Morrissey: Scandal & Passion [Paperback]

David Bret (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2005

Britain's most articulate singer-songwriter remains a complex individual whose lyrics opt for realism, opinion, waspish wit, irony, asexuality, melancholy and love. In this candid biography, Morrissey's friends and the members of his entourage speak frankly to David Brett to produce a fascinating study of the iconic star. It is packed with revelations; accusations of racism and fascism; confessions of physical abuse; suggestive, anarchic, witty, sexy, and never before seen letters to a penpal that read like Joe Orton; Morrissey's gay-bashing; the accusations of supporting paedophilia; High Court royalty battles and the public shaming; the attack on Cliff Richard; renegade fans' attempts to sabotage his career; his script submission to 'Coronation Street'. The book includes a full discography, numerous original photos, and a comprehensive bibliography.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A household name in his native England, Morrissey just might be the most obscure mega-celebrity in America. While his albums-both as a solo artist and as the frontman of revered 1980s rock outfit The Smiths-rarely reach the charts, he routinely sells out stadium shows in record time. One struggles to think of an artist with a more devout (some would say fanatical) following, and the diversity of his audience is legendary; he has long been a gay icon, yet he also enjoys a rabid following among Latino teenagers. His music-characterized by witty, literate lyrics that tend toward the angst-ridden and the morose-has been the comfort of a generation of sullen teenagers, earning him the mantle "The Pope of Mope." A fixture of the British tabloids due to his outspoken vegetarianism, anti-royal diatribes and any number of other stances and foibles, "The Moz" is also a polarizing figure in the tradition of Michael Jackson-simultaneously revered and reviled at home and abroad. Thankfully, author Bret's profile is not the sensationalist exposé one might expect given this volume's titillating subtitle. Considering Morrissey's penchant for controversy and his infamously vague sexuality (he has been alternately labeled gay, bisexual and celibate), Bret's restraint is downright gentlemanly. In fact, this is an appropriately English take on a uniquely English personality, to the extent that at least half of the author's references require an intimate knowledge of British pop culture, circa 1960-80. Written without the cooperation of the notoriously press-shy singer, the book is unfortunately light on biographical detail, but it's a compelling (if sometimes fawning) exploration of the cult of Morrissey nonetheless. 8 pages of color photos.
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From the Publisher

Alternately idolized and derided, Morrissey is perhaps the only English pop star to have successfully created his own culture: an eccentric world of foibles, insuppressible opinions, and bizarre obsessions. He claims to have loved rarely, and despite leading an intensely private life, his sexuality has been the subject of acres of press coverage. The Smiths were one of the last of the great British rock bands, their wry, disaffected tunes sung by Morrissey in a haunting, melancholic voice. After the Smiths disbanded in 1987, Morrissey went solo; last year, he released his first album in seven years, the widely praised “You Are the Quarry.” Now, in this new biography, complete with a discography, journalist David Bret talks to friends and colleagues about one of music’s most iconic and enigmatic figures.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Robson Books (March 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861057873
• ISBN-13: 978-1861057877
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,222,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"Amazon USA is Janus, pure and simple. You get 5-stars reviews and tremendous praise...or you get 1-star reviews which are so poisonous (the July 2011 one for "Valentino", by Markus King being a prime example)that they defy belief. If someone leaves a 5-star review, you can guarantee that a poison review will pop up the next day. The homophobic Valentino female fans are the worst--easy to discern here, they cannot accept that he was gay, loathe anyone who suggests that he might have been, and have set up a hotbed of loathing against this author. There is of course a maxim to all of this: if Bret's books were SO bad, how come that he has been publishing for a quarter-century, and outselling ALL of his rivals?

Diary For 2011:
"Elizabeth Taylor: The Lady, The Lover, The Legend", April, to be followed by special foreign language mass-printings (Poland, Russia, Sweden, China, Japan), September-December.

"Freddie Mercury: Too Young, Too Soon", September.

Born in Paris in November 1954, Bret published his first biography, "The Piaf Legend", in 1988. His other bestsellers include biographies of Maria Callas, Mario Lanza, Gracie Fields, Elizabeth Taylor, Rudolph Valentino, George Formby, Rock Hudson, and around twenty more. His two biographies of Morrissey have sold in excess of 150,000 copies in the UK alone.

Bret loathes fan forums, another reason for the one-star reviews:
"They place their idols on pedestals, but they see the idols only as THEY want to see them, not as they really were. Really, I am SO flattered that they can devote so much time to attacking me, and it is such fun attacking them back--though of course they do not like having a taste of their own medicine!"

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You'll learn a lot about Barbara and David Bret (the author)!, May 7, 2006

By 

Elisita (Sydney, AUSTRALIA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morrissey: Scandal & Passion (Paperback)

This wasn't awful...you will learn a bit more about Morrissey, but there was a lot of annoying filler in between. The author is obsessed with letting people know that he's quite fluent in French and proceeds to tell you all the translations he's made for Barbara,that some play that Barbara was in had a character named afer HIM, that one time Morrissey went looking for him and wife (possibly while watching Barbara) etc etc. He tries to make it subtle...but it's obvious and just annoying. One of the chapter names is in French, which is ridiculous because the reference is to a French book...so even if you understand French a bit, you won't get what Bret is talking about. All of this adds up and becomes incredibly distracting.

As I said before, you do get a bit of a Morrissey overview, I'm not sure how accurate it all is but he does give some good Moz quotes here and there...although 99% all appear to come from the magazine Les Inrockuptibles. He also goes over a few of Morrissey's songs and albums, but I was a bit dissapointed with his analyses quite a few times. For example, Bret calls "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get" a love song. This is possible, but the more common view is that this song is about trying to freak out Mike Joyce...no mention whatsoever about this from Bret.

I give it 3 stars because it's not an awful biography, and the writing isn't too bad...but Bret comes off as a pretentious, annoying guy who likes to blow his own trumpet way too overtly. I'd give it 2 1/2 if possible.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dreadful, September 20, 2007

By 

Classic Gibbon (Over the Rainbow) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morrissey: Scandal and Passion (Paperback)

There is little I can add about this dreadfully written and obviously lacking in research cut and paste 'biography' that hasn't already been said by the previous two reviewers, except to say that are both absolutely correct in their observations.

Along with all of the already mentioned faults in this book there are a number of factual inaccuracies (Gary Numan as the frontman for Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark? - I don't think so), no involvement or interviews with anyone remotely close to the book's subject and the irritating and persistent looming presence of the author's ego, all of which combine to make this an unsatisfactory read for even the most casual of Morrissey fans.

As one review notes, the book tells us more about the author than it does about the subject. Unfortunately the things it does reveal about the author are things which any well-balanced person would probably prefer to keep quiet and which I, as a reader, would definitely prefer not to know.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars not very good, December 9, 2007

By 

Online Buyer (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Morrissey: Scandal and Passion (Paperback)

Being a huge morrissey fan, i was excited to read this book. Unfortunately, it was not a good pick. There is some information that was new, but mostly it was uninteresting and boring to follow. I do not reccomend this book. Try another Moz book!