Having never been sufficiently drunk to enjoy a Level 42 record, I prescribe the Burmese neck ring t...
Show more »
Having never been sufficiently drunk to enjoy a Level 42 record, I prescribe the Burmese neck ring to these chumps for being so icy.
Show less «
[on rap music] I really do think it's a great musical stench. I find it very offensive, artless and ...
Show more »
[on rap music] I really do think it's a great musical stench. I find it very offensive, artless and styleless. To me it's very reminiscent of thuggery, pop thuggery. I don't want to hear it at all.
Show less «
[speaking in 2003] In England, pop music seems now to be exclusively for children. Lavish promotiona...
Show more »
[speaking in 2003] In England, pop music seems now to be exclusively for children. Lavish promotional campaigns are meant to blind audiences to the uselessness of an artist. If an artist is no good, why is it necessary to have that artist repeatedly rammed in our face?
Show less «
I think people who write about music now are not satisfied to be merely factual. They're not satisfi...
Show more »
I think people who write about music now are not satisfied to be merely factual. They're not satisfied to merely tell the world, "This happened, this group played here, the audience cheered, everybody left smiling and we all went home." The modern writer feels they must make everything seem wrong. Yes, criticism moves everything on, but as a writer you might find yourself criticising people for something you yourself have never mastered. It would be quite acceptable if everybody who wrote about music had themselves made music for many, many years. But it's never the case.
Show less «
My life is unrelenting grey, relieved only by passing moments of absolute blackness.
My life is unrelenting grey, relieved only by passing moments of absolute blackness.
I don't belong to any political groups, I don't really say anything unless I'm asked directly and I ...
Show more »
I don't belong to any political groups, I don't really say anything unless I'm asked directly and I don't even demonstrate in public.
Show less «
From epoch-defining singer-songwriter to middle aged twitterer sans record deal. I started at the to...
Show more »
From epoch-defining singer-songwriter to middle aged twitterer sans record deal. I started at the top and worked my way down.
Show less «
That was the problem with the 'celibate' word because they don't consider for a moment that you'd ra...
Show more »
That was the problem with the 'celibate' word because they don't consider for a moment that you'd rather not be, but you just are. I was never a sexual person.
Show less «
Politicians only care about the public as electorate, and once the victory vote has been seized ther...
Show more »
Politicians only care about the public as electorate, and once the victory vote has been seized there is no place for debate between The Prime Minister and the people who elected him. (I cannot use the him/her term in relation to a Prime Minister because, as we all know, Margaret Thatcher has ensured that a female Prime Minister would never again be risked.)
Show less «
All I said was "bring me the head of Elton John", which would be one instance when meat would not be...
Show more »
All I said was "bring me the head of Elton John", which would be one instance when meat would not be murder, if it was on a plate.
Show less «
As far as my reputation is concerned, I can't take the risk of being on a show alongside people who,...
Show more »
As far as my reputation is concerned, I can't take the risk of being on a show alongside people who, in effect, amount to animal serial killers.
Show less «
I support the efforts of the Animal Rights Militia in England and understand why fur-farmers and so-...
Show more »
I support the efforts of the Animal Rights Militia in England and understand why fur-farmers and so-called laboratory scientists are repaid with violence - it is because they deal in violence themselves and it's the only language they understand. Animal-rights activists are usually very intelligent people who are forced to act because the law is shameful or amoral.
Show less «
I didn't have any high expectations of my solo career. There are lots of lead singers in groups who ...
Show more »
I didn't have any high expectations of my solo career. There are lots of lead singers in groups who attempt solo careers and it never happens. Mick Jagger couldn't sell a solo record to save his life, so why should it happen to me? I think a lot of people were very, very surprised that I've continued to sell records. The general opinion was that once Johnny Marr unplugged that umbilical cord I would just kind of deflate like a paddling pool.
Show less «
[on "The Queen Is Dead"] It didn't really occur to me ever that people would consider the title offe...
Show more »
[on "The Queen Is Dead"] It didn't really occur to me ever that people would consider the title offensive. The song existed, and I thought it was so strong it deserved special attention, which it was given by being the title track. And the words, obviously, 'The queen is dead' - I probably concentrate more on song titles than the content of the song itself. I think titles are the most important thing in the world. I hate it when people say, 'I've written a new song,' and you ask them what it's called and they say, 'I don't know yet'. I don't want to hear the song then. Another aspect was that no Top 10 groups, or any English group with a high status, were trying to compile a thoughtful language. And I thought The Queen is Dead, as a title between Invisible Touch and A King of Magic and Picture Book was something one would pause over.
Show less «
[on the poet Anne Sexton] A very beautiful woman and quite glamorous, but the outside of her body ha...
