Life is a process of giving and giving up, of growing and growing apart. As we get older, relationships change, and what may have seemed like the perfect partnership yesterday might seem, in some indiscernible way, to have gone irretrievably in the wrong direction tomorrow. Many of us learn these truths from teenage serial dramas such as Gossip Girl or Judy Blume novels. Others of us -- namely Tim Clark and David Enthoven of artist management firm ie: music -- learn when prized roster addition Morrissey departs from your company after only three months.
Yes, it's been a tough year for Morrissey. So if you see him, give him a hug and my cell phone number, so that we can meet up in a dimly-lit 15th-century pub and direct cutting but affectionate witticisms at one another into the wee morning hours. Because, as you may or may not know, Morrissey has not been having the best of luck lately. His most recent completed work, Years of Refusal, was slated for a fall release on Universal music, but was later pushed back to February 2, 2009 for "unspecified reasons." At this date, no North American label has agreed to release the project . To make matters worse, Warner Bros. -- Moz's former label -- announced this year the DVD release of Live at the Hollywood Bowl, which the former Smiths frontman decried to Billboard as being planned "without any consultation to me whatsoever, and in breach of their terms as laid out by themselves in an agreement made for the film between Warner and my ex-manager." And since, as they say, bad things come in threes, this story wouldn't be complete without a mention of how Years of Refusal producer Jerry Finn passed away last week.
Wow! What a cheery story this has been! My offer stands, Morrissey. You pick the place, I'll pick the absinthe, or red wine, or whatever it is I happen to imagine you drinking at the moment. And to any Minneapolis/St. Paul radio stations who happen to be reading this story, please play "This Handsome Devil" today while I am at work; it has been stuck in my head for a little over two weeks.
