Morrissey makes a pretty damn good case against former owner of Rough Trade, Geoff Travis, the Smiths first label, and he sticks it to him right between the eyes and by page 211 the Smiths have left Rough Trade for EMI but not before Morrissey has the words on their time at the label.
According to Morrissey, Moz and Marr would just two kids (the other two members weren’t real members and never signed anything on behalf of the band -important later of course) signing anything Travis put in front of them.
The result?
1. A botched first album where producer John Porter screwed up the sound and Travis screwed up distribution and nobody could get it.
2. Immensely disliking the band and never saying one good word about them.
3. Suing them for a fourth album.
Morrissey’s lists of complaints against Rough Trade are legion, but especially bad was the signing of a deal with Sire who failed to give them a penny or do anything to promote the career, get them press or hand in glove em anywhere.
Many people claim that in “Autobiography”, once he gets past his early years, the writing falls apart but I don’t think that is precisely the problem; it is more like a form of tunnel vision that doesn’t allow his language to fly: writing about the inner works of Rough Trade there is a drabness and, worse, a lack of thrill at his success. While getting everything you’ve ever wanted might not be enough, it isn’t nothing. Morrissey sees slights everywhere, but really, compared to, say, the way the UK treated Johnny Rotten, I don’t get what he is complaining about.
Perhaps what is damaging to Morrissey here is the space between daydreams and reality. In real life being the most famous singer of the 1980s in the UK isn’t enough. Still, there is something small minded in Morrissey’s not being able to be happy. It is something very Nicholas Nickleby, very Little Dorrit, in the young Paul getting beaten by ignorant vicious school masters and something much less so in Moz complaining about Travis not appreciating him enough for saving Rough Trade.
And a couple of other things raise their heads here as well: it may be true but really, did Moz have no romantic entanglements whatsoever? What the hell is that? Did he not have ONE SINGLE FRIEND??? If so, Moz doesn’t name them. The other question is one of management, once Joe Moss was booted why didn’t they replace him? There might be an excuse for signing to Rough Trade but not to Sire. Why was there no one looking after the Smiths business affairs.