Show more »
[on the poet Anne Sexton] A very beautiful woman and quite glamorous, but the outside of her body had no relation to what was inside. For me, she's steeped in mystery and interest.
Show less «
Age gives you a great sense of proportion. You can be very hard on yourself when you're younger but ...
Show more »
Age gives you a great sense of proportion. You can be very hard on yourself when you're younger but now I just think 'well everybody's absolutely mad and I'm doing quite well'.
Show less «
I've always assumed there's a dark river flowing beneath my fans' desires.
I've always assumed there's a dark river flowing beneath my fans' desires.
[on Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge] William and Kate are so dull as people that i...
Show more »
[on Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge] William and Kate are so dull as people that it is actually impossible to discuss them.
Show less «
You have to, at least from a distance, look as if you know what you're doing, and I can manage that.
You have to, at least from a distance, look as if you know what you're doing, and I can manage that.
[on the death of comic actor Charles Hawtrey in the NME in 1988] The very last comic genius...by nev...
Show more »
[on the death of comic actor Charles Hawtrey in the NME in 1988] The very last comic genius...by never giving press interviews, and by all accounts being unfriendly and friendless, Hawtrey's mystique surpasses Garbo [Greta Garbo]. I personally loved him.
Show less «
I apologize very deeply for my support over the years for the group Roxy Music. I had no idea until ...
Show more »
I apologize very deeply for my support over the years for the group Roxy Music. I had no idea until very recently that their singer, Bryan Ferret (Bryan Ferry), is also an avid hunter, and is now managed by his Lord of the Hunt son, Odious Ferry (Otis Ferry).
Show less «
[on the Brit Awards] The Brits are ghastly and there has never been a time when they haven't got it ...
Show more »
[on the Brit Awards] The Brits are ghastly and there has never been a time when they haven't got it wrong. For me to ever accept a Brit, well, I never would. It would be like Laurence Olivier being happy getting a TV Times award.
Show less «
I do think it's possible to go through life and never fall in love, or find someone who loves you.
I do think it's possible to go through life and never fall in love, or find someone who loves you.
Don't talk to me about people who are "nice" cause I have spent my whole life in ruins because of pe...
Show more »
Don't talk to me about people who are "nice" cause I have spent my whole life in ruins because of people who are "nice".
Show less «
I think Band Aid was diabolical. I think Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Many people find that...
Show more »
I think Band Aid was diabolical. I think Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Many people find that very unsettling, but I'll say it as loud as anyone wants me to. In the first instance the record itself was absolutely tuneless. One can have great concern for the people of Ethiopia, but it's another thing to inflict daily torture on the people of England. It was an awful record considering the mass of talent involved. And it wasn't done shyly - it was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music.
Show less «
You can't help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies.
You can't help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies.
Some people have wives and girlfriends. I had the New York Dolls.
Some people have wives and girlfriends. I had the New York Dolls.
Not everybody is absolutely stupid. Why on earth would I be racist, what would I be trying to achiev...
Show more »
Not everybody is absolutely stupid. Why on earth would I be racist, what would I be trying to achieve?
Show less «
Oasis are very tame to me. At a time when they have the spotlight of the world on them, they should ...
Show more »
Oasis are very tame to me. At a time when they have the spotlight of the world on them, they should have made the most revolutionary, creative record and instead it's practically awful. For a song which is trying so hard to create hooks, it doesn't really have any. God bless Noel; I'm sure he'll always have a spot on Bob's Full House (1984), but I search for something with more bite and rage.
Show less «
Age shouldn't affect you. It's just like the size of your shoes - they don't determine how you live ...
Show more »
Age shouldn't affect you. It's just like the size of your shoes - they don't determine how you live your life! You're either marvellous or you're boring, regardless of your age.
Show less «
There are indeed worse groups than Modern Romance. But can anybody seriously think of one?
There are indeed worse groups than Modern Romance. But can anybody seriously think of one?
I've never intended to be controversial but it's very easy to be controversial in pop music because ...
Show more »
I've never intended to be controversial but it's very easy to be controversial in pop music because nobody ever is.
Show less «
With people in the world such as Jamie Oliver and Clarissa Dickson Wright there isn't much hope for ...
Show more »
With people in the world such as Jamie Oliver and Clarissa Dickson Wright there isn't much hope for animals.
Show less «
If you agree with vivisection then go and be vivisected upon yourselves.
If you agree with vivisection then go and be vivisected upon yourselves.
[in 2009] I don't want to go on much longer, really. I think that would suggest a lack of imaginatio...
Show more »
[in 2009] I don't want to go on much longer, really. I think that would suggest a lack of imagination. A certain lack of dignity also. There has to reach a point where you've said enough, I think.
