmusicdirect.com
Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance

… what the critics said …
“A painstaking account … highly sympathetic.” Observer
“A hugely readable and fascinating book. … Flawlessly informed … expertly
laid out. … Whatever there is, Rogan’s got it nailed. A superb achievement.”
*****Q
“An essential purchase … a painstaking and thorough investigation.”
Irish Times
Number 1 Rock Book Of The Year: “This biography demanded to be written.
An irresistible and illuminating account of the most influential British band of
the 80s, and a byword for diligent reporting and informed criticism.” Vox
“The most controversial book of the year … tells as much about the Smiths as
anyone can reasonably want to know … Rogan has more than done his
homework and treads a fine line between academic rigour and a breathless
fandom. A major achievement.” NME
“Exhaustively researched and containing interesting and sensible readings of the
songs.” Sunday Times
“A wonderful love story … Rogan turns over lots of stones, digs deep, reads
Morrissey’s juvenilia and dares to question the man’s motives, sources and
opinions. … A bloody marvellous book.” Melody Maker
“Mr Rogan is blessed with a brilliant mind. … The research is exhaustive to the
point of obsession. … Quite superb.” Manchester Evening News
“The Severed Alliance has become an integral part of Morrissey’s psychic self-
torment, and thus an event of epic import.” Billboard
“Hugely entertaining … It is a tribute to the enduring brilliance of their music
that their story still holds fascination. It is also a tribute to Johnny Rogan, a
writer of real integrity. Rogan records the end of the band sympathetically but
without missing one spasm of hubris. A page-turner of the first degree …”
Sunday Telegraph
“Rogan is a rock biographer’s biographer. … This guy is literally a method
writer”. What’s On In London
“A typically thorough and ridiculously entertaining tome of the every-home-
should-have-one variety. Rogan truly excels”. Select
“The Best Rock Biography Of 1992 … Morrissey will be shaken and disturbed
by Johnny Rogan’s brilliant account … Rogan’s analysis has the suspense and
character development of a classy detective yarn … Excellently written with a
novelist’s grasp of pace, The Severed Alliance is one of the classic rock books”.
Record Collector
“Personally, I hope Johnny Rogan ends his days very soon in an M3 pile-up.”
Morrissey
“There is a greater sense of veracity in this book than you’ll read in a thousand
music press interviews … Every descriptive sentence seems curiously relevant
… Morrissey’s absurd and unwise anti-Rogan outburst is no more than a finger
prod against the author’s mighty wall of undeniable fact”. City Life.
“One of the best books about music ever written.” Q*****
“Though Morrissey has expressed the wish that Rogan dies – Johnny Rogan can
feel proud of himself. He has written what is certain to be the definitive book of
The Smiths and though he is capable of flexing his critical muscles, a clear-eyed
love for his subject suffuses every line.”
Sunday Telegraph
CONTENTS

Information Page
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
Chapter One November Spawned A Monster
Chapter Two The Feast Of Humility
Chapter Three The Awareness Of Death
Chapter Four The Headmaster Ritual
Chapter Five Son Of My Father
Chapter Six The Private World
Chapter Seven Half A Person
Chapter Eight The Reluctant Rock Critic
Chapter Nine Someone Waved Goodbye
Chapter Ten Allman/Maher: The First Alliance
Chapter Eleven The Formation Of The Smiths
Chapter Twelve The Rhythm Section
Chapter Thirteen A Rolling Stone Gathers Joe Moss
Chapter Fourteen Hand In Glove
Chapter Fifteen Climb Upon My Knee, Sonny Boy
Chapter Sixteen Morrissey’s Power Play
Chapter Seventeen What Difference Does It Make?
Chapter Eighteen The Debut Album
Chapter Nineteen Europe
Chapter Twenty Do They Know It’s Christmas?
Chapter Twenty-One Blood Thirsty Vegetarian
Chapter Twenty-Two I Don’t Owe You Anything
Chapter Twenty-Three Money Changes Everything
Chapter Twenty-Four Rourke Fired! Gannon Hired!
Chapter Twenty-Five The Queen Is Dead
Chapter Twenty-Six The New World
Chapter Twenty-Seven Death Stalks Johnny Marr
Chapter Twenty-Eight Unhappy Birthday
Chapter Twenty-Nine Leaving On A Jet Plane
Epilogue
Notes
Discography
For Deborah
The Author

JOHNNY ROGAN became a full-time author immediately after leaving
university, following extensive postgraduate research on Spenser’s The Faerie
Qveene. His back catalogue includes biographies/musical studies of Van
Morrison, Neil Young, The Kinks, Roxy Music, John Lennon and Crosby, Stills,
Nash & Young. He has worked extensively on The Byrds for most of his
lifetime and was an active participant and writer in Sony’s reissue series of the
group’s classic albums. The best-selling Morrissey & Marr: The Severed
Alliance (over 20 years in print, uninterrupted) was highly praised both in the
broadsheets and rock press and received various music biography of the year
awards. The much-respected, groundbreaking Starmakers & Svengalis: The
History Of British Pop Management was adapted for a six-week BBC series.
Van Morrison: No Surrender (Secker & Warburg) was included in The Sunday
Times Top 10 books of the year. More recently, Rogan has been working on a
multi-volume set on The Byrds. The 1,200-page Requiem For The Timeless,
Volume 1 was issued at the end of 2011 to critical acclaim.
Obsessive in his devotion to particular projects, Rogan spends years writing
and researching material. Since 1992, much has changed but, to this day, Rogan
has never owned a credit card, operated a mobile phone, sent a text, downloaded
a song, driven any licensed vehicle, owned a fridge freezer or dish washer, or
taken out any health insurance. He still prefers to work through the night and one
of his favourite pastimes is scouring supermarkets for reduced out of date food.