Scottish academic says: Morrisey is best musical poet ever
La N
Morrissey is 'best musical poet'
Morrissey has been compared with luminaries such as Beckett and Larkin
A Scottish academic has written a book arguing that singer Morrissey is the
greatest lyricist in the history of British popular music.
Dr Gavin Hopps has compared the Manchester performer to literary luminaries
such as Samuel Beckett, Philip Larkin and Oscar Wilde.
The St Andrews University lecturer is an expert in British Romanticism.
The launch of Dr Hopps' book, "Morrissey: The Pageant of His Bleeding
Heart", will take place in Manchester.
The event will be held on Saturday at Blackwell's University bookshop in the
city's Oxford Road.
Dr Hopps believes Morrissey's work is comparable not only to great writers
but also to comedy greats such as Frankie Howerd and George Formby.
The book explores all the major subjects in the singer's writing - such as
love, melancholy, monstrosity and alienation.
Dr Hopps, who is one of the founding trustees of the Scottish Byron Society,
is the author of a number of papers on poetry and pop music.
Morrissey, whose full name is Steven Patrick Morrissey, was born in
Manchester in 1959.
He began his musical career in the 1970s. But it was not until the early
1980s, when he met guitarist Johnny Marr that things really took off.
Marr and Morrissey created The Smiths along with Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke.
By the late 1980s The Smiths broke up and Morrissey embarked on a solo
career, producing his first album, Viva Hate.
Allan
"La N" <nilita20...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:jmrJm.51031$Db2.38176@edtnps83...
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8346379.stm
> Morrissey is 'best musical poet'
>
> Morrissey has been compared with luminaries such as Beckett and Larkin
>
>
> A Scottish academic has written a book arguing that singer Morrissey is
> the
> greatest lyricist in the history of British popular music.
Certainly like his songs. The Smiths were a brilliant band and actually even
some of his solo stuff is really good.
Allan