Show less «
Thank you to the British television person (I'm not exactly sure what it is he does) Richard Madeley...
Show more »
Thank you to the British television person (I'm not exactly sure what it is he does) Richard Madeley who, at least, made me laugh recently by referring to me as an 'insufferable puffed-up prat'. This comment may or may not be true, but I think it's a bit rich coming from a man who actually married his own mother.
Show less «
I normally live in Los Angeles, if you can call it normal living.
I normally live in Los Angeles, if you can call it normal living.
[on David Bowie in 2004] Bowie is not the person he was. Now he gives people what he thinks will mak...
Show more »
[on David Bowie in 2004] Bowie is not the person he was. Now he gives people what he thinks will make them happy and they're yawning their heads off. And by doing that, he is not relevant. He was only relevant by accident.
Show less «
I hope Victoria Beckham outlives me; the prospect of a tearful Elton [Elton John] trotting out Candl...
Show more »
I hope Victoria Beckham outlives me; the prospect of a tearful Elton [Elton John] trotting out Candle in the Wind for a third time is unbearable.
Show less «
Long hair is an unpardonable offense which should be punishable by death.
Long hair is an unpardonable offense which should be punishable by death.
The only time I'm truly alive is when I'm on a stage singing - mostly about death, it has to be said...
Show more »
The only time I'm truly alive is when I'm on a stage singing - mostly about death, it has to be said.
Show less «
It is true that music is a universal language - the ONLY universal language, and belongs to all, one...
Show more »
It is true that music is a universal language - the ONLY universal language, and belongs to all, one way or another. However, with fitting grimness I must report that David Cameron hunts and shoots and kills stags - apparently for pleasure. It was not for such people that either "Meat is Murder" or "The Queen is Dead" were recorded; in fact, they were made as a reaction against such violence. I recall some years ago a party political broadcast on behalf of the Conservative Party where David Cameron spoke directly to camera as an LP copy of "The Queen is Dead" proudly displayed itself on the wall behind his right shoulder. It is, of course, a fantastic thrill when the music you make is acknowledged by virtually anyone at all. But David Cameron is not just anyone. Some months ago, as the long-beaked amongst you might recall, I was due to appear on the Andrew Marr Show alongside David Cameron, and however much I worship the words of Andrew Marr, I could not go through with the invitation. This was because I knew, then, that David wanted to repeal the Hunting Act, which would mean the brutal killing of foxes, hares, deer, badgers, otters - just about anything that moves.
Show less «
[on animal researchers] We'll get you.
[on animal researchers] We'll get you.
I was happy being sad until I visited an analyst; and now I'm bored with being sad. Progress.
I was happy being sad until I visited an analyst; and now I'm bored with being sad. Progress.
Elton John is pushing his face in all the time and telling us about his private life. Nobody's inter...
Show more »
Elton John is pushing his face in all the time and telling us about his private life. Nobody's interested, he's incredibly rich and he's just hoisting his problems on to everybody and working them out publicly. He should just go away.
Show less «
That's why I do this music business thing, it's communication with people without having the extreme...
Show more »
That's why I do this music business thing, it's communication with people without having the extreme inconvenience of actually phoning anybody up.
Show less «
The Smiths was an incredibly personal thing to me. It was like launching your own diary to music.
The Smiths was an incredibly personal thing to me. It was like launching your own diary to music.
Artists aren't really people. And I'm actually 40 per cent papier mache.
Artists aren't really people. And I'm actually 40 per cent papier mache.
I could sing like a constipated rodent with clothes peg on its nose and bleat witlessly over breakbe...
Show more »
I could sing like a constipated rodent with clothes peg on its nose and bleat witlessly over breakbeats but what would Thom Yorke do then?
Show less «
[in 1984] I think we'd really like to initiate the complete collapse of the video because I really b...
Show more »
[in 1984] I think we'd really like to initiate the complete collapse of the video because I really believe that it has nothing whatsoever to do with music. I think it's pantomime, I think it's trivial, and I really believe that the record itself should be all the prop, if prop is the word, that one should need.
Show less «
My parents were worried about me, certainly when I became so deeply interested in music and people l...
Show more »
My parents were worried about me, certainly when I became so deeply interested in music and people like the New York Dolls who, at the time, were very peculiar indeed.
Show less «
[speaking in 2002] The public are losing interest. You can have a number one album these days with 3...
Show more »
[speaking in 2002] The public are losing interest. You can have a number one album these days with 30,000 sales, which is really pathetic when you think of the 70s or the 80s when you could sell over 100,000 and you would be coming in at number five or six.
Show less «
